FRESHMAN ARCHITECTURE AT SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY

Alumni Karisma Dev 

(class of 2015)

 started her first year as an Architecture Major 

back east at Syracuse in Upstate New York.

I asked her to send me a couple of pix of what she's been working on in the studio.

Here are her first assignments.

And I was thrilled to hear that her professor told her she had the best craftsmanship in the class

OH YEAHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ok, so here's an update about what's been going on this past week at Syracuse:)

Okay, the schedule is Writing, Architecture Theory, Representation 1 on Mon and Wed, and Studio Tues, Thurs, and Fri. Theory is a really fun class, where we're learning about the basics of Architecture, basically answering the "why" question of what we're doing in studio. Representation is essentially a drawing class intended to assist with non-digital conveyance of ideas and proposed design intentions. The professor for this class is a little boring, so it's hard to stay awake especially towards the end of the day. Studio is the best class of the week, and I spend most of my time there. 

Our project this week is called "Cube on Cube", and our final model is due this week along with an elevation drawing of it. This project looks at the tectonic and stereotomic methods to construct a cube structure. Our first model was two paper cubes size 3"x3"x3", and then we got together with a partner and used each of our cubes to build a larger 6x6x6 cube. We got pretty good reviews on our project.

The next step of the project was to build six more cubes, sized at 3x3x3, but to now think more about the spatial hierarchy that we were trying to define. This step was supposed to be a variety of materials, so paper, basswood sticks, and basswood sticks with foam core. I got pretty good reviews on this step as well.

Part C was then to build a single 6x6x6 cube and to also do an elevation drawing of the cube. I stayed up until finishing this step of the project, and in the end during our pin up, realized that I had defined the borders of the cube too much. My studio professor pointed this out to me, but had also said that I had excellent craft in both my cube construct and drawing -YAY! :) 

The final step is due, so I will be spending the next two days in studio working on it.

 Attached are some pics of the first step, second step, pin up, and my studio desk.

 I also put in a pic of the view of some of the school at sunset from the roof (not sure if we're allowed up there, but it's a really nice place to spend some time).