Guest Room

This just might be the cutest guest room I've ever seen.  Typically when I see the color scheme of red, green, and white used it always reminds me of Christmas.  With this room that wasn't even a thought that crossed my mind.  Its such a successful color scheme without being overpowering.  The idea of this is what really captured my attention though.  Far too often, guest rooms don't have near enough space.  This allows more sleeping room then the typical queen size bed.  It also is done in a classy way, not taking up too much floor room but more grown up then bunk beds everywhere.  I feel like implementing this into my future house would be important with my large family.

Stair Storage

A while back, I posted an image on storage drawers under the staircase.  I recently came upon this and thought it was an awesome addition.  If you're not able to put drawers on the side of your stairs due to the configuration of your house, this is an alternative option.  This isn't quite as convenient space wise but it is still additional storage which you can never go wrong with.

DC Speeches

My little preparation the night before was far from sufficient for this speech.  I bombed it, I knew it as well as everyone else.  I've never been one for public speaking; I'm too soft spoken and shy for it.  However getting up in front of people I knew so well should never have presented the issues to me that it did.  I didn't think the speaking presentation was incredibly helpful because it was more of a review session of what we've learned all our lives.  I also didn't visit the speaking center beforehand and maybe next time I should but with my lack of public speaking skills, I'm not sure it would do much good.  I will certainly improve from this point before the next speech, of that I have no doubts.

reflecting back on first year studio

As soon as I saw this object, my mind was taken back to first year.  We created places for so many things from leaves to twigs.  This object is a place for cookies, too precious.  I don't think anyone would actually buy this but the concept behind it is cute. 

Laundry Room

Seeing this as the laundry room makes me wonder what it takes to consist of a room.  From what the photo shows, I don't think this consists of a room so I hope the designer didn't stop here.  I love the idea of the hanging ladder and the contrast of the blue against the yellow.  However, I think the metal drying rack detracts from the overall picture.  For this to have been so thought out, the drying rack seems cheap and out of place.  It reminds me of the saying coined in first year, "whatever you're going to do last, don't."

DC Photoshopped

My first step in transforming this image was adjusting the brightness and contrast.  I then adjusted the color balance.  I began to play around with the filters.  All of the filters did something very different but I decided on the filter "cutout" because it truly brought out the beauty of the Lincoln Memorial.  I think far too often people are focused on the steps you climb to get there or the reflecting pool (or lack there of) behind but when you focus solely on the architecture of the building, its beautiful.  Within the building, there was so much detail on the walls and ceiling which certainly made it worth the walk over.  However, when you step back and just appreciate the simplicity of such a grand monument, its mind altering.  I feel like the cutout filter allows the viewer to "step back" and see the memorial for the true beauty that comes along with the simplicity. 

Slide/Staircase

How neat is this? I never would have dreamed this up.  Maybe my way of thinking isn't quite as abstract as it once will be with design but right now I find it fascinating the things more developed designers have come up with.  One day, I hope to build my dream house and this will certainly be apart of it!

Pinterest

 

I recently discovered the online pinboard, pinterest.  It is filled with everything from recipes to design ideas to fashion and beauty advice.  With so much variety, I decided to base my additional blog posts for the semester on images or ideas I find from this site.  The first image I selected was an architectural addition to a house.  They placed sliding drawers under the staircase.  I think this is an awesome idea because everyone can always use more storage in their houses.  The space under stair cases is often such wasted space and this fills it nicely.  

GHM Exhibit Visit

[1] the main “Voices” exhibit

The first impression I received from this exhibit was actually quite captivating.  I loved the contrast of the light quotes against the dark wall.  This lead me to wander farther into the exhibit, entering a room with hundreds of pictures of people and a few words explaining a picture or two here and there.  Up till this point, I was very pleased with the way it was all set up.   I continued walking and stopped in a large green room.  The room itself had a nice flow and easily led your eyes throughout the space however the dark green was a far cry from the soothing colors on the wall in the prior rooms.  What I consider to be the “green room” contained information on the first residents of Greensborough and many, many battles.  After you’ve been visually led through this room, you’re brought into a deep red room.  This section begins with a lot of information on farming and then ends with slavery.  In the slavery part of this room, there was a poster on the ratio of whites to slaves to free blacks back many years ago, which I found to be quite interesting that this data was kept over this time span.   As you make your way out of this room, you’re brought into a room that made the others seem small.  This room has a sewing exhibit set up in the center and similar exhibits around the room.  The part of this room that drew me in was the army section in the back.  I learned that from 1943-1946, Greensboro was an army town and was able to see the type of beds the soldiers would have slept on.  Continuing on you come across a bar set up where you learn about the sit-ins that occurred in Greensboro in the 1960’s.  In the same room, they have banners set up to inform you of all the colleges in Greensboro.  Finally, you enter a room representing today’s gate city, beginning in the 1980’s until today.  In that room, there are items I can relate to such as a part on Yum-Yum’s Ice cream and the different neighborhoods that exist in Greensboro today.  From this exhibit, I feel that we were supposed to take the knowledge that the voices of the past helped create the city that we know today.

[2] the period rooms and pottery display

This exhibit was my least favorite out of the four I visited today which was disappointing because it was the first one you get to when your going to the others.  I did enjoy the period rooms more then the pottery because it was a clear way of how people use to live.  I liked the bedroom the most because I felt that it gave you the best idea of what life was like.  The other rooms didn’t appear lived in from my point of view.  There were five period rooms that I took notice of in this exhibit.  They were the living room, the bedroom, the dining room, the parlor, and the clothes display.  The pottery display was in the center whereas the period rooms were on the outer parts of the room.  The pottery exhibit was titled “The Art of Turning Clay: The Bluebethenthal Pottery Collection.”  The pieces of pottery were all in glass cases with information posted behind them.  The first case told the story of Jagstown.  The people who founded Jagstown pottery were Raleigh natives.  As I viewed more cases of pottery, I learned of the Asian translation of the pottery.  However, all the pottery looked incredibly similar to me.  The pottery has been featured nationally in magazines and newspapers. 

[3] the “Gate City” exhibition

This exhibit was my favorite by far of the four we visited today.  Before you even enter the exhibit, you see a map on the wall outside and a note that says, “Based on actual commercial and civic buildings.”  I thought that was interesting because all museums are supposed to showcase actual items, which led me to believe this exhibit wouldn’t be a typical one.  When you enter into the room, the first thing I noticed was that it was set up like a town.  I have always been very interested in seeing how people used to live, not just reading about it.  This exhibit allowed me to see what their typical towns would have looked like.  The rooms made up to be apart of the town were the Richardson and Fariss Drugstore, the Crystal Theatre, the Hotel Clegg, the Steam Fire Engine Company No. 1, the city market, and Miss Lina Porter’s schoolhouse.  The drugstore was about what I would have expected after seeing many exhibits like this over the years; it was a narrow room with cabinets on both sides and a counter.  I know that in later years they would have expanded the idea of a drugstore into one with a soda machine and such but I liked that this stayed true to the time period.  The theatre was much different then I was expecting.  It was one room with very uncomfortable looking wooden seats.  It might have seated twenty at most, certainly not what we think of when we think of theatres today.  The Hotel Clegg looked very official with the double doors, the only building in there I remember having them.  Inside there was a telephone exchange in their lobby space, which I found interesting.  The firehouse was pretty typical, even still a main idea of what we see today.  What I found interesting about this was that the fire engine weighed 4000 pounds and was pulled by two horses.  The schoolhouse appeared to be a typical one-room schoolhouse with benches that appear like they would seat two children to a bench at a time.  In the schoolhouse, there was a wood burning stove in order to heat the schoolhouse in the colder months.

[4] the traveling exhibition titled “Down Home”

This exhibit was focused on Jewish life in North Carolina, what that meant to them and what it means to the state.   As soon as you enter you notice a sign (or the dreadful music that plays nonstop the entire time you’re in there).  On the sign it explains up front that Judaism is a culture, an ethnicity, and a religion.  The exhibit as a whole was divided up into a few different sections.  These consisted of keeping the faith, family comes first, building businesses, creating communities, and love of learning.  The part that I remember the most from the exhibit was the food section.  I’ve always heard about kosher and the different types of rules for eating that the Jewish follow and never understood them until this exhibit so I feel like they presented it very positively.   They had a refrigerator that had inside what they would be able to eat.  They also had “food” in the process of being “cooked” for the viewers to see.  As you move through this exhibit, it’s a bit unnerving.  Everywhere you step, you’re bound to set off something talking to you, usually more then one thing at a time.  I didn’t like that part of the exhibit at all because it would catch me off guard and then I would walk away from it because I couldn’t focus to read the signage with the speakers talking.  Overall, I feel like it was a very informative exhibit because I know I am guilty of not understanding religions apart from my own as well as I should.  I think that if someone had any questions about the Jewish culture, this would be an excellent resource but if you had a question about their religion, you should find somewhere else to research.

IOB Narrative

The “industries of the blind” walkthrough was an experience like I never could have imagined.  The image I had of the space from driving past it hundreds of times on Lee St was about accurate of what was experienced within the walls of the building.  Upon entering the building, you are brought into an overly white and boxy space.  There is no flow within the design to speak of.  The main lobby space is broken up into an entrance, a seating area, a gift shop, an office, and a stair well; all of which are given their own (unnecessary) room.  Once you are have braved the redundant walls, you are led to the staircase.  The staircase leads you up into a more private sector of the building.  There is a seating area at the landing followed by a hallway containing the offices of those in charge.  Continuing on to the right there is a conference room, which fit our class nicely, but truly when are there that many people in there?   The end of the hallway dumps you off into the factory.  The feeling completely shifted in the factory setting.  Suddenly, it was dark and cold.  The lighting looked as if it had been taken straight from a hospital and placed within this factory.  The set up of the factory couldn’t have confused me more but there were many different sections.  It was divided up into a nape pad section, a clipboard section, holding place for all the brooms, pen section, clothing section, and a cafeteria.  When talking with the employees, this place is a horrible reflection on the true atmosphere.  I got the impression of a family environment, something joyful and proud.  The space presented something quite different.  It was more of a the employees are here to do there job and then leave, no socializing or being any form of comfortable.  I hope that we are able to bring to the IOB a sense of place and purpose not only within their building but within Greensboro as well.

Project Selection?

[1] I would most prefer to be on the project team for the Industries for the Blind.  I could most contribute to this project because I would love to work in such a positive environment for a great cause.  From the moment I stepped in, there were so many ideas running through my head which gave me a positive vibe towards this project.
[2] I see my skills carrying forward in this project in many ways.  I'm good at building upon existing ideas and since this structure is already there, it would be a blast figuring out which walls can go and where new ones can come up.  I'd also love to talk with the employees there and figure out what would help them the best and what they'd like to become of the space.  I have a heart for disadvantaged people so I feel like working on this project would put me right in my comfort zone in one aspect while completely taking me out of it in another.