building blocks of architecture

Monday, May 07, 2007

Hi... I found this on facebook as one of the descriptions for a aki school group overseas. It's really funny esp for aki pple cos you'll realise how similar our very unique architortural education is with other aki schools. haha i picked out those that are most applicable & adapted a lil to our local context =) For the non-aki folks, welcome to some glimpses our amazing school life in its stark reality & full glory =) I feel that we're a brilliant & most exciting case-study for sociologists so there enjoy this =)

You know you're an architecture student when...

...you carry a toothbrush in your backpack.
...you hear the same song on the radio 3 or more times in one night.
...You are an expert and Photoshop, Revit, Sketchup,Archicad and Autocad but u don't know how to use MS excel
...you spend more time in studio than in your own bed.
...your parents are complaining that you're not having enough fun.
...you only leave studio/home to buy supplies.
...you've ever dreamt about your models.
...your parents have more of a social life than you.
...you know all the 24-hour food places in the area
....your non-aki friends get more sleep in one night than you do in one week.
..You consider 3AM an early night.
...everything you eat comes in single serving baggies. (or da-paos for us. eating in the canteen is a rare treat=)
...you're out on Friday nights in studio.
...you say "It's only midnight- I have plenty of time to finish."
...you ask what time it is, then ask "AM or PM?"
...you slice your finger, and the first thing you think of is if you'll be able to finish your model. ...You call some great architects as if they are you friends.err... Frank... Tadao.
...certain songs remind you of studio.
...Sister's favorite brand names are Prada DNKY etc... But yours are Daler-Rowney, Florence, Rotring
...you have to wait for breakfast shops to open.
...you wake up to go to school and you're already there.
...you bring your friends to studio to keep you company.
...you refer to outside studio as the "Real World."
..."going out to eat" is at Munchies or Holland V (in better times).
...you confuse today and tomorrow.
...concept of time is not forward, but a countdown from the time a project is due ("What time is it?""4 hours 'till").
...when you tell people you major in "architorture"
...when people tell you that they like walking around with you because you see things know one else does
... When you're not sure what day of the week it is
... When any flat surface is seen as a place to take a nap (underneath the tables in the computer room (that's where it is the warmest), in hallways, on drafting boards
... When the books that you read consist primarily of photographs and not so much of words
... When you have to ask your fellow architects to give you wake up calls
... When you go to studio and spend more time socializing than doing work
... When you tell someone in another school that you are architecture major and they automatically assume you have no social life
... When you skip classes because you have too much work to do
... When you use photoshop rather than microsoft word to do your non-aki projects
... When you have an inexplicable mark running off your page because you fell asleep while drafting
... When you wonder what it would be like to be in another major and the idea of going Out three or more nights a week is unfathomable
...when you start measuring all time segments in terms of project deadlines and studios on Mondays & Thursdays @ 2

AND

...when you know all of these are true, no exaggerations.
(credit: http://nus.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2209850497)

Saturday, May 05, 2007

"... My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to my God in song." Psalm 28:7

hehe the epitome of the past week and the week before =) yupsie God is good indeed. last monday was like the day of reckoning in aki sch where the external examiners i.e. the pple from UK and the famous local architects will determine who they want to present the projects b4 them. Nothing wrong with that at all except that last year most of those chosen for the external crit failed. And if you fail the design module it means you have to retained and retake it again the next year. Considering the ardousness of aki in general and the length of the aki course and the subjectivity of design, repeating is not a pleasant prospect. As when the list came out ard 4 plus on monday the 23rd of april pple were kinda jittery, a lil hysterical (with joy when they see that their names aren't on the list =) and somewhat paranoid (when they see that their names AREN'T on the list and can't believe it's true) Sigh so sad huh people actually went to ask if there was another list coming out the next day... as for me I was like Hallelujah! thank God i can go to year 4 =) and the above verse was the one i read in the morning of the day the list came out! =)anyhow all the best to those who had to go... hopefully the outcome was good in the end =)

that day i also had a grp project submission... haha so it was like me, grace & melvin busy photoshopping in scalebar (due to a lack of airconned places during the exam period) trying to meet the 4pm deadline and after that gingerly opening THAT email with the list of names. htank God we were all happy heh =)

After that, it was the long wait for the next and our last paper (which was on this thurs) and we were the only ones taking it (from yr 3 aki that is) and it was the most un-exam thing i ever experienced. Knowing that you have like more than a week to study(for something I nv really looked thru prior to that heh at least i went for MOST of the lecs even the one b4 model submission) have having NEARLY finished the most heavy sem ever, you just dun feel like studying. so it was like studying + other distractions till the last few days. the exam was ok hopefully can still do good. oh well, its all in God's hands. =)

One thing abt aki sch is that we're really happy during exam period which is like the time everyone else is most stressed. that's cos our biggest "exam" would have been over by then - design submission and final crit. exams pale in comparison to that, believe it or not. then, we can actually sleep a decent no. of hours, not worry abt printing, computer and hard disk crashes and other technical malfunctions. rather it's time to face the notes and lectures you haven't seen nor attended all (or most) of the semester =) but thank God it turns out ok always =)

anyhow now is finally the long summer hols ... time for some slacking and internships. I must say the whole internship thing is such a kiasu biz but thank God i've got one =) so yeah soon it'll be time to face the autocad & photoshop again =( but working in an aki firm is exciting so yeah hehe looking forward to it yeah plus some ONEstudio stuff and other wonderful surprises this hols will hopefully bring to my otherwise currently not-yet-so-exciting life =)

Have a blessed hols!