13-19.July_In Pickchas

These photos are from my last week spent in Sydney pertaining to the previous post about my last week spent in Sydney. I recommend reading the entry first, then viewing these photos, then standing on one leg in the yard with your eyes closed. 

Final Presentation Space

UNSW_College of Law

You can probably tell what this building is

UNSW_College of Law

Surry Hills Library

Surry Hills Library

Picnic Lunch in Hyde Park_

       Figs, Octopus, Peppers, Bread

Mona Lisa in Coffee_Each cup had real coffee in it with different amounts of milk to change the color

Can't resist a picture of a Pirate Ship_

     It's actually part of a restaraunt

Chaos of the Aroma Festival

Enjoy.

13-19.July Countdown Sydney

13.July_Monday

                  As I mentioned, our final project, after working on it for three weeks or so, is due on Thursday. This week is going to be focused on actually doing that project. So Today, we presented our ideas and projects so far to Adrian who has yet to see any of our studio work. It was nice to have her feedback as well as Michael’s. After presenting, we all (the ten students) went back to the hostel and ate dinner together, just whatever we happened to have, but it was cool to eat altogether and we shared a few bottles of wine and discussed our projects in a less formal setting. Oddly enough kinda helpful.

 

14_Tuesday

                  More studio all day today, it was a long day, full on production mode trying to actually have some legit work done for Thursday.  I spent about 10 or 11 hours building a physical model of our project while Jenna worked on a digital model for the majority of that time. Pretty long day.  On the bright side, it was $5 pizza night again at Eagle Boys so we all got pizza and hung out on the terrace at studio to eat. These long days and nights promote camaraderie in the studio environment.

 

15_Wednesday

                  Stu stu studio. Yep another day of the same.  I spent another hour or two finishing up the model and then Jenna and I met with Michael to discuss said model and our presentation ideas. Michael then proceeded to take my model apart with a utility knife and a bit of force. Granted, his idea better represented the project and left more viewing options for the final review, but I had imagined it at least making it to the crit before anyone ripped it apart.

                  So I rebuilt the model with much fewer permanently glued pieces and then we cranked out some drawings, diagrams, collages, photos, etc to make a nice little presentation, in bed by 3AM, not too shabby.

 

16_Thursday

So, going to bed at 330AM means we got our project completely finished outside of printing it out and Jenna and I decided to sleep in, which is weird because generally the morning of the day your project is due is spent finishing your project. It was kinda nice though, odd, but nice.  So I rolled out of bed between 1030 and 11, took my time showering, shaved off my ‘beard’ (I’ll pause while you all laugh at the thought of me referring to that thing on my chin as a beard, go on) and then we headed for studio about noon, stopping to print on the way.

                  Everything went beautifully, we met with the group in studio and headed to Richard Goodwin’s studio in Leichhardt where we would be presenting our ‘final’ projects.  Richard is formally trained as an architect but spends his time now as an artist, often taking brand new motorcycles and blowing them up at different scales, the welding all the pieces in place as a sculpture of a motorcycle as its blowing up. Really cool looking actually. So we got to his studio and he wasn’t there and we’ve never met him anyway so how would we know, but one of his employees opens the door to ten students with pieces of projects and cardboard to pin up drawings in tow. She greeted us with a smile, said oh sure come in everyone how you going etc etc, then stops to think “Wait, who are you guys?”

                  So she let us in and got everything set up for our crit. Richard showed up a little later along with Steffen Lehman, architect and PHD very involved with art and architecture in Australia.  Nick Seeman, principal of Constructive Dialogue whom we’ve met with on several occasions. Jannie Lawrence, artist etc. Naomi, artist from Matchbox Projects whom we met with once before, and finally Michael who had stopped for some cookies.  Once everyone was there, we got everything underway and it all went really well. The critics had great feedback and plenty of ideas to share with us. It was an awesome final presentation.  After about 4 hours of crits, we all went to dinner together in Leichhardt.

 

17_Friday

 

                  Friday was once again a day filled with things to see, places to go, etc. No need to get used to not moving around all the time, we’re right back at it.  We started by meeting at studio to clean up our things and say farewell to our temporary space (which we almost got kicked out of around 1AM the night before our project was due).  From there, we met with Michael and too a bus to the University of New South Wales for a tour of the campus to look at their interesting buildings. Oddly enough, their architecture building is also none too easy on the eyes and even less functional than DAAP. Nice.  We got a tour from an Australian girl called Sally and a guy named Andrew who happens to be from Toledo. Outside of Australia, the majority of people we’ve met here have honestly been from Ohio. What the hell?

                  After that, we took a bus to Surry Hills, pretty nice little suburb of Sydney, to visit their library, very sustainable, but not at all in your face, just good design that works well. It was fairly small, but seems to be used by a good number of people and it was a nice building to be in.  After that, we headed back to Newtown, trying to figure out what to do for dinner/lunch since it was 4 and we hadn’t eaten yet. What would you do for lunch?

Burritos, clearly, don’t kick yourself for not thinking of it, just don’t let it happen again.  Yep, Andrew and I went to Guzman y Gomez on King Street for some sizeable burritos (no chipotle, but come on, what is?)  Anyhow, the burrito was still quite large and they had better choices of what to put in it than America. I had barramundi. It’s a kind of fish. I recommend it.

                  Next, I don’t even remember, I may have taken a nap or just sat and stared at a wall for a few. Either way it was good. I think there was ice cream involved. Then most everyone went to see Harry Potter and the Newfangled Magic thing I can’t Remember. I on the other hand bought myself a bottle of Jack Daniels and a liter-o-cola to celebrate the end of Sydney with Jenna and Carmen.

 

18_Saturday

                  Good night, I’m a little dizzy this morning, but it was worth it.  So anyway, Gina and I got up pretty early, like 7ish on a Saturday morning, gross, but we walked to a really cool café that Nick had told us about called Deus Ex Machina.  It is a local sort of café with pretty fancy breakfasts (Field greens, wild mushrooms and crusty bread) and it’s attached to a motorcycle and apparel store. Interesting combination and interesting crowd, but really cool. From there we went to the Library to do more research for our research papers. (Up early, library? What kind of Saturday is this??) I don’t think we were at the library too long before I got hungry again and Gina and I left to have a picnic. There’s a really cool market sort of thing that sells everything you can imagine foodwise in the basement of a department store. Strange, but I’ll take it. So we bought bread, peppers, octopus, figs, and dessert and went to eat in the park.  If you like really good food, I suggest asking me about this picnic, it was fantastic.

                  But then we had to go back to the library to actually get some real work done, boo.  We closed the library down, much to the dismay of the employees who practically pushed us out the door at closing time, and then headed back to the hostel to make guacamole and hang out. Only one more day in Sydney, where has this trip gone?

 

19_Sunday

                  Again on Sunday, we had to be up fairly early (Twice in the same weekend, is nothing sacred??)  We had to get up this time to pack up all of our things and move out of our room.  No, we’re not leaving until tomorrow, but apparently two girls need our room and we have to move to a different room with people we don’t know for one night. Dumb.  We packed up and moved (down the hall) and then decided what to do with our last day in Sydney, Australia. It’s a little sad but let’s make the most of it.

                  We took a bus downtown, but only made it halfway because it was nine thousand degrees on the bus and I couldn’t take it. We got off a good deal early and ended up walking to King Street Wharf so it worked out well.  We continued from there to Observatory hill to hang out for a few, climbed some trees, scraped up my hands (I bet you’re all glad that I’m 8). We then moseyed over to the Rocks to check out the Rocks Market and the Aroma festival, which is a giant festival dedicated to coffee. Not my thing, but it was still cool to walk through. And they had camel rides, at a coffee festival, why not? 

                  After returning to the hostel, Gina and I had pasta together (meaning Gina made pasta and I stared at her long enough for her to give me some) and then walked down to Sydney Uni to look out at the city one last time from the place where I first saw the city the night I arrived.

                  So long Sydney, I imagine I’ll be back some day. 

Photos for the Previous Post

First off, I'd like to submit a formal apology via this blog to Ms. Janet Laurence, whom I've been referring to as Jennie Lawrence. Apparently, I've been hearing her name incorrectly this entire trip and I never thought twice about it. My sincerest apologies Jannie.

Next, here are some photos that belong with the last few posts about the previous weekend.

Did I ever tell you about the time I slayed the Minotaur?

Abandoned Tower_Cockatoo

Sunset Crane_Cockatoo

Sunset Reflection_Cockatoo

Grenadine the Bird_Manly

Harbor_Manly

Sailboat_Manly Ferry

Sydney Skyline_Manly Ferry

Sydney Harbor Bridge in Rare Form_Couldn't Resist taking a Photo

12.July_What a Manly Ferry Ride

Saturday amounted to a pretty relaxing day. We all slept in a pretty good deal and then Gina, Mr Gauggel and I headed over to the rocks to eat at Pancakes on the Rocks.  I had pancakes. They were excellent, grilled banana, walnuts, cream, chocolate ice cream, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. That’s my kind of breakfast.

                  We then took a ferry (I get a bit excited about riding on the boats) over to Manly.  Manly is a sort of small almost touristy town, but at the same time has a pretty strong local feel to it with a good number of surfers and many little restaurants/stores that make and sell their own food like breads, meats, produce etc. It seems like it could be a cool place to live. Anyway, the reason we were there was for a nice naturey walk through some trees and eventually to a beach. We weren’t sure where to go and I think we ended up taking a wrong turn because we walked through some muddy nature and a park and ended up at a really smelly beach that was covered in trash. Nice. I don’t think our trip to Manly was as successful as some others on the trip, but we’ll just look at their photos.

                  After the Manly ferry ride, we came back to the hostel and then went out to meet Bill for drinks down on Circular Quay.  Bill was our GA for computer skills first year and he graciously let me live with him in Florida when I worked in Naples for co-op, so it was nice for the three of us to see him again. Just shootin the shit, chillin, you know. So that was fun, but I’d just like to mention that being on Circular Quay, this bar was rather pricey, amounting to a Mint Mojito for $15. Yes that’s right one drink for 15 bucks. Whoa.

 

12.July_Sunday

                  Let’s just toss Sunday in here real quick, we got up and worked on studio for most of the day, then had an informal meeting with Michael at his flat in Erskineville to talk about our projects. From there we went back home, didn’t really work too hard between our meeting and dinner. Which brings me to my next point, dinner was great. Andrew and I walked back to Erskineville (where people think we belong and asked us for directions on multiple occasions) to go to the Pizza Piatsa Café. We did not get pizza, but one of the best burgers of my life.  Bacon, egg, beetroot, Spanish red onion, lettuce, tomato, and cheese all on a burger. It was great. Australians are onto something with putting bacon, egg, and beet on everything. Then we worked some more and went to bed. Project due in four days…

10.July_Paddington and Cockatoo, No Bears and No Birds

On this fine morning, we’re heading back to the Museum of Sydney, hey we’re actually gonna go inside this time. So we meet there at nine because we have a guided tour and we’re actually all on time this morning, but they don’t open until 9:30 so we just stand outside for half an hour. Even the gift shop was closed today. So the reason we’re there is for an exhibit of Glenn Murcutt’s work. He’s probably Australia’s most well-known architect, focusing on very sustainable, very place specific architecture, mainly residential.  His houses all harness the inherent qualities of the surrounding area, wind, sun, water, even smells etc. to reduce the need for any mechanical equipment while maintaining thermal comfort regardless of season. Not interested in iconic forms, Glenn’s work exemplifies the idea of doing ordinary things extraordinarily well.

                  From the museum, we rushed out and over to Paddington to meet Adrian and her Aunt, Julie Rrap. Julie is a very well known contemporary artist and she happens to have an exhibit in a gallery in Paddington that she personally is going to walk us through. Just imagine Michelangelo showing you around the statue of David. Our situation was similar to that.

                  After the gallery, we walked back up to the main street to walk around a bit, looking for a store that another architect of interest did the interior of. The store, Aesop, the architect, Sean Godsell. Not overly impressive, but sorta interesting to look at, we didn’t spend too much time in the store. I believe we’ll be seeing some of his buildings later in the trip, perhaps Melbourne.

                  Next, we break away from Michael and Adrian to do whatever we like with the remainder of Friday afternoon and evening. We chose Cockatoo Island. Home to all of zero Cockatoos, it was once used as a ship building center for the city and is currently left in it’s ship building state for tourists to wander around and look at. It’s a bit creepy to walk around all the old abandoned buildings and not really see any people there. I personally thought it was pretty cool at the same time, but I certainly don’t need to go back. Among other things, Cockatoo was also a prison/work facility, a girl’s reformatory type school, and home to the ship industry. There are still a large number of cranes left on the island as well as a large number of industrial warehouse looking buildings that you cant get into. After wandering around, the group of us all happened to meet at the same point on top of a hill and we watched the sunset together, then climbed a tree and took some pictures and whatnot, just enjoying the evening free.

09.July_Late for an important date..

Wowza, another excellent day, who would have thought, eh? Anyhow, we went to a barbecue at the home of Brian Zulaihka and his wife Jennie Lawrence.  He designed the house within his firm and it has seen the pages of such high profile magazines as Dwell and the like. So we got to go to his house, have a tour of it given by him, then eat lunch with Brian, Tim Greer of TZG, and both their wives. It was spectacular. The food was not what I had expected when I heard barbecue, but I imagine they are a bit above hamburgers and hot dogs. Instead we had, smoked salmon, seared tuna, a whole baked fish, selection of fancy cheeses, olive bread, pita, hummus, the whole shebang. They also had dessert, a cinnamon strawberry custard pie type deal and an almond currant crumb cake. Other than the desserts, not typically food I would want to eat, but it was all really quite delicious, even the pheasant pate. Pinky’s out kids, I’m comin home classy!

                  Anyway, to get to this house, we had to take a ferry, which is cool because I had yet to take a ferry, but as it turns out, standing on the front open deck of the ferry does some crazy things to my hair. Picture my drivers license…  So the house is located right on the harbor with a view of the city, kinda tucked down the bottom of a hill at the end of a really small alleyway type street. Similar to Nick Seeman’s house in the mountains, most of the windows slide completely pen to bring nature in and allow an amazing openness we can’t seem to get in Ohio.

                  After lunch, and I mean just about as soon as we’d finished eating, we had to go. They’re busy people, got things to do ya know? It’s ok though, the day was awesome. So from there we caught the ferry back to Circular Quay ad downtown where we tried to figure out what to do.  Ms. Lorubbio and myself decided to go on a “date”, a.k.a. I wanted to find some hot chocolate so we wandered aimlessly through the Rocks (everyone remember what the Rocks is?) not finding anything to drink with a suitable price tag and a view. It’s a tough life. So we walked around for close to two hours I’d wager and ended up just looking for a bus to get to Leichhardt, which is a Little Italy of sorts. Know whose idea it was to go there? 

                  Well once we got to Leichhardt, we walked around, not sure what we’d find, but we stumbled upon a little family café that had a decent looking menu, but we just got hot chocolate for now. We continued this “date” from there by walking all the way back down the street we had just walked down, then turning around and coming almost all the way back so someone could see every restaurant on the street. Know whose idea all that was? In her defense, we ended up at an amazing restaurant and had a fantastic meal, so we’ll give her that one. Zucchini flowers with goat cheese, Ravioli with mushrooms and veal, a banana toffee pie, and a bottle of wine later, I’m ready for bed. Let’s go home.

06-08.July_Naechste Woche gehen wir segeln

Monday

No worries folks, we started our presentations around 9 or so, had a dance party about 11, in bed by 1 and final touches this morning before giving the presentations, oh the life of a design student.  But seriously, the presentations went well, good feed back from Ms. Conroy. Oh, also we didn’t finish our presentations with Rebecca, she had places to be so we went to a café to finish, but they had places to be so we moved a third time to studio and ended up talking about our projects from 1 or so to almost 7. We like talking about ourselves.

Tuesday

Tuesday I didn’t get out of bed until probably 11, which is nice.  The professors were changing residence and didn’t want to deal with students and their children and all that jazz, can’t blame them. We did meet Adrian around 1:30 to visit ArtSpace, the original ARI in Sydney and Adrian’s home where she squatted as a young artist when she lived here, pretty cool history. From the gallery, we went to the Library of New South Wales, where it’s a huge hassle to get a library card and look at books, very bureaucratic. Look up a book in the catalog, fill out a slip, title, author, location number, your name, your card number, your dogs initials, your cousin’s birthday, the whole nine yards, take the slip to the desk, oh you’re in the wrong library there are two in this building, they sign the slip, stamp it, file it away, bury it for three days, come back later, pick up your book from the shelf, then you can look through it. And you can’t check it out, but you can fill out another slip and they hold said book for you for one week. And that’s just one book.

So we spent about three hours at the library doing research and trying to come up with an abstract for the research paper we have to write after this trip. Meh. On the upside, it’s $5 large pizza night at Eagle Boys Pizza on King Street. Yea, I ate the whole thing. I don’t believe in leftovers.

 

Wednesday

This morning we got up earlier than normal (still not til 830 or so) to go visit Tranby Aboriginal College with our very own Andrew Gauggel as a tour guide who provided us with a riveting tour chock full of interesting facts (and engraved rocks at the college that gave us all the information).  It’s a pretty interesting little space meant to embrace all Aboriginal cultures with a focus on the pathway through the college and reaching one’s goals while bridging European and Aboriginal culture. Nick of Constructive Dialogue met us again to see the college himself and to impart his knowledge of the site to all of us.

Tranby

From there we went out to lunch with Michael, enlightening him with the $6 lunch special at Newtown Thai and proving how cheap we really are. It’s really good food though so why not, and it kicks peanut butter’s ass any ole day. Nach dem Mittagessen sind wir an dem Uni wiedergekommen, um unsere Hefte zu sehen und diskutieren.  We talked about our sketches, worked on some studio stuff and headed home for the evening.

Tranby