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.
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