Alrighty... been a lil while since the last post it was a pretty busy week for how laid back it was. I have also noticed that when I type things in chronological order they show up in reverse so I apologize for the layout not being as smooth as it could be. 

Monday July 6th

We had our first studio pin up at Bill and George with Rebecca. We only got through three of the two groups before she had to leave so we made our way down to a cafe to finish the last two. Dan and I had a pretty good crit and got a lot of good feedback to further out design. 

Tuesday July 7th

First thing on Tuesday we met up with Adrian to go to Artspace. This was the location that Adrian lived in and was part of an ARI there. There were some pretty interesting installations and a lot of commotion going on  because the sprinkler system went off on one of the upper floors. 

Afterwards Dan and I went along the harbor to visit our site for our studio project. We cut through Darling Harbor. This was the first time I had been there thus far... it is pretty touristy but there was a floating stage where they had had a concert the week before. There is a pretty interesting building near the end of the site that we are looking at utilizing. The restaurant in the bottom had some fantastic lighting.  After getting a good number of pictures we headed back to Circular Quey to catch a train back to Newtown. 

We decided to stop and have dinner at and African restaurant called Kilimanjaro. The plates were made of wood and where a rounded rectangle.  Needless to say I really liked them. We split a lamb dish, beef dish, and an eggplant dish with rice and african bread. It all was delicious!! To top it off we had a drink that I can't remember the name of it but it was made from Hibiscus flowers. It was pretty good but VERY sweet. 

Wednesday July 8th

We started off the morning going to Tranby College. This is a college that focuses on the education of people in the Aboriginal community. Nick met up with us there and gave  us a little insight to the project and one of the professors also talked to us about the college and its history. Several people offered us tea/coffee and baked goods that they serve in the kitchen. This gives you an idea of what type of place it was. I don't know about you but I cant imagine UC giving anyone anything unless they overpaid for it. 

A few of us got Thai food before heading back to studio and getting some work done. Afterwards we headed back to the hostel for a bit before heading out to Kelly's for a few.

Thursday July 8th

This was a pretty sweet day. We caught the ferry over to Brian Zulaikha's house for a barbecue. He is a really well known architect and his house was featured in Dwell magazine. It was amazing. The details, the layout, the views, the food... it was all amazing. The japanese influenced house had all the original structure that he then converted into its current states. Everything slid open and let air in and overall was just fantastic!!!

Afterwards Emily, Dan, and I walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge to North Sydney. The views from the bridge were pretty awesome. We went down to Luna Park which is kind of like a coney island. It has the creepiest face entrance thing then it was closed to add to the eeriness of it. The sunset was gorgeous... as always it seems and we headed back across the bridge. We stopped and got dinner at the Australian Hotel and got a Kangaroo pizza and an Emu pizza. They both were really good!! We all seemed to like the Emu more than the Kangaroo but they both were really good. 

Friday July 10th

The morning began at the Museum of Sydney. We visited the Glenn Murcutt Exhibit with the well known curator who put it all together. We then headed off to an exhibit of Julie Wrap's work with Julie Wrap herself. After a little walk to see the only interior done by an architect I don't remember we headed our separate ways. However most of us took a ferry over to Cockatoo Island for a little while. It was pretty neat and has an interesting history but it was mostly empty while we were there with a bunch of old warehouses so it was a little creepy. We watched the sunset then headed back to Newtown. The rest of my evening consists of updating the blog here and doing some studio work saying that our final presentation is this week!!!!aahh!!!

Sunday July 5th,

Sunday was a pretty calm day. Slept in and got some good sleep which was much needed. Pretty much spent the whole day working on studio stuff for our pin-up today (monday the 6th) and worked on a few of the papers that are up and coming. After everyone got back we broke off into our studio groups and worked most of the evening and ended with a nice dance party in 14... lol anyhow overall it was a pretty laid back day of catching up on work and sleep. 

Wednesday July 1st

Laura from Quarterbred came to visit us in our studio and talked to us about the ARI she is  a part of. After a little more insight we got back to work on our studio. Dan and I talked with Michael and got our design a little more fine tuned. Overall it was a very productive day.

Thursday July 2nd 

We went on an all day walk from Bonji beach to Koogi beach. I got some really amazing pictures and the views were amazing. We stopped and got fish and chips for lunch then had class with Adrian about half way through our walk. Then we went on and saw a building Nick recommended to us. We saw a flock of wild black cockatoos as well. When we got back we all packed for our weekend in the Blue Mountains. 

Friday July 3rd

All of us met up at Central Station at 7:30 to catch a train up to the Blue Mountains. We met our guide Evan at 10ish and began our walkabout. It was a very interesting look into the Aboriginal Culture. We got to see rock carvings and paintings, and several sandstone caves. We pretty much went rock climbing over the mountains. The trail took us down waterfalls, up and down almost vertical spaces, across moss covered logs, through rainforest pockets, and atop a mountain. My knee took a good beating through all of that but it was well worth it. The views were gorgeous and we learned about coming to ones senses through dream time. After the long and tiring walk we went to a local pub and got some dinner and a drink. We then caught a train up to where our hostel was. It was a really nice hostel and much bigger then the one we are staying in in Sydney. A few of us played a game of monopoly (the british version) before heading off to bed. 

Saturday July 4th

First off Happy 4th of July!!! A few of us went out for breakfast and had some of the most amazing eggs and bacon I've had in a long time. Then we met up with the guys and and took a much shorter and tamer walk through the "bush" to see the three sisters.

 "The Three Sisters

The legend of the Three Sisters is perhaps the most interesting story heard from around this area. According to an Aboriginal dreamtime story, the three huge rocks formation were once three beautiful sisters named "Meehni", "Wimlah" and "Gunnedoo" from the Katoomba tribe. The three sisters fell in love with three brothers from the Nepean tribe but their tribal laws forbade their marriage. The three brothers did not accept this law and tried to capture the three sisters by force. This caused a major tribal battle and the lives of the three sisters were thus threatened. A witchdoctor decided to turn the sisters into rocks in order to protect them and thought to reverse the spell only after the battle. Unfortunately, he was killed in the battle and the three sisters remained as the enormous and beautiful rock formations until today. The magnificent formation stands at 922m, 918m, and 906m respectively."

After our hike we stopped by a local chocolate place and got some hot chocolate, chocolate milkshakes, and some other chocolate treats. Then headed back to the hostel where the girls took a short nap and the guys got lunch before we headed back to Adrian's book launch. It was pretty interesting but not as much as the last one had been. Afterwards I headed back to Sydney to catch up on some work. It took about 3ish hours to get back and then I had dinner with Jul and Gretchen. After getting a little work done it was defiantly time for bed. Not a bad way to spend the fourth but a nice grill out sounds pretty awesome!!

Monday June 29th,

   

We started out the morning by going to a local architecture firm called Constructive Dialogue. Michael had gone to school with the principle that we met with. Nick (the guy we met with) also is going to give us a tour of his parents home this coming weekend up in the blue mountains. He gave us a really nice presentation and started out by making us sketch what we thought was interesting or important about the images he had shown us. I really enjoyed the way their firm focuses on diagrams and they create the diagrams for the buildings with the clients so that it is as much their building as anyone else's if not more so. 

After we hurried back to studio to meet with a local artist Rebecca Conroy from the BNG ARI. She was the first artist to really talk to us about performance art and the needs it may have. We started out the conversation in the cafe area of the architecture building but then moved outside when the fire alarm started going off. 

Michael and Adrian had a radio spot they had to go to after Adrian gave us a contemporary art lecture. We then went up to studio and began a design charrett for studio. It was pretty productive and gave us a good chance to get a lot of our ideas on paper and start to work some things out.  All in all it was a long day 10-6:30/7 and we were ready to go home.

Tuesday June 30th

Jenna, Emily and I set off a little early for the Museum of Contemporary Art and had coffee at a cafe right behind it. We were joined by to beautifully colored parrots. Yes parrots and cockatoos and the like fly around all over down here and even join you for meals sometimes. We then had a guided tour through parts of the MCA and looked at the gallery spaces. King Pins is an interesting artist group that did an amazing video piece in response to Starbuck's coming to Australia. We also got to see some of Mike Parr's work who is Adrian's father. 

We then set off to the Art Gallery of New South Whales. Gina and I stopped to grab some lunch and took the long route. When we got there we had another "guided" tour focusing on the Aboriginal work. I will just say this, it was a learning experience in the views on white man and the aboriginals and I am glad that in an art museum setting, or really any art gallery, unless the artist themselves is speaking I play little attention to what someone else is saying about the art.  Art is to be interpreted by the viewer rather than having someone else tell you what it is. 

Afterwards a few of us went to a Thai restaurant for dinner before Adrian's book launch at Glee Books. The book launch was really interesting and gave us a little more insight to the book itself. We also met a guy who had actually been to Ohio. He is from here but had gone to visit a friend from school. 

The Zoo!!!

Sunday June 28th

Got to sleep in for a bit today which was really nice. It turned out to be a gorgeous day with little chance of rain so I decided to go to the zoo. While I was waiting for Dan I went to the art store on the corner and picked up some trace paper for our charrett tomorrow and then stopped in the bakery. They had this pastry that I couldn't figure out what it was so I thought it be a good day to try it. It ended up it was an apple turnover with cream. It was extremely good!! but had a little too much sugar for me that early in the morning. 

We checked out where we are meeting tomorrow for studio on our way to the station. Then headed down to Circular Quey/Que (I never remember how to spell it). Then we took the ferry over to the zoo. When you get there you can either take the sky lift, bus, or walk to the top. We opted for the bus so that we could get to the Koala exhibit on time. Up until 2:45 you can pay to go into an area with koalas and get your picture taken and take all the pictures you want. It was well worth it. We were able to get within inches of them. The one had a joey in her pouch that you could see moving around.

After that we walked around and saw all kinds of animals, as you typically do in a zoo lol. The neat thing was that they not only had animals from all around the world but they had a lot of animals only found in Australia. We saw koalas, kangaroos, platypuses, wallabies, emu, and tons and tons of other birds. We didn't get to see any dingos though... there exhibit was closed for the mean time. One of the best parts was that we got to pet a momma wallaby who had her joey in her pouch. 

We were able to take the sky lift down to the ferry right around sunset and got some fantastic photos from there and while on the ferry. We just missed the rain, it started while we were about half way back to the shore. The lighting and colors were amazing!! We also saw a rainbow. It is interesting how many we have seen while we have been here. When I got back an uploaded my pictures I noted that I am up to 513 pictures!! 113 from today alone!! Overall it was a really good day and I got to see a lot of animals I have never seen and there is a good chance I will never see again.

Good Food Good People

Wednesday the 24th

We started out in studio at Uni Syd and began our regionalism discussions. We are trying to figure out what makes something Australian and then also what makes something particular to its individual region (sydney, melbourne, brisbane, ect.) Then me moved on to Sketch on elevation in studio working on how to sketch proportionally... afterwards we worked in our groups for our research topics until Paul (a local Architect) came to talk to us. He has done some amazing aboriginal work in the way of helping create a network/group that is comprised mainly of locals in the said communities to get working fixtures to the homes. Things as simple as fixing water taps, electrical work, and getting proper running water. He also has done work in Napal for a village installing toilets. This may not seem all that glorious but it improves the quality of life for thousands of people. He also has done larger projects such as a resort in China which was constructed of Bamboo and the images he showed us were Fantastic. 

One of the most important things from this lecture is the importance of action over words. You can talk about something all day long but it doesn't mean much if anything if you act on it. Much of the distrust Aboriginals had was due to the fact that people would come in and talk about doing things and asking questions but they never did anything. One of the best ways gain trust is to make sure you do something real the first day. Don't just talk about fixing it fix it. There is no point in going somewhere if you aren't going to do anything tangible when you get there.

Another fantastic quote we walked away with was "...And the country will become a part of you."

After our talk we went to dinner together at a Vietnamese restaurant on King Street. We were joined by Adrian's Aunt.. Julie who is a local artist as well as a good friend of hers Janet Laurence. Janet (Janie) was one of two artist who created in the installation piece in front of the Museum of Sydney. We were also later joined by Janet's husband Bryant who is a local architect. 

The dynamics of dinner were entertaining, captivating, and thought provocative. We were talking with Paul about coming to the University of Cincinnati and presenting his work to SAID. This is an opportunity for APX to join with SED possibly and bring a fantastic architect and lecture to Cincinnati. This lead to some thoughts amongst ourselves about getting lectures recorded and shown on the TV's through DAAP and or posting them as Podcasts for download. 

After sharing a lovely amount of amazing food (highly recommend sugar cane if you ever get the chance) and good conversation the night came to a close. 

Thursday June 25th 

We had another walking tour with Eoghan ( I am pretty sure that is not spelt correctly). We went to a Renzo Piano work called Aurora Place. Among the many interesting details we learned I believe my favorite was a quote. While speaking with the main politician about the plans for Aurora Place R.P. Says to him, "We are Italians... We do things differently." We also took a look at Governor's Place and then went on to the Sydney Opera House. Jorn Utzon was the original architect on the project and many of his original ideas were executed in the final product. The Clouds are finished in ceramic tile both matte and glossy. I think my favorite part we were able to see was the bathroom. I will post pictures of it but really simply amazing and well thought out. 

After our tour a few of us set off walking up George street. We decided to have dinner/lunch at a food court because everywhere here seems to shut down between 3-5:30 except for cafes. I chose subway since I knew what I was getting, it was quick, and I could have half for lunch and half for dinner lol. After this Dan and I headed back to grab our computers and go to studio. We were finishing our presentation on Climate and starting to brain storm on ideas for our studio project as well as enjoying efficient internet service. It is even hard to work on this blog at the hostel at times. After a few hours of work and catching up with those of you in the states we headed back to the hostel. 

Friday June 26th

We all met up in Studio at 10 planning to meet with Laura a local ARI representative but she was called away last minute for an art project. After catching up on a few things we all went and had lunch. A couple of us grabbed a bite to eat at the student union type facility and walked around a little bit more of campus before meeting at 1 to present our research. 

3 O'clock rolled around and two sisters from Matchbox came in to talk to us about what they do and gave us some more insight to what the ARI's are all about and what they might need in terms of a space. Naomi and Leanne were very nice to take the time to talk to us and then they took us to two local ARI's around the university. First we went to MOD POD, then another I cant recall the name, and then we went to first draft. All three locations had great work, but very simple gallery areas. 

After our adventure a few of us headed back to the hostel on a very crowded train. I had a wonderfully diverse dinner of... turkey, Australian cheese, and lebanese bread. But hey, its cheap.  It was a pretty laid back night at the hostel just hanging out for awhile before going to bed. 

Saturday June 27th

Those of us that were up and ready fairly early headed over to Paddington where we were going to be having a tour of the Paddinton Reservoir. We took a train to the Museum stop then crossed the street to take the 378 bus... however we shortly discovered we didn't need to cross the street and had to retrace our steps a bit. But we still got there about a half hour or so early so we went and got coffee at a small cafe. I ordered Italian hot chocolate... for those of you who have never had this... its pretty good. Its kinda like hot pudding only a little thinner. We were about 10 min late to meet up with Michael but still were there before most of the group. The reservoir was a pretty neat project where they took the almost ruin like structure of the old reservoir and added on some contemporary aspects. The columns were made from local hardwood and were stunning. I will post a picture on hear of the space because me explaining it wouldn't paint the proper picture. The architect of the project was nice enough to meet us there and take us through the work and the process/history behind it. It only just opened about three months ago. 

Afterwards we headed down to Paddington Markets. I found a really nice ring that was modeled after the Picaso pin. I decided not to get it but I almost went back lol. After this Dan and I walked a little bit through Centennial Park and then I continued on to the Bonji Junction markets. On my way back I ran into some more of the group and stopped back at the reservoir to sketch. After a couple sketches I headed back to the hostel to catch up on a few things. It did take a little longer to get back then I would have liked taking buses and trains and I switched trains half way back. But I got back and here I am catching up on this before getting some readings done and making dinner. 

First Few Days in Sydney

Lets see here... Friday the 19th woke up and went to the grocery down the street from the hostel called Franklin's and got a few things. Then at 10 we all met up at Uni Syd to sit in on a final review for 2nd and 3rd year architects about place. The class was very similar to the interior Place and Dwelling class with David Saile. Then we went to lunch with Adrian and Michael and discussed some of the plans for our time here. 

That evening we took the train down to Circular Que (pronounced circular key). This is the station right at the harbor by the opera house. We ended up in the Custom House first which is the building where the convicts were brought to when they first got to Sydney. It has now been turned into a public space holding several restaurants and a library. The main foyer has a 1:5000 or 1:500 scale model of Sydney underneath the glass floor. There also is a fairly interesting monumental stair that I will try to post a picture of later. After this we went to take a look at the infamous Sydney Opera House. It was pretty impressive at night with the uplighting and city lights. I met a guy from Holland who was traveling from New Zealand and had just gotten to Sydney. He later joined our group while we went to a pub and got a couple drinks and some dinner (biggest hamburger I have ever seen) and then to a bar. 

The first 5 days have pretty much been rainy. Sunday had a lil sunshine and the trip to the opera house was dry but other than that it had been pretty wet. 

Saturday the 20th we met at Redfern station and took a 3ish house walk with a local architect and city planner/politician. They were able to give us some insight to the area and show us some things we would probable have not noticed otherwise. They took us to a market that was much like Finley Market in Cinci. I got to try a pink lady apple for the first time and later purchased one for the road. I also got to try a pastry filled with Thai Curry lamp... or chicken I forget now. We then ended at a local pub and had some wine. That evening for dinner a couple of us went down King Street and got some Sushi and then stopped next door to get some Gelato. (the following evening one of the girls stopped to get some and I learned why different flavors are presented differently: If the flavor is inherent like the pistachio it can just be decoratively placed in the container. If it is a mixed flavor like cookies and cream they have to hand mix the cookie part in therefor must create the display a little differently)

Sunday the 21st Dan and I made a trip to Aldi's which was about a half hour forty-five min walk away. After grabbing a chicken wrap on the way back I took a much needed nap. After that I made some dinner (lebanese bread and australian cheese) and tried to catch up on the readings we are supposed to complete. 

Monday the 22nd we started classes at Uni Syd. We still dont know what we are going to do for studio exactly but we did discuss our options and are pretty sure which direction we are going. After a little discussion and some lunch we went up to the Darlington Center and studied  and sketched. We were mainly looking at the new restaurant and bar addition and how it fell into the site. It seemed to me to be a contemporary response to the site that already had 4 very different buildings on it each depicting the era in which it was designed. When we got back to our studio space we met with Adrain and she gave us a quick overview of contemporary art. This doesnt sound very impressive but the fact that she did so with no images and just talking with us in studio while still getting the message across is. 

After studio a few of us grabbed a bite to eat at the hostel and went out for a drink or two. The hard cider here ( called just cider) is a lot better then those in the states. First we went to a pub called Kelly's then went to a few bars down the way. After opting not to go downtown we stopped at the grocery so I could get a few more bananas and some nuetela. (Emily forgive me if I spelt that wrong)

Yesterday, Tuesday the 23rd we met at 10 for a Sydney Architecture walk. A local architect took us on half of our city tour with him stopping at Custom House, Ferry Terminals, Social Housing, KGV Sports Hall, Observatory Hill, Walsh Bay (the five fingers), East Darling Harbor Site, 30 the Bond (we also had lunch here), Australia Square, Capital Building, and then the Sydney Museum. After our walk (four hours maybe a little over that) Dan and I went on a Ferry Ride over to the Zoo Area and back and got some really nice pictures of the opera house. The day was prefect not too cool and not to hot and sunny. Perfect day for walking. Then I talked Dan into another fairy ride that went down to Paramada and back which I thought would take maybe an hour or so total saying it went pretty far inland. However... It took two hours... he wasnt too happy about this. But the ride at first was into the sunset and we got to see a lot more of Australia then we had previously. The ride back was pretty chilly but once we got close to the city we went back outside and the few was gorgeous... freezing but gorgeous. I wish my camera would have had more battery or that it would have been able to take a more clear picture at night was the few was fantastic. After that we came back to the hostel and had dinner then I went up and got a lil hw done. 

Today (Wed the 24th) is going to be a pretty packed day. 

So Far So Good

Tuesday the 16th of June I flew out of Cincinnati. I had a lay over in Denver where I met up with Jenna, one of the other girls on the trip. We had an hour and a half delay do to the replacement of several parts of the plane. This made me a little nervous as I only had 3 hours from the time we landed in L.A. to get my bags from baggage claim and re-check them in a different terminal of the airport, get through security again, and get to the plane. I cut it pretty close and was able to by pass the 30 some odd kids on there way to Fiji in security. Otherwise I would have probably missed the plane. Any how I got on board for the 14 hour flight from LAX to SYD. It wasn't too bad had a nice Australian on their way home on either side of me who slept most of the way and I had on demand movies and TV. Needless to say very little ready was accomplished. 

I arrived in Sydney around 6:08 AM and got through customs and what not then went off to find everyone else who were to get in shortly after me. After a little time we found one another and got a vanish kinda taxi to take us to Billabong Gardens in Newtown where we call home for the next four weeks. 

We couldn't check in so we dropped off our bags and got some coffee in the shop right behind our building then went on to venture down Kings Street. 

We ended up finding Uni Sydney (the University of Sydney) where we spent a few hours exploring and looking at different buildings. At this point I was wishing I hadn't opted to carry my laptop the whole time. But overall it was well worth it.

We then were able to check in to our rooms and get a much needed shower. And got ready for the lecture we were to go to. Michael met us at the Hostel and we all went back to Uni Syd for a lecture by someone from the U.N. who I cant remember her name or what the lecture was really about because we all fell asleep for most of it do to our lovely jet lag. 

That is about it for the first day I will try to catch up more tomorrow however the internet isn't working as well as I would like.