Have a great summer!

- Sarah

On behalf of the Faculty, Instructors, and staff [and especially our custodian Mike] thank you for the great clean-up job yesterday.  I just want to let you know that there were a few projects and drawings left and on Friday  [23 April] these items will be disposed of.  If you think you may have left any items behind, please let us know before that time.  We also hope you found the first annual ‘Career and Academic Information’ session informative and helpful.   The guests enjoyed their time with you.

We hope you have a wonderful summer and look forward to seeing you on Tuesday, 7 September at the All-School Welcome.  Check the School’s website throughout the summer for more information and information regarding registration, course offerings, and schedule/room changes  [www.carleton.ca/architecture].

Wendy

School Administrator
Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism
Carleton University

I’ll post details when I get them.

UPDATE:

Sorry for the inconvenience but we had to change locations and time:
We are now going to KS on the keys (1029 Daze street, off bank and near the cineplex in south keys) at 7:30pm

Map

• 192 word city description
• 192 word final project description
• 64 word final project summary

Project 1 documentation

• plan
• section x2
• elevation x2
• axonometric x2
• model x2

Project 2 documentation

• hybrid drawing of city
• hybrid drawing of program
• city map hybrid
• details of hybrid drawings max. 5
• final panels*
• plan(s)
• sections x2
• elevations x2
• additional details max. 5
• model x5

* take one photo of each of the final panels and then zoom in and take photos of the individual drawings included in the list

Copywork must be submitted digitally on a CD or DVD and is expected to be high quality and resolution.  Images should be a minimum size of 8×10 at 300 dpi.  Consider all the following when taking and touching up photos:

• lighting
• cropping
• framing
• contrast
• alignment
• choice of angle

Because you are working with digital, there is even less excuse for bad copywork.  If it comes out bad, either take the picture again or fix it in Photoshop.

I would like to schedule brief meetings with everyone to discuss your crit and what you need to do to complete your copywork.  I will be in Sunday morning before the city setup (see below) from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. and Tuesday afternoon from 4p.m. to 5 p.m. before the grad show.  Please email me with your preferred day so I can make sure to see everyone.

Also, please remember that you have tomorrow (Saturday) to take photos of the city in the Pit.  Sunday morning, please come in to help move the city to the Azrieli Pavillion.  Steve and Roger will be in around 10 a.m. to coordinate the move.  If you cannot make it, please make sure to ask someone else to be responsible for moving your site and model.

Thank you for the card.  You captured my and Rance’s likenesses perfectly!

A quick reminder of what is due:

Due for lock-up Wednesday @5:30pm (you must be present to hand in your work and help setup the city)

• Final model
• All plans, sections, elevations

Due before crits

• email a 64-word summary of your project (this will be a very good exercise to help you condense your ideas)  Please email it to me no later than 7am Thursday so I can print out copies for the critics.

To be included in your crit (you can keep working on these up until you present):

• hybrid drawing of the city
• hybrid drawing of your program
• city map hybrid drawing
• 5 high quality photographs of your model (these should show something that isn’t obvious in your drawings or model alone, eg. light, shadow, approach, eye-level view – NOTE: you will have to take the pictures before lockup but can photoshop and print them Wednesday night)
• max. 1 additional panel including the photographs and any other sketches, details, images that help explain your project.

Carefully choose what you pinup but it is always a good idea to bring along as much of your working models as drawings as possible and leave them to the side just in case something you didn’t think would be important helps you clarify yourself.

Note on presentation order

Please let me know ASAP if you have an exam either Thursday or Friday and what time so I can finalize the schedule.  Steve will then finalize the schedule for the whole group.  You likely won’t find out until Thursday morning when you will be presenting so be ready.

1. Your presentation is essentially a scripted narrative of your working process. Don’t jump back and forth, and say things like “I’ll explain this part later” (a line I’d heard multiple times at the last crit.) Everything you say should flow naturally from one thing to the next. Use the studio timeline to your advantage.
2. Get to the point. Condense and edit. Your project has gone through a lot of changes since you have started, but your critics only need to hear what contributes to your final design. Many of your city narratives are long and detailed, but what is the CliffsNotes version?
3. Be explicit with how someone experiences your building. Most of you deal with senses besides vision, so how are you going to describe to them how their ears, nose and skin react to the space? You are the only one who can dictate what happens in your building, so don’t leave us guessing. If I am supposed to feel fabric against my skin, tell me exactly if it is supposed to be rough, or smooth, etc. If I am supposed to hear spatial changes, what are those sounds? Are they muffled or full of echos? (These experiences should also be shown in your drawings.)
4. Don’t tell us every mistake you have made along the way. Critics don’t need to hear that you accidentally cut the wood 2 cm too short. We are not reviewing your measuring skills. Chances are, we won’t even notice, and there is no reason for your project to appear less refined.
5. Be careful with the words you use to describe your concepts. Critics will expect you to have precise interpretations of their meanings, and the exact reasons behind why you have chosen to use them.
6. Bring notes. You will need them.
7. Stop repeating yourself. If you have forgotten what you have to say, or if you are trying to work out a question that a critic has asked you, it is acceptable to pause, recollect your thoughts and refer to your notes. Please don’t try to fill up the time by saying the same thing over and over. If a critic is confused by what you say, come up with an alternative explanation. Repeating the same sentence is not an effective way of getting someone to understand.
8. Demonstrate that you have fully thought out your ideas by not using words/phrases such as “like”, “kinda”, “and stuff like that”, “sort of”, etc. This is your project in its final form; there is no room for uncertainty and ambiguity.
9. Crits can be nerve-wracking, but be confident in the decisions you have made. This is your baby. You know how much time you have put into it. Show your critics that you have taken the time and effort to make your project what it is.

1. Pin your drawings up strategic to how you are going to explain your narrative and process. You should always think about them in relation to how you move in a crit space. Critics do not want to see you jumping back and forth between drawings. Start from one end, and work your way to the other side. You should have this planned out a day before you present at the latest.
2. Only pin up what is relevant to your finalized concept. If there are experiments or ideas you have explored that do not contribute to your final design, leave them aside, but close by.
3. Having your drawings fall down in the middle of a crit makes your presentation look unprofessional.  Secure all loose ends, use pins on all four corners of the paper, and make sure that the paper is on the wall as straight as possible. You are not at your Gr. 10 Science Fair. Instead, you are the curator of a gallery display. Make it look as neat and as inviting as possible.
4. If you are composing concept panels like I have seen in your previous crits, the ones with site photos and such, make sure those are also nicely organized and secured down on the board.
5. Have all the pushpins you need ahead of time. You don’t want to be scrounging around for them when there are 89 other people doing the same.
6. No Tape. If you must use tape, make sure that it is limited to the back of your drawing, and that none of your critics can see it.