Here are your Questions for this week....please answer them, this includes all of you (Will, Jason...i am missing the answers from last week for you...see week two)
1.please check out www.greenclips.com and tell me what green clips is....what service does it provide?how can it be helpful to us?
you can also try www.greendesign.net/greenclips-info.html.
2.The Environmental Building News (EBN) seeks to report on under-reported, environmental topics in the building industry. Check out their website
www.buildingGreen.com and tell me some of the issues they report on.
3.If 90 precent of a building's enviornmental impacts are determined by the design, and the builder does not have much leverage to change the design.....
what does this imply about the construction of a GreenBuilding? What can the architects do to improve the "green" design? What can builders do to ecologically construct a green building from that design?
4. extra credit!!!! yeepie!
who can tell me what the effects are of wood treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA)?What are they?
5.Who can meet me Wednesday the 6th after school? I would like this to be our group meeting so we can discuss some things together. Does 4 pm sound ok? Hope so, it wont be long, but it is important.
****we will remain at our same intern locations for the first week of November!!!
***thanks Will and Diana for your support with the Rally in DC!
Today, Jason and I began working on the Girls Club model building. We basically, used the 1/8 scale to draw on the board
and made 40 boxes of the cardboard/posterboard material we'll be using for the model, and began cutting the boxes up with an exacto-knife. And boy are those things sharp! Jason accidently cut himself. But it wasn't so bad. We haven't finished the model, but it's fun, and not as easy as it look so far. Well, that's all.
On tuesday at the office, Jason, Christa and I, discussed about a small, short-term project that we have been assigned to.
The assignment is to, build a model of the Girls Club building. The model will be divided by the lots of the land that is owned by the Girls Club. The model will be used for, playing around with positions and locations of the Girls Club office building, and the I.C.E. building.
On thursday, we did a workshop session, where Christa explained in detail what Zoning is, and why it was created. Also, she explained what setbacks are, and why they are so important, and explained what drawing to scale means, and demonstrated how architects use scaling all the time; among other things.
Zoning: Zoning was made to keep the city of New York apropriate. To maintain the height of the buildings, relatively, in the same ball park For example, it is illegal to build a 75 story buildings in a neighborhood where only brownstones and 2 story homes exist. Becuase of the reason that, it would'nt look right (seem unbalanced) and because it would most likely block out the sunlight or air (in the area) from circulating through that small region.
*How this effects the Girls Club*= The GC is allowed to construct the building without having the height regulations being so strict, because it is a public/community facility.
Setbacks: Setbacks are part of zoning. The purpose of have "setback laws" is so that, again, a certain building will not block sunlight or air, from passing through the area. (I know it sounds like I'm repeating myself...) For example, (I am quoting Christa on this example) If you go downtown and look around wall street, you will notice that there are these big and tall buildings that make the street seem narrow, and like an alley-way. Wall street looks this way, mainly because there were no setback regualtions when these buildings were built. So, these buildings often block sunlight and air movement in those grounds, because they were all build on a perfect horizontal line on the street.
Using Scales (drawing to scale): "A system of ordered marks at fixed intervals used as a reference standard in measurement: a ruler with scales in inches and centimeters." O.K., so architects often use scaling to minimize the measurment of units, into smaller unit terms. Basically shrinking actual measurements, so it can fit on paper. Example: If you want to draw the first story of a house on paper, you can't draw it to size because the paper would be just too big, so, you can shrink the square feet into smaller units, so it can be drawn on paper.
Last week I missed a day at the office to go to a meeting to organiza the girls club and ICE to go on a trip to Wash, to march against the war on Iraq. Only thing was the meeting was on Tues. So it was like a one on one thing with this lady name Sharon. At first the tickects were $25-$30 but we ended up wil $5 ticket which is amazing!! (thanks Zack,sharon,jennifer) This week i've been doing same stuff making calls to follow up on stuff, reading a lot of contractsand demands from people to get a sence of what the builders do. Also me and Will made a lot of copies and organziaed like 11 folders but i'm not sure what they were for i assume for Eric and his office.
The DDC is a group run by NYC who makes up the guildelines to building any public facility. These guildelines identify the buildings actions ans the cost and effect.
During the first week at A&F, I made copies of the Project Estimates that Carly and I put together during the summer. The Project Estimates are a rough estimate of everything in the building including prices of installing the pool, and laying down the bathrooms, classrooms, etc.
I had to make two copies, one for the Girls Club and one for the project manager. These books will help to give general idea about how much the building will cost and a breakdown of that cost. From this, the Girls Club will know how much money it will need to fundraise in order to get the building built.
During the second week, I organized files for the Bridgeport project, which is another project that A&F is working on. I used a label maker to print out labels for folders and organize the print-outs that Eric gave me.
During the third week, I was making more photocopies and organizing those photocopies into labeled files. Each folder had 14 deviders and each photocopy Diana and I made went inbetween different deviders.
ok. so it is friday. and noone has posted responses to my questions. please do so soon.
thanks,
jennifer
Thank you Jason, Norma, and Diana for you updates. Thank you for your summaries and thoughtful answers to the questions. I am impressed. Will....i did not see your entries.....where have you been. could you please update me with a summary of your two weeks of work!!!(ps. this is a part of your pay check)
Questions for week 2. Please answer all questions and post responses by Friday. Also, write and post a summary of your week at work.
1.What is the DDC (New York City Department of Design and Construction)...in your own words?
I am aware that this is the city's primary design and construction agency, that expends close to 900 millionper year on capital improvements to city facilities.
2.What is the DDC's High Performance Building Program? What are thier High Performance demonstrations? and what are they used for?
3. What are under-perfroming buildings? How are they wasteful? Give me one example of one.
4. In 1999, the DDC published High Performance Buliding guildelines, in a manuel. This manuel estabilishes common sense targets for building performance and the necessary tools, references, and technical means to achieve these objectives? What do Christa and Eric know about the DDC and this manual?
5. what are some of the people you are working at Eric's office (diana, will) what are they doing? what are their names?
(norma, Jason) what are people doing in Christa's office? what are their names? who are you working with?
6. you can check out www.ci.nyc.ny.us/buildnyc (this will help a lot with your answers).
7. dont forget about your summaries
8. email me gala@girlsclub.org with questions.
9. i look forward to seeing will and diana at the rally on Saturday!
Well i'm back working in the buliders office with Eric. I'm working with Will and so far so good! One my first day Eric had me call Marggie Harris and as her if she okayed our fax. So i had to be very grown up and not laugh which was hard but I think I did good! Will was stuck doing a lot of coping but he didn't seem to mind. I got to meet every one who works inthe office and they all seem so nice. Next was I got to write up a cover page and fix up a packet I needed to send Lyn for her to sign. The next day I went in I was taught to answer the phones, which by the way isn't so easy! Then Eric gave me so require ments to look over and make a table of contents about it. Which was a little hard because the words were in like some code! but it's been fun so far and I look forward to the next few weeks.
The main idea of the article was to show how ecological materials are better for the environment. Even though many of the materials normally used are cheaper, they still continue to pollute the evironment. The article is saying that ecologically sound materials are last longer than cheaper materials, they are also better for the environment.
thanks Jason!
which article did you read and who wrote it? next time be sure to include this information in the summary next time. why do the eco materials last longer? why is it worth it to pay more for them? for example with the girls club...we dont have much money, why would we want to spend more.
I found some websites in the book, "Sustainable Architecture", and this is what I found.
The first website I visited, was www.solardesign.com. Solar design associates (SDA), is a company (found by Steven J. Strong), that create "renewable energy systems", that are adaptable to schools, homes, and all kinds of buildings. What interested me from the Solar design associates, is that the firm is "qualified to support" the Girls Club; by consulting with us on the design of the GC building; regarding how we can conserve electric energy.
good research norma. what would be the consulting costs for the solar design associates to consult for the girls club? would it be worth it?
Jennifer
1) The Architects have to work very hard. They have to meet the needs of all the rooms. They have to comply with legal codes to meet city standards . Wheel chair acessibility is a must in all architectual endeavors. When you design a building you cannot fit the needs of everyone, you just have to do best you can.
2)They have drawn the drawings for the EDC, so that thy could at least get the building site. Now that they have the base for designing the building, they have to align everything.
3) They have not been spending a lot time on it , but once they get working, it will be a 100 hours a week. The work right now is very sparatic.
4) She is in charge of the girl's club project. She has a five year bachelor degree in architecture. She has worked 10 years to pay for her education. She has taken 7 exams and has to take to more exams.
5) There office combines all parts of architecture, as opposed to being segregated. It is also pretty laid back. You learn hw to deal with customers better, because they deal with clients more.
On thursday (October 10) Jason and I went to the Architects office to work with Christa. The first thing we did, was, the three of us sat in the conference room, Christa introduced herself to Jason, who is the new intern-taking Sylvan's place. Christa went down the list of questions (that were e-mailed to us) answering them, in detail. Unfortunately, there was not any work available for us to do, so we just spoke about what we want to see happen with this project, what we are specifically interested in learning from this job, and she told us about herself and how she got to where she is now, in her architecture career. In the future, we will be busy, filing stuff, and helping her out with whatever she needs help in.
1. What are some of the roles and responsibilities of the architect in the process of building the Girls Club?
To program spaces. To design the building so that it works esthetically and structurally. To plan the building in a way that can fulfill The Girls Club needs regarding space wise, and to make sure that they (the architects) comply with building codes. Also, to try to please everyone’s artistic taste; even though it is impossible to please everyone.
2. What has the architecture office done so far in creating plans for the Girls Club?
Created quick plans for EDC, for site. To make revisions on drawings- multiple drafts of building plans. Basically, they have created a draft plan of the building, and a model of the building.
3. How much time does the Girls Club building effort take up for the architects. (How often do they work on plans for the building?)
Currently, the architects have not been working on the Girls Club building project; sporadic. However, the schedule that will be followed by to work on the project in the future is, to have three people work on it, 100 hours per week. The reason that the architects have not worked on the project so far, is because the process of waiting for permission from the people who make building codes; mainly waiting on “preliminary stuff” to be settled.
4. What is Christa's role? Ask her a little bit about her education. What has she done to make it this far, what steps has she taken to be an architect?
Craig and Christa are in charge of The Girls Club building project. Christa has a five years bachelor degree in architecture, which she earned at the Pratt Institute. Overall, it took 10 years from start to finish in school to get to where she stands in the architecture realm. However, she is not finished with all the requirements. She has two more exams to pass, in order to earn the legal right to call herself an architect.
5. What is the architect's office like? How is it different from other offices?
Other firms are not as “laid back” as this firm. This firm makes the workplace more comfortable. Other firms are “segregated”. They divide the people by what their jobs are. The people who work in the Cutso George and Tooman firm share the work. All the workers “do a little bit of everything”; they all deal with contractors and clients, learn how to draw to specification, how construction job runs and they all do different things. Sharing the different jobs, helps each individual gain a better understanding of how everything works. By experiencing different tasks, they get to understand architecture to another level because they are familiar with the whole area of it.
I hope everyone's first day at your respective sites went well. I am interested in hearing what you are working on. Eric told me that you had a good first day, Will and Diana. I hope the same is true for Norma and Jason.
I would like you all to stop by the office this week, preferably Wednesday after school. Let me know when you want to come. I just want to talk about the upcoming project.
You can email me too at gala@girlsclub.org.
thank you,
jennifer