[9.30.08]

Here we are, rapidly approaching October working full force on our site model. [Pictures of our progress will be posted tomorrow] I think all of us wish that we were a little further along than what we are, but it seems as if that is how it always is. We took shifts and spent time all weekend in the model shop cutting out the contours to glue them down to the model's base. Candice and Katie worked hard on the houses; I believe they are finished painting them. This is going to be a very exciting 2.5 weeks; we should have the contours glued down and be building the neighborhoods and retail centers by then. Here are some pictures of us hard at work. Look at the pile of houses on the desk! We should have put them all in a jar and had a contest to see who could guess the right number of houses. They could win a prize, like the day off, or something. Man those contours get confusing if you stare at them for too long, look at our faces. You can see it in our eyes! Just kidding. It does get confusing if you stare at it for long enough though. Anyway, it is going to be very cool when it is all said and done, but until then all we can do is work our butts off. Later!

[9.22.08]

The order of our mat board arrived on Friday [9.19.08], and the day went downhill from there. When the box was opened, and some of the students saw that the boards were green instead of the originally decided cream color, hostility overcame the studio. The order was placed while a few students were sent to the model shop by Dr. Bozorgi to cut out houses to see which colored houses would look better next to cream colored mat board; while these students were gone, the idea to use green mat board was decided, and the students at the model shop were left under the impression that the color of the site contours were going to be cream colored. After much debate both Friday and Monday afternoon, it was decided; our site model will be green. Dr. Bozorgi was very truthful when he stated, "using a color like this [green] will present us with a great challenge throughout the project", so we will ALL willingly put our complete faith in the design capabilities of this diverse group of 9 students, and come out with one bad-ass model! Later.

[9.09.08]

Here we are, second week of school, and the model size has been established; it is going to have an impressive 12' by 15' dimension, and will cover approximately 6 square miles of the City of Norman. We have a lot of work to do. Here is a picture of us at Copeland's making some executive decisions on the color scheme of the model.

First Week of Class

Our first week of Studio is over now, and we have reached a very exciting point already. After all the fussing and fighting was resolved over the amount of Studio space that was available, we were able to actually begin our capstone project under the direction of Dr. Khosrow Bozorgi. Throughout the first week of class, we were focusing on a site along the I-35 corridor, extending south from Indian Hills Road to Robinson Avenue. We were trying to become excited about this project after meeting with a few individuals from Norman's planning department, but it wasn't until Friday when we became very excited about this capstone project. Bozorgi gathered us on campus to view a presentation on our project. The table was turned as he easily persuaded us to focus on our new site. A plot of land that is south of Lindsey and I-35, extending radially from the Canadian River in both directions. This site is very dynamic, and has an abundance of potential for a group of young, ambitious designers such as the ones comprising our studio. Here are just a few pictures to illustrate all of the excitement. More to come later!