S9E01

Weeks just dashed through since the last time I updated my blog (months actually), and it's now Fall and October already. I've been surrounding myself with new people and busy schedule just so I don't think too much. Here to share some of my exciting grad school moments, nothing too fancy though compares to last year in Barcelona..

Design Studio TA

Being a studio TA is definitely the best part of grad school so far. I take this job very seriously since I know the impact a TA can have to his/her students. This is my first 'official' teaching experience so I still make mistakes from time to time. I tried out some of the student's assignments on my own just so I know exactly what to teach them and not merely giving criticism. Being a teacher makes you a better student, and vice versa. 

Inviting grad students to review my students' works

Inviting grad students to critique my students' works

Students documenting their projects

SOFA CONNECT

SOFA is an elective class I picked this semester. It's a project collaboration with other art & design students to design and build a seating area at an art expo in Chicago. The whole project divided up into floor, lighting, and seating groups. Here are some pictures of prototyping. 

Grad School studio

I picked the aviation school studio this semester since the topic is quite unique. The project is essentially designing a school plus an aircraft hangar. My goal is to learn technical design strategies and sustainable design methods. We visited the university's Willard Airport in Champaign for the site as well as talked to the staff about design concerns. I have been trying to minimize the use of computer programming for designing and instead using traditional hand-sketching and physical modeling methods. 

3D Printing

Editing floor plan

Designing with perspective

We also been doing some interesting stuff in structure class this semester. We've been exploring deploy-able structure in teams. There's a gif below showing how the structure expands. 

via GIPHY