DAY 3

I shall use Helvetica for this post, in honor of Mr. De Jarnett.

Today I visited Gregg Abel Construction, Inc., in Laguna Beach. 

8:30 AM - Arrive at the Office

Alright. front view. 

Took a deep breath and opened the door.

Prior to my visit, I had heard a bit about the Abel houses, the distinct style, known as Arts and Crafts (see :http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arts_and_Crafts_movement) and meticulous attention to detail. As soon as I entered the office I was greeted by Mr. Abel himself, who introduced me to Rand, Scott, and Zade. 

The office. 
Notice that there are no cubicles or walls separating each person's desk. I think this sort of continuity and openness is a unique feature of a small, family-owned firm. Mr. Abel on the left, Zade on the right.

Some more paparazzi pictures.
Mr. Abel on the phone,
Rand at the drafting table,
and Scott on the computer.

We began with a brief introduction to the firm. The Abel family follows a long lineage of artists and craftsman (there are currently 12 practicing artists in his family, ranging from woodcarvers to glassworkers, painters, to potters). Long story short, his father, Chris Abel (we'll go by first-name basis from now; too many Mr. Abels to count) was an architect in Laguna, and he taught both Gregg and Rand drafting and construction. Architecture remains a family business, as Gregg's son is currently helping out with the construction  process. In addition, other members of his family- his wife, sister, uncle, son-in-law, (and so on) all contribute one way or another.






8:30 AM - Workplace Tutorial

Some construction drawings. Most of them are hand-drawn, old school style. 
(Please excuse the poorly executed blurring...)

There are many unique aspects to this firm, but one that stands out is the insistence on hand-drafting and sketching. Both Gregg and Rand learned to draft under Chris Abel... and I really think that touch of the hand gives character and personality to the design that no computer-generated image can imitate. God, I love these drawings. They really are works of art all on their own. I would frame them and hang them up on my wall if I could. 

The two gave me a brief run-down of how the design process works in the office. All the initial design sketches and most of the construction drawings and details are done by hand. These are then scanned onto a disk for archiving purposes. I will not go into too much detail about the design>review>permit process, just so that I might I have a life other than blogging and not bore the disinterested.

Computer rendering.  Most firms use AutoCAD and Revit to render their designs, but  the family uses ArchiCAD (11 or 12? something like that) to generate 3-D models. Scott, who is in charge of 3-D modeling, explained that they chose ArchiCAD over the programs mentioned above because it gave more autonomy to the user, and it was more compatible with the hand-drawn designs. 

One more thing about old school architecture practices: the archive! I think this provides a nice contrast to Tuesday's visit.  There were rows of cabinets for storing full and half size prints, sketches, materials, everything. In accordance with the digital age, all drawings and sketches are scanned and saved on a disk; however, keeping hard copies of all projects is a practice that is (sadly, but happily for the environment?) dying away.

        

 9:30-10:00 AM: City Hall

I followed Mr. Abel to the Laguna Beach city hall, where he had to get some paperwork done. Rand had warned me when we left the office, "Just lettin' ya know, Gregg knows everybody in town." ... And he was right. I think I said hello to about fifty people while I was there. Plus fifty more when I visited the construction site.

10:00-11:30 AM: Construction Site Visits


Once out of the city hall we got in the car to visit some current construction sites. Not much explanation necessary; here are some pictures:

Roof details... characteristic of the Arts and Crafts style

So basically your generic dream backyard

Ms. O...  So guess where I was? *wink wink*

Amazing view. Nothing more to say.

Example of a paper mock-up. To make sure that the clients are
happy with the design, Mr. Abel likes to have lifesize mock-up
structures made of paper and plywood to give a sense of size and dimension. 

Plywood mock-up of the countertop

The tiles, glass, and many other details in the
designs are hand-made by local artists. A fresh
change from the cookie-cutter houses in Irvine...

Mr. Abel's son carved the wooden
detail above the fireplace.

Wood taken out of the old design. Mr. Abel explained that he
is trying to reuse the old materials as much as possible.

Another Gregg Abel House

A Chris Abel house! Notice the very modern design?
The signature look of a Chris Abel house.
You can see his works all around Laguna.

11:30AM-12:30PM: Lunch at Lumberyard

 

A lumberyard-turned-restaurant in Laguna. I had lunch here with Mr. Abel and the everybody at the office. Both Mr. Abel and his father were involved in renovating the interior of this building (they couldn't touch the exterior because it's considered a historic site... but then it's really beautiful as it is). For some reason, for all these years I've explored around Laguna Beach, I have never been to this restaurant. If you haven't been here yet, GO. The design is awesome. I'd like to come again just to explore all the niches and details. Oh yes, and the food is AMAZING. 

Pretty chimney. I just love the brick pattern!

The inner designer in me is cringing at the terrible layout of these pictures... Blogger isn't very friendly about custom size images. Ugh

Me being the person I am, I still can't drive on my own... (TWO more months until I can take the behind-the-wheel exam!) I took this picture in front of the fire station by myself while I was waiting for my dad. Only two people gave me a weird look.


I had a blast today. Thank you Mr. Abel, Rand, Scott, Zeda, and Sandra for having me!

DAY 2

Hello all. So here it is, Day 2!

Around 9 AM I checked in with Ms. Okamura at Sage. We talked over what I've accomplished during the last few days and of my plans for the next few days. Afterwards I went to the school library to turn in my overdue books (Latin Real Book and The Jazz Theory Book, both overdue about a year.... shhh....)

I had an appointment scheduled at 10 AM with Ms. Shank (The COO of the school) regarding my DiscoverDesign project. I entered a design competition, hosted by the Chicago Architecture Foundation, for high school students a few weeks ago. The objective was to redesign my school cafeteria to improve efficiency, food quality, and sustainability. You can check out my entry here: http://discoverdesign.org/design/gallery/1793#overview
Anyhow, the biggest issue that students complain about the cafeteria is the speed of traffic flow within the cafeteria. This issue had been addressed to the administration several times, and it was also a theme that I tried to tackle in this project, so we tried to see if any of my solutions and ideas could actually be put in place. Long story short, two strongly possible improvements are: 1) Adding another door next to the current entrance/exit so that there is a clear route of entry and egress, and 2) Moving the cashiers away from the wall to allow each cashier to serve two lanes, and to alleviate congestion. You can read more about my project on the link above.

Afterwards Ms. Shank offered me to work with her on other architecture/construction-related projects on campus. My response was... "Do you need to ask?" I'm hoping that I get to be part of the design process of the new science building... or really any other projects on campus. We'll see!



At 11:30 AM, I headed toward Los Angeles with my dad. On our way there we stopped at a Chinese restaurant for lunch, and continued to the Carlson-Reges House, where the final review session for a Cal Poly Pomona Urban Design studio was to take place. Mr. De Jarnett (still now it bothers me. Is it De Jarnett or de Jarnett? I've seen it both ways in his electronic signatures, and my utter lack of understanding in French doesn't help much. Ugh.. I should have asked him), to whom I was introduced by Ms. Okamura, had invited me to attend part of the critique and maybe have a little chat afterwards. I arrived at the house at 1:30pm.

The house itself was beautiful; it sort of reminded me of those quaint little galleries I used to peek in with my mom back when I was in Seoul.  I was fortunate enough to be present when the architect who designed the house, Michael  Rotondi (left), came to talk a little about the house and to critique some of the students’ works.

The interesting thing about the design of the house was its improvisational aspect. Mr. Rotondi explained that he intentionally left his design incomplete, so that he could develop the design in a forward, additive manner. He compared the process to “how a child might build a house,” beginning with a basic structure and continuously adding on pieces.  The result is a very raw-looking structure, with beams showing everywhere. He also mentioned that almost all the materials used in the project were recycled from the excess left from building high-rise buildings and whatnot. Very interesting... Sadly a similar approach to building would be near-impossible, considering that this is now (technically still private but) a public facility and the ADA standards and codes are much stricter now. Here are some more pretty pictures for your enjoyment:

"Only 8 people up on pool deck at one time." 

For some reason I found this to be hilarious.

Some pictures from up the deck:

The review itself: when I walked into the main gallery area I could see rows and rows of garden chairs, sitting in them stressed and sleep-deprived 4^th year architecture and landscape design students. In the very front row sat a panel of juries—architects, professors, you get the idea. Also set up in the front were a projector and benches and frames for models. Mr. De Jarnett had been there sine 12 pm, reviewing these students' projects. I sat in the third row from the front, stage left.

Some pictures of the models the students built:

Before settling down to watch the critiques I went outside in the garden area to talk to the students about their project. All students in the studio were either 4th year architecture or landscape majors. In a nutshell, the area of LA with zip code 90031 was divided into 9 sections. Each group, consisting of two architects and two landscape designers, was assigned to a section. The objective was to improve the area in one way or another. From the conversation I sort of picked up that this critique session is somewhat equivalent to a final exam for their project. 

Above are ome pictures of the presentations. It was interesting to watch a formal, college-level critique, especially when I had just gone through a similar process that morning with Ms. Shank. I learned the importance of concise and articulate communication. Each group was given five minutes (FIVE minutes!) to present their work and ten-twenty minutes to receive feedback from the jury. As you can imagine, this is quite a challenge, especially when the presentation is on such a macro-scale project. None of the groups could finish their presentation in the given time (there was a professor in the back who kept motioning to his students to move quickly through the slides), but nevertheless I think I learned much about the importance of being able to communicate to a disinterested audience quickly and effectively.

(Yup. Sleepy architecture students.)

Well, because every group took more than five minutes to present their work and the critique of the jury ended up taking more than twenty minutes each, the schedule kept running behind and I was not able to talk to Mr. De Jarnett until almost 4. I had previously talked to him over the phone about going into the field, choosing colleges, etc., but this was the first time we met in person. I would like to thank him for so kindly inviting me to the critique and sharing his story and knowledge with me. 

We sat down in the back yard of the house and talked for about an hour. We began with his story of becoming an architect, how he began as a fine arts major and then attended the M. Arch program. 

Since then he has both worked as an architect and taught at several universities. His background story in architecture was somewhat similar to mine. Neither of us had a family member who was involved in the field, and yet we decided to take on that path. We had previously talked at length about colleges and degree paths, so that wasn't as big of a part in our conversation. 

Mr. De Jarnett pointed out that his experience in the fine arts undergraduate program helped him immensely with his M. Arch degree. This emphasized once again the fact that there really isn't a "correct" path to anything. After talking to many counselors, college representatives, architects, and researching on my own, I decided that B. Arch is a degree path most compatible with my current goals and interests (a decision that Mr. De Jarnett also agreed with). His story, however, reminded me the importance of wide range in one's experiences. Architecture is an interdisciplinary field; moreover, life is an interdisciplinary field. I realized the danger of having a tunnel-vision, as Eddie told me last Saturday. So one lesson to take away was to not be afraid to explore other fields, and to not lock myself away in a single field. 

I took my portfolio with me juuust in case I get a chance to have it reviewed... and I did! Mr. De Jarnett was happy to take a look and give me some feedback. Some tips he had were:

1. Find a good typeface... ideally other than Helvetica, even though that is probably impossible.

2. Pay attention to the design and layout.

3. Never, NEVER use graphic design to "fancy up" the portfolio with fancy layout/background design; just    show them what you have.

4. Don't put too many things on one page; "White space is your friend." (that's verbatim)
5. Try to have everything in the same orientation (landscape or portrait)... Ideally portrait.
6. Consider the ease of use. There is no need to put fancy, outrageously shaped covers on the book.
7. Refer to some books about book design. (Google Ellen Lupton)

In addition, he pointed out which pieces in my portfolio are "essential" to include in admission, and which ones I should consider taking out. Overall I think that was the kind of feedback I needed.

Lastly, I would like to finish with something he said today that resonated with me:

"School is a place to fail."

I think it's very important to realize this. So many of us high school students become caught up in "success" that we forget the value of failure. School is probably the safest place in the world to make mistakes. In a sense that's logical,  because we learn most from our failures. This is a philosophy that I would like to take with me for the rest of my high school years and college. My dad and I ended up having a nice discussion about this on our drive home (what else do you do in rush-hour traffic?), and we both agreed that the sentence was true.

Without a doubt there were many mistakes, or at least things I could have improved on even in my preparation for Spring at Sage and my first office visit yesterday. I hope I will improve on the mistakes I made the first time and make an even better experience out of my day tomorrow. 8:30AM, Mr. Gregg Abel's office. See you tomorrow!