Building Blocks of Life

On Wednesday, I watched the finale of Building Blocks of Life...the series was okay, a 3.75/5...Of course, I was intrigued by the theme of architecture. I thought the design studios were very true and I liked the connection but I don't think the architectural ideas were portrayed very well and accurately. Perhaps it is because of the difference in cultures, I'm being educated quite differently from the ideas that they are presenting. Because North American cities are facing issues with sprawl, we are 'into' the densification of our cities and generating vibrancy. In the series, they encouraged low density housing in the new developments of China (near HK) because they are incredibly dense in HK. However, I don't think that is a good long term solution because in NA we are experiencing many problems due to sprawl. Also, the human population is only going to get larger and so sprawling is not a solution. Instead, they should be developing smart superstructures that minimizes the impact on the environment and maintaining quality of life. That is kind of the theme of my studio this year (over population and saturation) so I'm kind of biased. It is a challenge that we will eventually face.

New Breath of Love - 'Sui Ngai Lum'

This is a painting by French Impressionist painter Renoir. I learned about him in my Visual Literacy class last year. The painting is called Irene Cahen d'Anvers AKA Little Irene. This oil on canvas painting was painted in 1880. According to New Breath of Love, the girl in the picture is Irene, an 8 year old daughter of a wealthy man who hired Renoir to paint a portrait of his daughter.

Jing Wei is Tsui Hoi's (Raymond) Sui Ngai Lum which translates into 'Little Irene' in English refering to this painting. This painting appears slightly different from the one shown on screen...probably because of some copyright issue, they couldn't use the real one...but who knows...

Laptop Decision....pretty close...

Seeing that I would dread hauling around a 16.4" screen. I'm really leaning towards the MAC Book Pro...Here is the run down...

• $1899.00 - Cost of Laptop
• $279.00 - Cost of Warranty
• $19.00 - Remote
• $124. 95 - Windows XP
• Optional ($44.95 - VMWARE Fusion)

Subtotals = $2321.95 ($2366.90)
After Taxes = $2600.58 ($2650.93)

• Free Ipod Touch - $319 value = $38.28 taxes
• Free Canon Printer - $100 value = $12.00 taxes

Grand Totals = $2650.86 ($2700.21)

I'm not going to spend the extra money to get Vista because rumour has it that MS will be releasing a new OS in the near future. I could use a new printer, the ink tanks are low (once again) on my current printer ($60 value) and though FS and BB has the Touch for only $279, I'm still saving a further $339...Subtract that from the grand total...and the laptop is only going to cost me $2311.86 (or $2064.16 before taxes).

So the price is acceptable but I'm still a little bit concerned about the processor because I know first hand that they aren't upgradeable...so I'll have to get someone's opinion on that...Chad on Friday? and perhaps the Computer guys at the store.

Course List

Fall 2008

• EVAR 3004 Arhcitectural Technology 1 (14843)
• EVAR 3008 Architecture Design Studio 1 (14844)
• EVAR 3014 Drawing: Freehand/Digital (15442)
• EVAR 4000 Modern Architectural History and Theory 1 (14854)

Winter 2009

• EVAR 3006 Architectural Technology 2 (24654)
• EVAR 3010 Architectural Design Studio 2 (24655)
• EVAR 4006 Modern Architectural History and Theory 2 (24659)
• Elective - EVDS 3250 Advanced Computing in Environmental Design (20694)
• Elective - EVDS 3740 Introduction to AutoCAD (20695)

"Designers" of Drama

It seems like the design career has made an appearance in many TV series lately...I can name three off the top of my head...

• (TVB) The Seventh Day - Kevin Cheng plays an interior designer
• (TVB) The Green Grass of Home - Christine Ng plays an interior designer
• (ATV) If the Moon had Eyes - Some guy (a lead) is an architect

It nice to see that the career of my choice (studying architecture) is getting so much publicity and it is something I can relate to at another level when I'm watching them. Designers have been featured as positive characters in these recent series but many years ago I've noticed that designers were given a bad image, perhaps they were stereotypically self-centered or homosexual....after a year of design school, of course that is isn't true...designers must meet the needs of the client and the budget making it a very challenging career.