Febuary Extra Blog

(At my Mentor Kent's work getting ready for the Spotlight Event)

 



(This is the room where we signed in and got our name tags before we all met in the dinning hall for the event.)

 

(This photo was taken in the dinning room when our guest speaker The President of MetroLink was giving his speech.) 

 

This ACE event was very exciting, fun, and important occasion for ACE since it was a fundraising event, in which sponsors could see the progress of the program. This year the Pasadena Team (hint: our team) had been chosen to  represent the ACE program; our team’s lead mentor Kent Kaewwaen had to pick students that best represented ACE through their personal experience, and well-rounded view on the program’s purpose. Kent had chosen: Angelina, Antonio, and I, each one of had to focus of speech on certain events, projects, or activities that we learned from ACE. This event was very honoring and exciting for me since I was able to see how my mentor Kent had grown from also being in the ACE program during high school to becoming an accredited Structural Engineer and an ACE mentor for other students. Mainly I focused my speech on projects and how I have witnessed my peers, mentors, and I grow and learn from each other’s viewpoints, ideas, questions, and knowledge over the year. This event had also shown me the importance of networking, since this event is also to provide engineer, architecture, and contracting firms a wider range of contacts. One of the many highlights of the night was getting an opportunity to intern at the company called MetroLink by the President. As well as being able to talk to the President about how he started from a bus driver of MetroLink to becoming the President of the Los Angeles County MetroLink. Overall I had learned the importance of networking and thankful for the opportunity to represent the ACE program.

(Students chosen to represent ACE: Angelina and Antonio)

Blog 16: Advisory Meeting 2

EQ: What is the best way for an architect to incorporate natural surroundings in a building design?

Answer #2: The best way for an architect to incorporate natural surroundings into a building design is by observing natural surroundings in your environment and taking your observations to apply to a building design through its form or structure, this process is widely known as Biomorphic Architect. Through your observations you can also take from what you learned in nature and apply it to make more efficient solutions to design problems, or known as Biomimicry.

Support 1: Biomimicry is the study in which innovation is inspired by nature. The purpose of Biomimicry is to solve man-made problems in a sustainable manner through the study of nature's processes and patterns. We can look at the structure of a pine cone can used as a model for low-energy temperature and moisture control system on the outer structure of the building; in the pine the process of a self regulated temperature is maintained through the use of opening and closing based the pine cone's sense of moisture content in its environment.

Support 2: The idea of how biomorphic architecture incorporates nature into its design is through form and structure. In this instance an architect would analyze nature and observe the structural form of a plant and by using columns that branch out like a tree, this concept can be seen in Sagrada Família church by the organic architect: Antoni Gaudí.

Support 3: These two philosophies are not the literal aspect of incorporating nature into your design but rather the forms, pattern, structures, and processes of nature and how it can serve the purpose of being aesthetically pleasing or serve as a design solution.

Source: Pawlyn, Michael. Biomimicry in Architecture. RIBA Publishing, 2011. Print.

Concluding Sentence: The best way to incorporate nature is through the design philosophy of Biomimicry and Biomorphic Architecture.

Blog 15: Component 2 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• For my thirty hours I still plan to use the Design and Construction Committee for my Independent Component hours. Although I do need to find other resources that will allow me to further my topic more in depth.
• To further my research I happened to ask one of the Architects on the Design and Construction Committee for Habitat if he would recommend me to any eco-architecture programs. He had referred me to look on the AIA website (American Institute of Architects,) which will help me find a list of programs involved with sustainable designs.
• In addition I would also like to visit certain organic designs and take a tour. My mentor Rachel had referred me to a building called the Audubon Center (is an off the grid site meaning they recycle their own water, produce their own energy, etc.) On this trips I will document certain organic details in each design that protein to my senior topic.
• In addition I would like to apply my research on organic architecture by designing buildings that incorporate nature into their design on the drafting program called sketch-up.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectations of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• For my 30 hour evidence I will continuously take pictures of occurring activities with Habitat for Humanity Design and Construction Committee. As well as take notes of events that occurred during meetings; in addition to collecting any documents that show proof of any particular committee meeting. Including screen-shots or pictures of sketch-up designs of my own applied organic architecture from research.

3. And explain how or what you will be doing will help you explore your topic more in depth.

• Working hands on in a program that is an eco-friendly architecture firm would be a great hands on experience for me; since one of my answers for incorporating nature into a design is by establishing a sustainable building.
• For the Design and Construction Committee I did get a chance to introduce myself to the leading Architect, Tom working on Pomona Valley Habitat's first Eco-Design. On the next meeting I will get to see first hand the design solutions for the green build, and discuss with him on how he went about finalizing his design solutions.
• By visualizing real organic designs, it will help me establish a full design perspective on detailed organic features, rather than simply look up designs through a computer screen. On these trips I will sketch up certain building elements that help me to analysis minute details. I will document what elements make this design organic and what elements do not fall under organic.
• By using the drafting program Sketch-up it will allow me to take my applied knowledge from my research and establish a model answer to my senior project. My three answers for incorporating nature into a design is by preserving the pre-existing site, observing and learning from nature, and eco-architecture. For each of these answers I will produce a design that fits specifically under each answer.

Blog 14: Independent Component 1

Literal:

• "I, Cheyenne Capener, affirm that I have completed my Independent Component which represents 30 hours of my work."

• Cite your source regarding who or what article or book helped you complete the independent component.
• 2013 California Building Code. ICC: 2013. Print.

• Explanation of what you completed. 
• What I completed in the Design and Construction Committee was providing the committee with current information on up coming or current Habitat events. In addition I as well helped compile information for the Design and Construction Committee by note taking and presenting my found information on the City of Walnut's: room additions/remodeling and subdivisions: tentative tract/parcel maps to the CEO of Habitat for Humanity Jody; so that she make overlook my work and then submit the information to the assigned architect for the upcoming Green Build in the City of Walnut.
• For my mentorship hours at ACE mentorship we have been currently working on a end of the year ACE competition design. Since we are the Pasadena Team our group was assigned to design a movie theater. Currently we have completed the floor design appropriately to a 1/16 scale to 1'. In addition we started to cover the interior design of each theater and how it might be layout and detailed. More recently we have constructed a mass model which is a quick 3-D architectural model showing the mass of our design. Once we get past the basic structural design we'll head into the structural, electrical, and air ducts components of our design; only after can we architectural detail our design using materials, etc. In the architectural detailing I am pushing for a more eco-friendly design as well as incorporating more nature into our design as well. Since I am thinking that one possible answer into incorporating nature into a design can be through the use of eco-friendly design plans, which I will be pushing/persuading my team members into seeing the benefits of the designing in and around nature.   

Interpretive:

• Defend your work and explain how the significant parts of your component and how it demonstrates 30 hours of work.   Provide evidence (photos, transcript, art work, videos, etc) of the 30 hours of work.  
• What I am working on in my Independent Component from ACE mentorship demonstrates 30 hours of work, due to the fact that the project we are currently working on is a finished product of what we have learner over the past semester and a half. To explain this more in depth what we learned in scale, elevations, practical use of the design, and green design codes, we have all applied what we know to our current design by thinking through the design in a practical manner.

(This was my group and I cutting out the roof layout for our 3-D model, while using an exacto knife. At first many of my team members were scared to use the exacto knife because their fear of messing up the only roof layout copy. So in the end I wined up going first.)

(This picture is our land plot that we will be using on sketch-up for our theater design.)

(This picture is our finished product of our mass model.)

(This is a picture of the conference room that the Design and Construction Meeting meets in.)

(This is our Board Meeting Papers that discuss what our agenda is for that particular meeting and when our next meeting is coming up.)

(These are the Requirements for the City of Walnut packets that I was requested to read and report my information.)

 



• For my meeting with the Design and Construction Committee with Habitat I have learned a great deal from the CEO of HFH since she has told me what it takes in order for a habitat build or any build to be a certified green design. Furthermore the process of green design is accounted for in points by how much eco-friendly materials are incorporated. By that standard your build is further inspected by a green rater who will analysis your building and give your building's certification: as either gold, silver, bronze (gold being the highest and bronze being the lowest.)

Applied:

• Independent component helped me understand my senior topic more by educating in the process of getting an accredited green design. As I said above I would like to consider green-design as a possible answer for incorporating nature into my design by establish a sustainable design. One particular time I could remember learning a more in depth view on green design was during ACE mentorship when we went to a engineer firm called TTG. This particular company was working on becoming more sustainable with its design process, and had in the past engineered a few gold plated buildings in green design. Specifically this gold certified green design was on a community college police station up north, and this company wanted to emphasize their renewable way of thinking. The process to integrate green design into your firm is through a process of re-teaching your staff on the current design stasis of how to earn points for your green design.

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Approval

1. Describe in detail what you plan to do for your 30 hours.

• In addition to my hours with the Design and Construction Committee with the organization Habitat for Humanity, I will be also contributed my hours from my mentorship onto my independent component hours. So for my mentorship hours at ACE, we will this year be compiling an end of the year project in which we as a group will design a required design for a movie theater. In our meetings over the course of a few months we will be establishing floor plans, learning how to use the scale system, creating a to scale 3-D model, using how to use drafting programs to graphically design the building's layout, and presenting our model to other ACE teams as well as a corresponding audience.

2. Discuss how or what you will do to meet the expectation of showing 30 hours of evidence.

• In order to prove I have completed my thirty hours I will continuously take photos to keep up dated on my progress. I will also take notes during each meeting, of important notations that apply to ACE end of the year project or any details associated with my essential question. In addition, I would also like to use art work as evidence to show progress in my design theory and also create designs of my own by using the designs I am exposed to during our mentor meetings.

3. And explain how what you will be doing will help you explore your topic in more depth.

• Once the our ACE team gets more in depth with the architectural design of the movie theater, we can implicated more nature and eco-friendly design. This usually comes after the floor planes and the structural planes of the building, and then I can suggest more integrative design methods that would promote a more natural earthy tone of nature that is as well eco-friendly. Since I am thinking that one possible answer into incorporating nature into a design can be through the use of eco-friendly design plans, which I will be pushing/persuading my team members into seeing the benefits of the designing in and around nature.  

January Extra Blog

Over the course of January my meetings at my mentorship at ACE Program have consisted of finalizing a floor plan design. In our last two meetings there were two groups that worked on the end of the year design (project is to design a movie theater.) One group worked on the internal design of the theaters while the group I was in constructed the exterior structure of the building as well as the layout of the floor plan or how the rooms flowed.

 

 

In the above design we had to first think out the design logically and practical to how a realistic movie theater would flow. For example you don't want the projector room for a theater to be connected with the bathroom you want the projector room to be directly on top of each theater. Although this sounds like common sense it really took some analytical thinking. Another example was that in our ACE project requirements we were only allowed two bathrooms so we as a group thought it would be in our best interest if we placed the bathroom an equal distance away from each theater for the guests to easily access it.

 

This photo above was our finalized first draft, much of what we learned in calculating the square-footage we had to apply to our floor plan design to get the correct number of required square-footage.

 

This picture above illustrates our finalized second draft of our floor plan. In our ACE project requirements we had to establish a restaurant; originally we thought it would be a great feature if we put the restaurant on the second floor, but we ran into a few design problems. The practicality of the restaurant was inadequate, due to the fact that how can users/guests get to the restaurant without having to pay for a movie ticket. We as a group agreed that we would have exterior stairs that would lead up to the restaurant and an elevator for the handicapped. Yet in reality an I-MAX theater screen is at least 60 feet tall and walking sixty flights of stairs is a bit of an exaggeration for practical use. For the end we had to put the restaurant on the group for but decided to face it towards the main street to attract more guest. One of the feature I liked was the patio seating/dining area that faces the main street for an outside city atmosphere for restaurant guests.  

 

What I've learned most from this month was the fact that a practical design is more highly thought of and important than an aesthetic appeal in design.



 

Blog 13: Lesson Reflection

1. Positive Statement:

• I am proud of having met all the P requirements, since Ortega said we had all met the requirements; and am proud of this since I know I could have done better on my presentation research wise and by meeting all the requirements makes me a little more at ease.

2. Questions to Consider:

     a. What would assessment would you give yourself on your Lesson 2 Presentation?
        
         P

     b. Explain why you deserve that grade using evidence from the Lesson 2 Contract.
        
         I deserve that grade P since I turned my lesson plans in on time, had materials including EQ poster ready on time, my introduction did address my EQ, and I provided specific answers to my EQ, had an activity that required facts in my lesson to do, had met requirements for 20 mins minimum of lesson and 10 mins of research, and I cleaned up after my presentation.

3. What worked for you during lesson 2?

• What worked for me was setting up and cleaning up quick since both setting my materials up and cleaning them up did not require much time; because I only had a few papers and already knew how to use the projector.

4. What would've you done differently?

• I would have found a better way to engaged my audience in participating in my activity as well as my hook. I would follow through with this by starting with my enthusiasm with my topic.
• I would have also done a more in depth research on my answer so that I can fully explain "how" can an architect incorporate nature into a design. Focus my research on how can an architect preserve the pre-existing site?

5. What do you think your answer 2 is going to be?

• By observing nature and implementing natural designs into the structure of buildings.