Model making

This is a model making workshop by Keith Robson. We use strips of different colour polymer clay to produce the brick works for the model. The clay is harden after baked in oven for 15 min and will last forever.  

This is my work:

 

Keith's works:

This is built with normal card board

The details are incredible

cardboard with clay covered

The tiles are places piece by piece after it harden in oven.

9th time fire alarm!

Normally there will be 2 fire engines, sirening all the way from fire station to Tay Mills within 3 minutes after the fire alarm rang.

It was annoying. I decided to go CAD suit rather than wait for the fireman to check the false alarm. Picture taken on my way to school at 8pm. yeah, it goes dark at 4pm nowadays.

Life drawing first class

This week should be the reading week, but not for architecture students.

Although the schedule is a bit loose, but activities still go on. My first life drawing class is today!

This is an enclosed class room, specially for life drawing. As an art student, whether you study fine art, product design, or even architecture, just everything related to art, you will have to do go for 3 life drawing classes for this semester. A class is 4 hours! so just enjoy!

After the introduction and demo from tutor, we choose our own spot around the podium where the nude stand and start to draw. The tutor walked around, gave advise one by one and helped us.

It's my first time to draw a naked person, but no one feel shy at all, we just treat him as an object. When we have a small break, I even joked to my friend: lets to do some sections! - means cut him into half and draw the section! Haha.. feels more like an architect to do explore sections.

After the class. Drawing stands set around the podium.

We choose one of our work and pin on wall after the class. Review from tutor.

My drawings. I produce 3 drawings on A2 size plain white paper, with charcoal. We have to prepare our own materials, including papers and mediums. Some even use water colour.   

From left to right: 1st,  2nd and 3rd drawing. 

First one proportion inaccurate, very rough, but I like it.

For 2nd, the best most detailed, good proportion. The best among 3.

3rd: fast sketch, head too small, legs are nice. 

FIRE ALARM!!!!! it's 4am~

Again, 4am, we were like freezing chicken in the fridge downstair.

I have  my thick jacket on, 2 layers of long sleeves t-shirts, and a short sleeves one inside, but the cold air still penetrated through the clothing, went into my bones. 

40 minutes of continuous chill, killing my nerves, until I couldn't move my legs and hands. 

It was the Flat 1 1 's fire alarm, which summoned all the half sleeping souls, and to tortured them under the 8˚c freezer. The gust was taking away our body heat, left only the empty corpse on the floor.

(7th time in Tay Mills within 7 weeks)

Frustration

The Internet is down again! I am really disappointed with the BT (British Telecommunication). I thought that the broadband here is extreme. Nonetheless,  I waited for a month to get the line set up, waited a week for the line to be at it's optimal speed, and BREAK DOWN!

Other's still doing fine with the wireless, just my Mac, for unknown reason not functioning. It's the second day cannot connect to the internet. I realised I can't live long without internet!

Firstly I thought it was AirPort( not airport) that is faulty. The first thing to do this morning was to call the customer service. So, I registered the apple protection plan as to get the 3 years warranty, and called. The british lady on the phone can't understand my accent, wasted my time and money to give simple code to her, and in the end she hang up... what a joke. Then I did a second attempt, another british gentlemen pick up and guide me through the settings. Well, in the end he said that the IP add is right, nothing wrong with my mac, it's BT problem.

For hours, I tried to solve the broadband connection, but nothing worked out. I carried the whole desktop to the store room where the modem is to connect to the phone line. Plugged in the cable to my Mac, used the ethernet rather than the AirPort. It did work! Imagine you carry a desktop with all the wires around and set up at another place... Surprisingly, it was so much nicer to carry the iMac than normal PC. Beside the 20 inches screen, just one power supply wire, and the keyboard and mouse to carry. 

Then the most annoying part came. The BT customer service phone call is so stupid. To get to the area of technical problems, I need to go through the longest series of options,(at least 10) pressing 1,2,3,4... on the phone key and finally it led my to the technician phone. Then I waited for another 10 min before I decide to hang off the phone. I can't afford to throw ££££ like this. My one month's phone budget almost gone. It was >£6 just for that single call. Wow, RM 36? without solving the problem at all!

I decide to buy a cable and don't want to trust the BT customer service again. 

I was pissed off!

   

Matthew Building where I study

The Entrance, under the blue board, entering level 5. 

The Matthew building is a weird building. It has 7 floors, 4th floor is the library, 5th floor is the lecture halls, 6th floor is the studios and CAD suite, 7th floor is the office. 

Everyone get lost for the first few weeks in the building, definitely. Trapped in the building, can't find the way out or the toilet. Confused and can't differentiate between the studios and corridors.

However, it's a nice piece of architecture! 

This is level 5 and 6. The sunlight actually penetrating the building.( LKW, pls learn to make corridor bright and cozy)

Long spatial 5th level for displaying some artworks, along the lvl 6 narrow corridors are the studios.

Lecture Halls on the right.

Next to the space in the first picture, the long corridors extended. Studios are at the sides, lecture halls below. 

The Pit, where we wait for lecture and get socialise. A bit weird of the big rubbish bin at the middle, but not smelly at all. A mindful design. 

The Studio:

Long long studio!! We can just pop into any spaces as we want. It's for year 1 to year 4 students, year 5 students have their own space. We don't have individual workspace as they want to mix the students from all the years. Students used to have own space, just changed last year.

Dara, Irish group mate and also flat mate.

Spaces created by separators. Drafting tables, lockers, electric plugs, tables and chairs are everywhere. someone even bring in microwave and kettle to the studio. However, its open only between 6am to 9pm everyday.

My temporary work space. Ricky, my Hong Kong group mate.

Cantina, the canteen for Matthew Building(Arch) and Crowford Building(Arts). A very massive canteen, picture can't tell the space here. 

The Toilet:

See the tower in blue? It's for drying off one hands, better solution than hand dryer or tissue.

We can even take bath in the Matthew Building.

Or even buy some condoms…

Terrible

woke up late, went to the life drawing class after lunch. Dara and I went into the class. The classroom was like the dark room, windows are curtained, just a few downlight was shone. A male model, was twisting and turning on his chair, looking for the suitable position for us to draw. He not yet take off his clothing, but would take off  very soon.

Suddenly, someone told us that it was L1(life drawing group 1), not L2. We are L2. It was really a shock, because the time table stated L2 and I double checked it. Maybe the lecture informed us on MyDundee( an online system used that links teaching stuffs and students). Sadly, I didn't even see the naked guy before I leaved. 

Think positively, maybe we would have a nude female model when our time comes.  

Lazy Saturday

Saturday, I stayed at home organising my computer. Installed the Mac application, found some useful programs, like iFreeMem, Adobe Lightroom, and GimmeSomeTune, and so forth. Then watched the TV series, brothers & sisters with Kamil on my mac. Kinda wasted time watching tv series. Felt wasting papa’s money and a surge of guilt came from innerself. At night, I read Le Corbusier’s Villa Stein-de Monzie, after having mi sedap with egg, 小白菜，cabbage, carrot, corn, bacon, cup mushroom and red pepper.