I have submitted grades for the one hour ARCH4000 acculturation course. Assume that the remaining two credit hours of this course will be run with great clarity, simplicity, and care. We're making a great class for you and we're excited about teaching it. The remaining two credits will be assessed with clarity of intent and an alignment of content and outcome. We look forward to working with you all this summer and delivering a pair of courses that are academically challenging, clear in intention, and managed in a professional and straight-forward manner.
You will not be pressed for your participation this summer. You will not be "forced" to grow professionally and intellectually through this coursework. Both of these courses will be driven by your daily performance of design, communication, and intellectual knowledge based exercises in architecture. Your performance will be informally evaluated and noted on a daily basis. We will not encourage or cajole you to participate if we see a lack of engagement and performance. If you don't perform in these courses and perform to the expected and articulated standards we set out then you'll be able to perform to that standard in this coursework at a later date. That's not punishment. That's a chance to make certain that you are learning and will be productive, ethically upright, intellectual, and professionally skilled architects.
The only way you will find us confronting you about your work in this course is when we find you impeding our teaching or the performance of a classmate in the coursework. The first time we find this the case we'll talk to you about it and ask you to take a leave from the class and classwork to reflect. The second time, as is outlined in the university's "Civility in the Classroom" documents, you will be dismissed from the course permanently with a grade of either F or W, depending on where in the calendar someone were to step across the line twice. I assume that this will never happen. We can assure that it will not by not even coming close to where the line might be. Err on the side of civility and professionalism in all that you do in an academic setting. Once across the line there's not claiming ignorance or misrepresentation. You are too mature and intelligent for that to be true.
Our role in the summer's coursework is to deliver to you, through an acceptable medium and method, a clear and simple set of lessons in architectural education that are focused on urban issues. Beyond that, at times, we'll try to enliven your experience in the city by pointing things out and illuminating key events. That's not core teaching but is our personal interest in seeing you get the same sort of study abroad experience that we all three were offered in our days in school. We all must keep those roles separate and clear.
You are responsible for the acceptable personal performance and daily engagement with the course material. You are responsible for adding as much as you take from the group dynamic and learning environment we all construct. We are going to engage you through teaching and assessment of your learning. You are going to engage us through performance and learning in the material set out. Its going to be a great summer experience. We're going to make coursework and events that will be challenging and stimulating.
See you on the mountain in a few weeks.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, April 24, 2009
Course Work Prospectus : All in the Hand
There will be two courses taught this summer. Arch4601 Studio 6 is the urban studies studio. Notice that it is not the urban design studio. It is an architectural introduction of the study of the city. The project will be on Place d’Youville, a tight urban and palimpsestic site. The goal will be to design an architectural project through a careful study of an historic and rich urban context and other architectural responses to urban conditioning. ARCH4000 is a two hour elective. In this class we are going to explore how to draw voids and holes in things by drawing urban holes in the city.
All work we do will be done with standard drafting tools like adjustable triangles, scales (metric), leadholders and sharpeners, compasses and circle templates, drafting tape, erasers, and eraser dust (Draft-eez). It can be done in reasonably priced and sized media. It can be done with technical pens (india ink only), and xerographically (sticky backs). You should bring a t-square or parallel ruler or buy one there. You should bring your sketching equipment. We’ll work this way in both classes.
All work we do will be done with standard drafting tools like adjustable triangles, scales (metric), leadholders and sharpeners, compasses and circle templates, drafting tape, erasers, and eraser dust (Draft-eez). It can be done in reasonably priced and sized media. It can be done with technical pens (india ink only), and xerographically (sticky backs). You should bring a t-square or parallel ruler or buy one there. You should bring your sketching equipment. We’ll work this way in both classes.
Updated Summer Schedule 2009
May 28 An instructor will be in Montréal
June 1 First meeting at the “Belvedere” overlooking the city centre on Mt-Royal
June 2 No class
June 11 Instructors arrive in Ottawa by 2PM
June 12-13 All students in Montreal from 10h00 on the 12th to 17h00 on the 13th
June 14 Instructors return to Montréal by 4PM
June 15 Marti’s first day in studio
June 23 Mid-Term Review
June 24 Fete St-Jean Baptiste
June 25 No class
June 26 Friday class
June 27 Saturday class
June 28 Begin no classes
July 1 Canada Day
July 6 First day return to classes
July 23 Last class meeting
July 27 Final studio and drawing class reviews in afternoon and evening
August 1 No instructors will be in Montréal
June 1 First meeting at the “Belvedere” overlooking the city centre on Mt-Royal
June 2 No class
June 11 Instructors arrive in Ottawa by 2PM
June 12-13 All students in Montreal from 10h00 on the 12th to 17h00 on the 13th
June 14 Instructors return to Montréal by 4PM
June 15 Marti’s first day in studio
June 23 Mid-Term Review
June 24 Fete St-Jean Baptiste
June 25 No class
June 26 Friday class
June 27 Saturday class
June 28 Begin no classes
July 1 Canada Day
July 6 First day return to classes
July 23 Last class meeting
July 27 Final studio and drawing class reviews in afternoon and evening
August 1 No instructors will be in Montréal
Friday, October 10, 2008
Some Good News in All the Bad
The exchange rate between the Canadian Dollar and the US Dollar is tied to the price of oil, somehow. Canada is, of course, an oil exporter. Canada is a resource exporting country altogether- actors, oil, lumber, electricity, minerals, Celine Dion.
Two years ago we faced 0.95CDN to 1.00USD. Last year the two dollars faced parity (1 to 1). There's no way to tell how things will go between now and summer but the CDN is now at 0.85 to 1.00USD. That is very good and means we get a 15% discount on what money we spend in MTL. KT and I have priced the trip (see below) at parity. Many things, like airline tickets will be bought with USD here in Lubbock. Other things, like your apartments, will be 15% off if this situation holds. So a 500$ (you put the dollar sign after the cost in CDN money to show it is different from USD) will actually cost you $425. That's nice, no?
Some good money news for a change. Additionally, we may be the only tourists there this coming year. We'll see. Comments & questions are enjoyed.
Two years ago we faced 0.95CDN to 1.00USD. Last year the two dollars faced parity (1 to 1). There's no way to tell how things will go between now and summer but the CDN is now at 0.85 to 1.00USD. That is very good and means we get a 15% discount on what money we spend in MTL. KT and I have priced the trip (see below) at parity. Many things, like airline tickets will be bought with USD here in Lubbock. Other things, like your apartments, will be 15% off if this situation holds. So a 500$ (you put the dollar sign after the cost in CDN money to show it is different from USD) will actually cost you $425. That's nice, no?
Some good money news for a change. Additionally, we may be the only tourists there this coming year. We'll see. Comments & questions are enjoyed.
First Info on the MTL 09 Program
The program will be roughly for the months of June and July.
You'll be able to return to home easily by August 1 OR stay there as long as you like (and money holds up). We'll take days off in the middle for July 1 (Canada Day) and July 4. We cannot start early because the Canadians are in our studio space until about May 26th.
Our studio space is in the Attic at the School of Architecture at McGill University. McGill is in the heart of Montreal, was founded in 1832, and before WW2 was in the Ivy League. It is arguably Canada's best university, or as the t-shirts say, "Harvard is the USA's McGill".
The program will cost you approximately $5500 total in living and program fees (everything but tuition). That means food, transportation to and from, transportation around, housing, visits to Ottawa and Quebec City, and educational materials. The program fees you pay to the university will be limited to right arund $1000. The rest will be paid, as you need it, out of your own pocket and in the way you want to pay it- i.e.- if you are a booze hound you pay for booze or if you only eat at McDonalds you only pay for McDonalds or if you want to live posh or cheap you decide and you pay when you make the deal.
Housing is in apartments in the city. You find your apartments on Craigslist. You make the deal for yourself. You can rent a room in an apartment with people from Montréal or you can find classmates who want to go in and share. We've never had ANY trouble with this method. It is easy. People in Canada don't like lawyers and don't use them to solve their problems like we do. We have signed over 30 leases over the last five years and ALL of them have had not one problem. It is all student to student exchange done via email just before or after Spring Break. The only thing you may find tough about these arrangements is that some people may snore, others may stink, others may be angry drunks. That is the case in any program.
Academically, the program will be run and taught by Brian Rex, who has run the MTL program for 6 years now, and Kentaro Tsubaki, who will run the program after this final year of Rexness. The courses will be: ARCH4601 (Urban Design Studio) and ARCH4000 (Architecture Elective).
Everyone who has gone to the city in the last five years has gotten a bicycle to get around on. We see so much by using a bike. Cycling is not required nor is it something that we expect of you but it does seem to be the best way around. Some of the clumsiest and most unbikey people have found themselves expert pedlers when they finish.
You'll be able to return to home easily by August 1 OR stay there as long as you like (and money holds up). We'll take days off in the middle for July 1 (Canada Day) and July 4. We cannot start early because the Canadians are in our studio space until about May 26th.
Our studio space is in the Attic at the School of Architecture at McGill University. McGill is in the heart of Montreal, was founded in 1832, and before WW2 was in the Ivy League. It is arguably Canada's best university, or as the t-shirts say, "Harvard is the USA's McGill".
The program will cost you approximately $5500 total in living and program fees (everything but tuition). That means food, transportation to and from, transportation around, housing, visits to Ottawa and Quebec City, and educational materials. The program fees you pay to the university will be limited to right arund $1000. The rest will be paid, as you need it, out of your own pocket and in the way you want to pay it- i.e.- if you are a booze hound you pay for booze or if you only eat at McDonalds you only pay for McDonalds or if you want to live posh or cheap you decide and you pay when you make the deal.
Housing is in apartments in the city. You find your apartments on Craigslist. You make the deal for yourself. You can rent a room in an apartment with people from Montréal or you can find classmates who want to go in and share. We've never had ANY trouble with this method. It is easy. People in Canada don't like lawyers and don't use them to solve their problems like we do. We have signed over 30 leases over the last five years and ALL of them have had not one problem. It is all student to student exchange done via email just before or after Spring Break. The only thing you may find tough about these arrangements is that some people may snore, others may stink, others may be angry drunks. That is the case in any program.
Academically, the program will be run and taught by Brian Rex, who has run the MTL program for 6 years now, and Kentaro Tsubaki, who will run the program after this final year of Rexness. The courses will be: ARCH4601 (Urban Design Studio) and ARCH4000 (Architecture Elective).
Everyone who has gone to the city in the last five years has gotten a bicycle to get around on. We see so much by using a bike. Cycling is not required nor is it something that we expect of you but it does seem to be the best way around. Some of the clumsiest and most unbikey people have found themselves expert pedlers when they finish.
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