Rachel Preston Prinz

~ Architecture ~ Design ~ Art + Photography ~ TV + Film ~ Muse ~

Showing posts with label Architecture Internship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Architecture Internship. Show all posts

#Architecture #Internship: Assignment #5: Sweets

On 10:51 AM by Rachel Preston in
Sharing some of the internship assignments we give all our interns...

Here's the thing about the Sweets Catalog:
It is a marketing mechanism. It is a catalog that's not curated (a bit of a shame, really).
It is not as educational as it could be. Or as open minded. Or artistic.

However, it IS a great way to learn the first steps of spec writing.

It's easier to walk you through it and show you what I mean than explain it.
So here goes.

Your assignment:
1) Grab the green Sweets Index in the product library if you have access to that.

If not, go here.

2) Start a new document. Type the list. List all the divisions and all of their sections.

DO NOT CUT AND PASTE ; )

and

Yes, all of them.

this is an easy way to learn a difficult subject if you give it a chance.

3)  Select all and add a line (or checkbox symbol if you are a fan of boxes) in front of each line, so it looks like this:

00 60 00 PROJECT FORMS

                 00 61 00                Bond Forms

                 00 61 13                Performance and Payment Bond Form

                 00 61 13.13          Performance Bond Form

                 00 61 13.16          Payment Bond Form

                  00 61 16                Lien Bond Form

                  00 61 19                Maintenance Bond Form  

                  00 61 23                Retainage Bond Form  

                  00 61 26                Special Bond Form   

                  00 62 00                Certificates and Other Forms   

                   00 62 11                Submittal Transmittal Form   

Congratulations. Now you have the base of your specifications checklist.  This will help you know where to find, and place, everything you need for a decent set of specs. If you're stuck filing, it'll help that go by faster too.

We'll talk about what all these names mean in future posts.

#Architecture #Internship: Assignment #4: Lettering

On 10:58 AM by Rachel Preston in
Sharing some of the internship assignments we give all our interns...

I"m not going to teach you great hand lettering here. I'm going to help you get to the point where you can write something and give it to your boss, and s/he doesn't look at it and glare at you.

That is all.

First step: get graph paper at 4 (challenge round!) or 5 (easier) grids per inch.
Then: Start writing your ABCs, in capital letters.
Fill as much of the box as you can with each letter.


TOUCH THE EDGES! 

Repeat.
...again and again...
til you don't have to try very hard anymore

Do this AT LEAST 25 times. No, make that 50 times.
Start in pencil if you need to. Do at least half in pen.

When you are comfortable writing writing box letters... writing in a state of ease...
choose one of the quotes on this page of quotes of and about architecture's finest,
then arrange it vertically and centered, with no more than four words per line... so it looks like this:


The mother art

is architecture

Without an architecture

of our own

we have no soul...
- Frank Lloyd Wright


Now write that on the grid paper.

(how about that math to get it centered?!)

Then, do it without the grid.

Trace if you have to. But repeat until you don't have to trace anymore.
Or til it becomes beautiful.

Scan it into your computer.


Send that here.

#Architecture #Internship: Assignment #3: Architectural #Photography

On 10:51 AM by Rachel Preston in
Sharing some of the internship assignments we give all our interns...

So one of our offsite interns sent in some photos of an assignment yesterday and it got me to thinking... I need to help these kids become awesome photographers!!!

The first tip I have is don't get cars or people in your photos if possible. loL! ; )
The second is don't get so far away you can't see the details of the building. Details are what we are attracted to!

Now, I'll leave the best of this for the professionals.  I went surfing and found some great lists of tips and tracks for better architectural photographs.

Here are the very best of what I found:


(For everyone)


(For people with D/SLRs and lenses)

Now, I have to place a caveat here: I take photos with my point-and-shoot Panasonic Lumix or my fancy point-and-shoot Sony DXR-100. But, hopefully as you can see on our website here, some degree of skill makes up for the fact that I do not have a $3,000 setup. I only say this because I don't want you not having a sophisticated camera to stop you from trying to get great shots.You CAN get great architectural shots, even from your iphone. It just takes practice.

Here's your task:

Read all of the first three articles and the last one if you have a SLR.

Go out and shoot a minimum of 25 architectural shots of anything you like (even something that isn't actually architectural... but capture it from an architectural viewpoint.) Email us the best 5 photos in two weeks for comments!

Good luck!


#Architecture #Internship: Assignment #2 Professional Connections

On 10:54 AM by Rachel Preston in
Sharing some of the internship assignments we give all our interns...


If you have not done so already, go to LinkedIn and start your professional profile.

Develop a bio (500 words or less). Keep this updated as your skillset evolves. I recommend setting a google calendar alarm to remind you to do this every 60-90 days. (Once you get further along in your career, you can do this review every 6 months or so.) Get feedback from your peers and mentors for edits that will help you showcase your talents more effectively.

Get a good headshot and upload to your profile.

Follow these tips to make your LinkedIn Profile shine!

Connect with us on LinkedIn to show us your work!

Join LinkedIn groups that focus on your interests. Spend 1 hour a week, or even just 10 minutes a day, reviewing notes from your groups. Comment. Participate. This will help you to build your expertise and build relationships. Networking brings opportunities. This is a good time to plug participation in professional organizations... AIA is a great organization, and there are others. If you go, you will grow!

Build an online version of your resume/CV and portfolio. Link that to your LinkedIn Profile.

GET RECOMMENDATIONS FROM PEOPLE YOU HAVE WORKED WITH!


Check out what my friend Mark did to his resume on Pinterest! AWESOME!!!
 View more presentations from Mark Johnson

#Architecture #Internship: Assignment #1 Documenting Historic Properties

On 10:49 AM by Rachel Preston in
Sharing some of the internship assignments we give all our interns...

A great deal of what we do involves documenting historic properties. In every state, there are variations of forms you'll want to know how to fill out so that you can document historic structures, sites, buildings, and/or objects.

In New Mexico, they are called Historic Cultural Properties Inventory Forms. The state has a manual for filling out those forms, that explains almost everything you could ever want to know about what is needed in this process - and this is the same information needed in every other state. The manual is available here.

The manual also gets into an abbreviated description of the styles of architecture in New Mexico.

Assignments:

1) Download and read the manual to be come familiar with the process.

2) Pick a building in your community that you want to document  for practice.

3) Find the forms for your state. They should be available online. If they are not available, call your State's Historic Preservation Office to get digital copies.

4) Fill in the forms for the building you chose. To get a history of the structure, you might want to coordinate with your city planning manager (just tell them you are an intern and this is your assignment) and see if someone has done that part already. They may give it to you. Or, you may choose to go to the archives at your local library to research the structure... or complete an oral interview with the owners of the building to create one.

5) Send to us for review!

6) Once they are completed and reviewed, you might want to call your city or town's planning manager to see if they'd like a copy.

7) Put this in your portfolio!

Postscript and extended learning opportunities:

One of the interns taking this course sent in images from his project, befuddled where to fit  the building in within the contexts of American architectural history. He chose a unique project... a historic train station in South Carolina.

I used to work on a lot of historic train stations when I was in Virginia, so I can tell you more about these buildings that you'll ever want to know. But that's my institutional knowledge. That doesn't help YOU answer the question. And I want you to be able to.

But there isn't a style called "American Railroad" in the state. So what to do?

Each state typically has an online listing of all their National Register properties, usually available through the website of the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO). This list usually has links to nomination forms for each property. As in the case of railroad buildings, you can search the archives for few properties like yours using search terms like "railroad" and "depot" and often find some guidance to see what others have done in this case.

In South Carolina, for instance, the SHPO's website has a link to their archives and a new window takes you a searchable database. A search for "depot" comes up with no entries, however a search for "railroad"comes up with 28 records. On the far right are links to the individual nomination forms. When you get to the entries for your state, check a few of these out and see what style(s) they used. Then choose one or two and put them on the HCPI form (or whatever your state calls it). Remember, if you are doing these forms, you'll be submitting them to the SHPO, who will review them and verify that you suggested the style they want.  ALWAYS put one in. Even if you are wrong. It is better to guess, be wrong, and learn from the experience than to put your job in someone else's hands. And, you may well learn something in the process. From one of these forms, we can verify that a railroad structure with two waiting rooms was used during segregation. The one on the end of the building, with all the natural light and pretty views, was for whites. The one on the other side, before the loud freight room and much darker inside, was for blacks. This is an important thing to know about American history. And it helps us date the structure to post-railroad and pre-desegregation. That's a smaller time window in which to perform archival research to get the actual date of construction...

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