Taylor Poole

Sweet heavens

2009-04-14T23:38:00.002-05:00

This semester has been nuts!

A few things I've learned:

-Coffee is proof that God exists and that He wants us to be happy.
-Something about making buildings that don't kill people.
-Maxwell > Folgers.

Ok. Back to work.

North Carolina Bound

2009-03-15T17:23:00.001-05:00

Just passed through Chattanooga TN on the way to Black Mountain to visit my beautiful sister and her husband. I'm not typing this in my phone as I drive- no worries. Dad's in the captain's seat while mom is passed out in the back.

I love family vacations more than anything- we're so rarely all together nowadays.

Looking forward to a week of relaxing in the mountains, scoping out some potential locations to intern, a little frisbee, and hopefully narrowing my Kayak search. Hey Ben Taylor- what do you think of the Dagger kayaks?

Peace

It's been a GREAT day!

2009-02-27T11:47:00.002-06:00

I landed my first job as an architect! Not technically as an architect, because I'm not licensed, but in MS you can design anything up to 3500 sq/ft. without a license. I've been talking to the couple for about 2 weeks now and today I finally met them and we went over the program of what they wanted. I cased the house two weeks prior to meeting them to get an idea of the house and context.

As she was describing what she wanted done, I was getting more and more excited because it's the exact type of things that I LOVE to design and have had experience with designing/building them in the past. I'm a big fan of timber-framed construction (much like you would see in nice timber homes in NC), and that's what they're going for.

I will be designing a carport addition to begin with, then two other pergolas on the deck that tie in with everything. They have this beautiful 125' deck where the pergolas will be.

I haven't had time to let this all even sink in yet. I'm just extremely thankful for this opportunity!

"We live in an amazing, amazing world, and it's wasted on the crappiest generation of spoiled idiots."

2009-02-26T12:50:00.002-06:00

Louis CK

Dryer

2009-02-24T13:28:00.002-06:00

Last week my clothes dryer broke, and I just now got around to fixing it. Turned out to be a broken belt. Long story short, it's working like new (which is great if it weren't made in the 70's).

Now that it's working, I'm wondering why I fixed it at all. I came up with this ingenious and FREE way of drying clothes that didn't even use any electricity! I call it a "clothesline". I'm hoping to get this product in stores before someone else thinks of it.

Right now it's just a rope tied between two trees, but I'm going to put glitter on it and put it in that really annoying plastic packaging. You know what I'm talking about. The kind where the only way to open it is to anger a medium sized grizzly bear by taking her cub captive so that when you use the packaging as a barrier for your face, it instantaneously rips open the package from the shear force of the bear attack.

Speaking of bear attacks, I haven't been attacked by one this week.

Thanks! I'll be here all night.

Back to the Grind

2009-01-12T23:39:00.000-06:00

The first project of the semester for studio has come and gone. And I freaking rocked. Most people threw some crap together in 10 minutes and said "these are abstract trees". I spent the entire weekend cranking out 3 pristine finely crafted models (one of which shown):

My professor: "Well, you are about 14 weeks ahead of schedule. This is incredible".

The model almost fell out of my hands. Did I just hear an architecture professor say something positive? Did he just use the word incredible? Where am I? Who are all of these strange people? When do I get the chocolate, Mr. Wonka? These were the questions running through my head (well not really, I made the last three up).

So I'm pretty stoked about this semester to say the least.

Our site (represented by the 3" cube in my model) is a levee/bridge on the edge of a lake at the Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge:

I love architecture school.

Biking

2009-01-04T17:29:00.000-06:00

Just got back from an invigorating bike ride all over town. I recently put Hank tires on my Trek 6000 for better road performance (I wore my other tires down until they rubbed through). I love them because they can take plenty of abuse (jumping curbs, going down steps) and still give an incredibly smooth and fast ride on the pavement. Best of both worlds I guess.

I'm really stoked about the Yakima High Roller I got for my roof rack- now it is so easy and convenient to throw my bike on top of my car and head down to Noxubee Refuge to do some biking. I used to ride out there, but the 40 mile round trip took too much energy for me to be able to enjoy my time riding at the refuge.

I'm back in Starkville now, getting ready for classes to start on Wednesday. I couldn't be more excited about heading back to the studio. I find new inspirations everyday and I'm ready to see what will be in store for this semester.

About to head to to dinner with some friends. Then I'll be playing with Revit for the rest of the night.

The only thing on my agenda for tomorrow is to play some disc golf with friends and then wash my car. It's the calm before the storm!

Hello again...

2008-12-30T23:01:00.000-06:00

They say that people can really tell how old you are by what you get for Christmas. This year, I believe I would confuse "they" stupendously with my haul.

New jersey knit sheets - Estimated age = 32. Add in that I was excited about this gift (+4 years) and the fact that I knew of and requested jersey knit (+5 years) and we arrive at a total of 41 years of age.

Various architectural case study books - Estimated age = 25. Add in my pleasure of the picture to text ratio (-2 years) and we arrive at 23 years of age.

At this point we have an average age of 32 years.

Now for the gifts that begin to throw the calculations all out of whack.

Ripstick - No estimated age needed, it said for ages 8+ on the box.

Dinosaurs that grow when you put them in water (don't be jealous) - Again, no estimated age needed, ages 3+ clearly printed on the packaging. Add in the fact that a choking hazard warning was also given (-3 years) and we have a total of 0.

Add these totals up and take into account my use of a calculator (-2 for need of calculator and +7 years for my ever increasing dependence on said calculator) and we arrive at a grand total age of...

...

23.

I guess "they" have this thing nailed down pretty well...

I see people all the time who are so caught up in life's obstacles that they forget to live a little. Neck ties & cardigans with major deadlines getting ever closer (there's a reason they're called DEADlines, you know). Go hop on a ripstick and grow some dinosaurs, I say.

Here we go

2008-09-22T22:30:00.000-05:00

Tomorow:

9 a.m. - Psychology of Interpersonal Relationships exam

3:30 p.m. - Concept & Form - 10 models due.

5 p.m. - Passive Building Systems exam

7 p.m. until - Start & finish photo journal, due wednesday. Start designing/sketching/digitally diagramming base for contextual site model (sketches due wednesday).

This site model has me excited/freaked out. It's an 1/8 scale site model of an area of Starkville surrounding our site plan. With the area that we have selected, the model is going to be 20' x 16'. That's right. Twenty feet by sixteen feet. Pace that out if you have to- it's HUGE. What will be on this monstrosity? Every existing building, tree, road, etc in the given mile 1/2 mile radius of Starkville.

Lastly, I'm holding in my hands a book that claims that it is water-proof. It's called Cradle to Cradle. Great book. I'm now going to go read it in the shower to test out its claim/manage my time more efficiently/make up time for writing this blog!

People are great. We're built for relationships. Encourage people. Be kind to people. Just talk to people.

Trip to Chicago

2008-09-19T10:52:00.000-05:00

Just got back from a wonderful trip to Chicago and St. Louis for a "field trip". Me and about 40 other students traveled on an MSU bus that was, to say the least, amazing. This thing had wireless internet, flat screen TV's, and plug-in ports for DVD, Playstation, Wii, etc. Certainly made the 11 hour ride much more enjoyable.

We stayed at the Indigo Hotel which was located just off some of the main streets of Chicago. We had an exhaustive list of buildings/structures to find and photo document for our "scavenger hunt". There were at least 50, and they were spread ALL over the town. I probably walked a combined 20-30 miles. It was a really great way to get out and see the town, and to experience it more fully.

We also made side trips to several FLW places like his home and studio and Unity Temple. I absolutely loved these tours. There was something about the interior at Unity temple that put everyone in the class at peace. We all had the same feeling, and we quietly sat and sketched and gazed for about an hour. There was a Steinway grand piano in the temple, and the class asked if I would play some soft music. Half way through Moonlight Sonata, I realized to myself that I was sitting in Frank Lloyd Wright's Unity Temple playing music. I know this doesn't sound like much, but the combining of my love of music and of FLW's work was surreal.

Also went to IKEA (amazing amazing amazing), and a few historic suburban developments. Our spare time was spent shuffling through the town eating chicago deep dish pizza and other fun foods (one of tasks of the scavenger hunt was to eat a new food, I ate Octopus).

Words can't do this trip justice- just a few pics:

Oh and I learned how to walk on water while I was there. Click here to see!

Suburbia

2008-08-29T13:41:00.000-05:00

A LOT has happened since my last post, but I just wanted to update you on my latest project for this semester (3rd). Go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9MLVXZAUBg and watch my documentation! Be sure to click the "More Info" link to the right of the video to get more information on the project.

I'll recap the previous semester later... beginning with having two T-pins go through the sole of my foot...ha!

A Step Up

2008-07-16T19:06:00.000-05:00

Not much time for an update, but figured I'd get a little posted in the time that I have.

Second semester is incredible. It's definitely more design oriented, which has been working my brain pretty vigorously. Here's an exercise for you: take 1 standard 9x12 manilla folder and create a space that supports itself and is designed for a scale human body to lie, sit, and stand in. You can cut, score, and bend, but all cuts must be attached at one end (so that you could take it apart and fold it back and it would look like a folder still). Basically it's origami on steroids.

Music has been flowing- I think it's all the exercise that that area of the brain has been enduring the last week and a half. I play what my mood reflects- and so far it sounds up-beat and playful. Mandolin needs new strings.

I've got the best parents in the world. They drove all the way up this past weekend and helped me work on getting my apartment ready to move out of. My mom, who always surprises me with how much she can do (literally will you never meet another person who has mastered multitasking and organization in your entire life), painted my entire room in one night! After loading up a good portion of all of my junk (oh how it accumulates!), they turned right around the next day and drove back to Madison. Dang.

The parents gave me an incredible book for my birthday- "Frank Lloyd Wright - The Interactive Portfolio". I can't even begin to explain how cool this book is. Something you have to experience in person I guess.

Radar looks like rain is coming shortly- I'm going to try to get a run in before it hits!

New Semester

2008-07-07T23:06:00.000-05:00

Finished the first semester strong with an almost perfect score on the last project (see below)...yay! Had a great 4th of July break with family and friends, and now I'm back at school.

Today was the first day of our second semester- new professors, new everything. It's definitely a step up in difficulty and time (is that even possible?). First day: 8am: Assigned first project- have ten models (minimum) ready for tomorrow at 8am. I did twelve and was there from 7:45am until 10:45pm with two 1 hour breaks for lunch/dinner. Tomorrow we'll pick three of the ten, and then do ten more iterations that will be due the next day, and so on and so on. But I'm still having a lot of fun! This reminds me- if anyone reading this has trouble sleeping but doesn't want a prescription drug (that can be habit forming) like Ambien to help them sleep, try Melatonin. It's a natural hormone that regulates your sleep cycles. I tried it last night and slept like a rock.

My good friend Josh Harris is crashing at my place for the night because he's registering for classes tomorrow. He's the man. Seriously, you need to meet this guy. Anyway, got to get some sleep to be ready for class tomorrow. Here are some pics of my final project from last semester:

Sweet Zen Garden West side

Orthographics

Click to enlarge

Cube & Reading/Studying Room

2008-06-26T20:31:00.000-05:00

The cube didn't come out as well as I had hoped- I wish I had used thicker wood. But alas, at least I know how I would want to change it and I think that's what the professors are looking for. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished cube:

Yesterday we were given our new assignment- to design a reading/studying structure. We were given a site that had an existing house and a tree, and we had to incorporate the two into the design. This has got to be the most fun project yet- I'm loving it! I'll put up some pictures to show my process so far:

Started with writing down what I wanted in a study/reading room. Eventually came up with a neat built in desk and loft area that created a cool niche. Also thought of a curved book shelf that would give a sense of compression and release as you walked into the structure.

Then incorporated the path of the sun in the Northern hemisphere and the tree into the project. Created a new roof structure that allowed for some really fun spaces to develop.

Decided to create a "reflecting pool" that would reflect the SE sunlight into the structure. Also new that I wanted to bring the tree into the room, but didn't know how I wanted to do it quite yet. I then moved on to models:

Basic model to see how it would all fit:

Moved on to finer detail:

With sliding door!

You can see in this picture how the tree will be "brought into" the room. There will be a glass barrier between the tree and the interior. What you can't see are the cool windows and slit on the other side for the reflecting pool.

Here is the other side where you can see the tall windows (8' tall, 6" wide) and the horizontal window for the reflecting pool:

And lastly, before I came home, I quickly sketched out some five minute ortho sketches to show how I was going to orient the house and how the reflecting pool would work. Actual orthographic sketches take several hours and exact measurements using straight edges. These are just freehand- not meant to be shown to anyone but myself (and you!).

So I have the night off now, and I'm going to relax! Tomorrow I'll start working on the actual orthographic drawings. As always, click on the pictures to blow them up!

One Life to Live

2008-06-23T00:55:00.000-05:00

With gas as high as it is, I've been biking everyday/everywhere. The only time I drive my car is to Columbus once a week and the occasional times when I need to carry a large load of things (wood/projects/groceries). I've really built up my endurance, and regularly do a twenty-five mile round trip without getting out of breath. This has gotten me thinking two things over the past few weeks:

I need to save up and by a road bike. With reduced friction through better aerodynamacy (is that even a word?) and smooth tire tread, I could travel farther, faster, and easier.
I would like to take my mountain bike and bike the AT next summer (that is, if I'm not co-oping or doing school). That gives me a year to build my endurance and plan. I figure, we're only here for a short time, and there's just too many things that I want to experience before it's all over.

Anyway- I've had trouble explaining exactly what this "cube" project is exactly to people. The premise is to construct an 18" by 18" cube that reflects Texture/Pattern, Solid/Void, Figure/Field, and Structure from our 40 some-odd sketches. I’m going to post those pictures tomorrow because they’re taking too long to upload and I need to go to bed!

A funny thing did NOT happen on the way to the forum...

2008-06-18T19:10:00.000-05:00

My phone fell to its untimely death this afternoon around 1:30pm.

It is preceeded in death by a Toshiba Satellite laptop computer.

Luckily, I saved some money I earned over the break and I won't have to be without a phone for long. Other than that, the trip to the Rural Studio was a success. It only got me more excited about architecture and reassured me that it was a "good fit" for me. I took 127 photos in all, but I've only got time to upload a couple:

A $20k house (material + labor) built by thesis students. It's cedar!

Incredible kennel with lamella structure serving as a roof structure.

On another slightly funny/incredible note- the bottom of my phone (the part with the keypad) rang when I got in my car to come home. I answered the call without remembering that there was no earpiece. I then proceeded to say "Whoever this is, you've called my phone which is literally broken in half. I can't hear a word you are saying, nor do I know who you are. I feel slightly stupid talking into the bottom half of a phone but I'm also amazed that it rang, so message me on Facebook or email me and tell me who you are". I've yet to find out who this mystery call was from.

Lastly, Mrs. Pandora at the front office in the architecture studio gave me the keys to the auditorium which houses a wonderful grand piano. It's literally fifty feet from my desk, so I just had to ask if I could get the key and play it to relieve stress...and she said yes! It never hurts to ask politely with a grin =) Thoughts of my broken phone and impending project deadline soon melted away into the ivory and out through the strings into the air.

Things are looking up!

-Taylor

It's early, but it's late.

2008-06-17T01:58:00.000-05:00

I put a whopping 36 hours into an orthographic drafting project this weekend, culminating an all-nighter ending at 6:45am- 1 hour and 15 minutes before class started and the project was due. After class, I crashed at 2pm and awoke at 10pm. This sounds like torture, but (and maybe this is the sleep depravation talking) for the first time in my life, I really enjoy doing homework. I enjoy learning. I enjoy the vast ambiguities that are architecture. It's applicable and concrete, yet open to endless interpretation. The studio environment is great. (Click the pictures to make them larger). I've made great friends already.

It's now 2am Tuesday, and I'm leaving in 5 hours for the Rural Studio in AL. Check out some of the structures there through the link if you get a chance. Downloaded the new Coldplay album for the road, can't wait to crank it up and soak it in.

I'd better get a little sleep before I hit the road-

Starting Up

2008-06-12T12:09:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to get started on this blog. I'm in an extreme time crunch at the moment with architecture school- so I'm just setting up the framework for now.

Peace and Love