www.flickr.com

I have been on www.flickr.com all morning finding pictures for the "Frameworks" presentation. Patty had initially just filled the power point with images from the internet but now that we are actually going to market the presentation and put our names on it we have to find and credit all the photos and materials we used to make the presentation. So, I'm starting with all the pictures. Because www.flickr.com is a public website we are actually allowed to use any of the images posted on there for free but we aren't sure about crediting the images so I've been saving the usernames of the people who posted photos that I'm going to use.

Everyone is leaving early today for the long weekend so everyone is pretty much just tying up loose ends before they leave. I'm excited for next week and have a good weekend!

And I'm still finding links

Today will be my last day researching the "Frameworks for Healthier Neighborhoods" presentation. I'm starting to get really efficient at finding webpages and immediately finding out whether or not it will be worthwhile. I'm actually a little surprised at how poorly managed and uninformative a lot of the city websites are now that I've been surfing them for the past two days. The recycling guidelines especially are confusing and overly complicated. Also, I was doing a lot of research today about the kind of tax credits or breaks you can get for historic landmarks and energy efficiency and I was surprised by how big some of the energy efficiency tax breaks are for larger corporations. It has been fun to familiarize myself with the different standards of energy efficiency like the differences between an energy star certification or the "cradle to cradle" approval seal from private consulting firms like MDBC {I was actually surfing the MDBC website which is the sustainable design consulting firm Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart started and they are looking to hire a new civil and environmental engineer. Working for a design consulting firm like that one would definitely be a job that I would consider after college}.

Initially, I had no idea how much research actually needs to be done when determining the actual sustainability of certain materials. There are so many misconceptions about what is actually good or bad for the environment. I've found so many online forums debating local vs. organic and similar topics but every time I popped one up I couldn't help but think, what is the point of this? I seems ridiculous to me to be arguing over such insignificant parts of the environmental movement when it is common knowledge that when attacking ecological or environment problems a holistic approach is really the only option.

I also had a meeting with Rob and Patty today to talk about what I'll be doing for the rest of my ISP. The way that the different projects we are working on will be timed and the fact that most of the architects go on vacation next week means that I will be working primarily with Patty from now on on the various marketing endeavors for the firm and their sub-company that distributes recycled and sustainable building materials. Patty really needs the help which makes me feel useful rather than Rob having to make up random jobs for me. Its not exactly what I expected but I'm actually excited to help more with the sub-company. Hopefully next week I'll get to organize the showroom and help Patty out when clients come to see the different types of bamboo flooring and recycled tiles. I also will get to revamp the inventory and see if I can find any products that I would like to add.

Know what I realized

We don't turn on any lights. We simply don't need them. I haven't spent a cloudy day in here yet so I don't know whether that is always the case, but I was looking around today and I realized that not a single light bulb is turned on. I really like it. We also barely have the air conditioning on but you can tell that its really hot and bright outside vs. in here where it is so cool and refreshing. I think it is kind of nice that this building is so nicely regulated temperature-wise even though it is so old.

Anyways, I'm still researching for "Frameworks for Healthier Neighborhoods" and I'm starting to get frustrated. I'm not really sure what is expected of me at this point. I've gone from quality to mere quantity in terms of links and I'm not happy with the results but it seems like that is what Patty wants me to do... I don't know. I just have to add a few more links before I turn it in to her so that she can sift through everything I guess.

I was mainly researching bike trails today and I've found some really cool ones that'd I'd like to try if I ever have enough time. The farthest reaching system that I've found so far is called {or will eventually be called} the East Coast Greenway. Its not anywhere near finished but this organization is trying to connect a trail system for hikers and bikers from Maine to Florida along the East Coast, very similar to the Appalachian trail. The website is www.greenway.org, its pretty cool. Right now it lists a bunch of trails through various states that all connect to reach Maine. The Baltimore-Annapolis trail goes right by my house.

Everyone in the office is complaining right now because the people next door are using this awful oil-based paint that is releasing toxic fumes up here {especially up here where I sit}. Rob called the people next door just to let them know about their detrimental effect on our indoor air quality. It was one of the funniest conversations I've ever heard. Whew, the fumes are really getting to me and if you can't already tell, its definitely time for my afternoon cup of coffee.

Unhealthy Neighborhoods in Baltimore

Brace yourself, because things are about to get really exciting.

Well, maybe not but I did really like what I was doing today until about 1:30 when it started to get a little bit boring. Not so much boring as underwhelming but I'll get to that. Today, my job was to continue finding local links for a presentation called "Framework for Healthier Neighborhoods". Thus far I've been doing mostly doing marketing research and organizing elements of their marketing campaigns (like resizing images) which has been cool. It's a really interesting presentation that deals with five different focus areas for a grass roots approach to urban community building. The five focal points are environment, architecture, economy, agriculture and society. So, I've been searching the web since about 9am this morning for sustainable infrastructure in the Baltimore area and I've been decidedly underwhelmed by the result. I've been searching the web for topics ranging from water and air quality to bike routes and local farming indexes and Baltimore has a long way to go before they fit into the framework set-up of this presentation. Actually, this presentation is really similar to the "Cradle to Cradle" model developed by Bill McDonough and Michael Braungart which I find intriguing. I've had so much fun today signing up for all these obscure eco-friendly, environmentally minded e-newsletters and such. I mean, there are a lot of fun things to do in and around Baltimore I just wish that transportation wasn't such a huge issue.
Finally, for my random note of the day, I have spent a lot of time eavesdropping on the various calls and conversations of everyone beneath me. As I described yesterday, I spend my time on the second floor so I can sort of listen to everyone all the time which is fun but also makes me feel a little bit like a creep. Like, one of the houses that we are working on is having serious issues with the windows and ArchiCad keeps acting up. I think that tomorrow I'll see in Rob has anything more architecturally oriented for me to do. I'd sort of like to know the process start to finish of what at architect actually does. Actually, on second thought, that is more of a Monday morning staff meeting topic for conversation. I think I'm going to make a running list of interesting things that I overhear that I want to know more about. Like who is Olmstead? I think I'll use the rest of my time here today to research more of Baltimore's architectural history.

I'm about to take a walk for some coffee, then I'll re-tackle the never-ending search for a sense of community in the Baltimore area.

My First Day

I really like the flexibility of working in an office this small. I got here at about 11 o'clock this morning and did a quick meet and greet before immediately getting to work. Patricia or Patty, my official ISP advisor and marketing director of the firm, pulled out a giant laptop and led me to my new work space. The building is a small yet open rectangle and I sit on the lofted second floor at a round table that acts as a conference room of sorts. My first official task was to resize professional images {hold your applause}. It sounds a little bit boring but it was actually kind of fun because I started to familiarize myself with the general design philosophy that Rob and Carri stick too. The four projects that I managed to resize before the office meeting were definitely different but all adhered to the same basic principles. It was fun to sort of analyze the images from an art historical perspective. One of the remodels that Rob (or maybe Carri) worked on was heavily influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, complete with cantilevers and car ports. The other three I looked at ranged from post-modern to the truly green architecture.
After I spent about two hours resizing images everyone came upstairs to my little work area for the weekly office meeting where Rob, the principal architect, outlined the projects and basic goals for the week. The meeting probably lasted for an hour and a half and was chock full of tangential threads and general lack of focus that I found sort of refreshing. In general, the office has a really focused, individualized atmosphere so it was nice to come together for a general meeting so that even though everyone is off doing there own thing you know what they are generally trying to accomplish.
On a more random note, everyone here is really soft spoken which makes for a very different environment for me simply because I can't think of anyone I interact with right now who is so... quiet. I definitely don't consider my parents, my friends and teachers at garrison or anyone that I work with at the restaurant soft spoken so it is an interesting change. The office doesn't fall into an awkward silence but I just find it noticeable that the traffic outside is louder than anything going on in here.

Well, that's all for now....

Pre-ISP Expectations

I don't have many concrete expectations for my ISP. I mostly just want to take advantage of this experience. I'm really glad that it is so close to home and also something at face-value that I will find really interesting. The people that I am working with like Rob, Jan, Patricia, Carri, Meredith and Lilly are all really intelligent so I think I'll end up learning a lot from them.

Basic Questions:
1. What exactly does an architect do?
2. Where do engineers fit into the equation?
3. What are the main elements of a successful small business like this one?
4. What are this firm's basic marketing strategies?
5. How did this firm get started?

Mini-Goals:
1. Getting more in-touch with the architectural history of Baltimore
2. Be open and questioning
3. Get enough sleep
4. Take advantage of this opportunity

Concerns:
1. I hope I won't get bored.
2. I'm a little nervous about the fact that I know nothing about architecture.
3. I hope that I get a good sized lunch break.

Hopefully this will be a good connection to have in the future!