spring... is that you?

It feels like Spring today...finally!!

There is nothing better than leaving your house in the morning all bundled up and ready to bear the elements, when you're hit by a heat wave.
I may be from Buffalo, but I am NOT a cold weather girl. The unexpected Spring day in the midst of Winter is ever so refreshing. I can't wait for the start of baseball season and being able to leave the house without enough gear to hike Everest(just to make it to class). With that said, I walked to school today with coat in hand. That means Spring is on it's way (knock on wood.. in New England you never know).

As far as life goes, I feel like I've been living at NESAD (The New England School of Art & Design) lately, which is the trend with most of the art students. I had a critique today for one of my classes, which entails presenting your finished work to your classmates and professor as well as outsiders, such as professional Interior Designers and Architects. A critique can be nerve racking, but it's a great way to develop strong presentation skills, handle positive and negative criticism as well as get input from professionals. I enjoy presenting my finished work, so it's not that bad, but some people find it very stressful.
My Contract Design Studio is a commercial design studio, where we learn how to design commercial spaces like office buildings, cafes or school buildings. On this particular project, we were assigned to design the office space for the Department of Neighborhood Development in Cambridge, MA (which was a hypothetical project, but an actual department). We were given the shell of an existing building and required to space plan, create floor plans and develop 3D models all while following building codes as well as creating a environmentally responsible space. Environmentally responsible building/design is determined by LEED Standards (The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) and you can check out what they do at http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=222. I think that building "green" is very important to ensure that the materials we are adding to our homes and buildings are not hurting our environment, and that they are being properly recycled.
I will be posting images of my work in the near future, so you can see what type of work is expected of Interior Design students as well as see how this project came out.

So after a hectic week of preparation and finishing of my project, it is a real "weight off the shoulders" to have presented, and now I can focus on my next project, a hat shop!

As for now, I need to get back to work, as well as upload some new pics for the blog. Don't forget to watch the season finale of Project Runway this Wednesday (tomorrow) at 10pm. I can't wait to see who will win.

Now get off the computer, go outside and enjoy the good weather before it's gone!
-jillian

ps. happy march!