grrrrrr.........

Well it was a week. One more try at coming up with a cohesive design for the porch, and another failed attempt. I must say that I really am getting frustrated with the lack of being able to come up with a design that will work and that everyone agrees on. Time is running out fast and we are all really aware of it, and what is more frustrating is that we really are trying to get something accomplished; somehow things just always fall apart. 

This past week was busy though: we split off into two groups, one of which to work on the new signage mini block and another to design the porch. I was to work on the new mini block, and with the help and ideas from the rest of the group, I think Sara Ashley and I came up with a design that I think we are all excited about. We worked to digitally model the new block and its intricacies and to model it in the 3d printer. We immediately found several problems with the design and went to work fixing the problems. Once we agreed on a rough design, we consulted with Robbie on the best way to create a formwork. Saturday Robbie and I went to buy supplies and dropped about $200 on the materials for our experimental cast and on miscellaneous supplies like buckets and a wheelbarrow. Monday we finally got the formwork finished and got together to cast the form. It was messy, scary, and a lot of fun... and it worked! We now have a mock-up at quarter scale of what the form may look like. We still have a LOT of work to do though, but it sure feels good to have something done that is physical. 

Next step is to figure out how to encase photos and text into resin or some other material and embed it into the concrete. We found out a LOT about what materials to use and not use just casting our first mock-up (like that construction adhesive will eat through foam), and I am sure that we will learn just as much with our experiments to come. 

The porch.... well, I think that we are making to too complex. We really need to scale it back and start looking at it as a much less complex form. Several of us stayed up in studio for hours last night trying to rehash the form and make it work. We also need to remember that we have to save some time and effort to enclose/find some other way to make the memory block safe to occupy. 

We really have our work cut out for us!

P.S. sorry for the late blog!