Did we do any work at School?
We get this question a lot. Yes, we did work at school…….what did you think this was a 6 month all expense paid vacation? One of my favorite classes was Inspect on Modern Chinese Architecture. In this class, we had to investigate a new urban area in Shanghai (basically somewhere in Pudong). The purpose of the investigation was to analyze the architecture or urban area and come up with a question. The question part seemed easy until the professor asked what makes your area of investigation special, what makes it different (see Adam we actually had to think). I picked an area along Century Avenue between Sangcheng Lu and Dongfang Lu (lu means road…..I learned that from the metro). Here is a little history about Century Avenue……..it is one freaking huge street (that’s not the history). When creating Pudong, the Chinese government wanted a street that resembled Champs Elysee in Paris. So in typical Chinese fashion, Century Avenue is big and there is a lot of it but it doesn’t come close in creating the feeling of the Champs Elysee. Back to my little piece of land, the reason I picked this area is because of two small pavilions that sit on the sidewalk. I am finding that pavilions or small little lone buildings tend to get my attention. What drew me to the two pavilions is their appearance and seemingly odd placement. My first question is why are the buildings there. The exterior didn’t provide any clues and actually suggested the buildings were used for local utilities (at least that’s what I thought). Moreover, the landscape created an uninviting appearance along with the iron gates used as doors. The spaces were actually created as an oasis or retreat from the hectic daily life of Pudong but no one was using them. So this lead me to my final question, why aren’t the spaces being used(this question was used as the basis for my paper and presentation)? There is always a lot of foot traffic in the area as well as bus and metro stops. So you would think people would use the spaces to rest or get away. Along Century Avenue, you can find pairs of these pavilions which have three basic interior designs and the 2 I investigated had circular interiors. I did a comparison between another space which had a square interior and were constantly being used. Instead of writing the paper here in the blog, I am going to attach my presentation. It got rave reviews (not as many as Franks because it was so badass (apparently Frank wants to try and alter history…..mine was better and will probably go done in history as one of the most fantastic presentations but still not as good as Frank’s, which was worthy of Godlike praise (seriously, it was that good and I’m trying to get him to give me a copy (Frank is a GOD)))) It is sad (sad in a good way because it’s something you can never live up too but you will still take advice from it that you will carry with you the rest of you’re life) when someone (Frank the Almighty) has to keep making comments (just trying to spread the truth, which is that Frank’s presentation was obviously superior and made me think of kittens, bacon and green fields of happiness for everyone (Frank loves everyone ). Let’s replay the end of each presentation: Terry, the professor states “very effective and thorough” “Well thought out”, Frank, the professor states” “(yes that’s a long pause of awesomeness because everyone’s mind was blown) “okay, next” (as in okay next do we really need too see anymore because the class is over and my knees hurt from bowing in front of greatness). Oh by the way, the measurements are in meters…….we are in China (China rocks!).