My learning goals throughout my Senior Project will be:

• To understand the process of drafting and more generally, how to translate 3-dimensional objects onto a 2-dimensional plane. My ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I course at UCLA Extension will teach me all that I need to know to do my own drafting. I hope that this small introduction will not only foster knowledge for my independent project, but also for my skills as a future architecture student.
• To learn how to measure, recreate, and redesign a physical space using a CAD Program. This will not only involve recreating my family’s barn on SketchUp, but also ideating how I would like to redesign it beforehand. Do I want to focus on decorating it? Re-dividing it? Giving it a new use? The choice will be mine. I plan on interviewing family members ahead of time–learning about how they currently use/see the barn and how exactly they would like it to change.
• To understand the experience of working architects. By interviewing professionals and potentially visiting architecture firms, I will understand what my degree may offer me and more specifically, which categories within the field of architecture I am most interested in pursuing. As someone who has found a new passion for sustainable design, I will be asking how these current architects are factoring sustainability into their work. I will spend Spring Break coming up with a list of questions for the architects I interview over Zoom or meet up with in real life.

 

My Senior Project schedule is currently as follows:

Week 1:

• Continue taking ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I at UCLA Extension (begins April 1st). Complete course assignments.
• Begin ideating/sketching/interviewing family members in order to decide how I will redesign my family’s barn.
• Begin scheduling Zoom interviews & (if possible) firm visits with architects. Finalize questions for architects.
• Begin reading required book.

Week 2:

• Continue taking ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I at UCLA Extension. Complete course assignments.
• Begin measuring & translating barn into SketchUp, finalize ideas on barn redesign.
• Continue scheduling Zoom interviews/begin having Zoom interviews, (if possible) continue scheduling firm visits/begin visiting firms.
• Continue reading required book (if still unfinished).

Week 3:

• Continue taking ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I at UCLA Extension. Complete course assignments.
• Begin measuring & translating barn into SketchUp (depending on how long it takes), begin/continue barn redesign.
• Continue having Zoom interviews, continue visiting firms (if possible).
• Continue reading required book (if still unfinished).

Week 4:

• Continue taking ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I at UCLA Extension. Complete course assignments.
• Continue barn redesign. Begin receiving feedback from family & outside sources. Make edits.
• Continue having Zoom interviews, continue visiting firms (if possible).
• Continue reading required book (if still unfinished).

Week 5:

• Continue taking ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I at UCLA Extension. Complete course assignments.
• Finish up barn redesign. Make final changes.
• Continue having Zoom interviews, continue visiting firms (if possible).
• Continue reading required book (if still unfinished).

Week 6:

• Continue taking ARCH X 467.17A: Design Communication I at UCLA Extension. Complete course assignments. (NOTE: Finishes after Senior Project is over)
• Add finishing touches to barn redesign.
• Continue having Zoom interviews, continue visiting firms (if possible).
• Continue reading required book (if still unfinished).
• Compile course projects, independent project, information from interviews/visits, information from required reading etc. in order to prepare for Senior Project Presentation.

 

I plan to document my course and independent projects every step of the way. I will take images, screenshots, and scans of what I produce and will write down where I am and what I would like to accomplish next. I do not expect to finish my course projects in time for the Senior Project Presentation, therefore my documentation will be extremely useful when I present on what I have accomplished at that point. At the end of each week, I will reflect on the progress I have made and perhaps even analyze how my project has changed since its start.

Additionally, I will be writing reflections after each interview I conduct and/or firm visit. Before each Zoom interview, I will ask the architect if they are comfortable being recorded. If they permit it, I will go back to my recording and take notes on the key points they made throughout. I will write down a few of my favorite quotes. If the architect does not agree to be recorded, I will jot down as many notes as I can during the interview, and perhaps work around another method of recording.