I have been thinking all day about what I should write about today. I guess this blog post will be both a reflection on the past five months and a goodbye.

“To enhance the visitor’s experience” – was our task and goal for this project. I think we achieved that goal. I realized that today when standing among hundreds of people I saw the platform packed with those who wanted to see the artwork from above – a view they wouldn’t be able to achieve from anywhere else in the gallery.

Reflecting back on the past six months designing and constructing the platform makes me think of all we have gone through as a studio. We had tears and laughter, we had studio romances and break-ups, late nights and early mornings. These things have brought ten strangers together like a family, so besides the great project we can photograph and put in our portfolio, we got great friendships that will last a lifetime. Thank you Minji, Jeff, LeRone, Elise, Adam, Madison, Cailtlin, Chris and Sam!

I know this project wouldn’t be possible without Motoi. After seeing the art work for the first time today, I can truly say it is absolutely breathtaking. No photograph can translate the intricacy, the beauty and the feeling of Zen one gets from looking at his artwork. It is the best piece of contemporary art I have ever seen. Thank you Motoi for giving us a chance to be a part of your art!

And lastly I would like to thank Dave Pastre for everything he has done for us and the Clemson Architecture Center in Charleston. I don’t know how many sleepless nights past midnight he has spent with us working on this project. Thank you for your expertise and sometimes the lack of. You weren’t afraid to try methods that were new to all of us and I think all of respect you for it. Thank you for not settling for mediocrity and pushing us to do the best. All of us will be better designers because of you.

I didn’t mean for this blog post to turn into an academy awards acceptance speech, and I think the best way to end this semester’s blog is with an invitation. The end is the beginning: the exhibition will continue through Spoleto Festival all the way up to July 7^th. Come to Charleston, come to the Halsey, come see the artwork, and come see the platform.

But, today our final review changed my views and attitude toward our project. While we are presenting, I could get throught again what we did and how we did in studio during 4 months. I figured out we went through thick and thin, enjoyed every minute of it, and learned a whole different world. It has been a great moment.

Maybe I have been forgetting the essence of studio v and that we did great job. Now, I know we will continue to work and finish this beautiful work. And, it will be even better. I can’t wait to work to finish our project and see Motoi with our exquisite viewing platform. I am seeing the bright side from the bad thing. I cannot believe this.

The picture I’ve included was taken tonight as we fitted our maple  plywood deck, cutting out the holes for the handrail right there on site, one of the advantages of having the 2×2 steel tube cover the hole.  We had a few problems with everything being perfectly square but it really is amazing how close we actually got.  A small taper of just one small side of the landing will hopefully be all that needs to be done!

How to deal with mistakes

1. Stay calm. No reason to panic. Recognizing and addressing the mistake is a vital step.
2. Admit it. Even though it’s uncomfortable, just take a deep breath and do it. Say: “I made a mistake. I’m sorry. I’ll work to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
3. Fix it. Don’t wait around. Do your best to solve the issue before it gets bigger.
4.  Don’t place blame. It’s a waste of time. Studio V solves problems together. Making mistakes is human.
5.  Learn from what went wrong. Go back, find the root of the problem and correct it once and for all. Then move on!

Of course that is not how we do in Studio V. Below is our procedure:

How to deal with mistakes in Studio V:

1. “What the fuck!?!?! Who the hell screwed up?! Who measured wrong?
2. That was not me. Pretend mistake did not happen.
3. Stand around for 10 minutes. Wait for somebody to walk up. Discuss. Stand around for another 10 minutes. Wait for somebody to walk up. Discuss. Call Pastre over. Discuss. Wait for Pastre to fix it.
4. Blame the guy at the computer. Or glue. Or band saw. Or somebody who is not there.
5. Repeat the same mistake 10 minutes later.

Below is the pictorial evidence of our mistakes throughout the semester:

We came up with our slogan after these: “Measure once. Cut. Weld. Measure again. Cut again.”

We still can’t figure out what went wrong here. But the holes did not line up so we extended the beam somewhere between 1-1/8″ and 1-1/2

These were wrong all the way around. First they didn’t line up. We extended the beam. Second they didn’t line up so we cut them off and re-weld them.

There are a few things wrong here: first the post is too long (or so I think), second the plate had to be enlarged to accommodate the post, third the post is in the wrong place.

Apparently that is not how you glue stuff up…. Thanks to D.Pastre who was able to fix this one for us.

This is when we decided to stop drilling and start welding. Drilling took way too long+we had alignment issues… as you see here.

Long story short: Min Ji did a lot of unnecessary grinding, she then re-weld the piece .

Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen, we’re moving!

Today we delivered our outdoor installation to the corner of Calhoun and St. Philip Street. Things went fairly smoothly with the transportation and placement. It fit perfectly on to the concrete slabs we laid out the night before and was well received by Mark and many people passing by seemed to enjoy the piece. Tomorrow we will be putting in gravel and doing final touches on it. Then all of our focus will return to the indoor structure and completing it for its delivery.

The wood arrived Monday as we began to finish up the inner steel structure of our platform. We had to break up into a number of smaller task groups to get some things done, and that we did. Over the weekend we bought paint for our outdoor structure, so we began painting and finished with touch-ups on Tuesday morning- outdoor structure complete! Chris and Sam got the space ready outside the window of the Halsey Gallery for us to install it, so it should be in place by the end of the week. Meanwhile, we are almost finished with our steel structure for the indoor platform. We are making some minor adjustments and will be ready to weld on the structure for our hand and guard rails. Then, it’s on to preparing the “shell” of our platform- the wood. We have most of the pieces ready to be glued together for stair treads, and have mapped out how to cut our hand and guard rails from the boards. Still lots to do. It’s getting a little hectic with ITC students all being there with us all day, and with our time slot growing smaller by the minute. Six days and counting until we move into the Halsey!

Going into every semester of teaching Studio V, I am confident that the new batch of students will rise to the challenge and overachieve on the given project.  This group has been no exception so far.  At every step of the way this semester the students have met their deadlines, and exceeded expectations, until recently.  We find ourselves behind schedule for the first time, which is disconcerting since we are less than two weeks from the final review.  This weekend, many things did not go as planned and we had to make on the fly decisions to accommodate.  Also, we are working extensively in steel for the first time in my tenure and I find myself having to make phone calls to my professional friends in the industry for answers to questions more often than usual which also slows production.  The thing is, these situations are common to all design/build projects, and it’s how you respond to these varied adversities that can compensate for the time lost.

The goal for the weekend was to complete all structural steel fabrication for the interior viewing structure and begin work applying the steel parts for the guardrails, a very exciting milestone.  Even with the bumps in the road we experienced today, we came very close to completing our goal, and that was by 7:30 pm.  Rather than pushing through and finishing, it was decided to pick back up in the morning,  a decision I was not part of.  With a due date approaching fast, it worries me that procrastination on this project persists.  I know that there are many more unexpected hurdles ahead of us, and that things will often take longer to finish than we estimate.  Moments to seize the day will come again.  I hope we are not foolish to let anymore slip away.

So, we are into the weekend now and the goal is to have the entire steel structure welded together and assembled inside.  Everyone is pulling, at the least, 8 hours a day, everyday of the week at the moment.  We are all tired physically and mentally but every time we accomplish another goal our spirits are buoyed.  With another swig of my mountain dew I sign off and leave you with a few photos from the last few days.

The jig for getting our holes in the right place.

This is Big Bertha, our 17' beam. I am still trying to get the name to catch on.

This is the worst job in the world.

Lerone and Madison aligning the last fin. Later I had to cut it off because our structure was too tall to be able to move into position at the Halsey but a seminal moment nonetheless.

The fearless Lerone, without a moments hesitation, is the first to climb the stairs.

The stringer, in all its glory!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnbNcQlzV-4

We have to remember “steel is not candy”, we can’t eat it to complete our project.

Today was a non scheduled meeting day, but the show must go on, so we met before/between classes and worked. We welded, did some grinding, and a little assembly. Speaking of assembly, now that we have all the pieces cut, assembly and welding will proceed much more efficiently. Tomorrow and the next few weeks will be exciting as we will start assembling the main structure’s stairs and armatures. Things are moving quickly and before you know it we will be done.

We Weld

We Grind

We Assemble

   Surprisingly, the outside structure came together before our main structure. It didn’t happen without hiccups, but we pushed through them all. I am proud of our group. Now, all we have to do is add the minor finishing touches to it and transport it to Calhoun Street. Also, we know there is a natural inclination to climb, but not on this structure. Yes, the olympics are approaching, but this is not an olympic event! You will not win a medal for climbing up a piece of art. So, remember that this is for visual purposes only.

For Visual Purposes Only

Not For Climbing

Shutting Down and Signing Out-LeRone