21 before 22.

Why hello there.

It's been a while, a rather long while and I'm so sorry.  So much has happened over the past two months and there has been so many things I've wanted to share with you!  However my camera happened to meet an unfortunate series of events in which the strap of my bag broke and my camera went tumbling down a flight of stairs....and then decided that focusing properly is a very difficult task.  And a blog post without photos is absolutely boring so I've been waiting to get it fixed...and procrastinating and it still isn't fixed.  And then I remembered I had an iPhone that happened to take photos.  Nowhere near as good as an SLR but still far better than a page full of type, yes?

About a million exciting things have happened in the past few months like having a boyfriend, breaking up with said boyfriend, learning to knit, buying new bright red shoes, starting to go to the gym, only wearing red lipstick,getting into a car accident (I'm fine, lot's of phyiso but I'm good!), finding out I get to move into a lovely apartment with a lovely roomate in January (I can't wait to show you all photos when I move!), getting tickets to go see my twin (aka. Taylor Swift) in concert in June, going on insane shopping sprees for pretty house things...and turning 22.  That last one was really fun, and involved a lot of cupcakes and dancing.

It also meant the end of my "21 before 22" list.  It's a bit like new years resolutions except far more exciting and fun, I made a list of 21 lovely things I wanted to do in my year as a 21 year old and I actually managed to do most of them, these were the first 10 on my list:

I accomplished 7.5 of them.  Yes, 7.5.


1.  I found out in November I get to move into the main floor of a lovely house with hardwood floors with a lovely roommate in January and I am so excited. There will be a million house D.I.Y's and photos to come.

2.  Nope.  I just wasn't into sewing this year.  I don't know why, but I just wasn't feeling any big sewing projects.  But I have started knitting...so I count that as 0.25.

3.  Kind of.  I'm on the waiting list for the January class at martha street studio so maybe?  Totally worth another 0.25.

4.  I got it inked in March and I LOVE it.  It is currently hidden under 100 sweaters because it's freezing here, but it still makes me so happy.

5.  I graduated with my undergrad in Environmental Design, architecture focus in May.  It was a crazy four years but I loved it, we had a pantone themed grad party which was sweet, that's me and one of my studio friends, we have matching bows.

6.  It's terrible that I have to put visiting extended family on a list, but I wanted to make it a priority to see her more than just at holidays, we went for lunch this summer and it was fun.  She's awesome.

7.  My grandma is still the only one in my family capable of making dutch pancakes.  Still a goal.

8. Starting in August I've been going to moksha yoga every week, I love it, it is SO warm and that is the best.  It's also super nice to be as flexible as I was back when I used to dance.

9.  Yep.  I am incapable of buying flat shoes.  I promised myself I was going to buy kitten heels for my Christmas party because I'm already 4" taller than most people.  I came home with those red ones.  I give up.  At least I can walk in them.

10. I've found so many!  I've currently been listening to a ton of Alex Winston, but I've also fallen in love with Julia Holter.  Taylor Swift is maybe a guilty pleasure.  There, I said it.  We're practically twins anyways...

 

It feels so lovely to be back!  I can't wait to share the other half of my 21 before 22 list with you!

xo, T.

light.

Oh hey.  It's been a while, sorry about that. 

Life has been a little crazy with school: making cities out of sticks, building tiny structures for the tiniest of people, oh and planning for BRAZIL!!!! (I leave in a week and I'm pretty pysched.)

But anyways, if you haven't seen me since September this will give you a little insight into what I've been doing with my life for the last while.

Our site this term was a magically constructed, precariously balanced structure that I have a rather strong love-hate relationship with (generally leaning more towards the latter.)  The structure was then to evolve into a densely populated, vibrantly inhabited city through each of our interventions.  Starting with nothing, with no site constraints, light patterns, surrounding buildings, etc. was a little difficult for me, sunlight is what I genuinely love, and what has influenced much of my previous projects.

Eventually after much imagining and lots of litte sketches filled with people and trees I got into it and a small little building evolved. 

Sitting atop a mountainous landscape of trusses, 45 metres in the air is a small white observatory.  Constructed around the framing of specific viewpoints of the city it contains multiple rooms with small openings, slanted floors and oddly arranged windows which manipulate what one sees in each space and how they interact with that view. 

With carefully constructed spaces to view the harbour, the divide through the city, the commerical district and the parkland the building also begins to make one aware of the shifting sense of time, measured through the ever-changing light quality that enters through the openings. 

It is a space to sit and look and watch and be enthralled with the amazing quality of sunlight.....and possibly escape from the rest of the city for a while.

the little urban observatory.

view through one of the slits in the harbour room that forces ones gaze downwards to the boats below.

plan of all the white viewing spaces and the outdoor roof areas.

section of the softly slanting floor plane and openings of the harbour room.

section showing city room, centre space and parkland viewing room.

view into the "city."

xo.  Hopefully a few other things will appear on here before I leave!

tiny buildings make me the happiest.

If you're curious as to why you haven't see me since September, here's a little peek. 

It's a tiny coffee shop for our four storey "city", that is all about registering the shift of light and making people aware of the the vast colour range contained within sunlight.  It connects to a larger observatory/library within the city that creates a space for individuals to observe and experience the cloud and atmospheric conditions of the urban city.  The library has all their weather charts.

It's just a little sketch model, but I love imagining into tiny models.  They're super fast and instantly create a small little real world.  And you get to put tiny people in them.  This is a little mini light study of how the sunshine would illuminate the space from east to west throughout the day.  xo.