Fourth Interview Questions

For my fourth interview I plan on interviewing Erik, an architect from Cal Poly who specializes in environmental design in order to back up one of my answers to my E.Q. which is, "going green is most important to consider when designing a structure".

1.  What is most important to you when designing a structure?

2. Has the demand for sustainable architecture risen? If so, how have you adjusted to the demands?

3. Why would an architect choose to design a sustainable building rather than a conventional building?

4. In your opinion, which is the best piece of sustainable architecture that you have seen?

5. Which is an example of a bad piece of green architecture that you have seen?

6. I previously did an experiment where I compared a green roof to a conventional shingled roof by placing the two different platforms in the open to absorb heat from the sun and prove that green roofs will repel the most heat and thus cut energy costs for utilities like air conditioning. That being said, what other way do you believe a student like me could prove that sustainable architecture is important?

7. Do you believe it is more difficult to satisfy a client visually with green architecture?

8. Would there be a difference between rural and urban when designing a sustainable structure?

9. How would you make sure green architecture lasts as long or longer than conventional architecture would?

10. How would you get around a design when there is lack of resources that you would prefer?

11. What are you most proud of as an architect in environmental design?

12. What happens when a design does not prove to be as suitable as planned?

13. Do you believe grassed roofs will be an eventual substitution for shingled roofs?

14. How difficult would it be to transition a normal house into a sustainable home?

15. What is the most important factor to sustainable architecture?

16. What do you know about the history of sustainable architecture?

17. Is it hard for an architect who is used to designing conventional houses to transition into these new green houses?

18. Does "form follows function" apply better to green architecture?

19. Who's work do you admire the most regarding green architecture in the past?

20. What kind of research do you recommend I do in order to prove that green architecture is most important to consider when designing a structure?

Independent Component 2 Plan Approval

1. For my independent study component I plan on reading for an hour and sketching something creative from what I read (books, novels, articles) for at least an hour a day.
2. My Independent component will easily pass the 30 hour minimum because it will take two hours a day. The margin notes and sketches will prove to be enough evidence as well and I predict that I will gradually become a much better reader and artist throughout my days of work which will result in more sketches/pages read per hour.
3. My independent component relates to my E.Q. because sketching is a main part of designing a structure and fusing this with reading will prove to get my imagination running at a higher level which may prove to be most important when designing a structure.

Independent Component 1

• Calendar
• Evidence: 

1. Transcript
2. Rubric for Introduction to Architecture:

 

1.                                                        
   

3. Introduction to Architecture Paper:                                                                                

 

 4. Quiz:                                                                                                                        

• Literal: (a) I, Melvin Rodriguez, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents more than 37.5 hours of work.                                                                     (b) I completed a class at Citrus College that was approximately 37.5 hours of lecture. The class involved quizes, tests, a final paper, and a final test. During the class I would have to take notes on the lecture in my composition book. Our professor would require us to right in our notebook with great organization in order to recieve a good grade on the notes. These notes also were the key in passing the tests and quizes; basically what was on the notes was what we were going to be tested on. In our notebooks we were required to write notes on our own on the doctorate book our professor wrote which is called "A Introduction to Western Architecture". He would go over the answer to the chaper review questions once we were done with a chapter. Dr. Fernandes also had us buy two books to read "Field Guide to American Houses" and "Europe 101" to read on our own. Lastly, Dr. Fernandes had us write a paper which required us to interview a family elder in order to find out about a unique piece of architecture from our culture.
• Interpretive: My work earned an A in the class at a college level. I easily spent more than 30 hours working on this component by attending the class and went "above and beyond" by taking organized notes, interviewing several family members for my final paper, spending a rigurous night awake studying for the final test, and ultimately learning more than I had to about the period and style of Architecture. I learned more by researching on my own, staying after class to conversate about architecture with my professor, and ultimately earn connections that will help me answer my essential question, "What is most important when designing a structure?"
• Applied: It helped me answer my essential question because this class really did do a good job at introducing me to Architecture. I learned about architecture from pre-history to futuristic and it showed me the innovative ways that architects would design a structure. It showed me that throughout the eras people found that being innovative is very important when designing a structure. For example, my professor told me about Versai, which was built in the Renaissance and how they had marble columns in the hallways to a certain height until it became scarce and how they would have painters replicate the marble so beautifully that it is almost impossible to see in through the human eye. This innovative thinking also proved important in the midevil times when architects would design castles in order to best benefit the people inside. Firstly, they would have to find a way to keep water inside the premises of the caslte walls. Then they would have to design the castle in a way that gave the advantage to the one's battling from inside the castle. Lastly the architects would have to find a way to make the inside of some castles civilized in order to maintain people for a long period of time. These and many other examples are what brought me to the answer "You as an architect must work with the resources that you have, which means being creative when there is a scarce amount of tools and resources that you as an architect would prefer."                                                          Thank you for your interest in my component; have a nice day! -Melvin Rodriguez

Presentation 2 Rough Draft

20 Minute Lesson Plan

Prepared By: Melvin Rodriguez

House: East

Essential Question: What is most important when designing a structure?

Objectives: For my 20 minute presentation I plan to teach the class on how to properly identify the different styles of architecture that are common in the United States.

	Teacher Guide	Time
Introduction	Hello, I am Melvin Rodriguez and today I am going to teach you guys a little bit more about architecture. The objective is to have you guys learn the different styles of architecture that are common here in America. I will do so by passing on what I have learned so far through my class, research, books, and videos. The audience will then be using what they learned in order to complete my activity.	2 min	Three Important Sources 1. (Source and justification.  Minimum speaking length: 30 seconds.) 2. (Source and justification.  Minimum speaking length: 30 seconds.) 3. (Source and justification.  Minimum speaking length: 30 seconds.)
Verification (Steps to check for student understanding)	●      Beginning of Presentation: In order to really see where the class is in understanding my topic I will have to ask the question of whether they have seen a specific type of house. Then I will proceed to ask them what style they believe that house is. ●      End: Check for understanding by…having a few people answer my question of what style a certain structure is.	2 min

Body (Give and/or demonstrate necessary information)

Break down what you plan on talking about into manageable sections. ●    Literal: I have learned a lot about the styles of architecture throughout the nation but more around the city of Los Angeles. ●    Interpretive: When going around any city someone has to be able to appreciate the architecture and be able to understand where the architecture originated from. ●    Applied: This topic can help me in the future because the first thing that a student of architecture has to be able to do is know what style’s of architecture there are in order to incorporate them into their designs. This will also help my project because I will be closer to knowing what is most important when designing a structure.

●    Literal: 2 min ●    Interp: 2min ●    Applied: 2 min

Visuals (for Body of presentation) For my visual I plan to show pictures of different styles of architecture and showing the audience each one while also showing the basic sketch of these types of architecture so they could better understand how they look.

Activity (Describe the independent activity to reinforce this lesson)

●    What is the activity: The activity is that the audience will have to get into a few groups and draw a style of architecture. By being in groups the students will be able to share their understanding of what I taught them and thus help one another in sketching the right thing. ●    How it will be done: I will have the class get into an even amount of groups and then ask them to draw a style of architecture that I have showed them. Each individual in the group must complete a drawing of their chosen style and for the participation I will hand out candy as a reward.

5 min

Materials   I will bring plain paper, pencils, and candy.

Conclusion

I will depart the stage by asking the audience to tell me one thing they have learned in my presentation. I will take their answers and expand on what they said by saying how in the beginning everyone was pretty clueless on what I meant when I was talking about “styles of architecture” and how now they could not only just give me great suggestions, but how they could also differentiate the styles of architecture in our nation. I will end by saying how great of an audience they were and thank them for listening and participating.

2 min