UW-Seattle

Public Transportation - Even before I went to visit UW, I already felt more at home with Seattle. This didn't have that much to do with my having visited before, but rather because I was able to look up a method from the airport to UW campus using public transportation. I heart public transportation so much.

Rob Corser - Previously at the UVa Open House, people had told me that a couple of faculty members at UW had been at UVa. Heather had had him as a professor, so she introduced me to him in order that I could ask his opinion on where to go. First he asked me what I was looking for, to which I mentioned the Eco-Mod project as something that really intrigued me. He immediately told me to go to UVa rather than UW. Strictly in terms of academics, he thinks UVa is still stronger, and it was a good idea especially if I wanted to get a faculty position later in life. However, then he started to talk about all these great things about UW, such as how well the school is integrated with the professional, urban community, and how advanced the digital fabrication technology was compared to UVa. Apparently, it is quite possible to get a faculty position with a Masters degree in conjunction with a Master in Science degree, and a PhD is not as necessary as in the sciences.

Scandinavian Study Abroad - UW-Seattle apparently has very strong Scandinavian connections. They have well established study abroad programs in Copenhagen, Oslo, and perhaps Helsinki. Other programs include Zurich, Chandigarh (India), and Japan. I chatted a bit with Frieda, their resident Danish student who was there for 9 months on the exchange program: red-haired, tall, and a cute Danish accent that many people mistake for German. She said she was afraid to ride in Seattle because it was too hilly, but that in Denmark, she rode bikes everywhere, even in heels. I complimented her culture for doing so, and wished America would hurry up and follow suit. The ability to study abroad in Copenhagen appeals, especially to research the bike path system there (complete with curbs separating them from traffic and their own traffic lights).

UVa Undergraduate??? - So I'm sitting at the opening lecture, and who sits next to me but someone who went to UVa undergrad. Chris had gotten into UC Berkeley and UW, had studied abroad and worked in Copenhagen, and is currently working in D.C. He did think that the digital fabrication capabilities, especially in metal, are more advanced at UW, and he said the shop facilities were vastly better. UW seems to care more about keeping up to date with computer programs. Both schools care a lot about craft, but UW seems to be more specific in the craft of specific kinds of material, such as wood or metal in furniture. UVa was more a general sense of precision in model making.

Model Making Comparisons - I noted seeing many ultra precise-looking models around the studios. There are many laser cutters everywhere available 24/7. UVa's models tended to be more conceptual, more about massing, and general materiality rather than showing how each and every moment joint looked, or the bolts on steel trusses. They're both precise, but I guess the level of abstraction is quite different.

Studio Spaces - UW occupies a building extant since the Seattle World Fair of 1909 whose insides were entirely remodelled. The spaces were all separate rooms with locked doors for security reasons. They were more intimate, and I found they reminded me of the studios back at UIUC. I think I preferred UVa's studio spaces, all of which were joined together with atrium spaces. It was easier to rub shoulders with various students and professors. Also, landscape architecture students even shared the same space, making it a lot easier for the school to be actually multi disciplinary, rather than just on paper.

Happy Hour - College of Built Environments has a new home with a beautiful 4 story skylit atrium space, in which they hold a biweekly happy hour. A one time fee of $12 buys a glass cup, and then the beer is free until it's gone. By happy hour, my brain was once again melting from overload, and it was great just to be able to chat with new friends. We all got dinner on Capitol Hill with a group of local Seattlites. One asked me if it were going to be possible to ever design herself a beautiful home, to which I replied that architects are generally expensive, but she should consider adaptive reuse (or remodelling an older home) since it was a) sustainable, b) more affordable, c) contained more history and character. At some point, I found myself describing team tactics in a bike race, it's really quite a mystery.

Sleeping at the Airport ??? - Originally, the idea was that I would sleep at the airport because my flight was at 6:10am, but then it just sounded too awful. The bus would have worked out in terms of time, but I wasn't sure how sketchy the areas would be while it was still pitch black outside. Since I was saving a lot of money by staying at Heather's place (on an awesome air mattress provided by her roomate, no less - thank you sooo much Jamie!), I decided to cab it around 4:15am. I wanted to sleep, but my cab driver was talkative and kept asking me about Chicago and its crime rate. Eventually, I did find myself on board the airplane speeding toward Chicago.

WHERE WILL IT BE???