blogging assignments

I find myself having a lot of ideas for blogging, many of which I failed to fulfill as a serious long-term project. I created many and deleted many too. Can't have enough time for such 'cosmopolitan' past-time haha.

It's good that one of my class this semester gives us the right to choose any form for our assignment. this ideal of using digital and less formal but richer in content is of course by a not-young-anymore-but-still-kool professor,  Micheal Neuman.

I chose blogging for both of the two class projects: a simple journal and and more complicated one for 'City Observation' project.

Here are they in new-born form but soon grown-up at the end of the semester.

' I walk in Sydney' - http://iwalkinsydney.blogspot.com.au/

' Sydney 'gay' Precinct Observation' - http://sydneygayprecinctobservation.wordpress.com/

They're gonna consume lots of my time but I'm enthusiastic. Yay!

Communication in Urban Design (2)

One of the last days before the MUDD18 exhibition - "Beyond the Industrial Past"
Most of the students quit. Only a few stayed.
The Folio and Project panels still require a lot of editing.

At the end of the day, we'll see the true workers.

Scott Hawken (Course convenor), Jodi Lawton (Course convenor), Ray (Exhibition graphics), Alec (Editor) were checking the A3-size of the whole class' project panels.

Communication in Urban Design (1)

The Deadline is coming in MUDD18 'Communication ' class.

coincidently alike

On the left: London Olympic Village

On the right: UNSW Main Walkway, view from the upper hill.

After the presentation

I JUST FEEL GREAT!

I only feel great after working very hard and getting good results.

In the afternoon of our Bayshore city presentation, we were all ready for a class-dinner in the CBD. Here I lay down on the lawn opposite to our Faculty's Red Centre, waiting for the snack in the gallery.

Alex, from China - a hard working and smart mate. Couldn't keep him from doing crazy things in front of cameras.

Salma, from Brisbane - 'the editor of the class'

Alex and Tun (from Bangkok) were posing "Gangnam style"

Me in the FBE Gallery. Someone put the chair there already. I just discovered and asked Alex to photograph me.

Dinner time at La Rosa, The Strands building, Sydney CBD.

Post-dinner Gangnam style, lol.

"Nobody"

Me and the mates

Introducing MUDD 18 (semester 2 - 2012)

This is the end of our first semester and first studio project. It's time our panels were pinned up showing off our imagination about the Bayshore city built on the site of  thecurrent Sydney Kingsford Smith Airport. This first memory with MUDD is so unforgettable to me, including both the experience with the classmates and experience from the project. 

Our task was learning from different precedent cities around the world (both built and never-built) and adapting into Sydney's context to design a new city at the airport in concurrence with the proposal of replacing the KSA airport by a new one in Badgery Creek (NSW).

Prof. James Weirick, the father of the class opens the presentation in front of the jury.

life in Sep and Oct

pin-up in MUDD Professor Weirick's studio

Mercerdes from Colombia and Ryan from Australia

Stella (Ruizhe zhou) is doing very well.

an ad around TAFE Randwick site

Another add near TAFE Randwick and Randwick Race court

Motobike shop in Randwick

Night discussion in MUDD studio

lunch in a Chinese restaurant, Anzac Parade

cuisines there are just similar to Vietnamese

I met Glenn Murcutt!

He came into our studio just to have a brief talk with Professor Weirick. I could recognize him right away. I watched videos of him in 2009, then another in 2011 when he had a talk in Utzon Lectures in Faculty of Built Environment (UNSW). Tonight, I could see him in reality, having a handshake and feeling so excited. When he said he had to get back to his studio, I just felt greater knowing that he was just somewhere close to our studio, in the same Red Centre building.

my previous entry about Glenn Murcutt : 
http://r-kudo.blogspot.com.au/2011/11/glenn-murcutt-interview.html

a good day

Artsweek Opening night, lol

My first and possibly my only Artsweek in UNSW. I submit works for Lens Life photography competition and SoundProjects recording project and get an invitation to the Opening night in Roundhouse. Feel so excited seeing my photo was chosen to be printed and exhibited. It's kind of a consolidation I guess cuz someone else win the grand prize. It's amazing the winning work is just next to mine. It looks very good but not surprising. So I could say the underneath meaning is the winning point. 

And this is my work: 

"We create our own image"

This year's theme is "Coming together" which is about cultural diversity in campus life. So I decided to send this 'wankie' photo of me and my mates in IAP class.

Description: This photograph was taken by ourselves with an ultra-wide lense during a Sydney Harbour Cruise with SDI on June 2012. We’re all AusAID students from different continents, feeling excited here in UNSW and Sydney. Thank you Australia and UNSW!

From left: SoSo (Rwanda, Civil Engineering), Ximena (Columbia, Sustainable Developent), Duong (Vietnam, Urban Development and Design), Paul (Rwanda, Public Health)

Besides, "PostSecret" is another exciting, extremely in fact, activity of Artsweek. People just write down their secret on postcards and put into any post office red box around campus. Finally, the postcards will be picked up and exhibited altogether as an art collection. The effect is clearly high when visitors of Opening nights wander around check out every card and smile or laugh out loud. It's always interesting reading somebody else secret!

Artsweek 2012of UNSW will be on 13th-17th August, 2012

Check out their website on ARC here

or their Facebook here



PostSecret exhibition : (click to see larger image)

Designs on the Future

In the mood of welcoming a challenging new year, I post this video of a very interesting research from MUDD program of UNSW, Australia.

I was inspired by not the simple task of the project but by how the students carried it out and how the studio is organized. Presenting the results to residents, councillors, senior bureaucrats is both a real challenge and a precious opportunity for students. On the other side, the audiences would listen to new, possibly even innovative, ideas from students from various countries with various experiences and perspectives on residential planning. I still haven't truly had all of those experiences even though having 3 years of working experience. That's a shame but it does encourage me!

And I'm looking forward to the future.