Spring 2008

Classes:

1. Design VI: The six credit class to cripple any and all social lives

2. Waterfront Design: Need this for my thesis. Lagos here I come

3. Urban Redevelopment: Why are you three hours on a Friday morning? Ehn?

4. Public Issues and Architecture: I am actually looking forward to this class. Looks like it is going to be alot of work but then, not something I cannot manage.

5. Creative Writing for Fiction: Had to take a Liberal Studies elective. Spanish was clashing. French was clashing. German was a no-no, Japanese would have been risky and I could not find Arabic in the system. So I ended up in English and found this class. Let's all wait and see.

Semester has begun peoples..............

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Peoples......

The annual Architecture and Design Student Showcase is coming up at school and this year, I had the brilliant idea to apply for the position as showcase coordinator. I don't know what I was thinking but I am determined to make it work.

So, I thought and thought and thought and thought about what I would put in the showcase. I had this brilliant idea (no, this time I mean it) to showcase what I would like to be as an architect and I decided to design and present an idea that could be developed.

I am toying with two ideas.
They are both slated for Lagos i.e the sites I will use, will be Lagos based.

Option1: A four units of 4 3-bedroom flats turned on an interior courtyard.

Option 2: A multi-purpose hall to be used for all kinds of events and ceremonies.

Concept: Designs that can be built now and will have commercial returns...

Vote now!!!!

It is the end of year

It has been an interesting year for me in the field of design.
I leave you with the best wishes for the new year as we all take stances to make better decisions and be better people in the coming year.


I leave you at the Temple of Eck in Port Harcourt in Nigeria where I can go to replenish myself

See you in the new year.

Merry Xmas and Happy New Physical Year

DO YOUR BIT FOR NAIJA...NIGERIAN LIGHTHOUSE INITIATIVE

Dear friends:

December 9th is UN International Anti-Corruption Day and Nigerian Lighthouse seeks to commemorate this day with a small but pertinent project.

The goal is to get as many people to write a 50 word (or less) message on how to eradicate corruption in Nigeria. All submitted messages will be posted at the website - nigerianlighthouse.org .

Most Nigerians have an opinion on how to stop corruption. Here is a chance to share that idea with the world! So, simply write a message of 50 (or less) words and send it to NigerianLighthouse@gmail.com. Then send another message to your friends encouraging them to participate as well. This will only take 5 minutes of your time and the rewards - sharing ideas that will definitely improve Nigeria - is more than worth it.

Hope to hear from you all!

Nigerian Lighthouse Team

PS: To learn more about the origins of International Anti-Corruption day, please visit the United Nations page at http://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/about-unodc/9-December.html

YOU CAN POST YOURS AS COMMENTS AND I WILL SEE THAT IT GETS TO THE LIGHTHOUSE!!!!

Exams are on and Catwalq is busy, so...

I give you a project from my early days in design.
This was a project to design a row house

Affordable Housing for Nigerian Metropolitan areas

As I begin to assemble my thoughts to produce my thesis project, I have made a,list of some of the issues that as an architect, I wish all my designs to address:

1. The projects must be sustainable. They should be able to harness natural energies to power and operate themselves. The materials should be biodegradable and the building should have no negative impact upon the land or on the people into whose midst the design is placed

2. The designs should have an aesthetic contribution to its contextual surroundings

3. The design should be affordable and accessible to all who need it to be

4. The design should be innovative in its execution.

I have thought and thought and thought about the issue of affordability. Most architects will tell you that before you can do projects for the "poor", you have to have catered to the rich because it is their endorsements that help generate the revenue to be able to develop the projects.

I am thinking however, that in a place like Lagos for instance where the poor live in substandard housing at extortionist rates, why don't I develop that results in an upgrade in their living conditions yet is still afordable?

People use trailers all the time. They are long and narrow and can be reconfigurated to fulfill all the needs a living space is required to provide. Maybe that could be the basis of my design. I will do some sketches on this and see what I can come up with.

I will turn to Shigeru Ban for some inspiration
Or Klein Dytham.
Or Jun Aoki
Let me get on this and see...

Memoirs of the V spot

Before you start, I will like to invite you to check this out. To the women, feel free to share your stories about that part of your anatomy that brings us joy, pain, confusion and comfort. And to the men, feel free to analyse that which your pursuit of defines your life's decisions.





Designs
Lovely, lovely designs
Cotton spun
Lace woven
Satin stretched
Plastic morphed
All to bring pleasure and comfort
To my beautiful and precious V spot.

The tremors I can manufacture
To rock me to an explicit release
The fabric that tells me
That I can bring him to his knees
The plastics that I must use
To protect both of us from disease
All to bring pleasure and comfort
To my beautiful and precious V spot

It's the knowledge of how tender I become
When the riding is all said and done
That propels me most compulsive
To allow myself to become undone
Nothing ever prepares me however
For that blessed moment when
pain mingles with pleasure and comfort
For my beautiful and precious V spot.

Who says that Nigeria has no good architects?
We do, the foreign ones just get all the props but we have quite a few that are doing some good work....
Big Ups!!!!!

To encourage all the aspiring designers out there, Jeld-wen's annual design competition is here. Get out your sketch books and let's see if an African can take home the prize. Good luck... what am saying? I am submitting too? Aaaaargh, why did I share?

So people's see ya soon

Cars That Catwalq will look so sexy in...

The Volvo XC90. My one and only. Love of my car life.
People, imagine me flowing through traffic on my way to my design studio. My stilleto clad hills flooring the gas...*sigh*


Oh My

Look at this Range Rover. This will be my make-out mobile.



What about this BMW SUV? Oh My....

Just in case I cannot have the above... I don't mind


A Toyota Camry...I call it the car with a yansh



My Aunt says this car is cheap cos it is American. I say, "Can my projects fit in back? Can my suitcases fit in the back?" I say, yes and I say carry go.

And whatever car God blesses me with, I accept but Sir, I would really, really, really love the ones above...but I am open to whatever.
First step though, learning how to drive

I like food...this what I do when I am not blogging or studying

I was given a plate of...



The grapes were so huge I just had to take a picture.


Please take one

Catwalq is trying to hold it down...

I pledge to do all my assignments on time and in proper fashion.
I will return things where they need to be as soon as I am done with them.
I will adhere to my "to do" list like clockwork
I will get to all my classes on time
I will do all I have agreed to do
I will incorporate a workout into my schedule. I am only down four pounds out of twenty.
I will try and read a book.
I will sleep well.
I must do my spiritual exercises regularly and with reverence.
I will cook all my meals so I can save some money
I will stop going to the Victoria's Secret website and hating on the skinny girls...and lusting after the lace corsets etc.
I will not care about my acne
I be nice and pleasant this week
I will practice the law of silence
I will listen more
I will get my projects off the ground.
I will not neglect my work in favour of blogging and vice versa. There must be a balance in everything.

From Minneapolis with love...

From my hotel window



A view of the Temple of Eck





The Orchestra Hall from my hotel room window




A view of city



Some flowers at the Temple Site

I am going to be out of town for a while
Have some fun till I get back

DESIGN FOR THE ENVIRONMENT (BLOG ACTION DAY)

For Oct 15 2007, I am taking an opportunity to join the many voices calling on humanity to start to take an active interest in the welfare of our environment. I am going to touch on an aspect of caring for the environment that I intend to make part of my career practice as an architect and that is the issue of Sustainable Design.

The entire idea behind sustainability in design is to ensure that a building / design's can take care of itself without destroying the environment it is placed in. As societies have grown, the encroachment upon the land has magnified to such extents that our pollutants have in most cases changed the micro climate of some regions. Case in point, if you live in a city like Lagos, Nigeria, inquire from those who have lived there for as long as thirty years and compare daily temperatures or annual rainfall averages and you will see that there have been major differences.

I am not sure if I can battle global pollutants and pollution but I am quite sure that I can decide that my creativity is directed towards projects that are "green" in their design, construction and use.

My ideas are targeted for my country where innovations in design are required to help reshape the images of cities as the country tries to reshape its image of itself.

1. My buildings/ designs must utilise effectively natural light.
If there is one thing Africa has, it is the sun. It shines incredibly. Designing to allow for as much natural light as possible means that you will need less artificial lighting and thus a reduction in energy costs.
Harvesting this same solar energy can be used to power the building and that will result in less dependence on public supplied power. In developing countries, this energy is powered by coal or or gas (from oil)...imagine harnessing energy that does not have to violate the earth as much.


2. Reduction of CO2 emissions:
For every space to be occupied, the designer has to take into account the means by which those who will occupy the building will get there. In lay man's terms: in today's world of vehicular transport as an expedited means of movement, you have to create parking.
Parking lots become serious heat islands that emit serious hot gases into the air, most especially in extreme heat when the tar that covers the lot starts to melt.
A solution: under ground parking.
If it is a single family home, lift the building above the ground and place the parking beneath it.

If it is a multi-use building or complex, you can excavate beneath the ground to ramp down to a parking lot. Light wells at the walls can be incorporated to bring in natural light beneath the earth and at night sensored lighting can be used to limit a waste of energy used.

3. Another way to eliminate CO2 emissions is to cool the building with the use of a green roof. Depending heavily on air conditioning units to cool the building means that these machines will release alot of CO2 as time wears on- a detriment to air quality and the ozone layer.
A green roof cools the building and provides a unique aesthetic.

Other ideas include the conservation of water by incorporating a filtration system that treats and recycles grey water (water from the kitchens, sinks and bath tubs.)Instead of wood, think "green" and think bamboo.


I don't know what you do, what you like to do or what you plan to do but I am sure if you give it some thought you will see that in fact you have many ways of making a positive impact on the environment.

Please add some of your wisdom to....

1. LIFE: The Architecture of Time

2. LOVE: The Architecture of Emotions

3. FASHION: The Architecture of Fabric

4. COLOUR: The Architecture of pigmentation

5. SIGHT: The Architecture of Light

6. MUSIC:The Architecture of Sound

7. SPEECH: The Architecture of Words

8. SEX: The Architecture of Desires

Now u add yours.....

9. ..............

PAST LIVES, DREAMS & SOUL TRAVEL

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO AN OPEN DISCUSSION ON PAST LIVES, DREAMS AND SOUL TRAVEL

EXPLORE TECHNIQUES TO BRING HAPPINESS AND HARMONY INTO YOUR LIFE.

VENUE: HOWARD UNIVERSITY ARMOUR J BLACKBURN CENTER
TIME: 7.00- 8.30 PM
DATE: WEDNESDAY, OCT 10TH 2007

COME FIND ANSWERS TO SUCH QUESTIONS AS:

* WHAT DO MY DREAMS MEAN TO MY PHYSICAL LIFE?

* ARE OUR STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES EVIDENCE THAT WE HAVE LIVED BEFORE?

* HOW CAN I CREATE A BALANCE IN MY SPIRITUAL LIFE AND MY PHYSICAL LIFE?

FOR MORE INFO VISIT www.eckankar.org

OCTOBER 4TH 1984

The best day ever...
I was born....

Today, I am 23. yeah.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY

Happy Independence Day
Nigeria is 47.
Na wah
That is such an exhausting thought.
Either way I am spending it studying for my constructions documents class.
Congrats to all Naija people out there.

VISITATION....This is a rant

What happens if your grades are not so good, your finances are shaky, you are 23 and attend my school?
Ans: You end up in the dorm I am in with juveniles.

I am 23 and we just got visitation in our building. It is so embarassing, I am cringing as I write this blog. How can I, a whole aunty like me be needing permission to have visitors in the building of which I can only have a maximum of two between the hours of 12.00 noon and 12.00 midnight on weekdays and 12.00 and 2.00 am on weekends?

Okay, so I do not have any orgies planned or anything but I am too old for this shit. God, please make things happen so I can have my own apartment, all to myself. I am tired, tired, tired and tired.

And you can bet some dumb negro might do something extremely stupid like the fool last year that set fire to his room (ok he claimed it was his bipolar friend and who knows he might be telling the truth).

Being me, at this age and in this school is extremely exhausting.

Maybe my real bone of contention is that unlike all the juvenile, chewing-gum-smacking females and pants-sagging males in the building, I have no "special someone" to join the sign-in queue for. Like I would have a romantic rendezvous in a place where the walls are made from cardboard.
I know what my problem is....I need sleep

Oya u pple have to help me

Who can help me get pictures and/or the master plan of any one of the following UNIs?
I need pics of the senate house (where the VC stays/ main admin), the front gate and student union....

1. UNILAG
2. UNIBEN
3. OAU
4. UI


Please.......!!!!!!