A Weekend in the Life

Okay so, one of the GREAT joys of being an architecture major is the amount of torture you put yourself through on a daily basis. My latest project was a map of some unimportant island in the Florida Keys.

SO seeing as it was due today, I spent my ENTIRE weekend working on this piece of shit. When I say entire, I mean ENTIRE. We're talking:

Friday: 5pm-5am (12 hours)
Saturday: 1pm-5am (16 hours)
Sunday: 2pm-1am (11 hours)

Anywho, to break the monotony that is stippling I brought my camera and took pictures during my breaks.

In total there are around 50 people in the architecture major here. And for our design classes we are divided into 6 groups of about 9. And that smaller group will be your studio, which you spend your entire life with and then you're all BFFs, etc. Good times good times.

But really, we work in this room. Everyone has a short desk (I can't cross my legs under the desk. My knees touch the bottom of the desk even sitting normally), a stool or two, some wall space, and a locker in their desk.

I sit in the desk that you can't see on the far left.

OM NOM NOM

I decorated my locker with a sticker a la Kenyonb.com.

So a lot of people think/assume architects make a lot of money, which they do make a fair paycheck, but they don't realize how expensive it is to actually produce the drawings. For example, in this picture of my desk the black ruler thing near the top costs $200, the translucent paper I'm putting my drawing on costs $3.50 per sheet, and the pen I'm drawing with is $20 each. And the pens break...often. Making it common to spend around $100 per project JUST on pens.

However, thank GOD for computers which have pretty much rendered hand drawing irrelevant in the professional world. If I had to hand draw for the rest of my life I'd probably kill myself or drop out of architecture.

Here's a better shot of the bain of my existence. Really, maps are BORING. Buildings are so much more fun. I don't think anyone could pay me to do cartography.

Middle Finger Ruined

Stippling is another thorn in my side. My finger is shaped weird from drawing so much this weekend. =( I also had a severe crook in my neck 80% of the time from holding my head in akward positions for long periods of time.

3:30 AM, still trucking. Isn't my cell wallpaper hot though?

And that's all for now. THANK GOD I'm FINALLY out of the studio.