Study Tour: House of the Immediate Future

In addition to our other study tour visits, our class was able to visit the Seattle Center's exhibit with the House of the Immediate Future, a project put on by Habitat for Humanity. Touring through the space provided a great example of efficient use of space, however as design students, we found a few areas that were poorly planned (oops!). Otherwise, their use of space and consideration of various household necessities were very smart and innovative. Sustainable materials and practices were also fully integrated into the design and provided a great opportunity for our students to learn about utilizing such practices. Although some ideas of the designers didn't seem bery practical (such as placing solar panels outside of a home that is set to be built in one of the rainiest areas of the country). Otherwise, it was an incredibly informative visit and I hope to become involved with habitat for humanity in the future both as a student and as a designer.

Study Tour Sketch Crawl



During our study tour to Seattle, our class had the opportunity to visit the Sculpture garden downtown. We were able to walk around and observe the scupltures, which was ideal for the end of the visit where we sketched the various pieces. Though the weather wasn't the warmest, it was a wonderful sunny day that created interesting shadows and depth within the sculptures. I personally enjoyed the visit because of the oppportunity to sketch outside as well as new subjects.

Study Tour Job Shadow

In September, my peers and myself had the opportunity to attend job shadows with various design firms in downtown Seattle. The firm that I worked with was Weber Thompson, a design firm that works primarily with multi-family housing. As a large firm, their staff includes architects, interior designers, graphic designers, and construction administrators. While doing the job shadow, A classmate of mine and I were able to attend a morning staff meeting, meet with the interior design staff for a short Q & A, visit a site nearby for a client the firm is working with, and tour their offices and materials room.

Overall the experience was very informative as well as motivating. Seeing the projects that the designers get to work with made me that much more excited to be a practicing designer. When visiting the nearby site, (which was a multi-family housing project completed by another firm), the principal designer, Carrie, toured us through the units making note of conderations, challenges, important tips, etc. She also showed us portfolio examples to help us for when we have to create our own in addition to giving us some tips for when we are looking for work after college and the type of skills employers are looking for. The whole visit was a great success and I hope to keep in touch with Carrie for more advice or even for an internship.