Brad Emery

     So if you want a pop-up camper (I'm still inclined to tents - the real camping shelter) this is defiantly the one to get - here's the link: http://www.habitusliving.com/move/the-opera-camper and here's the article (the link has more pictures to check out).
    
     The award-winning Opera Camper is inspired by a Sydney icon – portable architecture has never looked so good.It seems an odd pairing, but in a workshop just outside of Eindhoven, Netherlands, an Australian icon has been transformed into an exciting piece of movable design.
     The Opera Camper trailer, inspired by the Sydney Opera House, aims to bring a little luxury to the camper trailer experience.
     Designed by Axel Enthoven, the Opera is the result of a number of year research into the unique limitations of portable accommodation – and it seems to have taken as much engineering genius as the Opera House itself!
     The Opera has a long list of features including ‘hot air heating’, teak flooring, ceramic toilet, twin beds (electrically adjustable and easily transformed into one), kitchen sink (of course), onboard boiler for hot water supply, fridge and low-energy LED lighting “from awning to floor” (yes there are uplights!).

     Of course, the most striking feature of the design, the tent roof (or ‘the sails’ as we better know them), is made of exterior canvas and a lightweight frame and stainless steel fittings.
     The camper starts at €24,000 (around $35,000), which is more than your standard hardtop camper, but these design features don’t come cheap. It’s available in a range of colours with various add-ons available.

     While I'm posting links I'll give you my twitter link so you can see what I'm working on any given day; I try to post quick updates as to what I'm working on (they usually increase the later I'm in studio - so if you want some interesting reading . . .) - whoops! I just about forgot to post the link, here you go: twitter.com/brademery7

Have a good week and thanks for reading,
Brad

     As I've mentioned before they're keeping us busy in the Architectural Program here and I apologize for the inconsistency between my posts - I update them as often as I can. It has been brought to my attention that the date stamp on all my posts is the same; I hope I've got it fixed now but I can't change any of my previous dates (and I don't know when I posted them anyway) so hopefully that isn't a problem for anyone.

     Now that we have that taken care of here are some of the pictures I promised you a few weeks ago:

     For anyone curious as to what I'm working on: I sketched a freehand floor plan, two section cuts, and a perspective the first two weeks, and this week (and next week) I'm working on drafting the floor plan, two section cuts, and an oblique view and I'm building a space-volume model of the interior of Danforth Chapel. For anyone wondering a space-volume model is a model of the interior space of the chapel - it was described by the teachers like this: if you filled the inside of the chapel with chocolate (or jello) and let it set up then stripped away the walls, ceiling, and floor the form you'd be left with is the space-volume mold. We do this type of model because the focus of the program in the first year is more on the space created by the architecture than the building itself. All of this is due on Sunday, Sept. 19 so I probably won't be posting until at least then - heck I'll be lucky to sleep until then!
     Hopefully for one of my next posts I'll have some pictures of Danforth Chapel and also some of my work. Cross your fingers but I wouldn't recommend holding your breath (that might not turn out well) and thanks for reading!

Until next time,
Brad

     So I was reading an Architectural article for my studio class (and surpisingly enough it was pretty interesting) and was doing some reasearch *read: looking up pictures of the buildings* about some of the structures the author mentioned and I discovered some really neat stuff. I was checking out some images of Frank Llyod Wright's Fallingwater (which I highly recommend looking up if you haven't seen it before - it is amazing) when, to my surprise, I saw a Lego representation of the structure! Having grown up playing with Legos, they hold a special place in my heart and as an adult I welcome any chance to build with the wonderful little blocks. Of course I had to investigate and I discovered that a guy named Adam Tucker (who graduated from K-State in '96) makes massive Lego representations of buildings in the US that are very detailed yet stunning beautiful. Ok - maybe I'm exagerating a bit for most people but they were beautiful to me (remember I'm the odd kid who loves Legos - even in college). Turns out he has paired with Lego to release a series called the Lego Architecture series that has been made available for purchase to the teeming masses of America and the world (although it's likely targeted at a much smaller group of people like myself). The Lego sets are desktop size - I believe they are all under 12 square inches - and they are ridiculously over priced, but they would make a great conversation/decoration piece. Here are a few pictures and links as a reward for putting up with my rambling:
http://www.swipe.com/?p=2711 - This is the site I found first.
http://www.brickstructures.com/Home.html - This is Adam Tucker's site - it has some really neat stuff on it and if you google his name you'll find all sorts of neat Lego structures that he has done.

     Well I was wrong (again); I didn't get back to writing last week. So here I am providing an update after the first week at KSU. Turns out they weren't kidding when the College of Architectural Planning and Design (CAPD) said we'd have a full work load - we had an assignment the first day of studio to be done by the next class; we were to sketch a floor plan and two section views of a small chapel (Danforth Chapel) on campus. The tough part about the assignment, aside from the sheer amount of time consumed completing it, is that it is to be done freehand - which means no ruler, t-square, or straight-edge and our scale was to made from our bodies rather than more traditional measurements. After finishing the rough draft, we revised it multiple times and I breathed a sigh of relief as I turned in my final copy (for now) at 5 today after a full day of sketching. Next week we start right in with a one-point perspective, also done freehand, that is (hopefully) due on Friday.
     When I'm not working in studio I've been catching up on reading for my other classes, although I've been able to have a little pleasure reading to relax before bed each night also. All in all I feel like I'm settling in alright at K-State; the meals are much better than expected (although they certainly aren't home cooked), I've been able to meet a few people, both in the dorm and out, and (judging from this week) I'll be getting to know my fellow students in studio very well (we have a class of 18 in studio including me). I have a good roommate who has helped me locate everything and have found a good church home at Grace Baptist Church, where I am looking forward to trying Sunday School tommorrow morning. I was able to sign up for a small group study at Grace that will meet the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month in the evenings and I'm eager to experience this opportunity as well, and if all goes well I will be able to help with Awanas (a gathering for children similar to TeamKids) at the church as well on Wednesday nights.
     Last week I mentioned a project I was working on for my dorm room that I finished and would like to share with you also, unfortunatly it wasn't needed in my room but perhapes I can use it another year or at home. It is a metal board for decoration and reminders (using magnets).

     For those who are actually keeping up with this blog (I know you're out there! maybe . . .) you've probably noticed that I haven't posted in a while - the reason for this is a funny little thing called College! I've been busy enough preparing to move out this year that this is my first posts in a while - I hope to post a little more often at college to keep you (that's right you mom) updated with college life. In the meantime thatwas your explanation. I hope to post a little later today on a project I've been working on for my dorm so until then . . .

     The Emery clan gathered again this year for our 7th Family Reunion which we held in Gatlinburg, TN. It was a beautiful area near the Smoky Mountains that worked well for our large group, plenty of attractions close by, like Dollywood (where we spent an entire day), and the town itself. We were shocked by the shear amount of people, it was truely a tourist destination with people everywhere you turned - if you're looking for a quiet getaway this is not the place to go - but it was a beautiful area all the same. Here are a few photos I took while we were out and about:

     I was treated to lunch with the family (and I mean the whole family) at my grandparents on Sunday, which was wonderful - we all rolled away from the table because walking when you've consumed that much food simply isn't practical, or even possible for that matter. I believe it has something to do with your center of gravity, normally located in the relative center of your body ironically, which helps with the issue of balance - when we finished the feast laid before us (and by finished I don't mean there weren't leftovers - I mean we couldn't take another bite without combusting) our center of gravity shifted somewhere closer to our feet to account for the extra weight; unfortunately this is not conducive to one's balance causing us to, quite literally, roll away from the table (and you thought it was a figure of speech - goes to show you haven't met the Emery's!). Scientific explanations aside, we were rolling toward the living room - Grandma and Grandpa Emery planned for the inability to walk like human beings after a meal and conveniently sloped the floor so everyone ends up in the living room after lunch (just like normal families! I think. . . ) - and I was admiring Grandma's flowers from the unique perspective of the bottom (of the flowers of course) and the thought crossed my mind to take some pictures. See you thought the name of this post was just a hook to make you read my odd attempts of humor - proved you wrong didn't I?!
     So, in all seriousness (or at least the closest I get to it) I present to you the photos of Grandma's beautiful flowers.