This week began with a day off, during which we relaxed and reflected on the immeasurably important work done by Martin Luther King, Jr. The holiday gave us a shorter work week, which meant we had to be as productive as possible during the time we had. This ended up being a bit of a challenge, though, as our first day back at Cahawba was full of interruptions. We did learn a valuable lesson that day, though: if there has been heavy rain in recent days, don’t bring a vehicle without four wheel drive.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE k_ improve ability to organize and use time effectively

Even with our frequent stoppages, our group was able to finish laying out all of the wall members in the field we were using to arrange them. As we went through the piles of wood, we checked the condition of each piece and recorded if they needed to be replaced, as well as which pieces were missing. Doing this required us to have patience and learn to work with each other, as the line of people waiting to put wood down would sometimes get backed up. The slow-downs came from the clarity of writing and attention to detail that the note-takers had to use. This was to insure that when the time comes for us to order our wood and begin assembling the walls, everything will be in order and the whole process will (hopefully) go smoothly.

On Wednesday, the two teams that had been working together at the church were divided for the two jobs we would be working on in the coming weeks, the walls and the arches. We were much better at effectively organizing and using our time more effectively than the previous day. There was much to get accomplished, and much was accomplished with the division of labor among the people best suited for the jobs at hand. Both teams worked together to move the wood from the field to the palates surrounding the church, and after that, the groups broke up to clean out the equipment trailer/site and take inventory of the new wood/joint fasteners. Everyone then got back together to load windows onto a truck so they could be cleaned in Newbern.

Friday was the first day the groups worked completely independently of one another, as the walls team worked on the church and our team, the Mindbullitz, had to procure space to both store and work on the church arches, which are currently resting on beams and being covered by large plastic tarps. We decided the best place for this would be in a field directly behind where the arches are being stored now, because we could move them easily and there is plenty of room to set up a cover. The best cover we could think of was the metal arched greenhouse-like structure that had been covering the old wood from the church for the past year. We spent the first couple of hours figuring out the best way to disassemble a small section of the structure and carrying the pieces down the street to the location of the arches. When we finally got the greenhouse reassembled and braced to a tree with some wires we found at its original location, we were told that we had to take it all down because the property’s owners were having test boring done on the land. This was a disappointment, but we realized that the second disassembly went about ten times more quickly than the first one. The knowledge we gained that morning will help us when we put the structure back up, and we were all able to get more comfortable working with crowbars, hammers, socket wrenches, etc.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE c_ Develop skills in using materials and tools

That afternoon, we went over to Perry Lakes, where the other five second-years are working for the next few weeks. We had a critique for the toilet paper dispensers they had designed for the park’s bathrooms, which was very interesting for all of us. We had never had the opportunity to be on the reviewers’ side of a critique, so it was fun to be able to take a break from work and do this for our classmates. It was a nice end to a short week, and I think we’re all getting used to the Rural Studio schedule.

January 21, 2008- January 25, 2008

Monday: “I have a dream.”

Tuesday: The five members of Team Roadkill met with Natalie to discuss the plans in store for Perry Lakes, and o’ boy are there plans.  We were told that our primary objective at Perry Lakes is to get the kiosk situated upon its arrival. Our present assignment as of 8:30 a.m. central time was to design a new solution to the chaos taking place in the restrooms of Perry Lakes. What problems do we speak of? The present toilet tissue dispensers allowed abusers/ bandits, both human and animal alike, to use the toilet tissue to their own discretion. To further elaborate, the design of the present dispensers permitted the sticky fingered, beaked, or pawed bandits to gain easy access to both operational and stored tissue. Either the mission of these “fugitives” were to build a cozy nest in a nearby tree or roll every tree in Perry Lakes; creating a larger scaled Toomer’s Corner if you will.

• Our individual designs were to create a solution that was well planned, elegant, simple, and provided easy access for maintenance and proper use without the threat of violators.
• Each member was allowed a limited budget to purchasing the necessary materials.
• All designs were to be presented in a 2d format as well as a 1”=1” scale model per member.
• The best design which adheres to the mentioned specifications would be chosen for assembly and branded as the final solution to the Perry Lakes restroom situation.

Wednesday:  We took measurements.  We took measurements again. We took measurements for the final time and began purchasing the proper materials for individual use.

Friday: The toilet tissue dispensers were due and were judged by none other than the Mind Bullitz and the Jackalopes. To everyone’s surprise there was a three way tie. Three individuals will begin constructing on a more detailed scale.

Next Week: The team will work at Perry Lakes park placing the columns for the kiosk which was previously designed.

Team Roadkill Learning Objectives:

G. Develop a Commitment to High Quality, Accurate Work: As team Roadkill built individual toilet roll dispensers each member learned more about building and construction. The process allowed for the team to feel more attached to their work therefore leading to more careful and dedicated work.

C. Develop Skills in Using Materials and Tools: The process of building the toilet roll dispensers created the need for power tools and creativity in material usage. Each material reacted differently to the power tools so learning how to mold and push the limits of the material were involved in the creation of the toilet roll dispensers.

Monday was MLK day, so we had a free day to rest and get ready for the week ahead.

Tuesday was spent at the church taking inventory of all the new and old wood, and moving the old wood closer to the church. We also took dimensions of the damaged wood so we could make repairs. Matt’s truck, Vanessa, got stuck in the mud, and we spent an hour trying to get it out, and then had to call a tractor to rescue her.

Wednesday we completed inventory and dimension analysis of the wood and finished moving it to the job site, with the use of Corey’s 4Runner, Jill. We also cleaned out our utility trailer so that we would have a place of our own to work in, and then found out that our clients wanted us to use a different trailer. Planning for construction of the east entry wall began as we split into our separate groups. We’ve been designated the task of putting up the walls and repairing windows and doors for the next 5 weeks. Wednesday we took the dually so that we could bring two single windows and a double window back to the wood-shop to repair on rainy days.

Friday we spend the morning repairing the remaining major support columns so that we can put them up first thing next week. We also assessed the damages to the columns on the east entry wall so that we know what must be repaired Monday. Then we went to Perry Lakes Park to vote on the mock-up toilet paper dispensers made by team roadkill.

 Learning Objective H: Making wise decisions. Brett and John put up the safety rails on the scaffolding for the top level.

 Learning Objective C: Develop skills in using materials and tools. Matt uses the skill saw to cut through a piece of new wood that will be spliced to an existing column that had rotted.

Next week we are planning to start putting up the east entry wall, which means that we need to repair all the damaged pieces of wood and figuring out where we believe each piece should go.

January 14, 2008- January 18, 2008

Monday: Rural Studio Spring 08 members are presented with the task to continue restoring and repositioning Cahawba’s St. Luke’s Episcopal Church to its original site, the first capital of Alabama. Spring 08 members then divided into teams: Mind Bullitz, Newbern Newbs, and Team Roadkill (Zane Morgan; Facilitator, Heather Baber; Timekeeper, Meghan Bullard; Wildcard, David Frazier: Reporter, and Delvin Stephens; Recorder).

Wednesday & Tuesday: On Tuesday we toured West Alabama for the many fantastic rural studio projects completed by past studios. The three teams of students were brought up to date on the status of the restoration of the church and were oriented with the site.

·  Task 1: Team Roadkill was positioned on the Eastern side and placed two single-levels of scaffolding around the entrance.

· Task 2: Roadkill analyzed the east and north wood members to determine which members were properly tagged and in good standing.

· Task 3: The studio discussed and organized rainy day assignments; restoring the windows and doors of the church, but most importantly THOSE ARCHES! ! ! !

Team Learning Objectives:

Improve communication skills

Develop the ability to work with others

As a team, we found that setting up the scaffolding would not have been as easy if there was a lack in communication amongst team members. Setting up the scaffolding required that holes be dug so that the scaffolding would be at the proper height. Without team communication and cooperation the task would not have been completed properly.

                It seems like we just moved in to our Newbern dwellings yesterday, yet we’re already at the end of our second week of Rural Studio.  The first couple weeks have been full of tours, rain, and excitement of every kind.  Tuesday the 8^th marked the first day of the semester, which was when our convocation was held.  It was helpful to put names with the faces we’ll be seeing a lot of over the next few months, and to get some sense of what our semester holds for us.  Over the next few days, our studio instructors Jason and Natalie showed us the two sites where we Second Years would be spending the majority of our time, St. Luke’s Church at Old Cahawba and Perry Lakes, as well as some familiar Rural Studio landmarks around Greensboro.  We finished out our first week working with thesis and outreach students at different Rural Studio projects around the area for Neck Down, and we were able to accomplish a couple of weeks’ worth of work in those couple of days.

                This week we were able to actually begin working on the church at Cahawba.  We spent the beginning of our time constructing the scaffolding we would need to being working on the walls around the church (might I add, extremely precise and level scaffolds from one particular group). 

LEARNING OBJECTIVE g_ Develop a commitment to high quality, accurate work

Before breaking for lunch, we discussed a plan for discovering which pieces of wood would need to be replaced before we move forward on the walls.  We decided, with Jason’s help, that the best way to go about doing this would be to basically assemble the walls on the ground in a large field near the site.  This would prove to be no easy task, and Jason told us that nobody has done this with a building of this size before, so it was up to us to do it perfectly.  The rain put a damper on our second day of work, but we were able to plan out our rain days for the rest of the semester.

LEARNING OBJECTIVE d_ Develop ability to work with others

                Three major things we learned from our instructors on our tour of older Rural Studio projects are things we will have to consider both throughout this semester as well as for the rest of our architectural careers.  We have to build strong relationships with our clients, build structures for usefulness and functionality (i.e. don’t give people something they don’t want), and build to last.  There are too many potentially great Rural Studio projects that are falling apart because nobody uses them or takes care of them, and that’s a tradition we’re looking to change.

                All in all, our start at Rural Studio has us all very excited, and we’re looking forward to working hard and keeping up the standard of excellence that has been established over the past 15 years.