Saturday afternoon was stunningly beautiful and warm. Warm for the mountains in Montana. A great time for being outside to work on the new studio. This object of work was to install the tubing for the radiant heat concrete floor. This is the last step before the slab pour and getting the frame up! Yay!
I hadn’t installed one of these for several years. The work was quick and smooth . The best new add to the method was the spinner for the Pex tubing which kept in from unfurling out of control. The greatest assistant ever…Noel who patiently watched and waited for me to throw the ball for her.
The longer the winter the deeper the ground freezes, the deeper the hole for the foundation. It’s a simple correlation, all in an effort to keep the building from shifting and cracking during the freeze and thaw of the seasons.
The “footing” for the studio foundation was poured not long ago. Step one in a very stout foundation yet to come. Built nothing like a farmer or rancher would have built a cabin or barn a hundred years ago. Building codes make all the difference.
Before you arrive, I want to give you a little bit of context on this studio. I assume everyone has reviewed Remote Studio on the Artemis Institute web site. If not, you should. You will be better prepared to learn and discuss the more you understand the program. Read some of my essays on the website if you have the time. In brief, the Remote Studio and its format are developed out of ideas for teaching design from previous experiences and my PhD research. The program is an alternative to the abstract-rationalistic and scientific organization of teaching that pervades university programs. The course sequence will be orchestrated through hands-on, first person experiences from which each of you will gain unique and personal knowledge. One of the primary focuses is to help students re-engage with the rest of the world and the intuitive intellect. It is my belief that a good way to proceed is to provide students with inspiring and unknown environments, where their expectations have not been specified with “what to expect” lectures, and pragmatic projects. I also believe that the best way to understand your ideas is not through mock or “virtual” projects, but through hands-on immediate projects that are the intentional result of your imagination and reflections. We will discuss these ideas at length during the semester.
With these interests in mind I ask you to understand and accept that the studio may not always run smoothly, not only due to the nature of this type of educational model, but because of the context of real life: clients, weather, materials, people, etc. Certain dates will be scheduled such as the trips, but the itinerary for the trips will not be completely delineated. Sometimes the weather does not cooperate and we change the dates of hikes. The small individual project schedule (called vessels) and reading will be fairly well determined, but are always subject to change if we decide they just are not serving us best, or discussions need to be shifted to accommodate clients or weather. If you are some one who requires notification of a complete plan this studio process may put you on edge. From this experience it is possible you will learn something new about yourself. It is important that studio members communicate well with one another, this means good communication with me and anyone assisting you from the Artemis Institute. If we have good communication we will learn the most from one another.
If you are reading about Remote Studio for the first time learn more at : artemisinstitute.org
between here and there 