Category Archives: time out

Back from Italy!

Posted on by

After retaking SS on 23rd June, I went on a short trip to Italy, as a little reward for myself for all the studies I’ve done so far. I saw two buildings from Kaplan’s “notable buildings”… The Pantheon and Palazzetto Dello Sport. Pantheon I planned to see (duh), but Palazzetto Dello Sport I just randomly came across on my way to Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI. What a pleasant surprise! It was a humble, quiet gem in a less busy area of Rome. If you are going to Rome, make sure you don’t miss it!

Sure I learned about them in “architecture 101”, but seeing these beautiful structures after taking the exam help me appreciate them even more.

pantheon

pantheon

palazzetto dello sport

palazzetto dello sport

Advertisement

Studying Outside

Posted on by

Talking about my favorite place to study, I am lucky to be in NYC with plenty of options. I like to mix it up, you name it- home, starbucks, office, on the train… and Bryant Park is definitely one of my favorites. For a nice warm Saturday, 2 hours in the beautiful NY public library and 2 hours under the sun in the park makes a pretty productive afternoon. It’s kinda tempting to people-watch, but at least it takes the pressure off and makes studying a little bit more enjoyable.

Few days before my SS rematch, I’ll just have to power through it.

Studying in Bryant Park

Studying in Bryant Park

Time Out

Posted on by
Origami Christmas Tree

“Architect’s Christmas Tree” made from architectural drawings

As the holiday season approaches, I decided to take a little break and have some fun. Every year I try to make something architecture-related by recycling some of the paper from work. This year I made an origami Christmas tree with some drawings. I call it “the architect’s christmas tree”. I like the sculptural yet structural quality of it. It’s not super easy, but it’s also very forgiving. The print on the paper gives it some texture and any imperfection just makes it more organic. You can of course also use any other paper- renderings, magazines, sheet music etc.

You can make your own by clicking on this link or watching this youtube video:

The one I made last year (in the background) can be found here.
Have a witty, classy and environmentally-friendly christmas. Enjoy!

The Day before the Exam

Posted on by

IMG_3514

I guess that’s something I developed from piano recitals and basketball games growing up… the day before THE DAY is always reserved for rest. The last 24 hours before an exam do matter a lot, because there’s so much to memorize that sometimes you just have to rely on your short-term memory. But then there’s so much pressure that I felt like I needed to relax a bit, otherwise I was just gonna crash. Luckily there’s this place King Pong right where I work… so on Wednesday, instead of going home to study right away after work, I went for an hour of “Indian vs Hong Kong” with my coworker Ankur. It was so much fun and so much stress relief. Totally worth it!

I took CDS yesterday, it went ok. Could I have done better if I spent that hour I spent on playing ping pong studying? Maybe, maybe not? We’ll see in a week.