2023 RRSLA Internship Blog

 Hey guys,  It's been a minute since I've done one of these. I haven't been at work all that much the last few weeks, as I was in France and Germany for Max's trip, and then I got Covid as soon as I got back to Boston. Starting to get back in the swing of things now at work. The last few days, I have been working on updating those perspective renderings I showed in my previous post, and also working on organizing a presentation for a commercial project. Spring seems to be coming here in the Northeast. The weather is getting warmer and everything is starting to bloom. That's pretty much all I have to share for the time being. updates on the perspective graphics. my boss told me they are planning to post these on instagram once completed.

 March has flown by.. I swear I posted last week and its actually been 3 weeks I think. I was only at work the last two week though because I took a week off for spring break.  Things are starting to pick up very quickly at Mullin. The warmer weather hits and everyone realizes they want their gardens done or a pool in backyard. Because of this the last two weeks have been a lot of measuring and bases going into CAD. Not the most fun part of the job, but it is nice to get outside and see some very cool homes/properties.  Last week I was sent to a home (well mansion) in Thibodaux to take some soil samples in an effort to figure out why their fairly new 100 gallon live oaks are not doing well. This is a major cost if we have to replace them, therefore we are sending samples off to LSU for testing before we move forward with replacing them. I'm sure I looked odd to people passing by trying to stick a pole in the hard ground but it was still cool just to be on the property. (I...

My influence over the past few weeks has been spread out over a broad range of projects, just a bunch of small tasks, nothing too cohesive or impressive. Over the past two weeks, I've done massing studies in SketchUp, drafted a master plan in Vector Works, re-rendered in Lumion from that project a few weeks ago, and worked on OJB's Texas Plants template in InDesign and LandFX. I hated Vector Works at first, the logic was confusing and the shortcuts are so random, but I think I'm getting the hang of it. For the massing studies, we take Vector Works files, clean them up in cad, then export them to model in SketchUp, however, I would like to experiment with Vector Works in 3D to cut the process down by 2 programs.  I'm staying active in Houston! My friend from high school came to visit last weekend, and I have been hanging out with work friends more often outside of the office. I got pictures for y'all ofc.  exploring... maybe this was once a cool bridge but they block...

 Hey gang, 3 months in and I still love my internship. Cad, cad, cad and even got to throw some color pencil down and go speak to a client by myself. So not to waste the client’s time or our own we have sent her precious plan out for pricing to see if she still wants our services. I’ll update if she pulls the plug or trigger. TBD. I hope they extend the offer to work with them after graduation as this has been a fun experience. Do lots of dog parks, went to the shooting range this weekend again, let the dogs play in the creek now that the weather is warmer. Winston has made best friends with a corgis and husky mix. Here are some pictures of our adventures. Hope all is going well for you gang. Peaceeeee.

 I went back from the Europe field trip. It is a wonderful trip. I enjoyed every day during the trip and saw many beautiful parks and buildings. We went to Paris, Berlin, and Hamburg. Paris is my favorite city. There are many famous parks and museums. Berlin and Hamburg are also very good cities. European cities have many different constructions from those in China and the United States. I learned a lot from this field trip. I really love this trip.  Eating Hamburger in Hamburg When I back to work, my colleagues were very curious about my trip and I shared some interesting stories with them. They are really nice and they helped me a lot. For my work, I am working on a residential project in Aspen. I helped my project manager draw some diagrams and illustrative plans before I went to Europe. After I came back, I am focusing on land use sheets and updating the illustrative plans. The Aspen office is really good. They have lots of activities. In order to welcome our new...

 I did this one by myself and this is a fun task. The company is competing a governmental project with other landscaping firms about how to make Houston downtown main street a more pedestrian friendly place. They need a model to study about space, so I am making these models. It is just next to the firm, so I am doing site visit every day to feel the space and measure the details. At the beginning it was harsh, but then I can make these blocks better. (In progress)

 The third project I worked on its Novel. It's a residential project next to the Flatiron shopping mall in Aspen, Colorado. The team need to design a yard for apartment complexes. Usually, they design pools, bench's, overdoor kitchen and gyms.  First the team brainstorm their idea and drew some bubbles diagrams. Then they came up with 3 different concepts to show to the clients and pick one to improve. I helped the modeling of all 3 concepts. Modeling really helps even in conceptual stage of design because it tells you about space very well. Urban backyard: divide different spaces and use steps to create different small places in the yard Traditional pool: make the pool the main element and everything else is surrounded by the pool Hybrid: make the shade a little bit interesting, let the youth hangout there. also create private spaces in the pool

 The next project I worked on is Pursell. This is an interesting residential project. A rich old couple want to design their backyard as a bird watching place, and the other half of the place is going to be an Airbnb place in the future. Their backyard is super huge, and it looks like a forest. Looks like rich people also have a lot of budgets to spend so they give us a lot of budget and hours to work on this project.  My part of the job is to make perspective renderings. My coworkers get the model in Lumion, (walkway, bridge) and I do the Perseptive rendering based on the real site pictures. This is a good way because it made the rendering looks really realistic.  Perspective renderings is my favorite thing to do because I like to work with photoshop. I learnt how to organize layers and some photoshop tricks.  In Japanese garden

 Emily Zhai Design Workshop1 On the first 2 and 3 weeks I worked on a project called Flatiron. It is a shopping mall in Aspen, Colorado, and this project started last year and it has been keep changing and never really finished at some point. Coworkers told me they were stressed out for this project last November and worked for almost 12 hours a day. My job is to update some paving and furniture and some plants. I also need to get the signage and rendering some views in Lumion. It's nothing hard, but since the Lumion file is huge so it takes a lot of time to rendering. I learnt how to move things easily in Lumion and make component in SketchUp. Also make layers in Lumion can make things move faster. 

 I'm tired. I just got back from our Spring break trip to Europe and had to make a quick turnaround for work today. The trip was awesome! I am very glad I was able to go. My favorite part was visiting Hamburg Germany. It was beautiful there.  Work has been going okay. I'm still learning a lot which is good but the initial excitement has definitely worn off. I will be going to LABASH next week in Kansas City though so that is exciting! I am looking forward to that. I am also getting ready to head to North Carolina for the College Disc Golf National Championship, so that is exciting as well. Lots of trips and lots of time off from work. Hopefully OJB doesn't mind too much. Until next time!

Just got back from the Paris/Germany trip. It was a good time, but I prefer not to talk about travel as it is a humdrum subject. I will, however, write about some things related to travel. Those ten days moved so slowly, which highlighted how fast time can move when I am in my work routine. Also, I am so thankful for many of the things we take for granted in America - most notably the ability to drive whenever and wherever, sweeping views of the landscape, free water fountains, and not having to pay to use any public restrooms. I have never considered myself a patriotic person, but I do love the USA.  I have been balling out at estate sales. Among my finds are a seam ripper, luggage locks, a spray bottle, and a pair of opera glasses that say "Made in Occupied Japan." April 1 is kite festival day (it is international so you may have one near you). I recently patched a hole in Octo-kite that I made by running full speed at Octo-kite to weigh him down and then slipping on him an...