Period 1: October 23rd-27th: Scott Tallon Walker Architects
Monday: During my week of work experience, I carried out many tasks that a qualified architect does on a daily basis. I began my week in the office just off Eyre Square in Galway city. I had a meeting with the head of the Galway branch and we discussed what my objectives and aims were for the week, we also had this meeting to determine how much I know about the area of architecture and how interested I would be in a career in that area. After Paul was convinced that I had an interest in his work, I began working on AutoCad which is a computer programme used by architects and engineers to produce drawings digitally, I also worked on SketchUp which is a programme released by google with the idea of getting compuer illiterate people to draw sketches of well-known buildings like The Eiffel Tower and The Empire Stare Building to use on Google Maps. AutoCad is more reliable than hand drawings as the dimensions are more exact and it is easily read by builders and contractors who would be working from these drawings.
That evening, Tommy, another member of the Galway branch of architects showed me and went through previous drawings and projects that STW Architects had designed in the past, including the conversion of the old church in Ballinasloe and the convent properties into Ballinasloe Library, Radió Téilifís Éireann in Baile Na hAibhainn, connemara and the Human Biology building in NUIG that was just opened last year. Tommy showedme the different stages of designing, drawing and producing their design and how they sed the methods they learned in college to assist them in designing these buildings.
Tuesday: On my second day of work experience, Paul taught me how to correctly fold drawing sheets as to be able to see all the neccessary information on the front panel of the sheet. After his tutorial, he brough me to UHG where we met with Conor, a civil engineer who was there to assist Paul in surveying the hospital's mortuary as this part of the hospital is set to undergo renovation later this year and into 2018. As I was not permitted to go into the mortuary for obvious reasons, I was put to work tomeasure and produce a rough sketch of the gas cabins at the back of the hospital, I gathered these measurments to enable me to draw the gas cabins when I would go back to the office. As I had completed measuring the cabins before Paul waas ready to aed back to the office, I decided that I would meaure and sketch the windows that were also set to be renovated or replaced. By the time Paul and Conor had finished their wokr, I was also ready to leave and we headed back to Eyre Square where we then went to lunch.
Tuesday evening was spent with sketching the gas cabins on AuroCad. As Paul and Tommy were very busy, I had to try to teach myself how to draw using AutoCad. I found it a challenge to attempt to teach myself without haing any experience whatsoever with programmes like this, apart from the previous day's experimental stage were I was just getting used to the commands and such. By the end of the day however, I had drawn the gas cabins and had correctly dimensioned them.
Wednesday: I began the day working on AutoCad again, As I had finished the gas cabins Tuesday evening, I started by sketching the windows I had dimensioned the day before. After drawing the windows, I searched the office for another object to draw, what I came up with was a folder holder, as I didn't have access to a measuring tape, I estimated the dimensions without realising I had to estimate the slope. When I have my shetch drawn, Everything was in proportion and I set about drawing my next subject. I decided to be ambitious and draw my phone. As my phone has many detailed, imprints, buttons and curves, it was a difficult task but one I must say that I enjoyed as when I had my sketch complete, I had a certain sense of pride as I had taught myself how to produce a dawing of that standard.
After lunch, Paul told em that design was a big part of being an architect and so I watched a documentary entitled 'Helvetica'. This documentary was centred around the composition of the font type used usually in advertising and as a standard type. I learned a lot about the work of a typologist, design and the influence the font type has on the reputation of the advertising company. This documentary showed me how design changes the tone and message being portrayed to the public and how the human mind is swayed by how information to delivered to them, by what means and in what manner.
Thursday: I watched another documentary on the planning of settlemetn in eveloping areas such as Mumbaii, India. In the part of the documentray where it fcussed on the homeless or those that live in Shanty vilages, the engineers in the area had to come up with a system of getting the shanty dwellers out of the slums in the suburbswhere they don't have access to clean water, hygene facilities or even shelter. They came up with a plan called the 'Half House System'. This means that the government body build a house for a family, furnish half the house and then when the family gathers ebough money, they can do the rest of the house up as they want. This has proven to be effective as in 2010, 900,000 people where living in the slums of Mumbai and in 2015, only 600,000 were living in substandard accomodation. Although thsi system is effective and has proven to change the lives of many homeless people, there is still a major problem with over-crowding in our cities.
That evening, Tommy thoguht that it would be benificial for me to go to NUIG to see the work they had done on the buildings standing on campus. As Paul had said the very first day, Tommy told me that it would be important for me to contact a lecturer in UCD to find out more about the course of architecture as I would not being carrying out actual architechture for ten years. He showed me the repair work they had done on the one modern building built in the 1970's, this specific building had many support posts and a 250m walkway. I also got to see a lecture in progress in the human biology building. I think the tour around NUIG was very benificial and I think it tied in well to the area I was looking for at the week as I also got the see the dam system at the River Corrib and how the water power is restricted.
Friday: I arrived into the office Friday morning and there were architecture magasins on my desk. I spent the day reading, critquing and exploring the articles and projects that these magasins promoted and I was especially interested in the process of the build and the jobs of all those involved in the build. There were some familiar projects in the magasins, for example. Nenagh Leisure Centre and Athlone Community College. These magasins gave me a broad sense of what architecture is about and how it is perceived by the public and those who are in the same area of business as them.
Overview: Overall, this week solidified my interest in the area of constuction and building, however, I feel like I may not be as suitable to the work of an architect as much as maybe an engineer,as I feel an arhcitect's job is rather based around design, creativity and imagination. I, on the other hand, think I would be more suited to an occupation where I work with numbers, calculations and set tasks rather than relying on my creative flare as I would be doubhtful that I would be able turn out designs for projects in a short space of time.
Monday: During my week of work experience, I carried out many tasks that a qualified architect does on a daily basis. I began my week in the office just off Eyre Square in Galway city. I had a meeting with the head of the Galway branch and we discussed what my objectives and aims were for the week, we also had this meeting to determine how much I know about the area of architecture and how interested I would be in a career in that area. After Paul was convinced that I had an interest in his work, I began working on AutoCad which is a computer programme used by architects and engineers to produce drawings digitally, I also worked on SketchUp which is a programme released by google with the idea of getting compuer illiterate people to draw sketches of well-known buildings like The Eiffel Tower and The Empire Stare Building to use on Google Maps. AutoCad is more reliable than hand drawings as the dimensions are more exact and it is easily read by builders and contractors who would be working from these drawings.
That evening, Tommy, another member of the Galway branch of architects showed me and went through previous drawings and projects that STW Architects had designed in the past, including the conversion of the old church in Ballinasloe and the convent properties into Ballinasloe Library, Radió Téilifís Éireann in Baile Na hAibhainn, connemara and the Human Biology building in NUIG that was just opened last year. Tommy showedme the different stages of designing, drawing and producing their design and how they sed the methods they learned in college to assist them in designing these buildings.
Tuesday: On my second day of work experience, Paul taught me how to correctly fold drawing sheets as to be able to see all the neccessary information on the front panel of the sheet. After his tutorial, he brough me to UHG where we met with Conor, a civil engineer who was there to assist Paul in surveying the hospital's mortuary as this part of the hospital is set to undergo renovation later this year and into 2018. As I was not permitted to go into the mortuary for obvious reasons, I was put to work tomeasure and produce a rough sketch of the gas cabins at the back of the hospital, I gathered these measurments to enable me to draw the gas cabins when I would go back to the office. As I had completed measuring the cabins before Paul waas ready to aed back to the office, I decided that I would meaure and sketch the windows that were also set to be renovated or replaced. By the time Paul and Conor had finished their wokr, I was also ready to leave and we headed back to Eyre Square where we then went to lunch.
Tuesday evening was spent with sketching the gas cabins on AuroCad. As Paul and Tommy were very busy, I had to try to teach myself how to draw using AutoCad. I found it a challenge to attempt to teach myself without haing any experience whatsoever with programmes like this, apart from the previous day's experimental stage were I was just getting used to the commands and such. By the end of the day however, I had drawn the gas cabins and had correctly dimensioned them.
Wednesday: I began the day working on AutoCad again, As I had finished the gas cabins Tuesday evening, I started by sketching the windows I had dimensioned the day before. After drawing the windows, I searched the office for another object to draw, what I came up with was a folder holder, as I didn't have access to a measuring tape, I estimated the dimensions without realising I had to estimate the slope. When I have my shetch drawn, Everything was in proportion and I set about drawing my next subject. I decided to be ambitious and draw my phone. As my phone has many detailed, imprints, buttons and curves, it was a difficult task but one I must say that I enjoyed as when I had my sketch complete, I had a certain sense of pride as I had taught myself how to produce a dawing of that standard.
After lunch, Paul told em that design was a big part of being an architect and so I watched a documentary entitled 'Helvetica'. This documentary was centred around the composition of the font type used usually in advertising and as a standard type. I learned a lot about the work of a typologist, design and the influence the font type has on the reputation of the advertising company. This documentary showed me how design changes the tone and message being portrayed to the public and how the human mind is swayed by how information to delivered to them, by what means and in what manner.
Thursday: I watched another documentary on the planning of settlemetn in eveloping areas such as Mumbaii, India. In the part of the documentray where it fcussed on the homeless or those that live in Shanty vilages, the engineers in the area had to come up with a system of getting the shanty dwellers out of the slums in the suburbswhere they don't have access to clean water, hygene facilities or even shelter. They came up with a plan called the 'Half House System'. This means that the government body build a house for a family, furnish half the house and then when the family gathers ebough money, they can do the rest of the house up as they want. This has proven to be effective as in 2010, 900,000 people where living in the slums of Mumbai and in 2015, only 600,000 were living in substandard accomodation. Although thsi system is effective and has proven to change the lives of many homeless people, there is still a major problem with over-crowding in our cities.
That evening, Tommy thoguht that it would be benificial for me to go to NUIG to see the work they had done on the buildings standing on campus. As Paul had said the very first day, Tommy told me that it would be important for me to contact a lecturer in UCD to find out more about the course of architecture as I would not being carrying out actual architechture for ten years. He showed me the repair work they had done on the one modern building built in the 1970's, this specific building had many support posts and a 250m walkway. I also got to see a lecture in progress in the human biology building. I think the tour around NUIG was very benificial and I think it tied in well to the area I was looking for at the week as I also got the see the dam system at the River Corrib and how the water power is restricted.
Friday: I arrived into the office Friday morning and there were architecture magasins on my desk. I spent the day reading, critquing and exploring the articles and projects that these magasins promoted and I was especially interested in the process of the build and the jobs of all those involved in the build. There were some familiar projects in the magasins, for example. Nenagh Leisure Centre and Athlone Community College. These magasins gave me a broad sense of what architecture is about and how it is perceived by the public and those who are in the same area of business as them.
Overview: Overall, this week solidified my interest in the area of constuction and building, however, I feel like I may not be as suitable to the work of an architect as much as maybe an engineer,as I feel an arhcitect's job is rather based around design, creativity and imagination. I, on the other hand, think I would be more suited to an occupation where I work with numbers, calculations and set tasks rather than relying on my creative flare as I would be doubhtful that I would be able turn out designs for projects in a short space of time.
Period 2: February 26th-2nd March: Arup
Monday: On my first day of work experience with Arup in their Galway office, I began the day with an interview type meeting with the head of the Glway office, Eileen McCarthy. Ms. McCarthy filled me in on all the neccessary infomation I would neexd to know to get a worthwhile xperience while int ehir company. She told me about the new ring-road that is supposed to be intorduced to abvoid passing throug the city of Galway and at the same time discourage traffic frmo accumulating around the city. Eileen continued to explain the stage of planning they are at now. They were preparing the CPO of Compulsive Possessive Order which wouldn be distributed to every land or property owner who would be effected by the new infrastruture. After getting a tour of both offices (infrastrutural and stuctural), I set about compiling all the information from the documents given to me to create the CPO.
That evening, another member of staff, showed me the website that Arup operates to inform the public about changes in planning, route or otherwise. From this website I could study the maps that the civil engineers had created and I got a great insite into t he research side of a major build like the N6.
Tuesday: This was my final ay in Arup. I didn't know that at the time but unfortunately the beast from the east kicked in on Wedneasday and was unable to make in into the office for the rest of the week. I started Tuesday where I left off Monday evening. I continued to work on the CPO until lunch. Arup in renowned for taking care of it's staff. I could see evidenc eof this as on Tuesday, there was a health and nutrition talk held at lunch in the boardroom. I was invited to it and gained alot of worthwhile advice in regards to keeping healthy ina jod that requires a great amount of time at a desk and that may lead to high levels of stress. I finished the CPO that evening.
Overall: In my opinion, I don't think I had enough time to get a real grasp of what is involved int he area of civil engineering. I also believe that the stage of planning that they were at didn't give a great insight into what the job of an engineer is as their work was greatly based around law and legal matters. I am unsure after my work experience as to whether I would enjoy this line of work or not and so I will keep an open mind going nto my next preriod of work experience.
Monday: On my first day of work experience with Arup in their Galway office, I began the day with an interview type meeting with the head of the Glway office, Eileen McCarthy. Ms. McCarthy filled me in on all the neccessary infomation I would neexd to know to get a worthwhile xperience while int ehir company. She told me about the new ring-road that is supposed to be intorduced to abvoid passing throug the city of Galway and at the same time discourage traffic frmo accumulating around the city. Eileen continued to explain the stage of planning they are at now. They were preparing the CPO of Compulsive Possessive Order which wouldn be distributed to every land or property owner who would be effected by the new infrastruture. After getting a tour of both offices (infrastrutural and stuctural), I set about compiling all the information from the documents given to me to create the CPO.
That evening, another member of staff, showed me the website that Arup operates to inform the public about changes in planning, route or otherwise. From this website I could study the maps that the civil engineers had created and I got a great insite into t he research side of a major build like the N6.
Tuesday: This was my final ay in Arup. I didn't know that at the time but unfortunately the beast from the east kicked in on Wedneasday and was unable to make in into the office for the rest of the week. I started Tuesday where I left off Monday evening. I continued to work on the CPO until lunch. Arup in renowned for taking care of it's staff. I could see evidenc eof this as on Tuesday, there was a health and nutrition talk held at lunch in the boardroom. I was invited to it and gained alot of worthwhile advice in regards to keeping healthy ina jod that requires a great amount of time at a desk and that may lead to high levels of stress. I finished the CPO that evening.
Overall: In my opinion, I don't think I had enough time to get a real grasp of what is involved int he area of civil engineering. I also believe that the stage of planning that they were at didn't give a great insight into what the job of an engineer is as their work was greatly based around law and legal matters. I am unsure after my work experience as to whether I would enjoy this line of work or not and so I will keep an open mind going nto my next preriod of work experience.