Research | Carbon Dioxide vs. Sleepiness

For my Environment Control Systems class, the professor asked us to perform a term long case study on anything class related. Since we covered the topic of human comfort as it relates to building performance, I immediately thought to study the lecture hall that hosts most of our large lectures, Lawrence Hall Room 177.

I am largely a kinesthetic learner. As anyone who suffers from this malady knows, sitting in a large lecture hall with the lights turned down and no natural light entering the room creates an impossible learning environment, but a very good sleeping environment. Consequently, of the forty lectures held this term, I slept through 38.

But how many other people fall asleep throughout class? And why? Certainly not everyone in lectures is a kinesthetic learner, as learning types are as varied as fingerprints. Yet, every lecture period, if I looked around I consistently saw people nodding off. The question that begs an answer is WHY?

The answer my group proposed was fairly simple: flood the room with 150 people and the HVAC system can’t handle the increased load, CO2 levels rise above the ASHRAE recommended value of 1,000 PPM (ASHRAE 62.1, no link provided since it costs $$$), which, by the way, is 1/5th the level that is legally enforceable, and people nod off.

Here’s what we found (high res pdf available upon request):

Agate Alley Laughter | Ann Phillips

The world and its inhabitants have a seemingly unlimited capacity for happiness. Maybe I ought to try to capture it to show the world what it has.

Model | Studio Final – Winter 2010/11

After discovering a song called “And We Danced” by Macklemore, I had one day to make my 1/16″ scale model for the Mexican Academy of the Arts project for the winter studio in the 2010/11 academic year at the University of Oregon. Itunes told me that I played through this song 98 times that day. I cut out over 60 square windows and made my right thumb raw and my left triceps sore for the following two days. What did I learn from this experience? Listening to phenomenally happy dance music enhances the educational experience for kinesthetic learners and puts an empty box of Cheerios on your head. Also, if you design a geometrically driven building with lots of small components, learn to use a laser cutter.

Finals | Plans, Sections, Diagrams

These are the two panels I presented for my M.Arch 682 studio. The assignment was a mixed use building in Portland, OR at the corner of NW 8th Street and Couch Street (pronounced COOCH). The “client” assigned was the Mexican government who was looking to establish a Mexican Academy of the Arts. I spent the term looking at Mexican illustrator Alberto Cerriteno and squares of all varieties.

Finals | Corner Rendering

This is an 11″x17″ version of what I used as my final rendering for this terms assignment. It was required for my ARCH 610 class. Please look at the Finals | Plans, Sections, Diagrams content to see this rendering in context.

A link to the pdf for the rendering lives here.