Things I See

There was a huge inspection project back in October. Doing the field work and then writing up the inspection reports took the rest of the year. Combine with holidays, a vacation and a heavy cold, there was no coming up for blogging air. But I saw some interesting stuff.

A plywood tree.

This was in a chapel. It's two pieces, cut exactly the same and stuck together. It looked like one of them had that center cut out you're familiar with when you get some toys; the cut out which helps you slide two pieces together.

I looked at this and thought how cool it would be to have this done at a Christmas tree. You could assemble it and then stick the whole thing into a closet. It could be painted green and there could be holes in the branches to hang ornaments. The spread of the base would prevent all but the largest animal or human from toppling it. I would be interested in this concept since my fake tree is rather annoying to put together and is quite heavy to bring up from the basement. That's why I didn't bring it up this year. I just didn't feel like assembling it. And yet, I have all these ornaments I love to look at. A tree like this would serve well for display purposes. I could see stores selling ornaments year 'round could find this attractive.

The lighting in the chapel was very interesting. This is a half-moon fixture which was in the choir loft. Great thought was given to the presentation of light. It can be very easy to slap up a row of track lights and call it a day. Quick, efficient, but, as a representation of faith, not so much. It's one thing when the church is old and installation of current lighting needs to take preservation in mind. It's another when you can create the lighting when you design where the lavatories go. I've seen a more unified design when it's new construction versus old construction where new fixtures have to be installed. It's not all the time, mind you, but enough for me to notice a consistency.

Here is the fixture in the center of the main floor of the chapel.

The half-moon fixtures were in the choir and around the walls. There were recessed lights under the lofts on either side, but two of these filled the main floor with light. They produced the most interesting reflection on the polished floor.

In a health services lab, the entry had a most appealing design. In the waiting area, the wall across from the windows had panels like this.

I thought it might represent a light rain shower. On the windows of the waiting area, was this corresponding design.

This reinforced my idea the design represented rain. But inside the receptionist's area was this alcove.

This is what is left when you make a panel with holes. I didn't try to figure out which panel corresponded, if any did, to this. It would drive me batty. The overall effect was pleasing and if you were coming to the area for a class, I think it would be designed to relax you, at least, I hope it would. It was cool, nonetheless.

Drawing desks. I was so excited when I saw these. When I matriculated for my art minor, I had to take drawing classes. I can't draw worth a darn, really. We didn't have desks. We had to hold our oversize drawing pads in our laps. I might have enjoyed the class better if we'd had these desks on which to put things.

This is the ceiling in the remodeled main campus building, Old Main. Doesn't every college have a building similar to this? It was the first building on campus and used to be classrooms before being turned into administration in, probably, the 1960's. The university had done a wonderful job of preservation and redemption of the structure. This is the first floor welcome area ceiling; very art deco. Made me think that if I ever get around to repainting the kitchen, this would be a cool pattern to do to the ceiling. The light fixtures were, I think, kind of blaise, but their unpretention made you look at the ceiling.

Finally, we'll file this under "You had one job."

My obsessive-compulsive friends were really upset by this floor. When I saw it in person, I just laughed.

Beverage:  Water

Deb