On The Ground

Beyond Visuals
Tony Salem Musleh
M.Arch I ’26

Architecture is a three-dimensional endeavor: it has a sensation, a site, a context. We need to walk in it to understand its logic beyond its representation. Natural forces cannot be internalized inside the golden cage of Rudolph. It takes a rattlesnake to make you understand that you aren’t God. And the wonder of Corbusier’s stereophonics doesn’t come across through shitty headphones. We all need to travel more—to rediscover Plečnik, to understand the South’s charm, or to sit in stadiums that are more than just photorealistic renderings. Being in—rather than looking at—architecture is the modus operandi of a student.

LASERGATE
Majdi Alkarute
M.Arch I ’27

“They want requests? I’ll give them requests.” After allegedly being told all laser cutters were working and there were no open service requests, Macarena Fernández personally tested each cutter to confirm none were in fact working this morning. Thankfully, at 3:18 PM, an email from Advanced Technology: “Our team has visited all studio laser cutters and reset the settings for each. All laser cutters are working as expected,” hopefully ending weeks of issues. Meanwhile, Nico Cao showed me her open service request for three cutters dated October 1st—still open as of the writing of this piece. (6:45 PM)

Bouncing Between
Maggie Holm
M. Arch I ’28

The sixth floor has seen lighter foot traffic in recent weeks as first years realize that we can indeed leave the building. Just as we erratically pivot between plan and section before eventually modeling in three dimensions, the back-and-forth between home and studio has inspired students to seek new sights on the weekends.

Drama & Design
Marusya Bakhrameeva
M.Arch II ’26

Working in the open spaces of Rudolph Hall feels highly performative. Everyone is in the spotlight, visible from every angle, as if the building itself were directing the scene. Naturally, we decided to exaggerate this effect by filming our own reality show. The working title is Bad Timing, because it truly is bad timing to start a reality show during midterm season with our schedules already overflowing. Stay tuned.

Scattered Pieces, Shared Map
Shreshtha Goyal
M.Arch II ’27

What did you carry home from travel week?

“I loved the old wise olive trees. It’s grounding to see something that outlived so many people and places.” – Abby

“Being physically at the site. Ruins are much more sublime in person.’’ – Jacky

“La Tourette, the prayer before the meal, when we stepped into the church and heard the procession, everyone started crying.’’– Jasper

“A strong confrontation with reality. I felt like I was in an Edward Hopper painting.” – Vika

“Plečnik. I like how weird and unapologetically different he is.” – Lyra

A new dimension to our forms.

Un-Clarity
Layna Chen
M.E.D

“What?! Being lazy at Yale?” – Zoe
“It happens.” – Vinh

Second years are typing. First years are researching. Progress is still a mystery.

Reading Criticism
Jaime Solares Carmona
Ph.D

October break is approaching, and, unfortunately, that doesn’t mean much to doctoral students… Whenever someone asks me or any of my colleagues what we’re doing, the answer will probably be the same: we’re reading. That’s why it’s so nice, from time to time, to participate in some studio reviews. Acting as a critic is a very good way to connect theory and practice. That’s why AJ, Prof. David Sadighian, Izzy, and I are organizing the “Criticism in the New Commons” Symposium on the 30th and 31st of this month. Come! Maybe we can read other things… like criticism itself.

Gone Fishing (On Fall Break)
Tian Hsu
Undergraduate

8/27
AYSEL AZIZ’s ongoing crusade on behalf of daylight results in the installation of a heliodon in the photo studio. Helio-don’t make claims about natural light in your project without understanding how the sun works!

9/29
The Advanced Studios race to see which of them can get the most Instagram followers during travel week.

9/30
From temporary headquarters in the Memphis Bass Pro Shops Pyramid, BLACKWELL shows his studio how to explore slowness in architecture by driving very, very fast.

10/3
YOUNG and TAHA studios face canceled flights, forcing them to stay in Europe for an extra day in an accidental reversal of budget cuts. Big props to travel coordinator CHERYL NADZAM for managing to smuggle them and all our other itinerant classmates back into the country intact.

10/8
Security officer WILL HARGROVE chases down the perpetrator of an egregious afternoon bike theft, but the pedal pilferer preserves his prize.

10/9
KARINA ENCARNACIÓN, ALBERTO MARTINEZ GARCÍA, SAM ALGAS, PERICLES BIEN, and MARISA CRANDALL furnish the North Gallery with crisp models and even crispier snacks at the opening of Maintaining Impermanence in the Philippines.

10/9
Regarding Charles Jencks’ career: “If there’s any advice I can give you in this class, it’s to marry very very well.” – MARK FOSTER GAGE

10/11
MCKENNA SABON loses her wallet. It has since been recovered.