Author: jchow16

We have made great progress this week!

This Tuesday, our group went to the garden and met with our client Claudette again with our preferred design. She said that she would take it to the architect to get it approved, so that we can use our design for calculations and documentation. This is a huge step for our project; our group has not met Claudette for a long time, and after this meeting, our design is nearly finalized, allowing us to complete project deliverables and move on to the next step. At this point, we still have several things to do. Choosing the materials is the most important issue for us, as this includes the amount of materials that we need, the budget, where we can buy them, and what skills we can use to cut them safely and efficiently. Mainly, the core material of our design is bamboo, and we will look into exactly where we can buy them. During the meeting, Claudette also said that we cannot use objects and materials in the garden. It seems that our project has become more difficult and the estimated completion date has been delayed even further.

However, the situation mentioned in the previous paragraph has changed after our group left the garden. Andy was taking photos in the garden in order to make measurements to scale. Claudette approached him and had a short conversation with him, saying that because our group is short of time, she has decided to modify our design to a much simpler one. The modified design is made of only bamboo sticks tied together by oiled twine, and the main shape of the barrier consists of a triangle. Later on, she guided Andy to a place in the garden where there was a lot of bamboos. She said that our group could use as many bamboo sticks in the pile as we want. Andy was very happy to hear about this good news because our main problem has been solved, and now we only need to find a place to buy oiled twine. Before Andy was dismissed from the garden, she picked up a sample barrier which was made by another group a long time ago, and told Andy to bring it to our group meeting, so that we can make the best out of it.

 

It seems that at this point, if our project goes well and we stick to our new schedule, we should be able to finish the project by the end of March.

After today’s group meeting at school, we have decided that we will pick up the bamboo sticks from the garden this Sunday, as well as purchase oiled twine and glue from a hardware store. With these tasks completed by the end of the week, we will be set to construct the barriers next week. We aim to finish the documentation portfolio by the coming Monday, which will be our first deliverable for the project. Everything will go up from here, never down again! Stay tuned for our blog post next week!

After a relaxing reading break last week, our team has managed to schedule a meeting with our client on Tuesday, March 6. During this meeting, we are hoping to finalize the design with the Operations Manager as well as the Executive Director of the Garden, who will ensure that our design is appropriate and “Ming”.

Before the reading break, our team has already decided on what materials to use and also came up with an estimate of how much materials we need, according to our preferred design. The preferred design is having 2 horizontal bamboo sticks with vertical “curly” sticks tied onto the bamboo sticks, forming a simple form of a fence-like barrier. However, we are not set to purchase these materials until we get confirmation from our client on our design and materials list. Unfortunately we are lacking communication with our client, and we really hope that the project will pick up the pace after Tuesday’s meeting.

Because the project is coming to an end very soon, time management and rescheduling a new timeline for our coursework are huge factors that our team must consider about for the rest of the month. We are hoping to build at least 1 of the 3 barriers; if time permits we will be more than happy to complete the project and build all 3 barriers. However, if time is not on our side, then perhaps building 1 barrier as a prototype would have to suffice. Of course, our team would much rather complete the project and meet the client’s goal by the end of the month. Our team is still very enthusiastic about the project and we really want to contribute to the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens.

After meeting with Dr. Nesbit this week, we have decided that Tuesday’s meeting will be a crucial step for the project. At this meeting, we must finalize everything – the design, the materials, the cost, the construction schedule, and the expectations of the project. More exciting blog posts to come next week, so stay tuned! Have a great weekend!

As the first blog post, we would like provide some background information regarding our CIVL 202 CSL Project as well as formally introduce our team to you.

 

What is our project?

 

The organization that we will be working with is the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Garden, located in Chinatown. We are assigned to build 3 “Ting Barriers”. In Chinese, “ting” means temple, and in the following photos to come, you will see this temple, which is situated on top of a mountain of rocks. The temple is fairly small, and primarily made as a symbolic and decorative piece for the garden. The objective of this project is to build 3 barriers to prevent people from climbing up the mountain of rocks to the temple as there are no hand rails or defined steps to do so. It is very dangerous to climb up the rocks.

 

A few hours ago, our team met with Claudette, Martin, the Operations Manager at the garden. It was our first meeting with her, and she gave us a brief tour and explained the project to us with details. Key points that we must keep in mind when designing the barriers include the following:

 

-The barriers must reflect artistic motifs, patterns, or symbols of the Ming Dynasty. For example, materials used to construct the barriers will likely be wood, bamboo sticks and twine; using a drill and building the barriers using nails and metals will not be applicable.
-The barriers must blend in with the surroundings; it should not catch people’s attention but at the same time it should be practical and meets the purpose.
-The barriers must be easily put up and put down to prevent or allow passage.

 

Claudette also advised us to contact the garden’s architect, Joe Wai, who will give us ideas and feedback over the span of the project. Our team is really excited to design and build these barriers, and we have ideas ourselves already. We cannot wait to share with you when we are able to get the designs on paper in the weeks to come! Here are some photos that our team member Olivia has taken with her new DSLR camera at the site visit today. Enjoy!

 

Our Team

Our team consists of 6 members – (from left to right according to the photo above) – Andy Yin, Joanne Chow, Azzie Fallahi, Steph Ridenour, Olivia Lund, and Yujin Kim. It is quite ironic how our team was put together; we were all very surprised that our team consists of mostly girls, and only one guy, despite the small girl to guy ratio in our civil engineering department. All in all, we are all very thrilled to work with each other. Our personal bio’s are listed below. We hope to have you come back to our team blog to keep up with our project progress. We will be updating the blog once a week, and we promise eventful posts in the near future!

 

Andy Yin:

Hi everyone, I’m Andy, and I am from north-east part of China. When I was young, I did well in Math and Physics, that’s why I chose engineering. Civil engineering relies on forces and equilibrium, I love them very much, so I chose Civil engineering to be my career.

 

Joanne Chow:

Hey everyone, my name is Joanne Chow and I am from Hong Kong. Having a Chinese background, I am very interested in learning more about the history and artistic styles of the Ming Dynasty from this project. Things that I like to do when I have free time include eating and shopping. Even though I am currently majoring in civil engineering, I am hoping to pursue a career that is design-based, perhaps in architecture or industrial design.

 

Azzie Fallahi:

Hello, I am Azadeh Fallahi and I am part of the team responsible for designing a pedestrian barrier to help with both the safety and the preservation of the Ting and the mountain. Before moving to Canada 2 years ago, I was studying Architecture in Iran and the main reason I am studying Civil Engineering right now is to be able to pursue an architecture career while knowing a thing or two about how the buildings actually hold up. I am very excited and honored to be working on a project that will combine all my passions which are architecture, design, structural engineering and still contain a cultural aspect as well. Looking forward to a constructive collaboration between our team and the management of Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden.

 

Steph Ridenour:

Hello, my name is Steph-
I am from a small town called Duncan, which is located between Victoria and Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. When I was deciding what to go to university for, I was torn between architecture, interior design, and engineering. Luckily I chose the latter! My interests include lightweight rowing, swimming, sailing, travelling and cooking (because who doesn’t love food?). I have a very strong interest in sustainability, and will be embarking on the Environmental Option beginning next year. I look forward to meeting and working with you! Cheers!

 

Olivia Lund:

Hello, my name is Olivia Lund and I am from Kamloops, BC. I chose Civil Engineering because I have always taken an interest in buildings, bridges, and just structures in general (as a child I constantly played with lego). Some things I enjoy outside of school include dancing (ballet, jazz, contemporary), gardening, travelling, and walking my dogs. I am eager to start working on this project as I am sure it will be both a memorable and meaningful experience!

 

Yujin Kim:

Hi, I am Yujin Kim and I am from Korea. I came to Canada to study 2 years ago. I chose civil engineering as my major in UBC since I am interested in structures. I am glad to be in civil engineering as I find a lot of interesting knowledge and techniques here. I am sure that our group will enjoy our fantastic project!!