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Company Information Jobs and Partnerships Intern Testimonials Josh's First Letter:Josh's Letters 2.23.2001 Dear Dan: I am writing to let you know how my internship is going in accordance with our department's internship requirements. Everything is going well at Carducci Associates. I have moved right into the office and have taken on the responsibilities of any other full-time employee, including drafting in AutoCAD, marker rendering, conceptual design, design development, and interacting with our clients and consultants. I do not often feel like an intern. I have been involved with several projects since I arrived. The time that I spend on a project generally is determined by the deadline. The pace of this office is fast, but not uncomfortably so. It provides variety. The following is a list of projects I have worked on; including some annotated task explanations: Week 1 (January 16th-19th) Loma Verde School/ Novato, CA This is a pro-bono job for a school in Novato, CA. Vince Lattanzio, one of Carducci Associates' principals, has a son in school there. Vince, Alvin Tang and I prepared three 24 x 36 boards for a PTA presentation. Our media consisted of pen and ink, marker, and adhered photographs, creating two perspectives, two planting plans, and a few supplemental details. The office gave me personal copies of the graphic work. We designed two courtyards, introducing and relocating existing plant material, and using donor tiles and pavers to generate funding. Vince presented the finished boards to the PTA and the response was positive. He added that I'd continue to work on this project as it evolves, allowing me to participate in community work. Novato Tennis Courts/ Novato, CA. I helped an associate, Alvin Tang, prepare a check-set of construction documents that needed to be sent out. This check-set was prepared in response to a previous submittal, meaning that our office made revisions based on "redlined" comments. Revisions were not necessary on all sheets of the set, meaning that we could reuse some pages. In order to save time, paper, and ultimately money, we simply cut the date off of the drawings that we didn't change, and pasted on a new date. The repair was unnoticeable on the subsequent blueprints we made. In this Computer Age some things are still done by hand. Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA. This is a large project with a long timeframe, part of a set of new developments in the same area. Our firm is collaborating with several offices on the project, including David Gates Associates, Fisher Friedman Architects, and DES Engineering. I have worked on this project several times over the last few weeks, helping Paul Donnelly, an associate. We are in the construction documents phase. Our firm drafts in AutoCAD R.14. We import files and external references from collaborating firms. The architects have modified the buildings on the site, creating conditions that we responded to. After drafting on the BASE drawing, our primary external reference for all other drawings in a set, we adjusted the rest of the set. Finally, we plotted the drawings as required for a submittal (I believe it was part of a Permit Set). Week 2 (January 22rd-26th) Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA. I continued to work with Paul Donnelly on the project, drafting construction documents. This time I focused on the base, layout drawing, and the planting plan. The architects, Fisher Friedman, made several changes to some of the buildings on the site. We had to insert the proper external references in our drawings, updating files and making adjustments. The project is on bay- fill, a soil type that consists mostly of silt. It drains poorly and settles greatly. The buildings are located on pilings, but the surrounding site is expected to sink a few inches. Because of this, concrete areas around the building would feel undue stress, cracking and failing. To prevent unsatisfactory performance, a hinge joint is placed in the concrete near the building, allowing the slab to "bend." The situation is complicated further by accessibility; any change in the slope of the slab may be unsatisfactory according to ADA code. By coordinating with the structural engineer on the hinge, we believe that it will be a (very interesting) solution instead of a problem. Week 3 (January 29th-February 2nd) Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA. I continued to work with Paul Donnelly on this project. It was most of my workload for the week. I drafted parts of the planting, grading, and lighting plans. I redlined areas of the grading plan, making sure that areas were of acceptable slope and elevation with respect to the buildings' door- thresholds. Robert Livermore Community Center/ Livermore, CA. This is another job under the stead of Paul Donnelly. The set of construction documents is similar to that of the Peninsula Jewish Community Center (PJCC) in Foster City, CA. I worked on this project last summer when I interned here. I revised parts of the planting and demolition plans. We plotted the set and made bluelines, preparing a submittal set. One interesting note about this project: it incorporates the use of bio-swales. A bio-swale is a way to filter pollutants from runoff water. I have read about them in landscape architecture literature, some of which was given to me by the office last summer. It is a depression that receives runoff water from a parking lot, allowing it to percolate into the soil, almost functioning like a detention basin. A perforated pipe at the bottom of the swale's fill material allows the runoff to exit. The Bay Area seems ahead of the Midwest concerning responsible stormwater management and addressing non-point source pollution. Cupertino Library Proposal Qualifications/ Cupertino, CA. Bill Fee, the other principal at Carducci Associates, asked me to help prepare a presentation package for our office, sort of like a student portfolio. Part of the task was to create an electronic file system for images. Currently, we store images in several places around the office. 8.5x11" images are located in binders, organized by project type (e.g.: Civic, Schools, Wineries, Commercial, Residential, Multi-Use, Recreation, etc.). 11x17 images are located in a separate bin because of their odd size; pictures look best when they are not bent. I created a file system on our server (the computer that "serves" all of our networking needs) that is concurrent with our hardcopy system. Bill gave me some images to scan at different resolutions; we investigated what our output needs are. They recently bought a new plotter that can output at 600 dpi, though in most cases 150 dpi is acceptable. At larger dpi's the file size of JPEG's becomes excessive, making the increased image quality inefficient. Union City Schools/ San Jose, CA. I worked with Alvin Tang, revising construction documents for several schools in the Union City School District. Several schools are getting a new media building, a facility that allows the use of new-tech presentation devices. Our firm designed the landscape around each structure, incorporating irrigation. A note about irrigation: water conservation is an important issue that receives more attention here than I have seen in Kansas. Evidence of this is the widespread use of drip irrigation systems. A drip system is different from a spray or rotor system. It usually runs with fewer GPM and transmits water nearer to the rootzone than a spray system (the water has to percolate through the soil). Carducci Associates most often uses drip systems for shrub areas, while turf is still watered with sprays or rotors. Week 4 (February 5th-9th) Union City Schools/ San Jose, CA. I continued to assist Alvin Tang with this project, revising the construction documents. America Center/ San Jose, CA. Aaron Defenbaugh is currently working on this project at Kansas State University to fulfill his Capstone requirements. I collated some sheets for a "Plan Check/ Bid Set" meeting that both principals, Bill Fee and Vince Lattanzio, attended. Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA. I worked very briefly on this project as well, revising parts of the grading plan. Cupertino Library/ Cupertino, CA. Using the file system that I created earlier for Civic Park Cupertino, I scanned several images and compiled a portfolio CD, "Images of Carducci Landscapes," that was sent to a potential collaborator. Robert Livermore Community Center/ Livermore, CA. I worked with Paul Donnelly again on this project. He has several large projects with relatively close deadlines. Since our office only has nine people in it, we often help each other out on our projects; everyone is part of the project team. This allows everyone to take on greater responsibilities than (I have heard) larger firms allow, gaining valuable experience. I was given an opportunity to design part of the entry feature for the site. Paul gave me a conceptual sketch of the feature and I worked out the details in the construction documents. Because of the pace of our office, design development merges with construction documentation, most often occurring on the computer. AutoCAD skills are a necessity for work in a design office, evidenced by the way our firm operates. My friends in other departments (interior architecture and architecture) do not have extensive experience with computer drafting. Their hand drawings and design skills are impressive. However, because they are young and don't have AutoCAD experience, they are being given few opportunities during their internships. It is unfortunate, but expected. So, in order to design you must know how to use the computer, the leadholder's replacement. Office Meeting: Learn to Plot People often must succumb to the whims of their technology. Our office had a problem with the new plotter: it wouldn't plot. So, we called the guy, he came out, and he taught us how to plot to the new machine (again). Office Meeting: Hunter Irrigation Many companies try to build relationships with design firms. If a firm uses their product extensively, the producer gets to stay in business. Irrigation and lighting companies put a great deal of efforts in communicating with design firms. Hunter Irrigation sent their World Representative to Carducci Associates to talk about some new products that were more efficient and/or had different features. They passed out literature to everyone in the office and checked the Robert Livermore Community Center's irrigation plan to make sure that everything would work. It's always good to get the manufacturer's opinion on how effectively we are using their product. They said we were doing well. Office Meeting: Commitment to Service Vince Lattanzio and Bill Fee, both principals, held a meeting to discuss the way Carducci Associates operates. Some would call it a firm philosophy. At Carducci we maintain our ability to service the client and the owner. We strive to provide better service than our competitors and collaborators. Our goal is to solve the problem for the client in the best possible way, fulfilling their requests in a manner relevant to the completion of the contracted work. This often means sacrificing a longer, separate design development phase for construction documents; design development equals 50% construction documents (DD = 50% x CD). Our ability to design is directly related to our ability to serve the client. The chief difference I have noticed between my education and my employment is that I spend less time focusing on conceptually designing something. The level of detailed thought is much greater, focusing on how this piece fits together with that, and the quality of the construction methods. In my designs at school I focused more on philosophy and effect, on the abstract, with a tangential interest in avant-garde art. Here, I am much more pragmatic and direct. And pragmatism is a form of idealism, leading to ideal results for the client and ultimately us. A friend once told me that it took Louis Kahn 40 years to build the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth, TX. It is widely considered to be an important work of architecture from the Twentieth Century. Indeed, when Dennis Law led the landscape architecture trip to Texas during my sophomore year in the program, we stopped at the Kimbell. My friend went further, claiming that it takes any practicing designer around forty years to do work that is honest and original (he focuses on the pursuit of "Truth+Beauty" in his lectures). Well, how does one go about building the Kimbell in 40 years? By pleasing your clients and building a base of them with interests that are contemporaneous with your own. This is not a short-term task. It is difficult in its practice (which involves patience). My architecture friends are told that their intellect is their most powerful tool; if they follow their intellect they will always be right (True+Beautiful). Intellect requires practice. And practice requires something to practice on. The only way to practice is to work. The only way to work is to build relationships with clients. One successfully completed project begets another, sometimes larger and more challenging, project. Frank Gehry is nearing the later stages of his life, creating works that many argue are masterpieces. I believe that my friend's timeframe is correct. So, servicing clients is extremely important. It (and intellect, of course) are keys (there are many others) to work that a designer may consider successful. And Bill said some of the concrete finishes on the Kimbell were rough, so even perfection may be imperfect. Week 5 (February 12th-16th) Woodcreek Elementary School/ Placer County, CA. This is part of another school project our office is doing. I redlined a few of the construction drawings and made revisions to the base, irrigation, and planting plans. America Center (Phase One)/ San Jose, CA. I drafted a grading study for a part of the project that was questionable. It required a detailed look that we provided in two section drawings and a plan view. After drafting the drawings in AutoCAD, we provided several copies for a meeting that Vince Lattanzio attended. Yosemite Business Park/ Milipitas, CA. Jim Bensman, another Associate at our office, needed some assistance with revisions for an irrigation plan. He was preparing a set of documents to go out I made the necessary changes. Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA. I worked with Paul Donnelly on earthwork and grading changes. Paul gave me an opportunity to do the grading on my own. Because of the timeframe I only completed half of the site, focusing on the key elevations for overland release, ensuring that if drain inlets failed, a system of surface channels would carry water away from the buildings. A large courtyard required slopes that were between 1 and 2%. The existing site conditions for this project are almost flat, so it was a challenge to provide a surface outlet for the water. Paul is currently reviewing the drawing I prepared to ensure that it will work. San Mateo Union High School District/ San Mateo, CA. I worked briefly on this project (about an hour), helping Bill Fee prepare an image for a presentation package. Week 6, (current week) Peninsula Jewish Community Center/ Foster City, CA. I am continuing work on this project with Paul, currently revising the planting plan. Those are the annotated tasks that I have participated in for the past few weeks. I feel like a regular employee instead of an intern, making work much more interesting and challenging. I believe that my education at Kansas State University (even the parts that I disagreed with), personal interests, and previous internship experience have prepared me for employment in a design office. I'm constantly learning. I would also recommend that other K-State students seek an internship here at Carducci, or at another firm of similar size with similar workload. My responsibilities are greater than those of my friends, at larger companies that go by initials. I am a little worried about the transition back to the university after my extended internship is finished. I will have nearly a year's work experience in an office and I will return to academia. Many people I know returned from similar experiences and went through burnout, frustration, and disillusionment. They were displeased with their final course of classes. I don't think that I shall suffer from these things, but I need to complete the requirements for my NRES secondary major. I also want to edit Oz magazine, though the name is kind of tacky. The workload for my final year is going to be difficult, with nearly 18 hours each remaining semester, plus my extracurricular activities. I suppose that the price of preparation is some freedom to explore other interests. If I can achieve my personal goals, it will be well worth the effort. I will next write in April. If you would like me to elaborate on anything, please email me at ------@ksu.edu or telephone me at the office. The number is at the foot of each page. Yes, I am living on a boat. It rocks. Sincerely, Joshua M. Bender |
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