#leafschoolsandstreets

The last week is bitter sweet. Ten weeks of diligent and fast paced work has definitely caught up to all of us and after the excitement over the weekend it is difficult to get back into work mode. However, finishing touches must be made. Luckily a few more celebratory evenings are planned for this week. It was amazing to see our stage being used and it also gave us the opportunity to note what we could change. In particular our scissor jacks were oriented in the wrong position. This created a tripping/potential shin destroying hazard. We worked out a plan to rotate the C-channel orientation on the scissor jacks to resolve this problem. We were extremely grateful to Tim Callahan for welding on the C-channel in the new orientation.  Our client requested for an electric winch to be installed. We found a reasonably priced electric winch at Northern Tool. Once installed the wings could be lifted and lowered with a remote (transformer style). This was an awesome finishing touch and really gave the stage an Aha! factor which we were able to display at the Asheville Design Center event on Thursday night. We also completed assembly of our nesting boxes (remember those all the way from WEEK 1). These were used just as we had imagined as seats for the audience, easily maneuvered and reoriented. Final rain trim was added on the roof as well as aluminum siding and trim on the underside of the wings. The aluminum siding created the perfect back drop for the amazing student designed U-LEAF graphic. We also found mountable levels to install on the stage for easy leveling on site. Finally we came up with a latching detail to lock the wings to the canopy columns during travel. The event Thursday night was held at a really cool public space down by the French Broad River in Asheville.

During this last week the importance of the final details revealed the significance of following through on a project. I imagine that there will always be things that are overlooked. No matter how detailed the planning process may have been there were still things we discovered needed tweaking during use of the stage. 

I learned more this summer than I have the ability to fathom all at once. The past few days since the program has ended I have noticed that my understanding of the way design mechanisms work and how things are put together is much easier for me to conceptualize. This just one of the many things I have been able to take from the program. I know my presentation and communication skills have improved as well and that only time will be able to prove how much I am able to maintain from this summer. I am so thankful I had the opportunity to participate in the program and would recommend to any student in any discipline with an interest in design and/or community based projects. 

Get ‘er done.

The pressure is on this week as we approach our August 1st deadline for presentation of the stage at the 1st annual Downtown Asheville LEAF festival. On Monday Morning we took the trailer over to Hoss Haley’s to complete the structural welds on the steel members of the canopy. While the trailer was gone we stained the plywood floor and cut slots for the knife plates into the wood 4x4′s.  Once the stage returned to AB-Tech we installed floor joists on the wings and on the trailer bed. The canopy 4x4′s were lifted into place on the knife plates and clamped into place while we completed installation of the plywood floor. At Clemson our names along with all of our sponsors were CNC cut into rim boards. Once the plywood flooring was installed we could finally start working installation of the Suntuf roof. By Friday we have a stage, tada!

On Friday afternoon the stage was picked up and we all crossed our fingers as it rode away. It made it downtown and we met in the morning to set up the stage for the day. Seeing the stage in use was surreal. After 9 weeks of hard work with our minds constantly working it was abnormal to sit back and enjoy the show. The highlight for me was not seeing the professional performers but the children. Providing a platform for them to perform their routines and seeing the pride they displayed was unforgettable. 

This project began with the intention to build a stage for members of the community who do not have access to one in their neighborhood. Throughout the process it was easy to get caught up in all the new skills we were learning and forget about the main goal. Although, that was the beauty of the whole project to me. That as a result of giving students the opportunity to learn to build their designs the community could reap the benefits. I hope LEAF continues to use the stage to promote art and music education and to give kids the opportunities to perform for their friends and families and gain confidence at the same time. 

The beauty is that multiple members of the community with a diversity of missions/goals could benefit from this project which ultimately results in a physical object that is really for a future generation of individuals.