On 11/29/16, Mr. Rodriguez and Mr. O’Brien accompanied a select group of WHSAD ninth graders to the historic World Diamond Tower. This NYC landmark is currently under renovation as part of an adaptive reuse project. If you would like to learn more about the World Diamond Tower, please click here.
The following is a report on the field trip as written by WHSAD 9th grader Jonah Vasquez:
THE DIAMOND TOWER FIELD TRIP – WORLD MONUMENTS FUND
Written by Jonah Vasquez
The trip to the Diamond Tower was astonishing, being able to stand in the presence of people who resembled what would soon be our own future, all together it was overwhelming. The building alone stands magnificently amongst the rest of the district’s architecture, which at the moment seemed to be a foreshadowing element that led up to the HQ itself, the hidden beauty that was well thought out by those who had planned to redesign the building as what you would see today. Frank, a very well spoken man, was the first to speak to us. He had led us to a conference room that had its fair use of modernistic values, just as well as enough space to give us a proper introduction as to who he was, who he worked with, and what was/had been their intentions for the building, while having us comforted by the sleek chairs they provided us with. According to Frank, the building itself was privately owned by family partners for approximately 50 years, being originally established in either 1926, or 1927. Frank then continued on to tell us about how his firm looks for the architect’s original intentions through pictures, which led to the two schemes that he showed us; Scheme A, which was a traditional representation of what they wanted the building to be, and Scheme B, which favored more contemporary values within its design. For the creation of the model, they had used sketchup models in Autocad. As architects should, they turned to surrounding residents for inspiration, which helped influence the looks and flow in the visuals of the building. Frank and his firm didn’t want to completely change the building around, they wanted to interpret modern looks, while retaining the old building’s aspects. In the very end of it all, they directed their attention to us, and gave us a bit of insight as to what we might expect in the near-future if we were to pick up the profession. From what they told us, it’s a team orientated job, and also a broad profession. Luckily, skills of our own will help define the path we want to take when approaching the choice itself. A very fun trip indeed, giving us more information, experience, and first hand looks as to what we might be doing later on.
