I have never seen a Starbucks which is crowded, every fuckin time! Yes, I am talking about Harvard square Starbucks, and yet do not be confused because there are 3 Starbucks in that location. This is the corner one, next to Red Line entrance. A lot people use this Red line in weekdays as it has a connection to Downtown area and Green Line through Park street. The sketch was from where inbound and outbound separates. The underground of Harvard Square homes to busses, too. You can take 5 or 6 bus line. I sketched at home from a picture as you cannot stand 30 minutes in rush area.

We were lucky! My aunt, my cousins, my sister and I met in NYC in this January. It was a lot of fun. The good news is that I learned a pizza place under the Brooklyn Bridge. It is called Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. The important information about this place is that they do not sell slices, only whole pies. The owner at ten age learned how to make pizza then decided to publish a place. Because of regulation, which is not using coal fire in Manhattan, he opened up his place in Brooklyn. He believes coil-fired better to make good pizza. The sketch from there.

When you are an architectural student, you must know where you can buy your model stuff, unfortunately, their prices are an arm and a leg. Because of this, I usually stop by central square. Not only getting my stuff from art stores, but also looking at used records and books is the reason why I always pass by. One day I saw a brick church, gothic style, on the square. It is very interesting to me as this is the First Baptist Church of Cambridge Massachusetts. So I decided to sketch, then, I researched on it. What interesting I found is this is the third one was built by the Baptist Congregation, other two buildings were destroyed by fire.

Thanks to one of my best friends, DODO, I can eat more patlican kebabs, now. While visiting my country, we went to a sketchy restaurant, called Harram Sofrasi in Aksaray, Istanbul. Usually, The place, Aksaray,  is known a bad reputation, but this time, the place is niche to me. I very much the patlican kebab. The sketch is from inside.

My Boston Bro, Musta, wanted to go to the car exhibition in Boston. There was a bevy of new cars I could not take my eyes off. I had already been to the ICA several times, so I was familiar with the general seaport location. This was my first time at the exhibition center, however. It is a giant steel piece which came in at $850 million. It was truly a pleasure to discover steel connections after taking the Structure 2 course. The sketch was from in front of the building. I did not have time to sketch, so I took a photo and worked from it later.

There are two large fish under this dome! Directly underneath is the “Holy Mackerel” of the Massachusetts Senate. Nearby is its more famous cousin, the “Sacred Cod.”  This good luck symbol was donated to the House of Representative by the fishing industry to remind lawakers of the importance of seafood for the local economy. Hilariously, the editors of  the Harvard Lampoon  “codnapped” this sculpture. They later relented and told the authorities where they could find it. After that, UMASS students tried to do the same thing. Second acts usually fall flat. This is the Massachusetts State House.

After discovering Santiago Calatrava’s art pieces in Valencia, Spain, I try to capture the America's Cup building by British architect David Chipperfield. I was, again, visiting these place while I was studying interior architecture, so I more paid attention to interior spaces at that time. Now, I can see more details of facades and exteriors spaces. The sketch was done looking through the building. The architect has garnered a great deal of awards, as has the building. Especially, the Royal Institute of British Architects awarded the highly coveted European prize in 2007. It was an enriching experience to see these buildings at that time, thanks to my aunt.