A Long Overdue Post...

Well, it has been a month since my last post. I'd like to say that I have been so busy with classes to say that I have had no time to blog, but that is a lie, there is always time to blog. So let me try and make up for this mistake by writing an incredibly lengthy blog post on the past 3 weeks and our second PBL.

Our second PBL was given to us and it went a little something like this:
We are from Muthajaro, an advanced civilization in the year 12,200 AD. We believe we have found the ancient remains of the Circus Maximus. We are to decide if we can prove that what we found was indeed the Circus, by the artifacts that we found. Second, we are to create a model of what we believe the Circus Maximus looked like in its prime. Thirdly, we are to create a model for a new Circus Maximus. Also, we are to examine the culture behind the first Circus Maximus and apply it to the new one.

When we first received this prompt, I believe we stared at it dumbfounded for a while. 12,000 years in the future? For me that was inconceivable. I mean, 500 years, ok. 1,000 years, pushing it. But 12,000? That's enough time to almost wipe humans off the face of the earth and rebuild civilization twice, perhaps even three times. After getting over the initial shock that follows (or so I believe) most PBLs we got to work brainstorming. We first thought about what our culture might be. How would we explain ourselves. We ended up being an underwater society. We moved under the water to escape the overcrowding of the land above, and when the cyanide comet Brutus (as in "Et tu, Brutus?") (Nice right? Very Roman) hit the earth we were spared the devastation. I like to picture Metropolis, only under water. Picture big sprawling, "Atlas Shrugged"-like buildings, very 1920's modern.

After that we discussed how we would present our models. We came to the conclusion that we would build the old model on a computer using Google Sketch-up and then build a physical model of the new Circus Maximus. Our reasoning was, we had more information on the old model, so we could build it better using a computer. We decided to build a physical model so we would have two mediums and said that we didn't build it on the computer yet because it was a "prelimenary concept" and said we needed investors before we would create a permanent model.

From there we researched the needed information to find out if it was indeed the Circus Maximus. We deduced that it was possible that it could be the Circus Maximus, but we couldn't be 100% sure. If we would find bronze eggs or dolphins or a red granite oblisk then we could gurantee our find. Next researched the culture behind the first Circus Maximus and the roled it played in politics, entertainment, economy, and culture. We then applied those ideas to the new Circus Maximus.

The final step was creating the models. Nick was in charge of the first model because he had experience with Google Sketchup. I must say that Nick did an AMAZING job. I was blown away. Then came my... well... I guess you could call it a model... but I wouldn't it. I'm not proud of the work I did. I know I could do better work, had I have used different materials. However, the only experience I have with building models is chipboard, and I have only made one model, which was over a year ago. However, I believe that my concepts for the new Circus Maximus helped hide my horrendous modeling skills. So here were my ideas for the new Circus Maximus.

Unlike the nation of Muthajaro, the new stadium would be open, not confined and enclosed like other buildings. It would be open and surrounded by a membranous sphere which would keep water out. The stadium would have 8 total levels. The 5 levels above ground would be seating. The first subfloorsubfloor would be the premier bazaar, and the final subfloor would be a gambling lounge (yes, gambling was legal in our country). The stadium floor would be filled with sand for most of the entertainment and events, however it would be capable of folding down and then being filled with water for submarine chariot races as well as water sports and other events. The seats would be state of the art: seat warmers, food ordering systems, instant-reply screens would be the standard. The stadium itself would have three rings. The first ring would be the outer shell of the stadium which would be made out of a new metallic alloy that would be very lightweight and shimmer against the water. The second ring would be the concourse of the stadium, it would be open up the five levels of seating and be made out of cast stone, complete with arches and Corinthian columns to add a Roman look to it, but it would remain modern. The arches would continue around the entire ring, much like the old Circus Maximus and Coliseum. The third ring would be the innermost ring before the seating and open floor. This ring would be open only the floor it was on, however there would be an open balcony that would lead out to the concourse. These ideas can be seen in my prelimenary sketches that I will scan and upload to my next post.

That's all I can think of for right now. I'll soon be adding a new post with my scanned images of prelimenary sketches, final sketches, and pictures of my model, along with more information on my part of the PBL. Again, my apologies for this post being so late. would be the food concessions and memorabilia stores, the second