A Peaceful Walk into A Busy Workshop

Olympic Village, the look and the atmosphere of it just has a similar feeling to San Francisco’s Mission Bay. It has a professional sports field nearby, expensive condominiums, waterfront walk and view, and close-by transit. When I walked along its waterfront, I looked around and notice that all of these features will most likely rise land value to a very, very high cost. From that assumption, I may assume that people of the higher tax bracket are taking up residence in this area.

Anyways, the most important thing about this area that may be applicable to San Francisco is its waterfront open space. They have an array of different seating, structures, and greenery that adds to the atmosphere more than takes away. For example, the spinning chair, the rigid sunbathing chair, and a pseudo roof that makes you feel like you’re at home and the variety of flowers makes you just feel at peace while listening to the waves of the water. I feel like this should be installed in more areas along SF’s waterfront to make it a more comfortable and zen area instead of one feeling like a commercial area.

The most iconic thing about the Olympic Village, to me, was its public art. When we walked around the village, we saw a combination of public art that is built into the area instead of just standing out on its own. For example, in the neighborhood’s plaza, there were two giant sparrows. They provided much needed shade on a hot summer day. This shows that art can also be used for typical usages instead of just being for show.


After Olympic Village, we went to Vancouver’s MakerLabs that was still in its pre-opening which was cool to see because we were able to see that there is a lot of people already interested in it even though it wasn’t even open yet. Personally, I really enjoyed this stop because I love making things, especially with cool tech things like the laser cutter they had. Even though we made the most simplest thing ever, a box, we still had the time of our life walking around the workshop, making our design on the computer, and learning how to use the laser cutter. I hope to actually attend the MakerLabs in San Francisco one day and make more things to give to my friends and family.

-David Trang