CENTRO DE DISENO PORTOBELO

residential design.

My girlfriend who is right out of design school is getting 60.00 an hour in Chicago.

I am trying to design a 10,000 square foot commercial building with rental units above and I would like to find a website that will let me try different designs on screen. Help!?

good luck on your question. I placed one on the board for the same thing and I received the same response. I was trying to get some ideas without buying manuals.

I’ve a couple of years until I’ll start building, but its always fun to design. Any good online progams would help, or good ideas for a house in the North East

Don’t waste your time if you are unfamiliar with the building code, especially if you are hand-drafting. But here’s my answer:

1. site plan (make sure your house fits on the land selected; stay away from rights of way and setbacks)
2. foundation page (includes plumbing drops and footers)
3. floor plan (includes door swings, cabinet locations, types of flooring, plumbing locations, air handler and condenser locations, attic access locations, etc.)
4. exterior elevations (all sides)
5. roof plan
6. truss plan (you can also hire a prefab truss company to do this as long as your engineer signs off on it)
7. interior elevations and details (for fancy interior features such as fireplaces or niches)
8. electrical plan (includes low voltage too – that is cable, phone, security, etc)
9. structural notes (you can get these from your engineer that signs off on the structural soundness of your plan. They typically have 3-4 pages of standard structural notes).

Computer programs are costly and require training to properly use (i.e. CAD). I’ve got experience in residential construction and I hand-drafted mine by working at night and weekends. It took me about five months to draw it out. I didn’t do the site plan, truss plan or structural notes myself.

I want a career where I can travel. I like architecture, studio art (painting, sketching, photography), fashion design, theatre design, and advertisement.

WORK FROM HOME

I’ve played all the roller coaster tycoon games and things like that, but I would like to find something that involves either home design, or interior decorating. With pre-fab layouts and things like that. If you know of any please let me know

The Sims 2 is perfect for designing homes.

I’m looking at elevation drawings of my house made back in the 60’s. There is a dimension that shows the distance from the slab to the top of a beam. But I keep seeing annotations next to these dimensions that say "Top of Beam or PL" and the PL is a symbol comprising both letters overlapping each other with the top of the L coming out of the circle in the P. What does the PL stand for? What is it indicating?

This may refer to "plumb line" distance. The height would have to be measured with a plumb line if the beams were not yet in place. Will check this evening.

I am just curious as to which one of these is the most rewarding, and challenging.

Whichever YOU find the most interesting. In today’s world, with global warming MY interest would lie in Environmental Engineering. Just keep in mind that whatever field you choose as a career path is not worth anything if you don’t enjoy it. You will be most successful in a career that you have passion for (and that applies to fields outside of engineering too.)

I am a beginner sewer but my goal is to design clothes and to do some interior design projects. My budget is $100-$200. I want something that will suitable for designing QUALITY clothes. Is this possible with my budget? Any suggestions?

Couture clothes are usually made with a straight stitch only machine. If they use a machine at all. <g>

$100-200 is a very slim budget for a new machine that can be expected to last for a number of years, but you should be able to find a pretty good pre-loved machine in that price range.
(I wore out a $100 machine in less than a year 10 years ago.) See if your library has John Giordano’s Sewing Machine Book and Carol Ahles Fine Machine Sewing. Giordano mentions specific models of used machines that are "golden", while Ahles concentrates on getting the most quality work from any machine (but check out the chapter on buying sewing machines, too).

Otherwise, best advice I have for you is: http://www.cet.com/~pennys/faq/smfaq.htm

My personal list of Must Haves include
1) excellent straight stitch
2) very good buttonholes (at least two styles) that don’t drive you crazy to make
3) zigzag
4) blind hem stitch
5) adjustable presser foot pressure

Things I like:
- a few utility stitches that are somewhat decorative, like a pin stitch and triple zigzag and maybe a scallop stitch or such
- electronic machine with stepper motors (gives you full "punching force" even at low speeds, unlike mechanical machines
- needle up/down control
- non jam sewing hooks
- a reasonable variety of specialty presser feet available at less than astronomical prices

FWIW, I’ve been sewing on a midline Viking electronic for the last 10+ years, my second zigzag machine (the first was the one I wore to shreds). Previous to that, all my machines had been straight-stitch hand me downs. The current machine is a major improvement over all previous machines in every way except straight stitch quality — when I need impeccable straight stitching for topstitching, I still dig out my grandmother’s old machine. I make almost all of my family’s clothes — though I draw the line at socks.

I’ve sewn on a great number of machines ranging in price from the bargain basement to the latest and greatest $7K machines, both when I was buying my current machine and in times since. Buy a machine you’re comfortable with, and yet will give you a little room to grow. It’s like shoes — what fits me may not fit you, even if we wear the same nominal size.

If you really want new, the best of the bargain machines I’ve tried have been Janome. Many of the Sears Kenmore machines seem to be Janomes in disguise. But in your budget, I’d really send you to the best sewing machine dealers and repair shops in the area, explain your budgets and needs, and ask what they’ve got in your price range. Most of the repair people I’ve met tend to be kinda crusty, but very willing to work with a beginner on a limited budget to find a machine that will not frustrate you. If you’re still uneasy, you might ask the nice folks on the yahoogroup "wefixit" if the model you’re being offered is worth the price.

Oh, btw, I’ve pulled Singer 15s,27s, 66s, 99s, 301s off the curb before junk day, given them a cleaning and oiling, and sent them on to new homes… and any of these old straight stitchers (if properly gone over and adjusted) would give you good results with what you’re looking for. Ditto several Elnas,
Vikings, Pfaffs, and once even a Bernina. You might also ask around and see what’s lurking in your friends’ closets that they might be willing to loan you to get your feet wet.

i plan on moving to germany and would like to know if anyone had any idea what the american based architectural firms are there? i know there is a few, i just have no idea how to find them. thanks.

Before moving to Bavaria, contact the German consulate on the matter. Then or also contact the Bavarian tourist commission. These will tell you of the opportunities available.
Spartawo…

Looking for prints of some of Gaudi s buildings, not looking for photographs. Looking for prints of some of his famous buildings showing the plans or architectural drawings and designs, does anywhere sell them online?

www.art.com

It’s the most extensive site I know.