El Dorado

I was really glad we got to visit El Dorado, because when I was thinking about coming to KU for architecture, initially, my dad knew someone who was friends with someone at El Dorado, and I visited the place back in 2009 or 2010. The place really looked about the same to me, but it was nice to see it again. I really like how small it was then, and it still is pretty small now in terms of employees. I like how they all treat each other as the same level of worker; there isn't a big hierarchy of individuals within the business. The 3D model they were making towards the back was so detailed and precise, and I knew that would be a tedious process, but it's cool to see a model like that up close and in person. I thought it was funny that their conference room by the front of the office had openings toward the ceiling, and that the conversations inside the room could be heard outside of the room. The shop they had downstairs was cool, too. They use mostly metals down there to work on pieces that they need to have built for clients.

Lawrence Paper Co

The Lawrence Paper Co is a massive factory/plant located in Lawrence. They produce tons of paper on a regular basis. My favorite part was definitely the room with all the big brown cylinders full of paper. Going up to these and reading the label that said how many tons each weighed was mind blowing. Another cool part was the design room where they put designs on paper, and also another where they assembled paper packing units to be displays in grocery stores or gas stations. The room where those were located had an awesome cutting/perforating machine that once you inputed a design, it would automatically do the perforation on the paper in a fast, precise manner.