Zeichensaal

For the past few weeks I have been putting hours in on my KWB (Konstruktiver Wasserbau) project with my partner, Anna. We have been designing a "Hochwasserrückhaltebecken" or flood retention structure. The course is in English but my partner and professor are both Austrian, so there is always some translation going on! For example, it took me most of the afternoon yesterday to realize at t_gr (Tief Grenz, which I took literally as "depth limit") was actually the flow's critical depth. Yikes!

Anna is a member of the Beton and Holzbau Zeichensaal, so we have been using their rooms for most of our project work. It has been so much fun! The Zeichensaal is a study and on-campus living space for a group of students for homework/projects, food, and meeting with friends. The closest thing that I can think of at WSU is the Engineers Without Borders office (Otherwise known as the Fortress of Scholartude or the "clubhouse") or the architects' studios. The Zeichensaal is similar, but is the size of an apartment and has a full kitchen, dining room, computer room with Autocad and analysis software,
study room with tall windows and personal desks... yup, its pretty much fantastic! The walls are lined with neckties (and a few bras) hung under the names and dates of graduation. There are cabinets in the storage rooms with past projects and theses for reference by the current students. 
   The Zeichensaal is not only for studying- the people who are there are really fun! Okay, so honestly, most of the time I have no idea what people are saying if they are not talking about the weather or food. BUT sometimes they do switch to English- and a few translate for me when the conversation ist auf Deutsch. Normally everyone breaks at about 3.00 and the espresso machine (like a Keureg) cranks out half a dozen Grosser Brauner.
My vote: We need to get some of these at WSU! 

PS- I found the picture of Dani and Anna on the Zeichensaal website... No, they do not normally wear Drindl! It was from a convocation celebration a while ago :)