Presentations

The projects that i listened to this semester all made me extremely excited for the upcoming four years. There are so many different details to focus on. I imagine it would get very tedious but i know i will enjoy it. 

On of my favorite projects that i got to see and hear about was the space entitled "sprouts." I really liked how the presenter spoke of her design and she was very thoughtful with every detail of her design. She presented very clearly and got straight to the point. You knew, just by listening to the way that she spoke of her work that everything she included had a very specific purpose.

I cannot wait to design like this.

The Final Product

For our final presentation the group designated to create the final display of our plans and models set everything up in the lobby of the studio art center. They displayed photos of students working on their cement pieces and also included the plans and section views we created, and some of the thought process or "throw up" sheets. The background of brown paper created a perfect datum line that really pulled all of the pieces together. 

After explaining our designs to some of onlookers outside in our designated spaces we came inside to our display and one person from each group explained what their group designed, and how they came up with it. 

The audience seemed to like what we said, but, since we are first years, we definitely had a lot to fix, so they had many helpful criticisms as well.

This whole process was a great learning experience. I learned how to speak more clearly about and make my thought process more understandable. 

Mirage Brainstorm

For our latest project we were asked to come up with a design for the different island spaces located in the parking lot outside of the studio art center. Our final products had to be made out of cement. These are pages from my sketchbook of brainstorming ideas for our concepts and actual designs.

(MID-TERM)

How is dialog created?

In order to create dialogue there must be something in common between the two objects, something that reflects the same attitude or physical appearance of the other object.

How is a sense of space/place defined?

To define a sense of place or space the space must be the same size as a certain aspect of the project. For instance, with this particular project, depending on the way the person manipulated their bristol board, the space could be the same size as the bristol board. The space could also be the same size as the spaces between the skewers, or any other apparent aspect of the project.

How is the idea of system generated?

For these projects involving the twelve skewers and twelve pieces of bristol board there are many systems involved. There is a system collaboration between the skewers and he bristol board, between the pieces of bristol board themselves, and between the skewers themselves. Whatever form or function these objects are creating is a system working together.

How does the joinery support the project concept/strategies?

Joinery is a very important part of this project. All the pieces have to work together in order to create a functioning system. The skewers hold the bristol board up, while the bristol board supports and steadies the skewers. There are many different ways in which people could manipulate their resources to create a new joint that functions in a different way.

How is scale utilized in the project?

The main function of scale in this project is that it helps to define the two specific spaces. It can make what seems to be three spaces, into two. In some projects the scale is in relation to the skewers, while in others the scale is in relation to the bristol board. Others are in relation to the spaces created.

How do two-dimensional images add to the understanding of the project?

The two dimensional portrayals of the project help you, even as the creator, to see the project in a different way. You may realize that the project you created is not actually what you envisioned and that there are some things you need to change to make your creation the way you want it to look. Seeing things from a new fresh perspective sometimes allows you to see more.

How did the initial project idea evolve?

For my project specifically I stuck with my first creation, with some small manipulations. I bent the bristol board in certain spots to emphasize the form that I created.

Dialogue Project

For this project involving twelve 12" skewers and twelve 4" by 6" pieces of bristol board i decided to create a dialogue to represent the relationship between a parent and his or her child. I made one piece of my project taller, and ascending in one direction with fewer skewers and pieces of bristol board, while the other piece of the project was shorter, ascending in the opposite direction and include more skewers and bristol board pieces.

Compare and Contrast

For the project involving twelve skewers and twelve pieces of bristol board, also known as the "Unity" project, i decided to create a form that greatly resembled a spiral staircase. My project coincided well with one of my classmates'. Gregory Hickman's project had the same spiral form, but in a vertical direction. So i decided to analyze a bit more deeply what he did similarly, along with what we did differently.

We, as a class, were bound to the twelve, twelve inch skewers, and the twelve 4" by 6" pieces of bristol board. Greg and I used our skewers in very similar ways. We had two skewers connected to each piece of bristol board. My final creation, however, was much larger than his because he folded his bristol board in half along each skewer to create a more structurally sound form. I kept my bristol board flat and flimsy. This also resulted in his project being much shorter than mine, even though his pieces of bristol board went vertically. 

Another difference between our projects was that he included three layers of cardboard to act as a baseboard for his presentation. This baseboard was very successful in emphasizing the many different heights of the skewers and the gradation of the bristol board pieces.  

One of the main differences between our projects was that my skewers all remained the same height whereas his started out shorter and grew in height as the bristol board rose to different levels. 

A common theme in our projects that are most obvious were the repetition of the pattern. The spirals that we created had a very distinct sense of unity, working together to stay up, and the repetition was a big part of that.

Bristol Board and Skewers

These photos are representational of my project created by glueing 4"by 6" peices of bristol board and 12" long skewers. We were not allowed to "cut" the bristol board but we were able to stab the skewers through the bristol board to create the shape we wanted. My precedent was a spiral staircase. Immediately after being assigned this project and playing with the materials i thought of a spiral form. Actually creating this form in a well structured way was extremely difficult. It took a few attempts and some experience with rubber cement for me to find a way to make my design stand on it's own. 

The pictures below are drawings from different perspectives of my design. 

LECTURE I.ARC 444

I found this lecture to touch on some interesting points. Seeing the world, or even a simple object from a new perspective is always interesting to me and this presentation really talked alot about how we should view things differently. 

The goals that the AIA 2030 wanted to achieve seemed excellent to me, though i'm not so sure that others would view it as a possibility to be carbon neutral by 2030. It seems like a somewhat radical goal. 

At one point the presenter mentioned that there were "no individual parts in nature, only systems." This quote goes along very well with an article that we read earlier this year entitled "systems generating systems" that talks all about how everything is a part of a bigger system, there is no individual object, only a part of a larger system. This is a very interesting concept to think about and i'm glad that i was given a somewhat new way to think about the world around me.

Twig Project Issues

Some of the issues that we, as a class, have run into during the different stages of our twig project have to do with scale, color, contrasting ideas, and mainly focusing on one key aspect about your design.

When experimenting with the craft of our ideas it is difficult to make things work well, and still be aesthetically pleasing. We have to figure out the best way, out of countless options, to make our projects work the way we want them to.

For some projects there were many things that your eye was drawn too, which ultimately distracted viewers from the designers original concept or focus for their project. In order to fix this issue it's important to reduce the layers, or variety in your project. For example if i wanted to focus on a specific twig i would do all i could to focus all of the viewers attention on that specific twig. Such as, play around with lighting, different colors, and different shapes that emphasis that specific twig.

It's important to experiment with different techniques of craft and focus. Creating different models, i have learned, is an excellent way for you, the designer, to see how the slightest changes may make a huge difference. Whether for the best or for the worst, it's interesting to see a difference from such a slight alteration.

Precedent

For my visual representation of my precedent i chose a photo of a tissue box. This is somewhat the same shape and concept that i'm creating in my project as well. The space for the tissues by the user is very similar to the overhead view i created for my twig box. The leaf design on the box also goes along well with the concept of this project and the life of a tree, or twigs. 

Twig Project Development

In my final product (depicted above) I chose, for the lid, a color that would compliment and accentuate the twigs.  


The above image is the most recent of my twig project's development. When thinking about this project i thought of the yearly rings in a tree's trunk. I incorporated this idea into my initial designs by layering boxes (below) but as i progressed i chose to create an enclosed box with only one opening to view the twigs. This has the same effect and allows the viewer to focus more intensely on the twigs themselves.

Leaf Project

My thought process throughout this project was fairly consistent. My leaf reminded me of a wave, or ripples in water and so i played off of that and sketched out some ideas. At first i attempted to create ripples out of a single sheet of paper but i realized that my the sketch that i drew actually looked like several layers. So i adjusted my project accordingly. I then had to think about color and scale. I also thought a lot about the life stages of a leaf and the layers of paper seem to portray that well.
I tried to incorporate my leaf as much as possible by having only one piece of color included in my project, so it drew the leaf to it and really seemed like a more purposeful place for my leaf to rest.
The issue with scale was one of my biggest. I changed the size of my project several times and in the end i stayed with a size not much larger than the leaf.