Haley Preston

Article Question and Answers

2011-09-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

1. How would you feel after reading the article as an occupant in the San Francisco Hall?

I think that I would really like the new renovated hall because they still kept old materials and cleaned them. I like the feel of old buildings that feel clean and new on the inside. I would love to see the hall for myself one day because Anthony Irons says that after it was renovated, the philosophy was to create "a continuous visual experience." I want my city hall to have that same feeling everywhere you turn and look. I love the skylight idea and how the building only has to keep one type of light bulb since all the lighting is different but at the same time is uniform.

2. What types of lighting were discussed and how can it help the Chatham County City Hall project?

There were lots of types of lighting discussed including natural sunlight, direct light, indirect light, uplighting, downlighting, tungsten-halogen lamps, accent lights, LED, ambient, task and downlighting. I would really like to research Peerless lighting more because they do lighting a different way. They design an indirect fixture to add direct lighting that is projected beneath the fixture. They have uplight that is balanced with the addition of controlled downlight. I like the idea of this so that there is not a bunch of hard light of direct lighting everywhere. Its softens the room without having a lot of glares and harsh shadows.

3. What seemed to be the largest dissatisfaction with the office types and how would that affect the City Hall?

The largest dissatisfaction with the office types is that with the open office, most employes complained about the noise level. Having a high noise level while working makes it hard to focus and causes distractions. There is little privacy and I think that every employee wants to have some sense of privacy no matter where they work. I will definitely keep in mind about how to lay out my offices when designing the city hall.

4. Is the courthouse appropriate for a dominant daylight system? Explain.

I think the courthouse is appropriate for dominant daylighting, but I do think there will be areas that will not have window/natural lighting access just because of what has to be crammed into the small building. The windows in the courthouse are definitely large enough to cover a large amount of space, but for the interior rooms with no windows I will have to use some kind of artificial lighting.

5. What are the benefits of daylighting?

The benefits of daylighting are that it helps to keep everyones mood up and there is also health benefits to having daylight throughout your day. It also helps you to see better with your eyes. It doesn't strain your eyes as much unless you are facing the sun.

6. Do codes matter for lighting design?

Yes, codes do matter for lighting design but they are not strict.

7. Is lighting objective or subjective? Explain

I think lighting is both objective and subjective because I believe an experience has to be both. In a well designed space, the lighting has to look like it was meant to be in the space and also make light that makes you feel good for that type of space. If the light made you feel good, but the light fixture itself looked horrible then I don't think you could feel good about the light in that space in general only because it looks bad even if it makes you feel good.

8. How does the information in the articles apply to my programming for the City Hall?

Everything that I have learned from reading the articles will help me in my designs for the city hall. I can now add a lighting section to my programming document since I now know about how lighting affects the different office types.

9. Does Cooper lighting make indirect lighting?

Yes the do! They make direct and indirect lighting.

Pittsboro City Hall Precedents/Concept Board

2011-09-14T08:11:00.001-07:00

I chose the Newcastle City Hall as one of my precedents because I was really interested in how the floor layouts connected with the building. I was surprised at how the performance and gallery area is on the third floor and that it has natural acoustics. I will definitely be looking into that when I start designing the Pittsboro City Hall. For the Norfolk City Hall, I was interested in all the materials and how they brought in the arches from the exterior into the interiors. I like the idea of having a skylight open to all floor levels because that keeps the space lit and open, which is what I'm going for in the Pittsboro City Hall.

My concept is the Game of Jenga and how it relates to the old Courthose of Pittsboro. The action of burning and building back up connects the building to the concept. I want strict clean lines and a space that is always balanced and flexible. Jenga is always changing so having a flexible space will will be challenging for sustaining proportion and balance within the City Hall.

Final Boards for CRH and Parrish Street Projects

2010-12-13T20:21:00.000-08:00

Our final project of the semester was to design a mixed-used space at 106 Parrish st. in downtown Durham, NC. The first floor had to be a wine retail space and the upper two floors had to be apartments. Brittany and I decided to have 4 apartments to make better use of the space and to make them less expensive for the local buyers. Half of the first floor and half of the second floor are used for the wine bar retail space where there is a bar, a small kitchen, an event area for wine tastings and couches for comfortable seating arrangements. Our concept was a Bazaar and all of our design decisions were based on that.

Here is my final board for The Central Regional Hospital for the three pcu's. We presented them at the hospital to executives who work there and we got really good feedback. They loved our ideas. For mine, they really loved the furniture and the feel of nature coming indoors.

Seth Riskin Lecture

2010-10-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I had the opportunity to hear Seth Riskin speak in our auditorium at UNCG. He has studied something that all of us don't stop to really think about, light. Seth was a past gymnast and has used his ability in his recent works of art. He uses the light through lasers, cameras, holograms, reflections, rainbow transmissions, and much more to portray his work. He dresses up in a special black costume that has lights on it and he dances as the lights move in different ways to create things that have never been seen before. It's hard to imagine viewing light in a different way than we know it. Seth has also experimented with sky dancing where he is up in the air as light is projected from him.

His studies consist of the history of light itself. He talked about the anthropology of light and how a light-body is the identification between light and life. Light has been talked about in the Bible and how God says he is light. Light is used through fire during certain kinds of worship. Fire dancing can be seen in Hindu, India, which is where Seth got his idea for light dancing.

Seth linked how design and light are connected. As designers, we need to think about how natural light and artificial light can work together for the spaces we design to help best define the space that it is being used for. Light is not something that you just add to a room, but it is something that helps define the room by the mood and feelings you get from their luminosity. Seth showed us a quote by Louis Kahn that said, "A great building must begin with the immeasurable, must go through measurable means of design and in the end must be immeasurable." I will think of this quote every time I start a new design project.

To see more on Seth Riskin, go to his website at www.sethriskin.com .

Design Development 2 [Central Regional Hospital]

2010-10-04T15:11:00.000-07:00

Design Development 1 [Central Regional Hospital]

2010-09-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

On Monday, we each presented our ideas we had for the three wards at the Central Regional Hospital in Butner, NC. Here are shots from my presentation. I have decided that I want to go with a different concept and have light transparency be more of a focus instead of metamorphosis of a butterfly. My hallways need more development as well as my bedrooms. Some strong ideas that I will keep are the carpet walls in the bedrooms and group rooms and making two different areas in the activity rooms. These are just ideas and they are all subject to change.

Peer Response

2010-09-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

Kalani Gonzalez has started his design off by his concept of an ecosphere. He wants to focus on the three layers of our ecosystem, water, land and sky. I think this is a great way to help distinguish between each ward because it will help with wayfinding throughout the hospital. I love how he even related the characteristics of an animal that lives on each water, land, and sky to the characteristics of the male adolescents, female adolescents, and children. The only thing that I want to know more about is the materials and fabrics because the light fixture for the male adolescent ward would probably not work since it is hanging and that would cause a problem with trying to reach it. Also the fabrics in the female adolescent ward are complex and I feel they might cause a bit of anxiety because of how much detail they have. I would recommend something more simplistic that would put the patients at more of an ease. I love the aquarium idea for the children's ward. It will be cool to see how it all comes together.

Tracey Wright's concept is all about creating a sense of place. She wants her spaces to be flexible so that transformation can take place. She focuses on making personalized places to hang the artwork of patients in the hallways throughout the wards. This will make the patients feel more comfortable with their surroundings and feel like they have a special place in the ward itself. I like how she makes each door entrance to a bedroom personal with the use of color. The bench connected to the bed in the patient bedrooms is a great idea because it makes the room feel more home-like. I would explore color more by the hues of blue and yellow. In the sketches they are very bright. Something that has a darker hue might work better.

Concept Exploration + Schematic Design

2010-09-15T07:36:00.000-07:00

When I was thinking of a concept for the 3 wards in the Central Regional Hospital in Butner, NC, I really wanted to bring the outdoors in. After all the studies we have done, it looks like bringing in nature is what will make patients feel more at ease and comfortable. Roger Ulrich did a study on how patients who could see a tree from their window, as opposed to those who only saw a wall, had a faster recovery rate. Nature makes you feel so relaxed and I want the patients at Butner to feel the same.

The first three images are from my sketchbook on all three of my concept ideas:

I chose the metamorphosis of a butterfly because it is all about transformation and a freeness of spirit.

The following images are of my schematic designs I have quickly sketched out. I address circulation, ideas, materials and bedroom ideas.

Site + Program Analysis

2010-09-10T08:34:00.001-07:00

The site and program analysis are important when beginning to design because you first have to know about your building in depth. Last Friday when we toured the hospital, we got in groups and each group took notes on a different aspect of the building. My group had to focus on wayfinding, climatic and geographical aspects. Here are images from my groups presentation.

Precedent Study [Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas]

2010-09-10T08:12:00.000-07:00

The following images are from my presentation about the Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas. Our next project is to design an existing psychiatric hospital in Butner, NC. It is very sterile and dull with little activities to do there for the patients. As designers for the third year students, we are to help make their environment more pleasing to be in and not feel so trapped and locked-in. I did a study on this hospital to find information about how they made their hospital environments pleasing to the patients. It is studied that patients who have views to nature or get to go out into nature have a faster recovery than those who don't have access or views to nature. With the Dell Children's Medical Center, they have really done a great job in bringing the outdoor nature in. They have a healing garden and six courtyards.

Powers of Ten [statement and write-up]

2010-08-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Powers of Ten is relevant to design and how we view the world around us. Mirrors positioned at angles show us distance, time, and scale just like the Powers of Ten. Sometimes the man looks closer or farther and smaller or larger. Time is infinite as everything repeats itself and goes on forever. Mirrors in design make a space look larger than it actually is.

How the Powers of Ten has changed my perspectives as a designer:

The Powers of Ten video by Charles and Ray Eames is all about connections. After watching 901, it is very evident that the Eames’ took their design work to a whole new level. Design was their life as they brought life into their own designs. Their Powers of Ten video shows you how time, distance, and scale are all linked together in our very own world and body that we live in. Zooming out every ten seconds we see a whole new perspective on things. Earth soon starts to appear small just like stars that we see and then soon we do not even see Earth anymore. It is hard to imagine what is outside of this planet because we do not think about it everyday even though we know there is much more out there that we do not know about. Same goes for when the video zooms into the human hand. We cannot see what is inside of us, but we know there are lots of cells, atoms, protons, etc that make up who we are.

It is crazy to think that this Earth we live in is connected to the galaxy and that our cells make up our bodies. Everything is linked, which makes us not feel out of place. Everything has a specific place for a specific purpose.

As a designer it makes you think how things are connected and how perspectives are different. When we design a space, we must think how it will connect with the space adjacent to it. Everything is connected. The Powers of Ten video makes us realize that design comes from the world around us from everything that is seen with the human eye to everything that is unseen.

Powers of Ten model

2010-08-30T14:46:00.000-07:00

I decided to make a 3D model with my mirrors having them placed at angles that bounce off each other to make the man in the middle reflect off all the mirrors to make several of him. Here are some of my practice and final pictures of my model.

Powers of Ten precedents

2010-08-30T14:42:00.000-07:00

I came up with a mirroring idea and making one object have multiples and farther away then they actually are. Here are some of my precedent study pictures:

Powers of Ten

2010-08-30T14:29:00.000-07:00

In class last week, we watched the Charles and Ray Eames video of The Powers of Ten. The Powers of Ten shows you how everything is connected in our world and our own bodies. Everything has a purpose.

My bottom sketch are three words that I thought described the video well. Time, distance, and scale were all things that were evident in the video. From the video we had to come up with a project that presented our ideas on the Powers of Ten. First I thought of making something that dealt with scale and playing with the idea of making something small that you would normally know as big. I got stumped and couldn't think of how to do that well in a design manner. Here are some of my sketches that show scale with space and objects.

Happy to ReDesign

2010-04-28T08:23:00.001-07:00

Here is a bedroom that I would be happy to redesign. I chose it because it has some good bones to start with. There is a fireplace that could be emphasized more and there are great white panels on one side of the walls in the room that would look great if they were seen better. It is a very bland room and it could use some tender, love and care.

Happy Design

2010-04-27T22:59:00.000-07:00

We have been talking about design happiness in studio this week and were made to find a picture of a thing or place that makes you happy. I knew exactly what I wanted to post. This is a picture that I took last summer in Martha's Vineyard. It is in Edgartown, one of my favorite towns in the world because it is so charming and friendly. I have always loved New England homes like this one especially ones with gamble roofs that are all of wood siding. This place makes me happy because I have always wanted a house like this on a cute street that has a porch to look out onto the ocean to watch the boats and sunrise while swinging on the porch to feel the breeze and the smell of the ocean.

Unity Village Phase 3 Reflection

2010-04-26T21:30:00.000-07:00

Phase 3 of Unity Village was a success! I did however run into rendering problems that kept me behind the last few days before it was due, but as always it got done. I am very happy about my design and have learned that the most important thing is designing for the clients in mind at all times, not yourself. I can just imagine myself meeting with clients and asking about their wants and needs for a space they want me to design. As for my design, I wanted to make the foyer feel big when you first walked in. The ceilings are not very high and I wanted to have an open floor plan so it felt bigger than it actually is. The girls Sara and Karen love hosting small dinner parties and cooking so the kitchen is emphasized by it being on the curve wall of the space and has plenty of counter space for serving and cooking on. The dining, living room and kitchen are all open to each other to better entertain. The bedrooms have personalized casework pieces like the dance shoes displays and the desk for recording music. The colors I have chosen are soft and relaxing because after a long day at school it is nice to come home to a place that is relaxing and refreshing. I will continue to develop my designs based on creating community for any client.

In Memory of Cameron Wagner

2010-04-18T21:03:00.000-07:00

My boyfriend's brother died at age 20 two years ago yesterday (April 17). His name is Cameron and he was an amazing guy with a smile on his face at all times. A few months ago, I was thinking about Cameron and how he has impacted my life as well as many who knew him so I decided to make a handmade book filled with stories about Cameron so that they will be shared and lived forever. I asked all his friends and those who knew him to write their favorite memory or story of Cameron. I got several responses back, but not as many as I had hoped since I sent out about 400 messages to people. Im guessing no one reads their inbox messages on facebook so I am sending out more reminders this week for those who did not see my message before so more stories can be added. Today I gave my boyfriend (Grant) and his family this book. I feel so blessed to have met Cameron! He sure was a great guy who knew how to live life to its fullest.

This is the cover of the book made of chipboard and this nice paper I found.

Here is the inside of the first page. On the left it says, "Memories of Cameron Wagner fill these pages so his stories will be shared and lived forever." There is a spot for where the pen goes so people can write their own stories about Cameron. The first page is a picture of Cameron with his Z28 Camaro that he loved to work on in the garage and take to the drag-strip. Grant now drives it and is the one sound of Cameron's that is still alive.

I made 5 of the pages with a pocket since one friend wrote hers and sent it. It is big enough to put pictures in or any keepsakes.

Here is a picture of what most of the pages looks like with stories that people have sent to put in this book. Some of the pages are blank so that they can be filled in with more stories.

The binding is of hemp string and here is the back of the book with the knot that holds it all together.

Concept for [Unity Village]

2010-04-16T10:00:00.000-07:00

Rhythm and flow create an oasis that connects music and dance coming together as one. Dance and music have rhythm and flow as does an oasis has orientation.

Cassandra's Design Strengths

2010-04-14T09:45:00.000-07:00

In studio, our assignment was to ask someone in our class what their design strengths are that is different from ours.

Cassandra sits next to me in studio and sometimes we get each others opinion about design decisions. I know each time we talk about design we have completely different opinions and design approaches. Cassandra says that she has the ability to take things she has seen from her past and incorporate them in her own designs. Her experiences that she has had in her life become inspirations for her in new designs of her own. She will apply things she has seen from traveling the world as inspiration and abstracts things she has seen used in spaces before in her designs. She loves to travel as do I and I will start to see things I have seen as inspiration to me in my designs. I probably don't do enough of inspiration on my own from things I have seen and it's a good idea to start to make that more of a habit. Thanks Cassandra for sharing this with me.

Collection of Standards for Residential Apartments

2010-04-12T19:33:00.000-07:00

Where minimum overall apartment floor areas are recommended, the measurements should be internal wall-to-wall dimensions. The standards apply to units on one floor; duplexes should provide the additional floor area required to provide for stairways and landings in accordance with the Building Regulations. The minimum standards are intended to apply to new apartment developments; while it should be an objective to achieve such standards in refurbishment schemes, existing site/ structural configurations may require some flexibility of approach.

General storage

3.1 In addition to the recommended minimum room floor areas as outlined in the Appendix, provision should also be made in all new apartment schemes for general storage, particularly for bulky items not in daily use (e.g. suitcases, sports gear, winter clothing etc.).

3.2 General storage should be additional to kitchen presses and bedroom furniture, but may be partly provided in these rooms. A store off a hallway or landing will facilitate access, but hot presses or boiler space do not count as general storage. As a rule, no individual storage room within an apartment should exceed 3.5 sq metres. Some apartment schemes may provide storage for bulky items outside individual units (e.g. at basement level), and this may satisfy part of the general storage requirement.

Refuse storage

3.3 Adequate provision needs to be made for the storage and collection of waste materials, with appropriate reference to the projected level of waste generation, collection frequencies, and types and quantities of receptacles required. If insufficient provision is made, problems of dumping, odour and vermin are likely. Developers should therefore ascertain the relevant local authority requirements for waste management storage and collection.

Shared circulation areas

3.5 Shared circulation areas should be well lit, preferably with some natural light and ventilation. The apartment building should be navigable by all users, including people with buggies. Internal corridors should be kept as short as possible, with good visibility along their length. Acoustic wall and ceiling treatments should be considered. Entrances to apartment buildings should be clearly identified and welcoming; hallways should not be unduly narrow.

Daylight and sunlight

5.5 The amount of sunlight reaching an apartment significantly affects the amenity of the occupants. Dual-aspect apartments are likely to maximise the availability of sunlight, and should be the norm, but this solution may not always be possible (e.g. with corner units). Single-aspect apartments should allow the main living rooms to face south, west or east; north-facing units should be excluded. Particular care is needed where windows are located on lower floors which may be overshadowed by adjoining buildings.

Safety and security

5.10 Apartment design should provide occupants and their visitors with a sense of safety

Recommended Minimum Floor Areas and Standards

Minimum overall apartment floor areas

One bedroom	45 sq m (38 sq m)*
Two bedroom	73 sq m (55 sq m)*
Three bedrooms	90 sq m (70 sq m)*

Minimum aggregate floor areas for living/dining/kitchen rooms,

and minimum widths for the main living/dining rooms

Apartment type	Width of living/dining room	Aggregate floor area of living / dining / kitchen area*
One bedroom	3.3 m	23 sq m
Two bedrooms	3.6 m	30 sq m
Three bedrooms	3.8 m	34 sq m

Minimum bedroom floor areas/widths

Type	Minimum width	Minimum floor area
Single bedroom	2.1 m	7.1 sq m
Double bedroom	2.8 m	11.4 sq m
Twin bedroom	2.8 m	13 sq m

Minimum aggregate bedroom floor areas

One bedroom	11.4 sq m
Two bedroom	11.4 + 13 sq m = 24.4 sq m
Three bedrooms	11.4 + 13 + 7.1 sq m = 31.5 sq m

Blog 4 for Phase Three [Unity Village]

2010-04-12T15:00:00.000-07:00

Floor Plans and Models:

Here is the final floor plan that I chose

This is the tracing paper with all 12 of my floor plan ideas and space planning

Here is the coffee table that I designed. The big and small circles come from the inspiration the way ballet shoes, violins, and guitars are shaped since the girls love music and dance.

This is the wall display in the dance room bedroom. It is shaped like a shoe is but exaggerated more.

This is a desk that is shaped like a guitar. It will be used to put your laptop on and record music.

Blog 3 for Phase Three [Unity Village]

2010-04-12T09:50:00.000-07:00

Concept:

words that describe my concept:

contentment, secure, safety, peace of mind, socialization, happy, unexpected, community, orientation, flow, rhythm, and harmony

Strengths as a Designer

2010-04-09T14:58:00.000-07:00

As I have been in IARC for just about two years now, I have really noticed my loving for organization of things. I love to lay out floor plans and figure out what does and doesn't work. I have an eye for simplicity. I always try to keep things simple because I feel that it is more appealing to the eye than having way too much going on in a space. As a designer I want to strengthen my weaknesses by working on renderings and hand drawings.

Phase Three Programming

2010-04-09T12:58:00.000-07:00

[Unity Village] Phase Three

2010-04-07T12:07:00.000-07:00

Here are some inspirational/precedent images for the next phase in the Unity Village project. We now have to design an apartment in the Gateway Plaza and my clients are two roommates that both are graduate students at UNCG. Here is a layout of their needs and wants:

[Karen Smith]

-27 years old

-studying music therapy

-owns a number of instruments that will be displayed around the apartment

-must have easy access to instruments

-enjoys having friends over

-likes to entertain small dinner parties so there must be an open flow between the kitchen and the dining and living room

-must have a serving table/counter that makes it easy to serve friends when having dinner parties

-must have sitting areas and desks for practicing and recording music

[Sara Brady]

-28 years old

-studying dance

-loves to cook and experiment with new recipes so there needs to be lots of counter space

-she loves to bake so maybe two ovens would be necessary since she shares the baked goods with everyone on her floor on Sundays

-needs to have items within react in kitchen

-she has lots of dance shoes, including ballet and tap that she wants to creatively display in her bedroom

-must have a built-in display system for the dance shoes

[Part Two] Floor 2 of Neighborhood C

2010-04-02T14:14:00.000-07:00

Here are a few images from our presentation on Wednesday. I feel that our dining space could of been a bit more developed since it was last created in sketch-up. We had great ideas for the panels in that space which I still think are strong, but I wish we thought out the tables and the arrangement of them in a different way. Our strengths in the space are the planters and how they are the foundation of a system where the children come up on trips to plant seeds and take care of their plants as a responsibility and the seating around the columns. It is unusual to see steppable plants that are placed under where your feet are while sitting on a bench indoors. Weaknesses of our design would be the ceiling because I feel it could of had more movement going on up there instead of the lighting at different heights. Also some of our podiums turned out dark and not how we imagined the lighting to look in the space. We should of stated the podiums earlier. We split up the jobs for our project just to get things done faster and I have learned that it would be nicer if everyone got to contribute to the sketch-up equal amounts instead of one person making important design decisions as problems arise in the sketch-up. I think that having plants and living things that are not where you would normally see them in a space is eye-opening to others in the class. For design thinking, I used an open mind. I felt that this was really important to have when designing our space because we had to think of a way to use plants in a different way than you would normally see them. Overall we need to focus more on the clients and not how we want the space to be.

Part One: Neighborhood A analysis

2010-04-02T13:45:00.000-07:00

[Ground Floor]

Some strengths that this group designed was their social area by the laundry room because it allows the residents to socialize and relax while waiting for their laundry. It forces communication. The color coded shelves in the store work well with what kinds of food or clothing is sold at each color. It's an easy way to organize. Some weaknesses for this design is the hardwoods on both the floors and the ceiling. I think if you saw that in real life it would not look appealing to the eye. Advice I would give is that it would be nice t see the courtyard before they talked about it in their presentation. It would be easier to view the plan on all slides to visualize where everything was because I was having a hard time seeing how all the spaces related spacially. Also labeling the rooms would be helpful as well. I loved the light blocks as transparency in the space. The colors on the presentation reflect the colors on in the space, which is nice. "Clean lines appeal to everyone" stood out to me as well as refection of bright colors because both bright colors and clean lines were definitely in their space and I do agree that clean lines are appealing to everyone even if they don't realize it.

[Floor 1]

Some of the strengths of this space include the circles that mimic a conversation and how the center of the whole floor is called the hub. The textures that were chosen create movement. I really liked how they dealt with the pathway leading to the Gateway Plaza because non of the other groups did. I found their big red line on the floor to be really distracting and that it took away from their design. I was just awkward. The circle graphics on the presentation related to the circles in their space which is a plus! I liked how all the slides were unified and they didn't change the layout for any of the slides. Labeled things and hand and podium drawings looked nice and were well laid out. The word core and direction stood out to me in their presentation because they literally made a direction in their space with the line and the core with the hub space. The direction line I feel was not a strong point and they could of made more of a direction in a different way that would of worked better for their space.

[Floor 2]

The ceiling design in their space was amazing! It created movement that was inspiring to look at. The tree graphic in the space worked because of its direction it was blowing and the concept of organic shapes and things. It would of been nice if everyone spoke up just a little bit and not spoke so quietly. The darkness of the space was not very inviting to me. Adding some more lighting would be a better fix. I liked the meditation room because it was very well thought out with not having any signs or symbols that would relate to any one religion. However, in a way it felt really off from the rest of the floor. The wood in the space made it feel spooky to me. I would not feel comfortable praying in that space. I loved the simple waves in their graphic presentation because I feel that the more simple it is the better it reads to understand. I was not so sure about the children's area because it was not enclosed anywhere and it had way too many steps. Children would fall all the time and having them not enclosed would not get them to stay in the same spot the whole time. I would advise to put some kind of enclosure so they cannot escape. The words mind, body, soul, and organic stood out to me because the organic shapes in the space really reflected their concept. I feel though that only the words mind and soul relate to the meditation room and not the other spaces on the floor, but he word body really relates to the actions that take place in their main area; exercise.

Blog 6 for Phase Two [Unity Village]

2010-04-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

This week was busy as we had to make our model and do the final finishes to the project, which included the powerpoint and finishing podium pictures. It was so hard to get the podium pictures right since the lighting was not showing as well as we had imagined our space to look like. As it got down to tuesday night, we were rushing to get things done and the podium was still not working fast enough as we would of liked. Now we know for next projects to start them much earlier so we can assure ourselves that they will look how we imagined the space to look like. On monday night I spent my night making the model so that on tuesday we didnt have to deal with the model, it would already be done. Im very proud of my planters and the benches around the columns that I made, they turned out great!

Age Experiences on Floor 2 of Gateway Plaza

2010-03-29T07:43:00.000-07:00

72 year old man in a wheelchair:

This man will roll on into the elevator and then come out on the second floor. The rubber-soft flooring will help in getting around more easily since there will be small amounts of carpet. He will decide to eat or buy something at the general store. In the general store everything is reachable for him from the tables. When he has to get his food in the kitchen area, all he has to do is ask for what he wants and his plate will be made for him. Tables are set for wheelchair height as well so it is easy access for him to be able to eat.

6 year old girl:

Alisha is 6 and she is only allowed to go to the second floor of Gateway plaza with one of her parents or older sibling. She likes to sit on the benches and water the plants in all the planters that are against the wall. It is exciting for her since she can also plant her own flowers and water them everyday. The general store is always fun since she can buy some of her favorite candy.

42 year old mother who works in the building:

Monica is 42 and works in the general store occasionally when it is her turn to work. They have a schedule board of who works when. She works during the day when her children are at school. She loves helping people find flowers that they want to plant on the second floor and to help them find what they are looking for in the shop. When on break she likes to sit on the benches and put her feet in the sand for relaxation. When she is not working she likes to sit at the tables facing the windows and check her e-mail. She likes it because she can feel like she is outside.

Blog 6 for Phase Two [Unity Village]

2010-03-29T07:39:00.000-07:00

On Friday we felt a sense of ease as Suzanne had pushed our project back to Wednesday instead of Monday, but we still knew we had lots to get done before Monday. So on Friday we laid it all out of who was going to do what and when it was getting done. I was in charge of getting the materials board done with everything chosen. I chose a chair that reflects the curves in the space and a few floor materials that went well together in color but also would be soft on the elderly's feet. I still need to pick out wall colors since we want to finish the sketch-up first to then visualize what colors would look best.

Blog 5 for Unity Village

2010-03-29T07:33:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, we were really focused on getting our floor plan finalized as we had changed so many things about our design in the past few days. The general store is now laid out exactly how we visioned it and there is a wall with circles in the store where you can place things on, like a shelf. I imagine we can place plants and t-shirts or food on them. The big crescent-shaped bench/plant holder is now taken away and where the columns are we are placing 3 benches around them since we are turning the square columns into circular ones. The dining area is now more confined rather than spread out all over the floor. In the dining area we decided to make panels in-between where residents will sit. These panels are neat because you can slide them away or turn them in any direction you wish so that you can create your own space to sit and eat or get on the computer or just chat with a friend.

Blog 4 for Phase Two [Unity Village]

2010-03-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Today our group met with Suzanne and she had brought to our attention that we needed to abstract the elements in the room. We learned it is easy to say we will put planters with plants and herbs in them, but we were not focusing on how we were going to design the platers themselves. We also need to focus on wall dividers for the specific areas of food and dining from the co-op/general store. Today I am now abstracting shapes from different plants and textures to then move on with the design of our floor better.

Community Assignment

2010-03-22T06:22:00.000-07:00

Daystar Christian Fellowship is a great way to get to know other people. People are motivated to come to Daystar because of its warm welcoming and how it is not like any other church with a steeple. Walking into Daystar is like walking into a movie theater from the dark lit entrance and the floor lamps that have blue light bulbs in them. The sanctuary is also dark with black ceilings and blue and green lights down the sides leading up to the stage. The stage is set up like a concert. There are stage lights, a drum set, guitars, a keyboard, and microphones. The basement is for the children, youth, and college students. It is filled with a small stage, lights, graffiti walls, several sets of tv’s with xbox’s, pool tables, couches, and even a small café to get snacks from.

All of these design decisions help in making the space feel like a place that is familiar to everyone and not set up like a usual church. It is geared to grab young adults’ attention because of why Daystar is so different from other usual churches. Its location across from Grimsley High School helps attract teenagers. It is for the people who think that church is not for them because of its very different experience.

Daystar is all about relationships. Daystar helps in making a stronger relationship with God and with others. Everyone craves relationships and this is the place to find long-lasting friendships and a life changing relationship with God. Outside of church, Daystar offers small groups that will help you grow in your relationship with God and with others. These small groups meet once a week and are always full of fun, support, and excitement. Daystar also offers opportunities for everyone to serve and become a part of a bigger picture to feel a sense of belonging. Daystar is where ever-lasting friendships grow.

Design Thinking

2010-03-19T20:57:00.001-07:00

Design thinking is an organizational thought process when solving a design issue. It involves defining what you are doing, researching, ideas, prototyping, choosing, implementing, and learning. I am currently using design thinking in our project by researching standards, creating ideas, and choosing a floor plan that works for the space being designed. In future projects I will use this organizational thinking because it better helps you to have a clean well thought out design in the end.

Ideation [Shaping Interior Space] Ch.6

2010-03-19T09:20:00.000-07:00

Notes from Chapter 6 of Shaping Interior Space by Roberto Rengel:

“The concept of fit in design refers to the appropriate correspondence between a set of requirements or needs and the design solution that addresses them.”

“A successful design possesses a structure that is uniquely derived from the requirements of the project and a character that reflects its nature and personality.”

“The American Heritage Dictionary defines concept as “a general idea or understanding, especially one derived from specific instances or occurrences.”

“A design concept aims to define appropriate responses that help generate a specific approach to solve a design problem.”

“…concept ideas arise out of spontaneous flashes of inspiration.”

“Organizational concepts are those that guide the arrangement of space.”

“Character concepts are those related to style, image, or theme.”

“The scheme you develop from your concept must represent an appropriate response to the project type, its particular programmatic requirements, and the context in which it occurs.”

Stages of concept development:

1. 1. understanding the project

2. 2. identifying dominant issues

3. 3. conceiving workable approaches

4. 4. externalizing the approaches

5. 5. evaluating the approaches

6. 6. consolidating ideas and choosing a direction

Relationships, hierarchy, and movement of space are important when designing a space.

Diagramming will help you to visualize your concept and organize your space

Types of diagrams: parti, functional

“A good public diagram, whether a parti or functional diagram, possesses three basic virtues: clarity of content, clarity of intention, and economy of means.”

[Unity Village] Design Development 1

2010-03-18T20:45:00.000-07:00

Design Problem Definition:

Create a social Oasis that combines a General store/restaurant encompassed by atriums.

Concept Statement:

Design a co-op General store that promotes socialization and a sense of community through residential interaction of the Greenhouse/Atrium, and slow foods cookery. Space will be defined by large planters, cobble stone pathways and tranquil garden styled elements.

Sketches:

Collage of Images/Precedents:

Standards:

-Water system- soaker hose... needs to be hooked up to a water line to where it can be turned off and on

-Indoor Gardens(pg. 1334), plants(pg. 1339 & 1330-1332), large pot holders(pg. 1350), drains(pg. 1334), organization(pg. 1335), and soil(pg. 1334) .... refer to book: Interior Design and Space Planning second edition by Joseph De Chiara, Julius Panero, and Martin Zelnik

Blog 2 for Phase Two [Unity Village]

2010-03-17T11:48:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of an Embassy Suites inside on the first floor. All Embassy Suites make you feel like you are in a forest and have lots of trees, plants, water features, and pathways. This is how we want our space to feel on the second floor of the Gateway Plaza: open, dining area, store, water features, plants, and trees. All of these factors will help make the short ceiling space feel open and larger than it is. Our next step today is to have our concept statement. The idea of how a flower grows came into consideration because someone has to water a flower in order for it to grow and when a flower opens it is releasing. Releasing is one of our words we are stuck to in having it a part of our concept. A flower has to have enough sunlight and care for it to grow which involves someone to care for it everyday in order to grow properly. These are just some factors which play a role in making a flower grow.

Blog 1 for Phase Two [Unity Village]

2010-03-15T17:36:00.000-07:00

Today we got into our groups and discussed what we wanted for our the 2nd floor design in the Gateway Plaza. On this floor we are putting a general store, community garden, and cafe area. The space needs to be transparent in the way that the outdoors and indoors come together with the garden and all the plants. Words that came to mind when coming up with a concept were: pure, transparent, clean, system, symbiosis, and release. The second floor will be an inviting open space where residents can go to feel like they are outdoors and can get a good snack and take care of their plants. The growing food can be sold in the general store along with seeds to where the residents can buy them to plant and grow. Residents can get jobs and volunteer opportunities working in the garden and the general store and preparing food for lunches everyday. Lots of natural lighting will be necessary to make the space feel open and transparent. The next step is to come up with a confined concept and design and research water systems, lighting, plants, drain systems, safety issues, and ventilation.

Unity Village

2010-03-04T11:02:00.001-08:00

As a part of our project for Unity Village, we had to make two models, a digital model, and do programming. Go to this link to view the elevation views of our groups digital model: unity village

My Sister's House [open house]

2010-02-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

It was so great to finally see My Sister's House that Robert keeps talking about in class. His Urban Studio did a fantastic job at designing and constructing this transitional house for pregnant women ages 18-21. I loved the openness it presented and the placement and shapes of the windows that sunk in about 6 inches each. The cabinets were self constructed by iarc students and I found them to be interactive and different than a usual knob. I loved how all the bedrooms had a bathroom and their own sink and counter space. One issue I saw in the bedrooms though was how they were going to deal with privacy through the windows that are not of normal/standard sizes. There was no blinds and they will have to figure a way to keep light out of the bedrooms when the girls want their privacy from the outside. Other than that I was amazed at their process and all the hard work put into it. Great job Urban Studio!

Wesley and the Fortuitous Ants

2010-02-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

As we are studying communities, we had to get in groups and create a video about our interpretation of what community is. When viewing the video my group made, think about how chance relationships happen. Click here to see the video. Enjoy!

Makeshift Shelter Process

2010-02-12T00:23:00.000-08:00

The Makeshift Shelter project was given to us the first day of class and was in relation to the recent earthquake in Haiti. Snacking was our shelters activity that had to take place in our shelter.

During class we gathered as many materials as possible from the free materials bin in studio. Inspiration images of shelters from online started ideas flowing. I started in my sketchbook listing all the materials we had so far, ideas of what the materials could become in the shelter, real food we could put in the shelter, drawings of what the shelter might look like in shape, and words for other ideas. The words included: gingerbread house, garden, windows, circles, tables, bowls, plants, and plastic bottles. These informed the design by figuring out how some of these ideas could be tied together in the shelter.

I imagined the shelter with water bottles on two sides and cardboard as the roof. Benches were a must inside the shelter, as people would want to sit as they snacked. Counter space and a way to store food where it would be secure and not blow away was something that was thought upon. I wanted there to be real food you could pick off of a real plant and eat. As in every design process, things change and so did our ideas. An enclosed shelter with water bottles on the sides shaped like a pyramid was my second shelter idea. In one corner there would be two shelves of foam board and the opposite side would have cardboard shelves that were both indoor and outdoor. I wanted the space to look clean and make you feel refreshed after leaving the space.

My narrative that was written described my second idea. I read my team members’ narratives and realized how different they were from mine. Drawing their ideas together was a fun activity and it helped me visualize their shelters. It gave the group new ideas with having pods in the shelter to hold the food.

There were so many ideas now that I then knew we had to come up with a more refined single idea. It was harder than I thought since we all had several ideas we wanted to incorporate. After receiving palettes, that’s when the idea of having palette walls to stand it all up came in. Stephanie gave us the idea of having an open shelter where people will be less timid to come in. All four of us were on the same track at this point and all made the model together with materials we already had in studio. We then decided to start building since we had a model that we were set on. One of my weaknesses was getting my ideas out to my group members. I feel like none of my ideas in the beginning came out in the end and they just got shot down somewhere in between. I never imagined the walls being made of the palettes and I feel like that idea was forced within the group. One of my strengths was working well with others and being patient in the group when there was controversy.

We hammered the palettes together to form the walls. I had gathered water bottles that I figured out how to link together in an effective way with slits on the sides and holes on the bottoms to link to the top layer of bottles to the bottom layer. Fabric was used to create the pods on the walls to hold the food. It worked very well and I was happy about that.

Our whole group was rushed to get things done. We wanted the walls and roof on the shelter by Thursday night. Construction drawings, nailing the walls together and figuring out the roof situation was split up among our group members. One group member was determined to paint the top of the roof, but some of us said to him it was a bad decision because it would be another material and the paint wouldn’t dry in time and it would weigh the roof down more. Instead we went with the plastic wrapping to go on top of the cardboard roof.

On Friday it seemed like each of us were doing a different task just so we could finish the project on time. I was helping with stapling the fabric together and making the roof more stable so it wouldn’t slide off. Once I realized that the bottle idea for a clerestory window was not going to work, I began to find other places to put the water bottles. I slid them between the bars that held the palettes together and it worked great. As we only had an hour left, our banner was still unfinished so I went upstairs and got things moving for that with some of my group members. I laid out all the pictures on the banner and decided where each drawing and materials should go and pasted them all down. I helped clean up the in the lobby where we left unused materials and we brought down the process banner. I wish we had started it earlier than we did so that it could be more detailed and filled with more drawings from each of our sketchbooks. I was glad when everything was in place and done.

I was happy that the project was over with, but at the same time I wish we could have changed a few things. I feel like our project was put together with several different ideas that came from each of us, but the ideas were not put together and did not work with each other as well as they could have. We had the pocket idea, the water bottle, the palette idea, the cardboard roof with plastic covering idea and the found chairs idea. It seemed like we as a group could have done a better job at being more collaborative with each other instead of making our own decisions at times.

I feel that my water bottle idea that came from inspiration was a strong idea, but it was not as strong in the end in the final product. I learned that working in a group is hard, but all our ideas did get out, just not in a unified way. I have learned that ideas and decisions need to be made early in the project so that there is enough time to execute and time to fix any errors that come up. Our shelter was successful in the way that the space was being used, as there was seating, a bar counter, a window, openness to lure people in, and great pathway/traffic flow.

Neighborhoods and Communities

2010-02-10T01:07:00.000-08:00

In chapter 5 of the Housing and Community book, “housing is a durable physical product in a neighborhood setting.” Neighborhoods have both social and physical community aspects. A neighborhood is defined as a place of housing, streets, sidewalks, open spaces, utility lines, and residents. Neighborhoods create community. Social interaction and where these social interactions take place are called a community. In order to have a successful community neighborhood, you must have the social and physical community developments designed well for both to come together as one, otherwise residents might not feel satisfied.

In order for people to feel satisfied within a neighborhood, residents must feel safe, not be segregated as a race, have nice neighbors to socialize with and go to for help when needed, and more. If you live in a noisy neighborhood next to a big street, then people might not want to stay there much longer because of safety matters especially if you have small children. People want to see green trees and grass in a neighborhood, not just house after house with little greenery. I believe that cookie-cutter houses are also a negative when comparing neighborhoods because people are not going to want to live in the same planned out house as all their neighbors. We want to be unique because every family is different.

It is nice to have a variety of different kinds of neighborhoods to choose from to suit personal needs and wants. However, I realized from reading the chapter that if you want to just build your own house in a specific area, there are lots of limitations due to zoning codes and ordinances. It is nice to know that the city can give out special permits though. Some parts of covenants are excessive and not necessary, but they do help with making residents keep up their home and not look like a slob.

Studying the different theories about the people that live in certain areas of a city are good to know because they can help in how you design a community, especially if it is a densely populated community to ensure that you design a place where vandalism and crime don’t occur.

Pruitt-Igoe, St. Louis, MO

2010-02-04T17:28:00.000-08:00

· Completed in 1955

· 57 acres of cleared land

· Two segregated complexes one for black and one for white

· 2,870 apartments

· 33 11 story buildings

· Architecture by Leinweber, Yamasaki, and Hellmuth design firm

· Yamasaki also built the twin towers

· Built in the De-Sotto Carr neighborhood a black ghetto in an effort to revitalize the area

· The design proposals were a mixture of walk-up, high rise, and mid rise structures. (American Architectural History by Keith L. Eggener 2004)

· This proposal was to expensive so they were forced to build 33 identical 11 story elevator buildings. (American Architectural History by Keith L. Eggener 2004)

· Skip top elevators

· Glazed internal galleries to create “individual neighborhoods”

· The anchor floors hosted the garbage chutes, communal rooms, laundry facilities.

· Stairwells and corridors attracted muggers

· Ventilation was poor and nonexistent central air

· Parking and recreation facilities were inadequate

· Deliberately small apartments

· In 1956 Pruitt Igoe was desegregated and became a mainly black community

· The quality of the hardware was so poor that doorknobs and locks were broken on initial use… Windowpanes were blown from inadequate frames by wind pressure. In the kitchens, cabinets were made of the thinnest plywood possible. (American Architectural History by Keith L. Eggener 2004)

· The buildings remained vacant and the whole complex was never more that 60 percent occupied

· By the end of the 1960s Pruitt-Igoe was nearly abandoned and had deteriorated into a decaying, dangerous, crime-infested neighborhood. In 1971, Pruitt-Igoe housed only six hundred people in seventeen buildings; the other sixteen were boarded up.

· Died of social isolation

· Inadequate maintenance and increased poverty of residents

· Writers said the not meeting resident’s needs were typical of modern architecture.

This is what part of Pruitt-Igoe looks like today. A bunch of planted trees and weeds.

Koyaanisqatsi- Pruitt-Igoe

Darst-Webbe, St. Louis, MO

2010-02-04T16:11:00.000-08:00

• The Darst building opened in 1956 and the Webbe buildings opened in 1961
• 6 9 story towers and 1 12 and 1 8 story tower
• A completely African American community
• The St Louis Housing Authority is notorious as the city’s biggest slumlord allowing Darst Webbe to go to pot. [St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri) November 29, 2003 Saturday Five Star Late Lift Edition]
• The Darst-Webbe complex originally contained 750 units, but at the time of demolition, only 220 of those units were occupied. Of those displaced, 96 families moved to the Clinton-Peabody housing development, while the rest found shelter at other St. Louis public housing sites[St. Louis Daily Record/St. Louis Countian (St. Louis, MO) August 14, 2003 Thursday]

• Discriminatory effect on the basis of race, familial status and gender, because it provided for so few replacement units that would be available to people that are eligible for public housing for very low-income families[St. Louis Daily Record/St. Louis Countian (St. Louis, MO)August 14, 2003 Thursday]
• African Americans occupied 95.62 percent of the neighborhood, which consisted of 78.65 percent of female-headed households with children under the age of 18 years. [St. Louis Daily Record/St. Louis Countian (St. Louis, MO)August 14, 2003 Thursday]
• Of the 560 occupied housing units, renters occupied 541 units[St. Louis Daily Record/St. Louis Countian (St. Louis, MO)August 14, 2003 Thursday]

Final Photoshop Image

2010-02-03T18:43:00.000-08:00

Here is my final Photoshop image of the two words uncomfortable and refreshed. It was hard to portray those two words together, but I think I did a good job because the image to me makes me feel like I am small among the tulips feeling uncomfortable and the colors make it feel refreshed.

First Three Iterations

2010-02-03T18:32:00.000-08:00

In Jake's class we are learning Photoshop. This assignment was to use our two words we were given and take at least 3 high resolution pictures and create the feeling of those words using Photoshop. My words are uncomfortable and refreshed. Here are my first iterations. So far I like the third one best.

Iteration 1

Iteration 2

Iteration 3

Coffeeology

2010-02-02T18:50:00.000-08:00

For our first assignment in Jake's class, we had to go to a public place on campus and draw a space with at least 3 people in it. I chose Coffeeology on Tate Street because it IS on campus and it has a lot of objects and people are always coming and going.

Makeshift Shelter Pictures

2010-02-01T18:41:00.000-08:00

Why Makeshift Shelter?

2010-01-27T19:52:00.000-08:00

Homeless

As designers, we have to focus on the needs of the people and what they are going to be doing in that space. We need to make people feel comfortable in that space as well because if they don't feel comfortable, they won't want to use the space. In our Makeshift Shelter project we need to design around the activity that will take place in each shelter. The shelters are made for different purposes. One is for snacking, another for sleeping, another for socializing, etc. Once our shelters are finished, people will come through our lobby of the Gatewood Studio Arts building and get to experience the different activities that each shelter is made for. I hope that people will see how easy it is to make shelters that can be made in Haiti possibly. By experiencing what it is like being in the shelters, I hope people will donate to Haiti realizing that shelters are now homes for the people in Haiti. Like Suzanne said, "Earthquakes don't kill people, buildings do." I hope that in the future Haiti will have buildings that can survive earthquakes and will be designed in a way to keep people alive. The point of the shelter project is to experience the activities in the shelters to raise awareness for Haiti to grab peoples attention and donate.

Nature's Purest

2010-01-24T22:21:00.000-08:00

This weekend I have collected all found plastic bottles for our shelter. Having water bottles as part of our design will give our snacking shelter a feel of nature as bottles are shimmery when light hits them just like water does.

Makeshift Shelter: Narrative

2010-01-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

On Friday January 29, 2010, George wakes up late in his dorm for his painting class that is on the other side of campus in the studio arts building. He realizes he doesn’t have time to shower, so he hurries to put on appropriate clothes and grabs his bag and walks to the studio arts building. As he opens the door to his building, he sees a tall bright shelter that catches his attention. He has a few more minutes until class starts so he decides to check it out. George is amazed how it is only made of recycled water bottles, bubble wrap, a car door panel, and foam board. There are two entrances, each directly across from each other. He goes in on the right side and immediately feels cramped, but cozy and safe at the same time. It is small, shimmery from the bottles and is shaped like a pyramid. The top bottle is a green sprite bottle and makes for an interesting effect. All the holes between the bottles are covered with bubble wrap. There is two foam board shelves in the corner opposite of the entrances with shaved out bowls that held some apples, oranges and bananas. The top shelf had real cherry tomatoes that you could pick from the plant! George then ate a banana as he sat on the thick blue foam board bench. George exited out the other entrance and saw the car door panel that looked like it could be a window for the shelter since it had a glass roll down window. He then realized it was time for class to start and as he left he felt thankful for a healthy breakfast at the shelter and was feeling refreshed. It was a place for new imagination as nature and reality came together.

Makeshift Shelter

2010-01-21T20:50:00.000-08:00

We have been given our first studio project, which I am excited about since our shelters have to be made of found objects. My group includes Carlos, Veronica, Cassandra and myself. We have to design and build a shelter that is for snacking in. We put our heads together and tossed up some crazy ideas that included a gingerbread house, a real garden, having windows, a circle concept and/or theme, tables, bowls of food, and putting plants inside plastic bottles that are cut in half. We gathered some materials that we found in the free-bin in studio that included a lot of wood, plastic, bubble wrap, papers, cardboard, fabric, cylinder tubes, and foam board. From the ideas and materials, tomorrow we will have a more exact idea for this snacking shelter. For now we are still jotting down ideas and sharing them with one another.

Waves and Tides: Shaquille O'Neal Kitchen

2009-12-17T20:41:00.000-08:00

Our last project for studio was to design a kitchen for Shaq. I had to think about the height of countertops and the length of toe-kicks. My concept is waves and tides since his house is located in Miami, FL. How waves and tides go up and down and in and out reflect how families are never perfect and there are always up's and down's and chaos especially when you have 6 children like Shaq does. My design reflects my concept and the needs of the O' Neal family.

Case Piece for SYTYCD

2009-11-20T18:08:00.000-08:00

Celebrity Kitchen Thumbnail for composition

2009-11-20T17:28:00.000-08:00

Waves and Tides logo

2009-11-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

SYTYCD contest this week was to design a logo for our concept for our kitchen design studio project. I chose to put mine on a gray/blue color paper and write my concept in the middle. The text is surrounded by simply drawn waves. The media I chose is pen and colored pencil.

Concept: Waves and Tides

2009-11-12T23:09:00.000-08:00

This week we had to make another poster, but this time it had to be about our concept for our kitchen design studio project. These are the two hand sketches I did that are on my poster. They are abstracted sketches of my concept, which is waves and tides.

Entenza House Composition Poster

2009-11-05T23:05:00.000-08:00

This weeks assignment was to composite all of our drawings from the Entenza House: Case study #9 and make a poster with all of them on it. It includes an axonometric, a perspective, a section, a floor plan, and an elevation. This assignment was fun organizing the poster. I think I could of done a better job with my text and how it was incorporated into the design.

IAR 211-02 Blog Title Design

2009-11-05T22:59:00.000-08:00

Our So You Think You Can('t) Draw contest this week was to re-do any of the assignments from this semester so far. I chose to do one of the first ones because I had mis-understood the assignment the first time and so I re-did it the right way this time. The top image is the first one and the bottom one is the re-do.

HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!!!!

2009-10-30T12:32:00.000-07:00

Here is my haunted house with a short little story to go along with it. Enjoy!

Axonometric of Entenza House Case Study No.9

2009-10-30T12:29:00.000-07:00

In drawing we had to make an axonometric out of the Entenza house. I decided to ghost the two walls that are closest so more information is revealed. I enjoyed this project as I tried a new style by only having a few colors as opposed to 10 or more.

70's Den

2009-10-23T17:16:00.000-07:00

So you think you can't draw this week was to draw a perspective of any room with a certain style so I chose to do a 70's theme.

Name Tag

2009-10-23T17:14:00.001-07:00

Here is my name tag from the beginning of school that we made for drawing class.

Case Study House #9 practice render

2009-10-16T09:57:00.001-07:00

Scale Figures Composition

2009-10-16T09:56:00.001-07:00

Camera Enhancement

2009-10-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Nutritional Kitchen Lab Project

2009-10-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

Color Change

2009-09-23T19:48:00.001-07:00

For this perspective, I wanted to change some of the colors in the room while keeping others. If a client comes to you and you have green walls in your drawing, but they don't like it, then you can very easily go in photoshop and change it to some other color that will please them. I am not a big fan of the very bright blue walls, so I decided I would try red with a blue ceiling. I used the lasso tool to select the walls and then used the paint bucket to fill in the space with the red color I chose. I also dulled down my shadows with the dodge tool again. By changing the color of the walls, it really does give the room a different feel.

Smeared

2009-09-23T19:42:00.000-07:00

In perspective everything has a smeared look almost. I made some of the lines, and the shadows especially, very soft. I used both the dodge and burn tool as well as the stamp tool for the floor. The effects I have done to my perspective makes it have a very relaxed feeling.

Glow

2009-09-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

In this perspective I chose to make it glow. I made the lines more bold, added lines on the windows so they were not just black and then made my shadows lighter with the dodge tool. I like it because it really shows an emphasis on color instead of structure.

Presentation Perspective

2009-09-22T09:24:00.000-07:00

Vellum: prismacolor

Rendered in 3 styles

2009-09-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

We had to draw one view from our sketchup design and draw them in three different styles and papers, but with the same color scheme from one of Maud Gatewood's paintings. The painting I chose is at the bottom.

Here is my best one of the three. It is the tightest one and is done on marker paper.

Here is my middle one and is done on vellum.

Here is my loosest one and is done on tracing paper. I need to work on my scale figures and the loosness of the lines and make them more bold and thick.

Martha's Vineyard renovation house [Edgartown, MV]

2009-09-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures that I took when I toured this house in Martha's Vineyard when I was there on vacation. The house is located in Edgartown, MV and was a habitat for humanity house. Every room and section of the outdoor landscaping was done by a different designer! I really enjoyed touring this house and thought I would share some of the pictures I took.

Room Perspecitves

2009-09-15T20:13:00.000-07:00

First we took a picture from a magazine of a room and used it for inspiration to create our own room. I took the furniture from my magazine cut-out and put in my room. I wanted the outdoors to come in, so there is outdoor furniture and lots of windows with wooden beams on the ceiling and the walls. Media: pencil.

Then from the above perspective, we made a floor plan and decided how the other side of the room looked.
Then from the plan we made a perspective of the other side of the room and used black pens to show different light weights.

Joint

2009-09-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

In drawing we have a contest every week called "So you think you can draw..." This week we had to draw a joint and show how its connection. I came up with drawing logs with a pin down the middle to show how it connected and what area I am focusing on.

House of Wiessenhof

2009-05-15T20:30:00.000-07:00

[Sacred Space] for grad students of iarc

2009-05-07T12:13:00.000-07:00

Sketch-up of [Sacred Space]

2009-05-07T12:09:00.000-07:00

Plan and 4 Sections of [Sacred Space]

2009-05-07T12:04:00.001-07:00

Crit Room #401

2009-05-07T12:03:00.001-07:00

Interior and Exterior Walls

2009-05-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Perspective Grid and Plan

2009-05-07T11:59:00.001-07:00

Book Assignments - Drafting

2009-05-07T11:56:00.000-07:00

Lettering [Stairs and Quiz]

2009-05-07T11:54:00.000-07:00

My Personal Explorations

2009-05-07T10:02:00.000-07:00

Pompidou Centre, Paris

Birds Nest, Beijing

The Keukenhof, Holland

Willow Tree

Waves and Crashes at the Beach, St. Kitts

Photographed By: Brooke Preston

The W Hotel's Water Ceiling, NYC

Diamonds

Casa Batilo, Barcelona

Gingerbread Houses at the Campground on Martha's Vineyard

Bathroom with neat Water Feature

Coming Full Circle

2009-05-06T14:02:00.000-07:00

Community: Community is locality all inhabited by a group of people. In Patrick’s class we learned about buildings that were built because of their history, technology, locality, and deconstruction. The atheneum in Indiana is all about ramps, steps, open spaces, traveling around and being seen and seeing. The atheneum building’s ramps are shaped to the hills of the grass on the landscape making it all about its location.

Stewardship: Stewardship is someone who manages another property for financial affairs. It can also mean that it is the person who manages an event or other specialty. This past week in my communication class, we had to give persuasive speeches on anything we wanted. This one guy did his speech on sustainability and how it is our job to take care of the world and not let it get destroyed by where rubbish goes, the use of how much water is used, heat, energy, and more. When you build a structure, it is friendly to the environment if you make it sustainable. The Proximity hotel in Greensboro, NC is the worlds first all sustainable building.

Authenticity: When I think of authenticity, I think of originality. When you are designing a space, you should always put in some of your own personal creativity that makes it special to you. Being authentic means not corrupting something from the original. Frank Lloyd Wright is a great example of how he does not destroy the landscape around his buildings, but he makes it part of the design.

Innovation: Innovation is about introducing new ideas and methods. For studio we had to design an architectural space for the grad students downstairs on the first floor of the IARC department. Each of us designed something totally different and was all different because they all had different stories to tell. Everyone’s concept was different and they all brought new ideas to the world.

[PAIR]ing DOWN

2009-05-01T19:16:00.000-07:00

Meditation/Celebration: Meditation gives you time to contemplate and go into deep thought. It is a time for reflection and to give you time alone. When you are meditating, you want to be in a relaxive state of mind. Your body wants to feel at ease. Celebration, however, is different because celebration means you are praising, worshiping, performing, and/or engaging in festivities. Celebration always involves happiness and joy. Casa Batilo has a sense of meditation and celebration because the curves in the walls are soothing to the mind, yet the colors in the house are celebrative in light.

Light/Shadow: Light is what illuminates a room. It is what all colors depend on. Light is how a room is brightened to create shades of color. Shadow does the opposite because shadow is what dulls a room or makes casts of darkness from the opposite side of light from an object. Shadow is how we can tell that the earth moves during the day. The Johnson house in New Cannan, Connecticut is the house of Philip Johnson. The house is all windows on all sides of the façade, which allow for light and shadow to come into the room from the natural outdoors surrounding the house.

Transpose/Juxtapose: Transpose and juxtapose are words I did not know and had to look up. According to dictionary.com, transpose means, “to change the relative position, order, or sequence, or to transfer or transport.” Juxtapose means, “to place side by side, especially for comparison or contrast.” Le Corbusier has his five points of architecture and he follows them in some of his designs for buildings. In his house, Notre dame du haut, he uses free façade, free plan, pilotis, and ribbon windows.

Literal/Abstract: Literal means that something means exactly what the word definition says. It is always true to the fact. Abstract in design is when you take something literal and turn it into an idea that makes up the concept. It can be many ideas that make up the concept of the literal thing or object. The Johnson Wax building is a building for workspaces. There are lily pads in the workspace. Literally there are no lily pads, but the columns that go up into the ceiling represent a lily pad in a different abstract form.

Monologue/Dialogue: Monologue is a composition of a single element or idea when dialogue is a conversation between two people or exchange of ideas. Falling Water and the Massaro House are both done by Frank Lloyd Wright. Both of them are single houses that represent monologue, but when both of them are compared they have a lot of dialogue between them. They have dialogue because they both relate in the way that both structures were built for the landscape around it.

Summary: A place that is meditative as well as celebrative creates monologue and dialogue. In order to make a celebration and mediation space, you must abstract the literal message/story you are trying to get across. In order to abstract ideas you have to use juxtaposition and transposition to make that happen. Everything has light and shadow effects when there is natural or artificial light.

Peer to Peer Analysis

2009-04-20T08:43:00.000-07:00

After pin-up last week, we all got paired with another student of our choice to peer review. That person had to relate to your own drawings in some way though, that was the only rule. I chose Christy Wallace because her drawings of the Massaro house by Frank Lloyd Wright are very similar to mine. Both were done in colored pencil and about the same sizes. The Massaro house is similar to the Weissenhof house in the way that they both have the same concept of linearity. They both were built around the same time and use verticals and horizontals to compose a unifying structure. They are both modern, which is why they are similar in linearity. Christy did a great job at showing the concept of the Massaro house. Her drawings were very clear and easy to read. They provided depth and color too.

Reflections Unit Summary

2009-04-17T00:46:00.000-07:00

Reflections unit is all about looking back and seeing visions to make better things in the future. After war in the twentieth century, Americans wanted to be different from the English by not copying their style. Instead they liked the smooth surfaces to make three-dimensional forms and they had a love for the exotic. Europe was more focused on geometric figures.

Reflections is about how the new changed from the old. Castle Howard had a planned landscape and it looks like it is all naturally laid out. It looks like nature as you would find it when it really is not actually naturally laid out. Colonial North America was trading and producing wood to sell to London. The classical world was coming together through trade with North America (the naturalized world). Plantations were growing like crazy in the United States. Plantations were built to have a nice landscaped yard and well developed house where you could live in comfortably and grow crops. They were very beautiful with chimneys on each ends of the house to provide heat in the South. In the North they had centralized chimneys to provide heat all areas of the house because it is mostly cold in the North throughout the whole year.

Revolutions started happening during wartime and the contemporary style was evolving. Everyone was in depression from the war and needed entertainment and happiness, so they started to build factories, exhibitions, train stations, orangery, greenhouses, and arcades. Places such as the Crystal Palace in London was a place that provided a “lifting of the spirit,” heavenly experience. These gardens also provided health with less disease instead of filth and slums. It was the first real skyscraper and soon everyone wanted to be the city that had the biggest skyscraper.

Reflections was a time when the East met the West. Trade routes were being made and everyone started to trade. It was the new thing to do at this time. Through trading, Americans learned of different styles that everyone had and then started incorporating their ideas into the American culture and arts. The Chinese made designs specifically meant for different countries other than their own. This is why you find many things that are made in China these days.

Materials became a big part in the building world. The use of machinery was in need to be put into use during this time. The big city of Chicago, the second city, is well known for its building sizes, quantity, and materiality of the buildings. Steel iron was discovered and everyone wanted to use it because it was cheap, easy to bend, and made a great supporting façade. Concrete and glass were also used a lot because of their availability and great use. Glass was expensive though. When you assembled all parts together it was a well-built structure. New building types turned into art and they influenced each other.

Reflections is all about a time for change and how society changed with new developments. I was a need for meaning with a romantic past and hope for a better future. We can learn that the past can be used for studies for inspiration and copying. There was a lot of hope and that is what we today strive for, hope for a better future.

Road Trip

2009-04-15T21:04:00.000-07:00

Roots: Roots are where the seeds were planted and is where the beginnings are strongly planted. It is where something comes from. In design, we all have to start the journey of learning somewhere. Roots in a structure begin with the foundation because without the foundation the structure is not secure. The Home Insurance Building in Chicago has a “free façade” because the exterior supports the exterior only and the interior is supported by steel frames, not the exterior.

Compression/Release: This week we have been tossing ideas around about what to do for our window project where we have to make two different light sources out of mdf and paper if we choose. My doodle drawing of my window shows that the pieces compress at the corners and release on the curves in the middle. Binding materials can make a strong structure. For example, Antonio Gaudi’s Casa Bonita is made of a concrete façade and has steel iron and glass tile on top of it for decorative effects, but also to make the structure stronger. The Brooklyn Bridge is another example of compression.

Congruence: Congruence is the coming together of two or more elements. When you converge and attach two elements they have a sense of connectivity and dialog. Antonio Gaudi was great at converging the idea of humans and his structures. Guell Park in Barcelona has many curves and organic shapes, just like a body has. There is much fluidity throughout the park.

Materiality: Materiality is what makes up a structure. Stoel says it is important to become good at researching materials because you will never know all of the materials out there. This week we had to make three material boards. I learned a lot about how I should of formatted my boards and matted the pictures to unify the boards in some way. The title should always respond to the size of the paper. Most buildings are constructed of metal, glass, and concrete in the 19^th century. Still today those materials are very popular to construct with.

Concept: Concept is a popular word that is used in IARC. It is the main idea or theme throughout a structure. Tommy Lambeth said, “Concept is a simple organizing idea.” My building that I chose to research on for Patrick’s class is the Wiessenhof house in Stutgartt, Germany. The house’s overall concept is linearity because it has so many straight lines and everything is vertical and horizontal.

Summary: All roots of a building come from materials that are compressed and released to make a structure. The concept of a building varies between any building, but is the main idea or theme.

Between Silence & Light

2009-04-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

Craft: Craft is something that is an art and requires a special skill. Clean lines and datum lines require special skill, as it is an art of perfection. After visiting Falling Water and Monticello, I realized they both are very highly crafted with the woodwork and masonry. Each place took special craft in how the materials were to be placed in the landscape surrounding the houses. In the hotel we stayed in over our trip, they had wooden rocking chairs in each room that were made by the Amish. The chairs are well crafted because they are handcrafted and that requires a special skill that many do not know how to do. As Roth says, “The architects become deluged with information regarding the accuracy of details.” (Roth, 472) Details are very important when it comes to good craft.

The craft is in the placement of how Wright put the beams across from the house to the rock.

Public/Private: When you are designing a house, you don’t want every space you design to be just public, because then you wouldn’t have any place to go and have your own privacy. You have to balance out the two in a home. In Monticello, the parlor and foyer were very public places and the bedrooms and study were very private areas in the house. In Falling Water, Wright made the hallways dark and the rooms light because he felt that the hallways were not important since they are not a place to be sociable in and instead a place to get from one area to another. Even certain materials that are used in a room can tell what rooms are more private or public because Blakemore says that. “Wood, the least expensive, was the most common material for modest homes and for less important rooms in the houses of the wealthy.” (Blakemore, 400)

This is a public area in the family room at Falling Water.

Technique: Technique is a way of accomplishing a certain task. It requires a specific skill of procedures to get to the final craft. It is so amazing how they could of built Falling Water right over the waterfall. In order to make the house cantilever over the water, it had builders make logs to hold up the structure as they built it so it wouldn’t collapse. This took great technique in figuring out how to make Falling Water cantilever over the water. During the 19^th century, “Inlay became a prominent decorative technique of great technical superiority…” (Blakemore, 382) Inlay used native woods just like Falling Water used its natural surroundings.

This elliptical arch is very hard to do since the arch is supported by the side structures and it is hard to make it balanced.

Language: When you think of the word language, you think of a foreign language that is used in communicating with others verbally. When you talk about architecture having language, it means that the structure speaks words of its own to describe it. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe once said that, “God is in the details” meaning that perfection in details has its own language and speaks something that is so unique. Both Monticello and Falling Water worked with the landscapes in a way that celebrated them. Monticello used clay for bricks and you see lots of clay color in the lot it sits in. Falling Water used stone in constructing the house, as there were lots of rock and stone in the landscape it surrounded.

The landscape at Monticello helps celebrates the language of the house itself.

Virtual: Virtual is an interesting word as I was surprised what it actually meant when I looked it up. Virtual is the existence of something without actually being there. We got to have a virtual tour of both Monticello and Falling Water, but most importantly, both houses utilized virtuality through light. Monticello used skylights that made the light come through and make you feel like virtually the sky is actually there. Mirrors in the bedrooms made the rooms virtually look bigger because the image reflects back making the space appear to be larger than it actually is. Falling Water used glass windows that didn’t have any corner support so that when you opened the corner windows, you got a virtual sense of the outside when you were inside. That made it feel like the outdoors were coming indoors. Glass was a very expensive material during the times that Falling Water and Monticello were both being built. “Around the mid-19^th century a number of factors combined to make it feasible to install larger panes of window glass- manufacturing processes, excise duty, and window tax.” (Blakemore, 397) It was nice to be able to install bigger pieces of glass because glass was a way to make a room look virtually appealing since you felt part of the outdoors inside.

The skylight in one of the rooms at Monticello makes a virtual appeal in the room by bringing the outdoors in.

Summary: Craft and Technique have their own language because they make private and public spaces look virtually appealing. The way a building is put into place and the small details are put into private and public spaces. Windows and mirrors inside a house create a virtually appealing space by making the outdoors look like they are indoors and at the same time not making it distract from the room but make it celebrated.

House of Weissenhof

2009-04-08T02:43:00.000-07:00

I have chosen the House of Weissenhof. It is a modern style house that is very unique in shape, color, and size. I was attracted to it because of its overhanging top since you don’t see many buildings that look like that at all. The history, house details, and purpose of the house are all important to know when understanding where ideas came from when designing.

Le Corbusier, a French architect, built the House of Weissenhof. It was built in Stuttgart, Germany in 1927, part of the 20^th century. The house is modern and is made of mainly stucco that is over brick. It was built after the war and Le Corbusier had to deal with a difficult ground surface that was uneven and the budget was limited.

The house’s main material used is stucco around the upper exterior of the house. Le Corbusier used common materials such as brick, tiles, and vaults formed with tiles as permanent shuttering. The roof is covered with grass, which is interesting because you do not usually come across houses with growing life on top of them. The house is made up of squares and rectangles; it is a theme that you see throughout the exterior of the house. All of the many windows are small squares that balance out the white stucco on the front exterior elevation. The back of the house has several square and rectangle shape cement blocks that give a feeling of openness because the centers are hollow instead of solid. Le Corbusier’s ‘five points of a new architecture’ are free plan, free façade, pilotis, roof garden and ribbon windows. He accomplished all of these in the Weissenhof. Some of the main rooms in the house include a boiler room, coal store, washroom, lots of storage, kitchen, dining, living, maid’s room, five bedrooms, a boudoir, bathroom, and a terrace

Le Corbusier’s main reason for a modern house was to be different from everyone else, as he knew it would be compared with other European Modernist designers. The function of this house is just like any other house; it is to be well designed for people to be comfortable living in. As you can tell it was meant for a family with lots of children. Le Corbusier was on a budget when designing this house because it was after the war and money was limited. The house from a distance is very appealing because of all of the contrasting elements. A different architect decided in the same year to design something very similar to Le Corbusier’s design. He made Weissenhof row houses that are two stories tall and have a focus on gardens. The materials and colors and shapes from the Weissenhof house were inspired for the Weissenhof row houses. Le Corbusier’s House of Weissenhof has a very futuristic look to it, which I think is why people still draw eyes towards it today.

As a four-story house that is built on a very challenging hill in Stuttgart, Germany, it was a very successful design for the time it was built. Le Corbusier really captured the rectilinear elements around the house. The one thing it never became was a popular or standardized house.

Celebration [3rd SKIN]

2009-04-01T15:52:00.000-07:00

[Re]Actions

2009-04-01T15:46:00.001-07:00

Rotation: A rotation means that something is turning around in a circular motion or a change and may repeat itself. There is the saying that, “History repeats itself.” In Patrick’s class we learned how a revolution evolves/comes about. It starts out in the rotation stage, where a change happens. It then moves into the cycle and reform where change is made from the rotation. It transitions into the Renaissance and comes out to the revival stage. America was trying to separate itself from England and had to make a revolution.

Here is a drawing from my notes in Patrick's class about the cycle that a Revolution goes through.

Movement: Movement creates a sense of path. For our Pathways, Edges, and Boundaries project, we are going to install pieces of cement into the ground of the parking lot islands. My group, the Gateway group, is using half spheres to guide the pathways and square blocks to direct the pathway that will be stepped on and used. The squares create a sense of movement because of how the raised circles are placed onto them. There is movement in history of how it is constantly changing. There is change between two chairs that are the same style but built in a different time periods that influenced each of them in their own way. “The Arts and Crafts Movement had widened the debate about what constituted good design, but had little effect on conventional interior design at the turn of the century, either in America or Europe.” (Massey, 31)

This is a potential layout of how the stepping stones and half spheres will go into one of the parking lot islands. It creates movement because the path that people will walk on is how they get from one end to the other and the raised circles on top create a motion that is moving.

Reflection: This week we made a project about light out of MDF. We had to make natural light reflect onto our project in some way to illuminate it and create movement. My project is a great example of how light comes through the curves in my design on each circle plate and reflects light, making shadows. As you rotate the project the shapes change and create movement. The Crystal Palace in London is another example of reflecting light. The conservatory has glass all around it, illuminating everything inside of it and making you feel like you are in paradise and have a “lifting of the spirit” experience. The “ banks of mirrors on the opposite walls reflect the light throughout the room” in the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles. (Roth, 419)

This is the 3rd skin project that I made out of MDF and it shows how light comes through the weaves of the circle plates and reflects on the ground in creative shapes.

Illumination: Illumination is what brightens up something with the source of light. You can think of illumination as an example of Christmas time when all the houses are lit up with decorative lights in celebration of the birth of Christ. It gives you the feeling of spiritual enlightenment just like the feeling that the Crystal Palace gives you. Massey talks about a townhouse that Horta designed for himself saying that “…a skylight illuminates a centrally placed staircase of white Carrara marble which forms the centerpiece of the whole design, winding up through three floors.” (Massey, 37)

This is a perspective drawing that I did for Suzanne's class and we had to use different media and medium to create a family room, dining, and kitchen area. The window in the back shines light onto the objects in the room and illuminates the whole entire room.

Source: The source of light is amazing! Light adds energy and makes people feel happy. In an interior space, light illuminates a space and makes color in a room pop out. It makes everything brighter and glow with confidence. The Beaux-Arts style was a conservative style and “…in interior decoration was marked by lavish use of carving, gilding, rich marble and extravagant lighting…” (Massey, 31) The source of lighting was well known and suited for large spaces such as in a hotel or department store.

This is my favorite section that I rendered from my perspective drawing and it shows how the source of light reacts with the objects in the room. For example, you can see how the couch is darker on the side that is not facing the window where light is not spotted on, but it is shown on the side that you can sit on. It creates different hues.

Summary: This weeks words were all words we have had before, which makes things interesting for this opus. It was neat to see how different this weeks opus was from the words I used in the past and what I wrote about them. Illumination comes from the source of light that reflects light and creates movement as light is rotated, just like how the sun rotates and moves to create movement in shadows.

MHRA Building Context Diagram

2009-03-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

Alternatives Unit Summary

2009-03-27T07:01:00.000-07:00

The alternatives unit was about expanding on the basic principles of design that was stated in the foundations unit and about the ancient world relating to the past. The alternatives unit takes place in the Renaissance and Baroque time period. One of the main concepts in the foundations unit was the principle of commodity, firmness, and delight. The alternatives unit really emphasized commodity, firmness, and delight in the cathedrals that were being built during this time as Christianity was spreading throughout Europe.

The duomo is Brunelleschi’s dome that is a part of the cathedral at Florence. The duomo overshadows the city and is the epicenter of Florence. It was thought to be a symbol for the city since it was like saying, “we can move beyond and make better.” It is the largest dome and has the effect of a wuwu because of its large and tall scale. The church was a prototype for another church, but the duomo made change instead of continuity because it went from medieval to gothic. The duomo had the effect of the idea that there is connectivity between heaven and earth.

Many churches had the plan of crossing east and west and it was very decorative element. The Greek cross plan is a symbol of the Christian cross that Jesus died on for our sins. Cathedrals also were decorative in the fact that they had mosaics that told stories and were very luminous. The Rose window in st. Sernin helps focus on the alter, the most important part in a cathedral. Geometry also played a big role in the alternatives unit as the contrast of dark and light were used a lot throughout the Renaissance. The crossing square in cathedrals and 90-degree angles was also very geometric.

Venezia, otherwise known as Venice, was and is the city of floating stone. The city was man-made and is slowly sinking due to the tree trunks that hold the city up. The water throughout the city was used for travel and borrowing. The Grand Canal connects west and east and gives a spirit of peace. There are many “squares” in Venice as well as a wuwu in San Marco Square. The Maria Della Salute salutes Mary from not bringing sickness (the black plague) to Venice. It is a celebration to the city of Venice.

The alternatives unit tells us that it is okay to break the rules outside the box and to test the boundaries. A great example of an artist and designer who broke rules was Michelangelo Buonarroti. Michelangelo broke rules by breaking through surfaces of walls making them appear to be illusions. He simplified from the old and made more height in his paintings that make them appear as if they are a part of the wall itself. In the Capella Sistina, Michelangelo makes it hard for us to tell if the floor is the ceiling or vice versa because it could go either way with the disintegrating walls and fluidity.

The Renaissance lead into the Baroque time period. The Renaissance was all about rationality and the Baroque was all about emotion. It was a time for thinking outside the box and revolution making that leads us into the next unit. Versailles was built specifically for the king because he was the ultimate ruler and he had to have everything bigger. He wanted a bigger house that had to relate everything to him. The sun outside radiates out and reflects to the king because all things come back to and reflect on the king. The revolution, however, interrupts the design process and slows it down. The Hall of Mirrors reflect on the inside of the palace making the space look bigger and linking the outside world with the inside world by mirrors inside and waters and landscaping outdoors.

Grammar : Syntax

2009-03-25T11:59:00.000-07:00

Audience: An audience is a group of people who are watching an event. It could also mean “the act of hearing, or attending to, words or sounds.” (dictionary.com) When you are going to a play, there is always a big audience to watch the performance. For some people, their motivation comes from knowing that others will be watching them at some point. In studio, we make projects that eventually get critiqued by the audience of everyone in the class and teachers.

This model will be critiqued by my peers and teachers [the audience].

[Re]visions: Revising is the process of making a new version of the original. In drafting, we always make our first drawing on bond paper and then the finalized one is on vellum. We revise the bond drawing to make it fit in the right place on the vellum so that it is in the perfect spot. The place Vendome is similar to the Place de Vosges because the outside facades are very similar in looks, but the insides are revised completely differently. (Roth)

My drafting for Stoel this week was first on bond paper and then revised onto vellum.

Character: Character is something that everything and everyone has. It is the features and traits that make up character, which makes something or someone so unique. It is important to capture a client’s character, so that when you are designing for them you can add their own character in the designs you make for them. Therefore, they will love what you have designed rather than something that does not have any of their taste in it. The saltworks building has columns in the front that have much character in them because the columns are individual blocks that stack up on top of one another. Details are what make character so unique. “Designers searched for ornamental details that were more imaginative, gay, animated, and entertaining…” (Blakemore, 246)

My flower I drew has character because of all the detail.

Transition: Transition is another word for change. It means that something transforms from one thing to another or from one idea/concept to another. In studio we form ideas/concepts that eventually change over a short period of time when doing a project. We go from one idea to the next developing our concept further and deeper. “The Regence style of chair was a transition from the primarily rectilinear forms of Louis XIV to the curvilinear contours of Louis XV.” (Blakemore, 256) The statue of David by Michelangelo is different from the statue of David by Bernini in the way that Bernini transitioned from Michelangelo’s still stance of David to an ‘in-motion’ David.

Datum: Datum can mean many things, but the one that relates to architecture is that datum is an item of information that comes from research or measurement. Basically it is a single piece of information. My furniture drawings I did for Suzanne is a piece of datum because they are assumed that they are for a family room because I drew all pieces that you would find in a family room. A circle in the Renaissance time was used as datum and “…was an especially attractive form for Renaissance designers, symbolizing the perfection of God.” (Roth, 360)

This presentation board my group made follows a set of datum because it has much information.

Summary: This weeks words are all about communication and how that communication is passed and received. A piece of datum has character that gets revised by people to transition to another idea. The audience receives the message and responds to it. Communication involves grammar and syntax when writing or speaking.

Deliverables Articulation

2009-03-20T06:23:00.000-07:00

Drawings -->

Exterior Facade Perspective: 1/4 scale on bond using white and black and grey primacolors

Plan View: 1/4 scale in black pen on vellum

Top View: 1/4 scale in pencil on bond

Detail Drawing from back of house: 4x4 bond in watercolor

View from back: 1/4 scale in black pen on bond paper

Front Elevation: 1/4 scale in pencil on vellum

Side Elevation: 1/4 scale in pencil on vellum

Hallway: pencil on bond

Staircase on Exterior: black pen on bond

Roof Garden Perspective: watercolor on bond

Outline of Essay -->

I. History

A. Name and year built

B. Designer/Architect and his background

C. Location

D. Style

II. House Details

A. Description of house

B. Rooms and their functions

C. Exterior Landscape (include garden roof)

D. Size of house and lot

E. Color choice (black and white)

III. Purpose

A. Why Modern

B. Function

C. WWII

D. Similar houses based of this house

E. What makes it stand out

Questions & Issues -->

How do I get a picture of the roof garden?

I can't find indoor pictures.

Should we mount our drawings?