A L T E R N A T I V E S

  In the Alternatives unit we learned about expanding on basic principles we learned about in the previous unit.  The Architecture Parlent is a concept of designers re-writing the rules of ancient architecture and introducing alternative concepts.

            Much like in 2000, in the year 1000 it was a millennial observation that the world would soon come to an end.  This pushed people deeper into religion therefore creating more churches.

We studied the Middle Ages, The Renaissance and the Baroque Period.  We studied Gothic and Charlemagne style and learned about artists, architects and designers alike such as Brunelleschi, Vitruvius, Michelangelo, and Palladio.  Much like in the first unit we recognized the surrounding landscape as shown in the Versailles Palace. We learned about revolution’s effects on design.

            Religion was an important aspect in design during the Middle Ages.  Romanesque style depicts this through its column details, arches, and use of windows and light. Various types of Gothic Cathedrals were rich in character from their stained glass to their flying buttresses. Most were built connecting two datum lines in a cross-like shape.  The remarkable use of light within cathedrals portrayed God’s presence. 

            The amplification of the head of the church was also important within the cathedrals.  Families contributed financial support to the church in exchange for their ticket to heaven.

            The Renaissance was the rebirth of classical style. Knowledge and Humanity became the alternative to the religious values that controlled the church during the Middle Ages. Along with more emphasis on humanity than on faith came more emphasis on rational space and creating proportional clarity.  This imperative concept of geometric proportions came from Vitruvius whom I have enjoyed learned about throughout this unit. Architects sought to find mathematical relationships within in their designs.

            We studied Venice; also know as the city of floating stone. The combination of water and stone gives the city a simplistic appearance.

            Light, as always, remain an important aspect.  It extends space.  Royalty desired to see the vastness of his kingdom.  Through the use of water, light and illusions-such as a hall of mirrors, designers allowed them to achieve that desire.

            Brunelleschi designed the innovative Dome of Florence Cathedral. He observed the work of the Romans and created a dome using innovative techniques. The architecture created in the Renaissance era surpassed the restrictions of the materials used and types of forms produced.

            Following the renaissance movement came the Baroque period, which evoked the emotional element of design.  Baroque architecture includes lavish use of dramatic lighting and ornamentation and large ceilings.

            In the previous unit we learned about two trilogies; commodity firmness and delight, and porch, court and hearth.  This unit we learned palazzos and their traditional layout. A three story structure; the first level used for business, the second- “piano nobiele” - was used for entertaining guests and the third was meant as private living quarters.

            The Alternatives unit portrayed a crucial concept of good design; revisions, change and development. These nontraditional ideas allow alternative choices in architecture.  The unit expressed a change in direction of design in light of a new understanding of ancient architecture.  These constant revisions are what constantly evolves and enhances design.

 

 

SYNTAX:GRAMMAR

Up until the early years of the twentieth century, one of the major purposes of figural ornament was to be didactic, to tell a story.  By means of such coherently organized storytelling images the building itself became a [story] in stone. (Roth 96)  As we have learned this semester a design process and a writing process or story have strong commonalities.  Both are very expressive mediums.

Architecture is “a richly informative cultural artifact” in that its character tells a story of transitions, revisions as well as, both to and of, an audience. (Roth 5)

Both stories and design are audience driven. Architecture is “the environment we build for ourselves, and which, as we grow in experience and knowledge, we change and adapt to our expanded condition.” (Roth 3)  Design varies according to its audience.  If you were designing a child’s room the color scheme, scale, furniture and material would be different than an office or a nightclub. I read from Roth that Andrew Derbyshire realized that the goal of architecture is “to design a building that [speaks] a language of form intelligible to its users.”  (Roth 569) Design is an international language within itself with its own syntax and linguistics that are forever growing and evolving to accommodate different audiences.  The language of a design has to translate to its audience in a way so that it is clearly communicated.  Numerous revisions create a smooth transition in relaying character to ones audience.

 

The spread above is some of the brainstorming I did for a current project.  I translated the dandelion into abstracted forms and kept revising to translate these concepts into a design.

When studying various designers there are certain characteristics that you can identify with certain designers.  For example Frank Lloyd Wright’s style tends to include a porch, court and hearth, the hearth being the fireplace.  This idea goes past architecture and spreads wider than just one designer’s character.   Character defines an era or style of a space on numerous scales. For example the unique Greek style “the mixing together of aspects of the sophisticated Minoan/Mycenaean cultures with the pragmatism of the Dorian’s.” (Roth 220)

Also throughout the Alternatives unit we have studied new takes on riving classical styles and designs that break the molds of precedent designs.  These revisions shifted architecture and reintroduced classical looks in new ways and downturned old rules taking design to the next level.  Architecture will continue to change due to these revisions.  Revisions translate old style to new style and make up a transitional process that ends in progressive change.

As Vitruvius explains in The Ten Books of Architecture, “Architects who have aimed at acquiring manual skill without scholarship have never been able to reach a position of authority to correspond to their plans, while those who relied only upon theories and scholarship were obviously hunting the shadow, not the substance.” (Roth 122).  In other words until you, as a designer, actually use your hands and make something you overlook fundamental revisions that evolve ones design concept.  Through my first year I have learned this to be very true.  It is the practice of making numerous iterations and revisions that better a design. These revisions can happen on a larger scale such as a revolution that greatly affects the design world.  For example this image compares the revolution of a chairs character after the American Revolution.

In Perception and Communication we studied artists’ styles and imitated them in our own work picking up on the little details that gave them character.  Whether it was the medium they used, the color or lack of color, the direction or character of line they used or so on.  For example France Belleville of Wagonized does amazing things with crosshatching.  Stephen Gardner of Sketch of the Day uses mostly sepia, wooden and some green tones in his loose yet expressive style while mainly drawing bar settings.  It is in these details that make the overall composition interesting.

Datum lines can be found everywhere and they greatly enhance visuals. “The horizontal line is sensed empathetically as being as rest just as the human body is at rest when horizontal.  In contrast the vertical line is sensed as one of aspiration, reaching, assertiveness. There is a sense of dynamic equilibrium as a result of forces at work in the vertical line.” (Roth 71)  Datum lines use bilateral symmetry to create order and rhythm in something, which ultimately makes it aesthetically pleasing; which satisfies the delight aspect of commodity, firmness and delight.  You can see datum lines in the form of alleys or isles, such as in a church or in the megaron form in which the isle is lined by columns.  The datum lines give a clean and uniform appearance to architecture, presentations, art, and spaces.  In our recent Perception and Communication presentation we used datum lines on our presentation board in order to make our product look more pulled together and professional.  We also use a datum line when hanging things up in the crit room.  In History of Theory and Design we previously learned about cultures that use two intersecting datum lines, via the main roads, as a city-planning grid.  The roads lead to the most important spaces within the city. These intersecting datum lines were also seen in gothic cathedrals.  From the plan views you can clearly see these datum lines, often intersecting in a groin or groin-vault form that connect the nave, transepts and the channel.

 

[Summary]

Human character is a fundamental audience in the development of architectural expression.  The growth, change and development is a crucial part of the design process and is based around a plethora of revisions.  We nit-pick and revise our design concepts and in the end we often simplify them to shape and enhance the finished product.  Winston Churchill once said “We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us.” (Roth 58)  A well-revised, successful design shapes its audience.

Different translations of the chair form

Precedent Analysis DELIVERABLE

I. Introduction

    A. Name: Pacific Design Center

a. Nicknamed 'The Blue Whale'

            B. Designer: Caesar Pelli

                        a. Accomplishments and Recognitions

            C. Dates: 1975

            D. Location: West Hollywood, California

            E. Description

                        a. Uses

                        b. Recognition

                        c. Appearance

II.  Design Concept

            A. Inspiration

III. Exterior

A.     Materials

B.     Facade

IV.  Interior

V. Importance

VI.  Red Part

            A. Introduction

                        a. Uses

                        b. Appearance

                        c. Dates

Plan view-pen

Plan-pencil 1'=1/4"

Exterior Elevation North-pen and colored pencil

Fucntion Diagram- Prismacolor

Exterior Perspective-pen and colored pencil

Interior perspective-pen and watercolor

Interior detail-pen and watercolor

Interior detail-pen and watercolor

Interior Perspective- pen and watercolor

Exterior Perspective-pen and colored pencil

The only question I have for the project is; Where am I going to be able to find a plan of the building?

 

[P] Week Eight O[p]us

The first time I really considered periphery limits was when we began our Pathways, Edges and Boundaries project.

We each had areal boundaries and limited materials.  Our periphery was distinguished by a curb; a literal boundary.  We worked with and within the confinement to better it as part of a whole: the whole being the entire parking lot and walkway area.  This gave us five distinct areas to work with and to tie together.  When the new semester began we added another area which came with a whole new understanding of periphery; a crosswalk area.  This area was not distinguished by a curb or edge but by the natural pathway that students and faculty habitually create. 

This link will take you to many of my process pictures of Pathway, Edges and Boundaries.  The process of a design or a concept is key.

In our recent Portal project we worked within the literal periphery boundaries of the given doorway.  Our design could not protrude anymore than eighteen inches into the hallway and we had to work with our neighboring portal group to establish a fair boundary for the common wall space.

These are two process pictures from my portal project.  You can see the final product here.

    

Earlier in the semester while working with vignettes we had a periphery that was less literal than the edge of the paper; more like the borders and boundaries we work within in our more abstracted designs.  The periphery was an underlying edge in which we faded our drawings into the canvas.

This blog is a way for me to present and capture the process of my work as a developing designer.  It is a blogfolio- an online portfolio.  I also keep a physical portfolio.  My portfolio is composed of models, photographs, drafting, drawing in and out of my sketchbook as well on digital files.  A portfolio showcases your work as a professional much like a resume.

Already, just throughout my first year in the Iarc program my portfolios allow me to look back at my processes and progress as a designer. 

Recently in class we have been discussing the similarities and differences between the design process and the writing process.  Both of these expressive medias stem from an inspiration into a developed and well executed concept that communicate in a clear and effective way. “Clarity [is] the main prize, along with simplicity.” (Zinsser)  We will put these ties into action when we further develop our precedent analysis in history class.

These are two illustrations I did to show a different kind of process.  The first shows you how to do something step-by-step.  The second shows you the process of me drawing a pen and the layers added to each step.  

We are presenting out building presentation boards tomorrow.  We wrapped up the previous week with our portal project PowerPoint presentation.  In our powerpoint presentations we explained how we developed our portal concept. This process was very important because our portal concept was derived from previous projects.  Early in the semester we started out by reading a grim in which we made an artifact for.  From our artifact we developed our wall designed to celebrate our artifact as well as explain the process of building an exterior or interior wooden-frame wall.

We then read another story- a creation story- and on through abstracted vignettes we portrayed our wall, our artifact and our creation story. From this assignment we designed passageways that reflected the journey throughout our stories.  After that we some design words into the mix and from there created three new passageways that reflected three specific design words.  We later picked one passageway to further develop as a scale model.  Our portal project was a combination of each group member’s final passageway along with a historical site. Each of these inspiration pieces weaved into upcoming projects and into our final presentation.  

                                                       

                                                          

The building presentation was also a long process.  We were first assigned a building on UNCG’s campus to draw the floor plan from observations.  We later did diagrams of these and then drew ‘moments’ within the building stemming from other artists’ styles as inspiration.  Of course we refined these drawings and from them produced a thumbnail of a detail of the building.  All of these have important spots on our presentation board

The craft of our work is very important in our portfolio work and with anything we do because it reflects our professionalism.  This week we learned  neat trick from Suzanne about lettering for presentation boards, and for anything really.  Tricks and trades like this are the details that make or break a presentation.  If everything in your presentation looks good and then there is wonky, sloping and sloppy lettering or applications that are falling off and bubbling off the presentation board the bad craft will overpower the good.  Good craft is key to professionalism and successful work.  This is why many times we redo assignments that are put in our portfolio.

These are my three images that appear on the presentation board above for our building assignment.  They are an example of something I redid.

In both drawing and drafting we have studying perspective and put it to use many time on paper.  In history and in studio we have put our studies to use in a more hands-on approach.

“In any rectilinear object, as a cube, each of the three principal sets of parallel lines has its own vanishing point.  Based on these three major sets of lines, there are three types of linear perspective: 1-, 2-, and 3-point perspectives.  What distinguishes each type is simply the spectator’s angle of view relative to the subject.  The subject does not change, just our view of it and how the sets of parallel lines will appear to converge in linear perspective.” (Ching 225)  

I drew the picture below depicts a profile view of two people.

Precedent Analysis Proposal-Take 2

photo source

The Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood,California.  

There are two ...soon to be three parts of this building. 

The Blue center and the Green center are already established and the Red center is soon to come.

Cesar Pelli designed this structure also know as 'The Blue Whale' and it was completed in 1975.

It is a multi-use facility for professional designers, architects, decorators and dealers

of the design community.

The PDC houses top decor and furniture markets, showrooms and public and private areas.  One branch of the PDC is home to the Museum of Contemporary Art as well as two of Wolfgang Puck's restaurants.

PORTAL 106 [ found in translation ] :: city of gods

For the portal project my group and I were assigned portal 106...our precedent: City of Gods.

City of Gods also known as The Pyramid of the Sun is in Teotihucan, Mexico.

The picture below illustrates our overall concept. 

Our design words were hierarchy, contrast, positive and negative space and symmetry.  We used the various layers and sizing and positioning of both large and small cylinders.  we contrasted the angular shape of the square cut-outs, that emulated the shape of City of Gods, with the cylindrical shapes that we portrayed our symmetry or balance through.  These cutouts also gave our portal dimension and strong positive and negative space.

We mimicked the silhouette of City of Gods in the top window.  We took advantage of the light and played with silhouettes and shadows.

The picture below illustrates the interesting shadows that our design allows the light to cast.  

detail shot of cardboard cutout: 

 We were limited in use of material.  

We could use black and white paper and/or cardboard.

mAcro::mIcro

detail.composition.porch.court.hearth.impression.diagram

           Everything has a composition.  A composition is the careful  arrangement of elements that are overall successful  both ascetically and cohesively. "The sum of the parts is greater than the whole." -Gestalt theories.  When creating a composition there are many things to consider.  This week we had a powerpoint to present and I think we have gotten a lot of tips form past powerpoint on composition.  From these tips I tried to make my powerpoint most effective by 

-having the highest quality of photographs: from the composition of the photo to the changes made in photoshop

-having a clear and even datum line between various pictures

-having an effective background that only enhanced what I was presenting.

-portraying more graphics and very, very little text...very little.

I paid extreme attention to all details within my powerpoint and also thought about how it would show up on a larger screen. Just like whenever I am making a presentation that will be viewed in the crit room I think about how it will show up against the white walls.  When drawing I think about the arrangement of my drawings and how they will look at a whole.   The following is a process picture of a painting I am working on.  I had to explore with positions of where to put each of the ducks as well as the more vertical elements such as the tree branches and the taller grasses because I knew that the next step of this painting or composition would be adding the subject to the foreground.  Therefore I wanted the background to enhance the subject in the foreground and look good together not just as parts and pieces but as a whole composition. 

I pay attention to all these small details because the composition of these element build the overall impression a piece of work gives off.  

As the week progressed in perception and communication we have been working on our perspective drawings and emulating the drawing styles of other artists.  This assignment a challange because it is difficult to capture the styles of the various artists I chose.  One artists focused more on loose lines and heavy line weight, while the other was more about structure and used a lot of hatching.  This assignment was just another example of how we as designers are ‘detail-people’.  People hire us because we are the ones who address all the details that make a whole. Ludwig Mies vad der Rohe famously said, “God is in the details.” 

The sketch above is both an example of detail as well as composition.

Attention to detail is not only portrayed through drawing but also through design as we’ve learned in Design History and Theory as well as Studio.

  

We have been studying early churches, cathedrals and castles and compared various elements of each.  For example, Italian spaces were much more decorated than the French and Germans. Details are a way to create a lasting impression through design

 The reason that people love design so much is because of the feeling that it evokes within.  Whether people realize that they love design or not it is human nature that everyone has their own style and are drawn to certain things.  Everything was designed in one way, shape or form and how that design settles with people is what impression they receive from it.  The way that a structure is designed can completely altar you mood.  The impression or feeling a nightclub gives off is very different from that of a church or court room. Both details from exterior and interiors determine an impression. The Greeks were much more concerned with their exteriors as opposed to their interiors.

The first picture is one that I took of the Biltmore.  The second is one I took of a retreat cabin at a spa also located in Asheville, North Carolina. Although both do- or at one point did- house people they both give off very different impressions.  The Biltmore gives off an grand impression of elaborate, unattainable wealth and grandeur.  The second house makes you think of a cozy, inviting little cabin where you can sit on the porch under the house light on calm evenings.

           Both early age structure and precendent day sructures a porch, hearth and court.  The porch is usually near the entrance area of a structure.  A court is the central part of a building; the heart of the building.  The hearth are that was the central, key space within the entire structure.

           In a modern home for example, the porch is in the front of the house before you enter the home; usually just big enough to have a few chairs.  The court would be where guests walk to get further inside the home.  Most importantly the hearth would be a space like your kitchen or perhaps your living room.  It would be where people would flock to during a gathering. Frank Lloyd Wright believed very strongly about having all three of these aspects and he built all of his homes centered around the fireplace

“ The secular basilicas for hearing litigation had been entered from the middle of the long sides, In the new church basilicas, entry was from one end, where a vestibule, or narthex, was created, with an alter placed at the far end in the semi-circular apse. Outside, preceding the narthex, a large atrium forecourt ringed with colonnades…” [Roth 282]

        When studying Gothic Cathedrals further, I saw a parallel between the porch, court and hearth we had seen within the megaron to that we see within cathedrals. The porch of a cathedral would be the large atrium outside the narthex that is ringed with colonnades.  In this comparison the court of a cathedral would be the narthex, and the hearth would be the alter where worships and ceremonies are held. Before taking Patrick's class I was never drawn the Gothic cathedrals but after studying them more I find that the attention to detail, hierarchy, cohesiveness, and rhythm are fascinating.  

    I feel all of these words and most all opus words have strong ties to each-other.  This week in Drawing we learned a new way  to illustrate ties or commonalities.  Sometimes a floor plan just doesn't cut it.  For example "For buildings of a limited scale and simple function the floor plan can be adequately read.  But when we take a building of the scale of a 1000-bed general hospital and draw the traditional black and white, mass-void floor plan it is incomprehensible." Kirbylock 25.  Diagrams are a way of rendering things through symbols, lines, and colors.   By simplifying, separating, and coding things through various diagrams something becomes much more visually literate.  "The seeming order of the overall form belies the real chaos of the plan."  Kirbylock 26.  types of analytical diagrams would be bubble diagrams, matrix, or zoning diagrams.  We were assigned to render our assigned building through these diagrams within the four following categories; function, circulation, context, and hierarchy or gesture.  Color, pattern, annotations and a key are essential to a successful diagram.

The porch, court and hearth create seperate moments within a space.  These terms carry through many years of design maintaining the same idea yet adjesting to modern civilization and new traditions.  Moments are captured through the careful design and attention to details within a composition.  The details of a composition are the parts that make up the whole.  The impression that your design radiates is the whole; the bigger picture.  Without these details your 'whole' would not be sucessful.  As 'detail-people' we need to both pay attention to and illustrate the importance of details.  An effective way of doing so is through various types of compositions of diagrams.  You have to add details such as color, pattern and annotations within your composition of this diagram in order for it to be sucessful.

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