Under the Influence

U N D E R   T H E    I N F L U E N C E 

Shoes. Product Design. Wearable design.

Work Smarter, not harder.

Barcelona Chair

Ikea: an example of affordable design.

Sustainability.  Not only is this design innovative in it's efforts of sustainability but the form inspires me as well.

Music: runs through my blood and shapes my mind.

Design for a cause; compassion and awareness inspire me. Paying it Forward.

Humanity. People. Who shapes our designs. Who our design shape.

Eames Rocker. Enough said.

Social awareness. Enlightenment of your surroundings. Humanity. The bigger picture.

Simple beauty; Locally found. A small house in Greensboro that I am slightly obsessed with.

ACTION VERBS

Energize

            The first thing I think of when I think about energize and design are diagonal lines.  Diagonal lines add energy to a composition.  Other lines such as loose, gestural lines also add energy.  A pop of color that enhances your overall design can also add energy to your overall composition. 

Compose

            This week in Perception and Communication we have been working on creating a composite drawing on either Fallingwater or Monticello.  I chose to do Fallingwater because it had a stronger impact on me during our trip.  Unlike our past compositions and projects adhesives were not issues here because in a composite piece all of the drawing, pictures and information and applied directly to the paper.  For the group project we did about buildings around campus my group used a blown up picture of our building, Ferguson, sliced into three parts with the name incorporated into the graphic.  This type of super graphic is a graphic that unifies the composition and portrays the essence of the subject of the composition.   While making our composite drawings we also found fonts that were congruent to our topic.  All of these are parts that make the drawing successful as a whole.  As designers we often habitually layout our compositions.  We use matrix and grids and play with colors, super graphics, fonts and styles and compose these in a way that successfully projects the meaning and subject of our design. 

Shape

            The word shape reminds me a lot of revise because throughout our design process we shape our overall design concept as well as speculating the small details of our design.

Speculate

            Designer are detail people. We point out small flaws, fine-tune the little thing to make something more successful overall. We speculate everything.  Details are what make a design so successful.

Reflections::Unit Summary

We started the Reflections unit out exploring the architecture parlent.  The architecture parlent is a concept of designers branching out from the ‘norm’ of ancient design and introducing new and different concepts. Revolutions also changed people’s way of thinking. Patrick demonstrates this with a cartwheel because a revolution turns your world and thoughts upside down and the outcome is new concepts therefore changes in design. For example we learned about how America was trying to proclaim their political power and this was reflected in our furniture and architectural designs.  The two R’s of The Reflections unit; Revolutions and Revivals.  We have learned about many revivals throughout the semester; the gothic revivals, japanisme.  Design gives limitless choices.  During this unit we also discussed handcrafted versus machine made products. The invention of the machine enabled mass production and allowed new materials and usually more rare materials became available to lower classes.  Iron became prevalent during this time and a great contraversy began about the quality of craft machine made products and hand crafted products.  Next we learned a little more about Chicago: The second city; how a single bovine transformed American architecture.  A cow supposedly started a fire that ruined the city and how Chicago was rebuilt.  Skyscrapers are now possible because of elevators, iron framework- that was now more readily available in mass productions due to machine, new materials, new designer and new land due to the fire. 

Road Trip

Both Monticello and Falling Water’s design concepts stayed true to their roots and strived to define an American style.  Jefferson designed true to his idol, Palladio’s concepts, and intertwined his inspiration from France.  Frank Lloyd Wright stayed true to Falling Waters’ roots; the land; quite literally.  He pulled the outside in and emulated and celebrated the nature surrounding Falling Water using boulders inside, endless glass and of course the tranquil sound of the water rushing below.  Wright materiality stemmed strongly from this inspiration of nature.  The hearth is the boulder continued from outside.  The floor was stone and often polish to emulate the look of wet stone.  He developed his concept of an illusion of the separation of interior and exterior. Wright studied Japanese houses and that style became the roots to part of his concept. He had low ceiling that compressed houseguests for many reasons.  He defined public and private spaces by compression and release.  He also used low ceiling heights to push you out of the house essentially and out into nature.  The many terraces and walls of windows also draw you outside. “Wright was the master of interweaving connected spaces, creating what has been described as fluid or flowing spaces….In these houses there is no isolation of the living and dining room or the library alcove; all are loosely defined as component areas of a larger space.” Roth 59  The great room had the highest ceilings because it was the most public space; a gathering space.  The bedrooms had very low ceilings that expressed the privacy of the space.  The private spaces were also darker making the room seem more compressed.  Even throughout the hallways you were compressed when entering and room and released vertically when exiting into hallways. Roth 58 “Architectural space is a powerful determinant of behavior”  The use of compression and releasing helped define these spaces therefore altering behaviors.

 Monticello was similar and different. When first entering the house you are released and introduced to the space with tall ceilings and materials that were congruent with Jefferson’s design concept.  From the great room you are lead into more compressed and private rooms though they were only separated by one wall.  The concept of compression and release has a lot to do with space.  There are many kinds of space that were depicted on our trip. Wright believed “space was the essence of architecture” Roth 55

     There is physical space which can be though of as the “volume of air bounded by the walls, floor and ceiling of a room.” Roth 55 Along with perspective space which is “the space that can be perceived or seen” Roth 55. For example the glass walls of windows in Falling Water opens to the outside and expands your surroundings.

Conceptual space which can be defined as “the mental map we carry around in our heads the plan stored in our memory” Roth 55.The hidden spaces for storage in Monticello would not necessarily come to mind when you think of Monticello’s conceptual space but it would be an example of behavioral space or, “the space we can actually move through and use.” Roth 55

The materials used were true to Jefferson’s style, inspiration and resources.  Many of the materials were more local at Monticello and Falling Water because of the technology at the time of development as well as the complication of transportation that came along with their location.  Monticello was on a mountaintop, which made it hard to lug materials to the site.  Monticello clears off the top of the mountain and become the focus of this mountaintop, standing out.  Falling Water, although it stands out, emulated it’s surrounding and celebrates the land more than the structure itself because it draws its concept from the surroundings.  This also affected the materials used within the space.  In history we have been discussing the innovation of machine versus handcraft. “Architects also were presented with new building materials, cast and wrought iron as well as glass, in quantities never available  before, thanks to improvements in mass production.” Roth 471 The craft of man versus machine was contriversal and made big changes in the design and production world. “The most important change in industry was the use of machines in place of skilled labor to make other machines. …With the application of simple machine to perform repetitive tasks, mass production of consumer goods began.  The result was a dramatic increase in production and a lowering of production costs, meaning that goods formerly available to the aristocracy became available to the growing middle class and even eventually to the workers themselves.” Roth 471 “…The increased manufacture of consumer good was dependent on the production of less expensive component materials, and of theses, the most important was iron.” Roth 462

 

      

 

Between Silence and Light

Good craft is essential to the success and firmness of a design. Both Falling Water and Monticello had impeccable craft for that time period. The designers paid careful attention to detail. Frank Lloyd Wright tried to complement the land and preserve it as much as he could.  While at Falling Water I noticed that he curved one of his beams to go around an existing tree so that it would not interfere with the existing landscape.  He reiterated this technique with his hearth design.  The hearth was made of a boulder that brought the outside in- literally.  It had cascading layers that sloped into the room. Frank Lloyd Wright was almost compulsive about his clients interfering with his design.  He was known to ‘client-proof’ his homes in many ways. He seldom made compromises with his clients and designed built-in furniture- one reason being so that his clients could not change many things.  There were one hundred and sixty-nine custom Frank Lloyd Wright pieces within Falling Water. Jefferson also included built-ins in Monticello.

Both designers executed their designs carefully and with good craft.  On the other hand the each had their flaws.  Like Jefferson’s idol, Palladio, his design was symmetric in plan view but this produced awkward spaces inside.  One awkward occurrence was the skylight, one of thirteen, that hugged the wall on one side in Jefferson’s bedroom.  There was also overlapping moldings in corners and spaces that just didn’t quite add up.  At Falling Water some of Wright cascading cantilevers soon sagged and supports had to be added. 

 A third of Monticello was reserved for Jefferson himself.  Some argue he was a selfish architect because of this and the fact that Monticello had an immense amount of people living and visiting all the time.  Only a wall divided Jefferson’s private rooms and public rooms.

In Falling Water Wright lowered the walls and created dark hallways to push you both outside and away from private rooms into more public spaces that had higher ceilings and a more open feeling.  This technique distinguished the two spaces well.

Both designers used techniques to tame the landscape in some way.  Jefferson flattened the mountaintop and made Monticello the focal point.  Wright blended in with the natural surroundings by creating an illusion of pulling the outside in and vice versa.  He made his design complement the natural surroundings.

These relations between the structure and he land create a distinct language.  The parts have a cohesive dialog that works well together.  Monticello is off set by the land while Falling Water emulates its surroundings.  There is also a strong language created by the interiors of the spaces.  Monticello is packed-full of artifacts and elaborate touches while Falling Water has a sense or sereneness created by uniting the outdoors and indoors and speaks of a ‘less is more’ language. 

Falling Water exemplifies the aspect of virtual by tying the outside with the inside by means of illusions.  He has boulders and foliage that come inside and are a big part of the interior.  He has open windows and glass everywhere to make it seem as if you were outside.  In many instances these windows could open so much that you were actually outside.

            We also talked about public and private space in History class. “One of the major shifts that occurred in the nineteenth century was the need to design for building functions that had never existed before-large, covered public markets; railroad stations; public and charitable institutions; hospitals; mental asylums; and housing for the workers being drawn to rapidly expanding industrial cities, to mention only a few of the new building tasks.” Roth 471 This is why just recreating precedent designs would no longer fit the modern needs.

            This weeks opus words related strongly to our trip to Monticello and Falling Water as well as to our History readings and lectures.  We explored public and private spaces in the alternative means of design, Jefferson’s Monticello and Falling Water. Falling Water was in a much more private place than Monticello.  Monticello used the land to illuminate its presence while Falling Water camouflaged itself within the land.  Falling water also used the virtual existence of nature in the interior space.

Pacific Design Center:Cesar Pelli: ANALYTICAL ESSAY .Draft One.

The Pacific Design Center is the West coasts leading resource for artists and designers needs.  Designed by Cesar Pelli, the Pacific Design Center, or PDC, is located in West Hollywood on the corner of the famous Melrose Avenue and San Vincente Boulevard.  The Blue Center was the first established part of PDC.  The 750,000 square foot structure opened in 1975.  It is often referred to as ‘the blue whale’ because of its bold blue glass cladding and large scale that stands out from its surroundings.

Pelli is known for tall building and curved metal facades.  Pelli said that he thinks, “for a while we will keep building up and up and up.  The desire is there” yet he realizes that height is far from the only aspect that makes his structures.  In reference to the Petronas Twin Towers height he says “How much are they [Petronas Twin Towers] able to capture your imagination and your heart? Being tall doesn’t necessarily do it.”

            PDC has over 120 showrooms carrying 2,100 interior product lines to meet the most finicky designers needs.  To further meet these needs, The Red Center will be built in 2010.  This will add 400,000 square feet of world-class office space to Blue Center’s 750,000 square feet and Green Centers 450,000 square feet.  The Blue center opened in 1975 and was followed by the Green center in 1988.  200,000 square feet of the Green Center was later converted to Class A; creative office space.

            PDC offers design services such as designer referrals and consulting and buying services.  They also hold special events in their many venues.  The Pacific Design Plaza is two acres of great landscaping, water features, scenery, and sculpture.  The Silverscreen Theater designed by Theo Kalominrakis seats 388 and pays tribute to the silent era of film with a modern twist.  The Conference center holds seminars, lectures, programs, symposiums and meetings.  Another venue is the Center Blue Atrium, which is 200 feet long and two stories tall. Also in the Blue center is the Center Blue Lobby.

            MOCA is the Museum of Contemporary Art and has a branch at PDC.  Wolfgang Puck also has two restaurants at PDC; Red Seven and WP.  Michael Graves designed the Pacific Design Fitness Center.

             Cesar Pelli is a world-renoun architect.  Known for buildings such as The Petronas Twin Towers and the Washington National Airport, he claims he didn’t find his true passion for design until he was out of school and in practice.  Pelli wrote his book, Observation for Young Architects, and contributed to many other books such as Portfolio Design, Saarinen’s Quest: A Memoir, Sections Through A Practice: Cesar Pelli and Associates and more.  In his book, Observations for Young Architects, he analyzes eight connections that influence both the artistic and the practical aspects of architecture and “limit and strengthen our art but are seldom understood”.  He lists these as time, construction, place, culture, design process, constituency, and oneself.  He claims, “it is possible to ignore some connections but doing so undermines the architecture.”  These eight connections take the ‘who, what, when, where, and why’ of design to next level. 

 

[Re]actions

The first time we had illumination as an opus word I focused on illuminated everyday artifacts and shedding light on things, figuratively speaking.  With our current Third Skin project the prompt word mean something more literal to me now.  Through this semester I have learned how important light is in design.  “Perhaps the most powerful element in our perception of architecture is light.  Louis I. Kahn insisted that there was no true architecture without the natural light.  Our principal receptors for sensing the environment are our eyes, and the light illuminating that environment is crucial for the information we receive.” (Roth 85) 

photos i took depicting the illumination of natural light

In our Third Skin project we were to create a design that expressed a personal narrative and a piece of inspiration from nature that focused on its perception of light.   We were to only use MDF, a linear material, tools and natural light.  I tried many iterations of this project and made copious revisions due to limited shop time and unforeseen problems with actually constructing my design.

During the process stages of my project I applied various textures to my MDF hoping the surface treatment would catch light in an interesting way.  I hoped the interesting way that light hit the textured surface would draw my audience’s attention on another level other than the shadows it cast.  We studied the tactile surfaces found in Baroque architecture in history class.  “Baroque architects were especially cognizant of the phenomenon, and in their churches, they created hidden sources of daylight, focusing the light on specific areas to direct attention.  Painter of the Baroque period, such as Ruben and Rembrandt, did much the same, similarly creating areas of strong illumination to direct creating areas of strong illumination to direct out attention.”(Roth 86)

final product

In Massey, Blakemore and Roth we read about the search for a new style and learned about many movements and revolutions that impacted the path of design. A revolution is a movement that flips the world upside down and changes everything.  Revolutions perpetuate movements within design that reflect the changes in culture.

We have been learning a lot about revival in history. From the Gothic Revival to the Arts and Crafts Revival all of these revivals had a strong impact on design.  We also have been studying the movement of certain designs spreading worldwide.  These designs originate in a foreign land and are either exported or emulated in another country.  The design reflects that of the source of this artifact; like a Japanese motif portraying traditions from Japanese culture, but is revived in a new surrounding.

In Design Graphics and Perception and Communication I thought of movement in a more literal sense. Movement dictates the level of energy in a space and allows it to come alive.  We have been designing and rendering spaces and while making my plan for the space I thought about the space needed to comfortable move around and how it would actually feel to interact with the space. This is crucial because as I read in Roth on page fifty-five, “ Buildings that work well are those whose plans and spatial arrangements can be easily grasped and held by users in their mind’s eye and through which they can move about easily with a kind of inevitability such building can be said to have clear conceptual space.”

left side::colored pencil   right side::prismacolor

I learned to pay carful attention to both texture and light source::highlights,shading and shadows.

I learned to pay attention to details, for example ceiling details; i.e.::color, molding

In studio we worked with solid materials, tactile texture, illusions, and light to design dynamic pieces that reflected interesting shadows, creating visual texture.

Something that I didn’t think would play as big of a part in the final product as it did was rotation.  During critique I noticed that with each project either Stoel or the designer would take it under one of the light sources and rotate it to see the variety of shadows it could cast.  Ching explains how “turning an idea over in our mind enables us to see and study it from different points of view.  In a similar fashion, if we can imagine how an object rotates in space, or how it might appear as we move around it, we can explore its many facets from all sides.” (Ching 283)

 In History we studied the Palace of Versailles in which water, glass, light and mirrors are used to create an illusion of space and grandeur.  The hall of mirrors is a prime example of how reflection can successfully be used within a space.  “Reflections occur on…the mirrored surfaces of glass…the reflecting surface presents an inverted or mirror copy of the object being reflected.” (Ching 257) Ching literates the importance of something’s reflection by explaining that “While tonal values can imply depth on a flat drawing surface, we turn to light to more vividly describe the three –dimensional qualities of forms and spaces in our environment.  Light is the radiant energy that emulates our world and enables us to see three-dimensional forms in space.  We do not actually see light, but rather the effects of light.  The way light falls on and is reflected from a surface created areas of light, shade, and shadow, giving us perceptual clues about its three-dimensional qualities” (Ching 50)

Reflection, in a more symbolic sense, Massey explains how design reflects previous designs, inspiration pieces or cultural and governmental directions such as in the Arts and Crafts Movement when “a conservative style, inspired by French Classical architecture of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and in interior decoration was marked by lavish use of carving, gilding, rich marble, and extravagant lighting, well suited to provide an atmosphere of grandeur for large hotels, department stores, opera houses, and the ostentatious houses of the wealthy.” (Massey 31) Many designs in some ways reflect their source of inspiration.  In our studio project many of our product reflected an aspect from nature.  The style of the Arts and Crafts Movement reflected that of Beaux-Arts.  “The Grander type of interior the prevalent style was the Beaux-Arts, so called because of its source was in the teaching of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris.” (Massey 31)

 

S   u   m   m   a   r   y

This weeks words played into each of our classes in different ways.  They all had dynamic meanings and made me further explore their meanings.  In studio reflection and rotation were key to how our light source illuminated on our project.  We reflected our source o inspiration in a more abstracted way.  In Design Drafting and Perception and Communication we learned the art of rendering and studied how details like small reflections, shading and shadows can illuminate our interiors to show both depth and our light source and make our space come alive.  While drafting these spaces we put to use the movement that a slight off-center rotation can give to our spaces and how it pulls you in more than a plan or elevation view.  In history we studied how designs reflect inspiration sources, sources of origination, revolutions, and movements through out history.  We learned about a variety of materials and how they were used to illuminate a space.  We made connections between places worldwide and learned about how those design moved or were reflected worldwide in new design and new places. In conclusion I believe this weeks words had strong ties both literally and figuratively speaking.