[RE]ACTION [week ten: the opus project]

The alter at King's University is a great example of a space rotating 

around a central axis, the alter. (Above)

Rotation. The act of rotating around an axis or center. Rotation allows you to see things from all sides and every angle. When you rotate your body, you can see everything around you. When you're drawing, rotating the paper can help you draw at better angles (at least for me it does). In architecture, some people focus their entire structure on one main axis and rotate the rest of the building along that axis. "... in the Gothic cathedral the emphatic axis directs movement toward the single focus - the alter" (Roth, 51). This quotation explains that the main axis of the cathedral is the alter and every other part rotates around that center.

A room design for Suzanne's class. Movement is shown 

through the three hanging gold light fixtures. They move your 

eye from one side of the space to the other. (Above)

Movement. An act of changing physical location or position or of having this changed. Movement in a drawing directs your eyes from one side of the page to the other. In architecture, movement has the same effect. It can make your eye steadily move from one room to the other, or make you eyes jump from one exciting detail to the next. "But the line that most strongly conveys dynamic action and movement is the diagonal. This phenomenon was exploited in numerous compositions in Baroque ... " (Roth, 61).

My light fixture I designed for my studio class was all 

about reflecting light in a colorful and energetic way. 

How I got a "C" on it .... I DON'T KNOW? (Above)

Reflection. The throwing back by a body or surface of light, heat, or sound without absorbing it. Reflection can obviously mean the reflecting of light but it can also mean to think deeply and carefully about something. "So the laboratory spaces were separated into two parts, large spaces to work and small private spaces for reflection" (Roth, 16).  I find that this quote is a great example of explaining that every person needs their own environment to review and contemplate their ideas. It also confirms that reflection isn't always about a mirror.

Vitruvius' plan for the Roman theater is a

 great source for all theaters built today. (Above)

Source. A place, person, or thing from which something comes or can be obtained. "Once again Virtuvius is the source of ancient advice, for he observed that oikonomia, the Greek term he used, is essential to good architecture, suggesting that this would result from selection of a good building site, use of good materials, and wise control of expenses" (Roth, 135). Information is learned through the knowledge and experiences of ourselves and others. When we get any idea from another person we considered them to be a source.

My friend ambuLAAAR took this picture of me at the arboretum. 

It is expressed through the illumination of the beaming sun. (Above)

Illuminate. Help to clarify or explain, to bring light to. "Painters of the Baroque period, such as Rubens and Rembrant, did much the same, similarly creating areas of strong illumination to direct our attention" (Roth, 75).  Illumination allows designers and artist to decide where they want people to focus on their work. It demonstrates the most important part of a scene and can beautifully highlight everything around.

Grammar : Syntax [week nine: the opus project]

Audience. Viewers, onlookers, patrons; crowd, congregation, turnout. Though the creation of an artist or designer reflects mainly on their views and feelings, an audience is sometimes the most important part of a design. An audience or crowd are the people who will view your creation and make their own judgments on them. They will tell you wether they believe it's good or bad. This can sometimes be a good or bad thing. When an audience critiques you as being good, you really have nothing to worry about. It's when somebody doesn't like your work that you have to step back and think. Not everyone will appreciate the things that you do, but it comes to design you can look at criticism as being something to work from or improve on, or you can accept the negativity placed on your work but stand strong by your design. It's your work, what you created, you wouldn't put something out there if you didn't like it. "Write while the heat is in you. The writer who postpones the recording of his thoughts uses an iron which has cooled to burn a hole with. He cannot inflame the minds of his audience" (Henry David Thoreau). Design what's in your heart now, don't wait for the audience to be ready. Do it now and ask for forgiveness later.

Drawing was first done in pen - I later revised it by adding splashes of color for interest.

Revisions. Correction, alteration, adaptation, editing. Revision means correcting or altering something done in the past, but it also means taking a second or closer look. You start out with your first idea. It's always something extreme and crazy, it has to be though. When you are given a new project or assignment, you imagine no limitations. You are free think up and dream any wild idea your mind can create. Slowly, your head comes out of the clouds and you revise and alter your ideas into something more produceable. "Enjoying success requires the ability to adapt [revise]. Only by being open to change will you have a true opportunity to get the most from your talent" (Nolan Ryan).

Character is shown in the way people design. I like flowers and

colorful frilly stuff so -- thats my design up there for my next studio project.

Character. Personality, nature, disposition, temper, mentality, makeup. The character of a person defines who they are. It allows you to know how they were brought up and raised. This can also explain why some people design the way they do. When a designer creates something thats always playful and energetic you can easily see their character in their design. A design helps you to understand the character of a person. "... let us say every man is an architect of his own character" (George D. Boardman).

The transition above is from the natural objects I chose in the 

first drawing to the design patterns I made in the second.

Transition. Change, passage, move, transformation, conversion, metamorphosis. "The best performance improvement is the transition from the non-working state to the working state" (quotes). In design, a person always starts off with extreme and eccentric ideas, those ideas are then revised into something more produceable and then transitioned into some that you can actually bring to life.

My group followed a datum line to show consistency through our presentation board.

 

Datum. An assumption or premise from which inferences may be drawn. In Suzanne's class this past week, we work on presentation boards that reflected the all of the work we've done this past semester. On those presentation boards we focused a lot on datum lines, or a common line that all of our drawings shared. I found that when using a datum line it really allows your final product to come out clean and smooth.

This week was all about appealing to an audience through the process of design. One must always start with a first draft or idea. That idea is then revised and transitioned into what is more appealing to the audience. However, while working for an audience you must always have your own character in your creations otherwise the project will not be your own at all. Finally to create a successful design you must must follow a datum or guidelines that will again appeal to your audience.

Photog Sesh ...

so every once and a while my best friend amber and i decide to hold little photog seshes, or photography sessions. we find cute little places and try to create some pretty bang ass / cute pictures.

i'm posting this because one: they're cute pictures, and two: i'm tired of my blog being all about school. it's time i post stuff i do in my every day life and by every day life i mean the couple hours outside of the studio.

this photog sesh was at the arboretum...

our secret.

definitely girl with a pearl earring.

my take on marry poppins.

beautiful.

together.

The Crit Room

Above is a plan view of the critique room in studio. The scale is 3/8" : 1'.

Creating a Space [isonometric]

The next step in creating the south side room was to draft an axonometric view of the space. I chose to do an isonometric picture. The scale is 1/4" : 1'.

Creating a Space [elevations]

The above composition illustrates the south, north, east, and west elevation section of the below first draft below.

Creating a Space

Our next series of assignments in drafting was to imagine a room and draft it. The above picture is a plan view of the room that south side chose. It begins to show where the section cuts are for our next assignment.

Discovering Pat's Chair [axonometric views]

Above are three different axonometric views of Pat's Chair. The first [very top] is a plan oblique composition. The second [middle] drawing is an isometric composition. The third [very bottom] composition is an elevation oblique composition. All drawing are done in an 1 1/2" : 1' scale.

Discovering Pat's Chair [elevation and section]

The above image illustrates the west elevation of Pat's chair and the west section as well. The draft is in 1" : 1' scale.

Discovering Pat's Chair [elevations]

The next step in the "Pat's Chair" project was to create the north, south, east, and west elevations. The above image shows what I completed. It is in 1 1/2" : 1' scale.

Discovering Pat's Chair

In drafting I had to create a chair for a fictional girl named Pat. It was made of a piece of 4x8 chip board. Above is the first plan view of my design.

The ABCs and 123s of Architectural Lettering

My first assignment in drafting was to complete a repeating series of letters and numbers in architectural lettering.

MICRO : MACRO [week six : the opus project]

Composition. A composition is a collective whole. It is the act of putting things together. Constructing and forming. This past week was filled with compositions in all of my classes. I find that any drawing is a composition and in Suzanne's class we had to create a series of drawings of an assigned building. From that we also had to form detailed plans of that building. In my mythology class, I used composition in putting information together. Though I did not construct anything, I formed a series of events that allow me to have a better understanding of the culture and religion. The above picture is the graphic I composed for my Portal project in studio.

Porch, Court, Hearth. In architecture, a porch surrounds the building and is the opening to everything. It forms a connection to every part of the space. The court is the next part of a building. It is an open area and acts as a gathering and meeting spot. It allows people to come together. The hearth, which is usually in the center if a home, also acts as a gathering spot. It is the heart of a home and family. All of these parts form the whole of a home. "The sequencing of rooms followed the norm in which a tripartite arrangement begins with the reception spaces and is followed by the great hall or living room and private section" (Blakemore 6).  In this quote you see the were the three words relate to the structure of the home. The porch, or reception space, is the area surrounding the home. The Court, or Great Hall, invites people in. The hearth, or living room and private sections, are the heart of the home. The above picture is a plan view of an Egyptian home.

Diagram. A diagram is a picture that allows to see the intent of a space or thing. Diagrams, like the drafts I made in Stole's drafting class, allow you to see the intent of a building. Diagrams can also be a collective group of picture that allow you to see the intent and vision of a designer. In studio, I had to create a diagram that showed a connection between a precedent building and a portal that a group of people and myself created. "When applied to contextual analysis, a diagramming process can act as the key informant at the very outset of design" (Lockard, 29). The above picture is a diagram copied from a handout that Suzanne gave to us by Lockard.

Impressions. An idea, feeling, or opinion about something formed without conscious thought. An impression is the what you walk away with after seeing something. An example would be the Gothic Cathedral or Egyptian temple. Both spaces consume you and make you feel as if you are being swallowed in by all of the architecture. "Like mid-twentieth century modernist architects, medieval master masons sought to dematerialize structure, to make the church an analogue of the ethereal heavenly city" (Roth 336). This quote informs us that the architects of many churches and cathedrals wanted to leave an impression of one walking through heaven. The above picture is "supposed" to represent a church reaching into and becoming apart of the heavens.

Detail. A detail is a close up picture of a specific part of a building, it is an individual feature, fact, or item. With Suzanne's project, we were assigned a building and then from that had to draw a series of pictures and the from that we had to create a detailed drawing of a site specific feature. "Your purpose is to make your audience see what you saw, hear what you heard, feel what you felt. Relevant detail, couched in concrete, colorful language, is the best way to recreate the incident as it happened and to picture it for the audience" (Dale Carnegie). The above picture is a detail I drew for Suzanne's class. It is a detailed drawing of the pond outside of the Elliot University Center.

The more I relate these Opus projects to my everyday life, I find that every topic relates back to parts and whole. To me it definitely relates to Micro : Macro. Micro meaning the small parts and macro meaning the bigger picture. A porch, court, and hearth are the parts of home. They leave a warm and inviting impression on all people and allow you to find little details in hidden corners. Finally, with that detail you are able to create compositions in the form of diagrams. Every "micro" part leads to a "macro" whole.