This is my case piece for my residential kitchen.

FoodsLab Project

DESCRIPTION: For this project, you will be developing an instructional foods laboratory for the Department of Nutrition's in the Stone Building.

My concept for this project was a Honeybee Hive. I took inspiration from the organization of a Bee Hive (both structural and functional), the dominant colors, and the overall purpose of a HoneyBee Hive which is producing honey.

Renderings Revised

The first perspective was done on Tuesday in class, and with it I basically followed Shawn's examples. I used the burn and dodge tools, changed the pillow and shirt colors, and clone stamped. For this 2nd perspective I wanted to completely change the feel of the room. I used the burn and dodge tools to highlight the areas in which light hit and to darken the areas which were shadowed. I changed the couch color from gray to black, the walls from burgundy to black, lightened the floors and staircase, darkened the tables and rug and also the fire place. For the last perspective I chose to keep the wall color the same while brightening up the space with blue sofas. I also changed the wood on the stairs and floor and I used burn and dodge once again.

Final Rendering-SketchUp space

This assignment was fun and interesting. I actually chose to pick another Maud Gatewood painting for my color scheme and it worked better.

SketchUp-Renderings

These renderings were actually inspired from colors within a Maud Gatewood painting of our choice. This was an interesting exercise and color study because it forced me to use colors that are "out-of-the-box" for me. I enjoyed taking chances with color in this exercise.

SketchUp-Layout

I enjoyed creating this space and I am appreciative of the privilege to have been able to design my own personal space. The focal point I would have to say is the staircase which leads up to the 140 sq ft loft area.

Portfolio 2nd semester pt.2

Grad Space Section
Grad Space Plan






Stair Report
Book Assignment

"The ability to think straight, some knowledge of the past, some vision of the future, some urge to fit that service into the well-being of the community - these are the most vital things that education must try to produce." (thinkexist.com, community) When I came into this program I felt like an individual who was alone and didn't know what to expect. As the semester unfolded and the projects began I started finding new friends and people to interact with. I found very quickly that in this program, having supportive peers was essential to being successful and not as stressed out as I could be. I feel like we as first years have created our own little community in which we share the same types of interest and work loads. We know that although at times the road looks rough, our minds are set for what the future holds. We are each others motivations, as our goals are. More than anything, through this community, we have became friend's and I know that throughout these next 3 years we as a community will get stronger and continue to be supportive to each other. "Life is all about stewardship. It all belongs to God - he just loans it to us for a short period of time. The first command God gave to man was to take care of the Earth, which includes managing..." (thinkexist.com, stewardship) Although I have been in college for 4 years now, I can truly say that as a first year as an IARC student I have been forced to learn how to be a good [steward] over my time. In many other classes and majors, last minute work and half doing something usually will still get you by. In this major, last minute work causes a great amount of stress and I had to learn this the hard way. Now that it is the end of the semster, I can say that Im still not there yet as far as completely staying ahead of my work, but I have progressed tremendously. "There's nothing quite like the authenticity that comes with seeing a real person..." (thinkexist.com, authenticity) I must admit that some of the critiques and advice that was given to us from our professors was pretty harsh, and sometimes hurtful, but to be honest it was needed. One thing that I never really had in high school was teachers who pushed me to be better at everything that I was doing, and although having that would have made me work harder I really wish that could have been incorporated into my high school years. All of the professors and TA's that I have come into contact with have been both supportive and motivation to me a designer, there authencity is what set them apart from other teachers and professors that I've had, and I appreciate that. I feel like every ounce of criticism that I received was constructive and I benefited from it. "There are no dreams too large, no innovation unimaginable and no frontiers beyond our reach." (thinkexist.com, innovation) Throughout this semester I feel that one of the main goals that our professors have tried to instill in us is the ability to be [innovat]ive and have a mind to think for ourselves. My mindset was that we would immediately start to design interiors, and jump right into the main focuses of our major. I was definitely wrong. Our first project was to design a place for a leaf. Those types of projects that really made us use our brains seemed stupid then, but now I am grateful for those experiences because I have a broader view on the world of design, and how designers should be able to think outside of the box.


thinkexist.com

[Pair]ing Down

Shadow is created through light. Whether it is natural or artificial, when light shines on any 3-D object, a shadow is cast. Designers are given great opportunities to allow light/shadow to become a part of their designs and it can be very effective when it is done well. "Today's designer is trained in controlling natural light within a living space to contribute to the occupant's comfort and aesthetic sense." (Allen, 98) As with our design of the grad spaces, one of our main objectives is to create natural light through out the space. I have decided to incorporate light within my design by making hanging panels that are half transparent and half translucent. In drawing, although we are working in 2-D, we are challenged to even create light and shadow in our final composite drawings. "The essence of intelligence is skill in extracting meaning from everyday experience.." (thinkexist.com) When designing whether it is something individual or an actual space, sometimes it is worth or effective to be literal and sometimes it is important to extract the literal. Designing the office spaces is for me a good example of how we are taking inspiration and elements from our last project, but we are not JUST re-creating the window effect in the models. Being literal in this sense would take away from my design, but extracting the different elements is what I will build my project from. "The concept that guides our pencil and that later will guide our eye in equipment, furniture and fabric selection is itself guided by such practical considerations as the functions to be met, the space to be used...." (Abercrombie, 163) One of the strongly enforced concepts in our grad space design is centered around meditation and celebration. I feel that the whole space is generated around meditation because it is a place where there is a sense of escape. In separating the space, however, the meditative area is the private oasis in which the space is smaller and more personal. The sectioned off spaces will serve as meditative areas or even resting areas. The communal area is designed to be a celebration of space and freedom. It will also be celebrating things like materials. In transposing the current offices into grad spaces I am arranging the space to be separate but mutual. "Today's designer has received as an inheritance of open planning a new freedom from the rigid repetition of separate, closed discrete rooms. Spaces can now be subdivided by an inexhaustible vocabulary..." (Abercrombie, 37) The juxtaposition of the vertical elements in my space are used as a unifying component for the whole space. "Dialogue should simply be a sound among other sounds, just something that comes out of the mouths of people whose eyes tell the story in visual terms." (thinkexist.com, Hitchcock) The communications between monologue and dialogue are elements that I am trying to convey. The private elevated area that is smaller and darker is the monologue or personal area in which students are presented with a more closed in and concealed experience. The public lowered area is meant to be more of a dialogued space between more than just one person. It is an area that can be used for small gatherings or just somewhere to get away and relax and do work if wanted. The space as a whole is a dialogue in itself of public and private. In my composite drawing, the dialogue create within the composition as a whole is between linear and curves, and it is also about different innovations of the explorations unit, while the monologue is created with each individual side and each individual building.


Abercrombie, Stanley. A Philosophy of Interior Design. 1990. Harper and Row Publishers Inc. New York, NY.
Allen, Phyllis S. Beginnings of Interior Environment. 1990. Macmillian Publising. New York, NY.
www.thinkexist.com/quotes/with/keyword/dialogue

Road Trip

"It all starts here. This is the opportunity to start building a base that will last a lifetime." (Piotrowski, 15) When I think about roots, I think of a foundation. As a designer it is good to have a foundation or roots to your style, your work ethic, and your inspiration for each project that you do. I feel like throughout this first year as an IARC major, I have created and developed my own roots as a designer from experience and also from those in whom I took inspiration from. For the 18x24 composite drawing that we are working on, my roots or inspiration comes from a varitey of things. Number 1: how others who have completed this project before me produced this type of project, (2) how I have learned to compose and display my own work over this past year, and (3) how I feel the layout(colors, fonts, etc.) will related closely to the site I am referencing which is Falling Water. "A designer tries to make thinks better..." (Bockus, 1) As a design student, we get compressed with so many assignments to do that sometimes we have to take it all compile it together and deal with it. I feel this too will be true in the design world just because there will be so many projects to complete that we will have to condense it all together and make the very best of it. When ever something is compressed, there has to be a release somewhere along the way. When comparing compression/release to design, the release is the inspiration and burst of ideas and concepts to began a project. The compression aspect relates more to the assigned duties of the project, or what the client wants. "The best solution is often a compromise that blends the most positive aspects of all." (Piotrowski, 15) Congruence in design is the ability to be versatile. In having versatility, it is important to know how to bring every idea, opinion, and concept together. However, the designer has to take control of the project and all though taking from the clients opinions and ideas, must figure out what works and what doesn't. This is very evident in all three of my IAR classes because the professors are there to lead we as students in the right direction, but we as the designers have to understand the project, but be able to decide what will and what will not be efficient. Researching, learning, and understanding different materials as a designer is very important. For studio, we were assigned 3 different materials to research and from our research, we were to create 11x17 graphics for each. From the three I had (Teak, Brick, Grass Wood), I found the material Teak to be the most interesting and inspiring. Although this was my favorite, learning about all three materials was both interesting and helpful. "Concept is the designers analysis of those factors which must be satisfied to acheive a solution." (Bockus, 13) Concepts are something that we are still learning about. However, I think I have a general idea of how to project one with in a project. For our project in studio, the idea is to celebrate light in two ways. I took interest in creating light in two opposite but similar ways, so my concept will be positive and negative space. The concept for the composite drawings that I have came up with is creating Falling Water in an 18x24 graphic. I plan on creating that by connecting the whole composition with similar colors from falling water and the use of a waterfall throughout.

Bockus, Bill. Designers Notebook. 1977. Macmillian Publishing Inc. New York, NY.

Piotrowski, Christine. Becoming an Interior Designer. 2004. Wiley & Sons Inc. Hoboken, NJ.