Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monday, March 2, 2009
Inspiration Artist
The final three drawings that I chose I felt best represented and imitated the inspriation artists work the best. With 2 of the 3 being from Brooke Morgan, her style and technique in representing an interior really struck and stood out to me. Her use of clean lines, variating line weights, and light water color to make the floors appear glossy added visual pleasure to her work. Looking at her work made me want to actually inhabit and experience the spaces in which she communicated through drawing. The other artist Wyzte van de Belt really stood out to me because of the way he chose to make line vertical lines with horizontal lines. Also, through his shading technique, he didn't need an "outline" of the space, but rather he chose to let the horizontal lines make the composition. 
Micro: Macro
Impression:
Impression kind of reminds me of a precedent, only I feel as though it is something stronger than a precedent. In Suzanne's class, the inspiration artist was suppose to influence us and help us learn to incorporate different styles and techniques in our own work. I feel as though the artist I chose actually had an impression on me because I will now in most if not all of my drawings focus more on line weight, shading, and cleanness just as she did. "It's not what's there that counts...but rather the received impression." (Raymond Price, Impression)
Porch, Court, Hearth:
Through diagrams we can better understand the porch, court, and hearth of a area or space. For instance, when diagramming the MHRA building, the porch would clearly be the entrance to the building, and the actual space once you enter the building. The court would be the main gathering space for students and faculty which is the two-story area which is domed in. The hearth(s) of the building would consist of personal offices and bathrooms. Although the classrooms are one of the main aspects of the building, they could go for the court or the hearth of the building depending on how they are used. In Florence, porch, court and hearth were important aspects of the architecture of the medieval time period.
Detail:
Details are one of the most important aspects of design. "The artist should fear to become the slave of detail. He should strive to express his thought and not the surface of it.What avails a storm cloud accurate in form and colour if the storm is not therein?" (Albert Pinkham Ryder, Detail) We were prompted to choose 3 out of the 5 best drawings that we completed in Suzanne's class and detail them to perfection. Line weight is an important detail for drawing, and especially in drafting, because it helps communicate things such as closer/distant walls/elements, where a plan is cut at, invisible lines, dimension lines, and so on. Without these details, we cannot ensure that a structure is constructed and read the right way. As we install our portal panels in Studio, we understand that each detail is essential in making the final product a success. Details are also the hidden elements that can help keep a project together. For instance, with our portal panel designs, we cannot just stick cardboard to the wall and hope it stays, but instead, we must plan and prepare to include small details in which will successfully and aesthetically hold our projects together.
Diagram/Composition:
In design, diagrams are used to help us better understand plans and they give us a more in depth understanding of how things will or do function in that space. It is a way of simplifying a plan so that clients and other's who aren't educated in reading plans can understand. "The hallmark of a diagram is its ability to simplify a complex notion inot essential elements and relationships by a process of elimination and reduction." (Ching, 289) In Suzanne's, we as groups were assigned to diagram our buildings into four different parts. My part was to diagram the function of the space. I highlighted the public and private areas, and used different hatching and line techniques to diagram offices, bathrooms, classrooms, etc. In the 13 century medieval world, the city of Florence as a composition was also diagramed into public and private spaces. Composition and wholeness go hand in hand in my opinion. When thinking about something that is whole, thoughts about all of the parts that play together to make it whole come to mind. The same is true with a composition. "It is not an isolated fragment in itself, but part of the world which includes the gardens, walls, trees, streets beyond it boundaries, and other buildings beyond those. And it contains many wholes within it- also unbounded and continuous in their connections. Above all, the whole is unbroken and undivided." (Alexander, 80) The composition of Florence was based around the "unified center" which was the Duomo. From that, the city consisted of churches, markets, and palatzzo’s which were the main house forms. Although separated into public and private, the city of Florence was still a connected composition. In Studio, our portal panel designs are pieces coming together to form a composition. While there is the actual installation of the cardboard and paper, there are other elements such as our 11x17 graphics, our translucent graphics, and our digital presentations in which all compose the final project.
Tying it all Together:
This weeks words all communicated circulation and order to me. With relations through diagrams creating compositions and vis-a-versa we can understand things such as the porch, court, and hearth. The details are remenant of diagrams because they help us better read and understand certain things.
Alexander, Christopher. The Nature of Order. 2002. The Center for the Environmental
Structure. Berkley, California.
Ching, Francis D.K. Design Drawing. 1998. John Wiley and Sons. New York, NY.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/quotes
Impression kind of reminds me of a precedent, only I feel as though it is something stronger than a precedent. In Suzanne's class, the inspiration artist was suppose to influence us and help us learn to incorporate different styles and techniques in our own work. I feel as though the artist I chose actually had an impression on me because I will now in most if not all of my drawings focus more on line weight, shading, and cleanness just as she did. "It's not what's there that counts...but rather the received impression." (Raymond Price, Impression)
Porch, Court, Hearth:
Through diagrams we can better understand the porch, court, and hearth of a area or space. For instance, when diagramming the MHRA building, the porch would clearly be the entrance to the building, and the actual space once you enter the building. The court would be the main gathering space for students and faculty which is the two-story area which is domed in. The hearth(s) of the building would consist of personal offices and bathrooms. Although the classrooms are one of the main aspects of the building, they could go for the court or the hearth of the building depending on how they are used. In Florence, porch, court and hearth were important aspects of the architecture of the medieval time period.
Detail:
Details are one of the most important aspects of design. "The artist should fear to become the slave of detail. He should strive to express his thought and not the surface of it.What avails a storm cloud accurate in form and colour if the storm is not therein?" (Albert Pinkham Ryder, Detail) We were prompted to choose 3 out of the 5 best drawings that we completed in Suzanne's class and detail them to perfection. Line weight is an important detail for drawing, and especially in drafting, because it helps communicate things such as closer/distant walls/elements, where a plan is cut at, invisible lines, dimension lines, and so on. Without these details, we cannot ensure that a structure is constructed and read the right way. As we install our portal panels in Studio, we understand that each detail is essential in making the final product a success. Details are also the hidden elements that can help keep a project together. For instance, with our portal panel designs, we cannot just stick cardboard to the wall and hope it stays, but instead, we must plan and prepare to include small details in which will successfully and aesthetically hold our projects together.
Diagram/Composition:
In design, diagrams are used to help us better understand plans and they give us a more in depth understanding of how things will or do function in that space. It is a way of simplifying a plan so that clients and other's who aren't educated in reading plans can understand. "The hallmark of a diagram is its ability to simplify a complex notion inot essential elements and relationships by a process of elimination and reduction." (Ching, 289) In Suzanne's, we as groups were assigned to diagram our buildings into four different parts. My part was to diagram the function of the space. I highlighted the public and private areas, and used different hatching and line techniques to diagram offices, bathrooms, classrooms, etc. In the 13 century medieval world, the city of Florence as a composition was also diagramed into public and private spaces. Composition and wholeness go hand in hand in my opinion. When thinking about something that is whole, thoughts about all of the parts that play together to make it whole come to mind. The same is true with a composition. "It is not an isolated fragment in itself, but part of the world which includes the gardens, walls, trees, streets beyond it boundaries, and other buildings beyond those. And it contains many wholes within it- also unbounded and continuous in their connections. Above all, the whole is unbroken and undivided." (Alexander, 80) The composition of Florence was based around the "unified center" which was the Duomo. From that, the city consisted of churches, markets, and palatzzo’s which were the main house forms. Although separated into public and private, the city of Florence was still a connected composition. In Studio, our portal panel designs are pieces coming together to form a composition. While there is the actual installation of the cardboard and paper, there are other elements such as our 11x17 graphics, our translucent graphics, and our digital presentations in which all compose the final project.
Tying it all Together:
This weeks words all communicated circulation and order to me. With relations through diagrams creating compositions and vis-a-versa we can understand things such as the porch, court, and hearth. The details are remenant of diagrams because they help us better read and understand certain things.
Alexander, Christopher. The Nature of Order. 2002. The Center for the Environmental
Structure. Berkley, California.
Ching, Francis D.K. Design Drawing. 1998. John Wiley and Sons. New York, NY.
http://www.yourdictionary.com/quotes
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Voices
PRESENCE
When it comes to design, presence in my opinion is the ability for ones work to stand on its own without explanation to a viewer from the designer personally. It is also a feeling that is felt when experiencing someone's work. I feel like overall in the previous week I exemplified presence both in my drawing and studio courses. For Suzanne, the newest phase in our project was to take 5(out of the 12) thumbnails we previously sketched and emulate the style of an inspiration artist of our choice. I feel as though I succeeded in taking the artists different techniques and incorporating them into my work. When we presented the drawings on Tuesday, my work in my opinion created presence by itself. Our pathways phase of found in translation required us to create one model from the 3 previous models constructed that incorporated the successful qualities. I feel as though my final model held its own presence because the pathways were clear as well as the word that I focused on which was contrast. The Romans wanted to create presence through their architecture specifically focusing on the interiors. "Images of stylized reality, captured in the glittering mosaics, evoke a spiritual presence in an outer wordly atmosphere of resplendent grandeur." (Roth, 298) 
METRIC
DUALITY
The duality in which was created in our 5 inspiration drawings was in my opinion very abstract, but very understandable. The whole idea of duality focuses on multiples or twos and in that you find common ground as well as differences. In those drawings it is almost as if the duality of the two styles creates its own style, and I find that to be very interesting. Drafting holds a duality in itself in which different line weights are created to form an overall better view of a plan or section. White and black create a duality of contrast depending on how they are used together or separate. Since contrast was my word, the duality that I wanted to create was one of not just color, but also shape and size.
MOMENTS
PRECEDENT
Roth, Leland. Understanding Architecture. 2007. Westview Press. Boulder Colorado.
When it comes to design, presence in my opinion is the ability for ones work to stand on its own without explanation to a viewer from the designer personally. It is also a feeling that is felt when experiencing someone's work. I feel like overall in the previous week I exemplified presence both in my drawing and studio courses. For Suzanne, the newest phase in our project was to take 5(out of the 12) thumbnails we previously sketched and emulate the style of an inspiration artist of our choice. I feel as though I succeeded in taking the artists different techniques and incorporating them into my work. When we presented the drawings on Tuesday, my work in my opinion created presence by itself. Our pathways phase of found in translation required us to create one model from the 3 previous models constructed that incorporated the successful qualities. I feel as though my final model held its own presence because the pathways were clear as well as the word that I focused on which was contrast. The Romans wanted to create presence through their architecture specifically focusing on the interiors. "Images of stylized reality, captured in the glittering mosaics, evoke a spiritual presence in an outer wordly atmosphere of resplendent grandeur." (Roth, 298) METRIC"You cannot manage what you cannot(or do not) measure..." (Unknown)
As designers, we have to use metric in a literal and not so literal way. Of course being able to understand scale and different metric systems as we are learning in Stoel's class with the completion of Pat's Chair is the literal and very important side of metric. We must be able to also apply the concept of metric by choosing solutions and ways in which we go about designing a space or structure. I found that in doing my 8" x11" drawings of the MHRA building, I had to use a system of metric in applying people/scale figures to my space because as I was drawing movement was occurring all around me. In my sketches I had to get a feel for the placement and gestures of these people since I couldn't just freeze time. Creating a pathway model also enabled my thinking to become metric in a sense because I had to find ways to satisfy the requirements of the project such as focusing on one word (with my word being contrast), using only black and white, and 
incorporating a scale figure within. "In the most profound centers which have perfect wholeness, there is at the heart a void which is like water, infinite in depth, surrounded by and contrasted with other clutter of stuff and fabric all around it." (Alexander, 222) This void that he is speaking of is what we as designers must fill and know when, where, and how to incorporate it within the space or design.
incorporating a scale figure within. "In the most profound centers which have perfect wholeness, there is at the heart a void which is like water, infinite in depth, surrounded by and contrasted with other clutter of stuff and fabric all around it." (Alexander, 222) This void that he is speaking of is what we as designers must fill and know when, where, and how to incorporate it within the space or design.
DUALITYThe duality in which was created in our 5 inspiration drawings was in my opinion very abstract, but very understandable. The whole idea of duality focuses on multiples or twos and in that you find common ground as well as differences. In those drawings it is almost as if the duality of the two styles creates its own style, and I find that to be very interesting. Drafting holds a duality in itself in which different line weights are created to form an overall better view of a plan or section. White and black create a duality of contrast depending on how they are used together or separate. Since contrast was my word, the duality that I wanted to create was one of not just color, but also shape and size.
MOMENTSPRECEDENT
The use of an "inspiration sketch" to further develop our MHRA project is successful in the way that it challenges us to emulate a precedented style as well as incorporate our style with in it. Drafting the crit space in our building is helping us understand the concepts of floor plans and we are encouraged to find precedents of representing windows, doors, etc. to create our own style. The Ziggurat of Ur-Nammu as a precedent is helping us structure our portal panel. While we are not remaking the ziggurat, we are taking the important elements such as the heirarchy and the progression of moving the eye upward to further our design innovations. Precedents dont have to be still standing today. The architects of the medieval period recognized this when they decided to use the remains and memories from invasions in Rome. "The memory of Rome lingered as well, especially in Southern France, where many Roman ruins served as models..." (Roth, 313-314) Although the structures were destroyed, they still acted as precedents in that they created such strong features and details.
Tying it Together:
This weeks words took my knowledge and my investigation to another level in defining and understanding how to use them in everyday life and in design. I never thought to use metric in my vocabulary unless I was specifically talking about drafting until I realized that metric is more than just a definition, it is a concept(especially for designers). Presence happens all around us, but it is when we make that distinct connection with someone or something that a moment is created. As I become more of a designer, I finding inspiration in so much, whether it be from another designer or a thought or memory that I have. Duality as a designer is an important quality to with hold because you must be versitle enough with your style considering the fact that you never know what your client may want.
Works Cited:
Alexander, Christopher. The Nature of Order. 2002. The Center for the Environmental
Structure. Berkley, California.
Roth, Leland. Understanding Architecture. 2007. Westview Press. Boulder Colorado.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
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