In Case You Are Curious…

In case you are curious what I am up to outside of the school life, come and see my other blog where I share all things design related. For now have a Happy Holidays and thanks for visiting!

Hours and Hours

Hours and hours went into the realization of my final model for Studio Practice 1 – the design of dorm for dance student. Every museum board cut had a reason – from ribbon-like skin wrapping around to transcending stairs to their translucency. Many times the details go unnoticed if not highlighted in presentation and I now understand the importance of proper explanation and the value of guiding audience through my project because they cannot guess my intention and design process.

Joint In Progress

Switching from plywood to real wood was a good choice in order to get a better grip of my material. Another addition was the idea to incorporate copper tubbing for support and visual contrast.

Shadows Cast by Natural and Artificial Light and Perspective Drawings

Light and shadow study was analyzed through my dance design program study model. Taking pictures prior to my rendering was helpful to see shadows and their different intensity which is something my eye would not otherwise see. Shadow “travels” through an object differently under natural and artificial light.

Artificial is more direct than natural light and casts its shadow from one source:

Natural light casts its shadow in more balanced way and it was interesting to still see high contrast and strong value scale under this light:

Constructed 2-Point Perspective of selected area at our Studio Practice 1 Site was technically challenging but rewarding process at the end. I chose a further view from the nave to show our site in context within the already existing space. Same view was chosen for my night (artificial light source) and day (natural light source) drawings. I wanted to emphasize angles that represented strongest elements in the space such as concrete beam and classroom dividing walls. 

Lecture Notes Experiment

Sketchbooks are an interesting thing. I have always been curious about other people’s sketchbooks, wondering what kind of ideas are they doodling in them, what inspires them and how do they organize everything. More and more do I realize that my sketchbook is not only a tool to generate and collect thoughts but it has become a reference for re-visiting old ideas and re-inventing them in different ways. I hope to re-visit notes from a lecture I attended on Thursday which was given by Charles Renfro from Diller Scofidio + Renfro architectural firm based in New York.

Mr. Renfro guided us through a few projects of the firm highlighting key elements from each of them. From Parasites exhibition in MOMA in New York and Blur building in Switzerland to moving trees in Liverpool and expanding balloon from a giant doughnut, it was instantly visible that a sense of humor plays a big part in this firm. Many of Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s projects confirmed their belief in “looking” and “understanding what we are seeing” and questioning our assumed perceptions such as in the case of Blur building where an inhabitable cloud gives an idea of a form/structure but there is really nothing to see “but our dependence on vision itself.” The Blur building is an “architecture of atmosphere” and a great example of the firm’s approach to architecture in general. Attached are my notes and sketches from the lecture.

Pattern Development

In the past couple of days I have been re-evaluating my current pattern that was originally developed by action word “rotation”. Establishing stronger hierarchy and making my pattern less dense was something that I wanted to focus on while still keeping in mind the flexibility which I would like to achieve through my selected joint system.

Currently I’m in the process of adding an acrylic not only to ease the density but also to allow more light in. Lengths and thicknesses of pieces of wood  are also being finalized and I will keep you posted as actual parts will be made in wood shop tomorrow!

Sketching Practices

In Tools and Technology class we used sketching practices in order to learn about light and shadow and their effects of various surfaces. I tried to look analytically at how light casts shadows and how it shows different qualities of materials under different light circumstances (shiny steel under direct sunlight, lusterous effect on wood under natural light, reflection in water). We started at the Yerba Buena Gardens in San Francisco by doing 5-10 minute sketches. The luck was on our side because the sun came out for us to see the strong contrasts between light and shadow. Spending a couple of hours there allowed me to notice the movement of shadow as well. 

Next sketching exercise worked in conjunction with our skin development in Materiality and Space. The purpose was to find volumetric options of our skin in space while using one-point perspective grid. Generating ideas without being constricted by grid at first, allows me to sketch freely at the beginning.Different exercise involved looking at the effect of light during a day and at night. By choosing same viewpoint, I was “forced” to look at the differences in both time frames. One of the things I noticed was how light comes in during a day and protrudes outside at night.

More Models!

Our investigation of specific set of spatial strategies (in terms of volumetric, textural and lighting effects) in relation to specific programs (dance, reading and sleeping) continues…

Exploring Pattern and More

In Materiality and Space 1 class, we went through an exploration of volume, space, repetition in a sequence of different steps. It all started with a simple container of our choice (medium-size round shape in my case) which we filled with plaster. After exploration of its volume, skin and structure through model building, we moved onto creating a pattern based on an action word delivered from our models. “Rotation” was an appropriate choice for mine and I played around with pattern options:

Moving from 2D to 3D:It was interesting to transfer our pattern from 2D to 3D because suddenly there was freedom to play with scale and volume while keeping certain repetition in our pattern. Seeing it flat in 2D was more planned and technical. In 3D I enjoyed seeing its dimensional construction in space.

Summary of my patterns, including elevation and section:

Moving forward into axonometric drawings followed 3D pattern. Again, we were to step back and access our action word and see how we could expand on it. We were allowed to change scale and even shapes from our pattern, as long the general idea of pattern and our action word was translated.

How are things in our pattern really connected? Exploration of joinery forced us to think functionally about our pattern:

By making my joint, I realized the many options in joinery in general and the options of connecting things together. It was great to experiment with different options because my final joint was not what I had original planned or even thought about. I only knew that I wanted my parts to be connected and to be able to rotate. By not being “stuck” on only one possibility of joint, I think I was more willing to experiment.

Diagramming our design process helped us to communicate our analytical thinking from the beginning of our project. I liked seeing the sequence of my design process starting with a container which we filled with plaster all the way to making a joint. Every step was connected and an important step to further on not only our action word, but also on expanding on scale, volume, and technicality. Looking back and evaluating each connection was helpful to access the continuity and design progress of our thinking. 

Different part of our process was to learn about and work with selected material of our choice. I have researched about wood properties and qualities, wood joinery and wood’s applications in industrial design, interior design and architecture.

5×5 renderings are weekly assignments that teach us to look at materials and textures around us in more detail-oriented eyes:

Final presentation:

Barcelona Pavilion Case Study

For an analysis of a space as part of Project 1 in Tools and Technology 1 class, I chose the Barcelona Pavilion by Mies Van Der Rohe. Since 1929 when the pavilion was built for the International Exhibition in Spain, it became a magnet of spatial studies for architects everywhere. It was this interest about such small space that caused my intrigue to learn more about it.

First step of understanding the pavilion was to draft its floorplan and section. Since the original plans were in metric and were missing key measurement, converting them into inches while making sure all dimensions were correct became a challenge. At the end though, I was pleased with the results:

Even though it is visually simple floorplan, its complexity comes from the strategic layout of walls. Unforced direction of visitor’s movements throughout the space happens naturally without clear knowledge of the visitor. Walls are not there as bare structural support but rather spatial dividers and “directors” of the space:

Another interesting element Van Der Rohe considered while building the pavilion (in bare 8 months) was his selective choice of materials and colors. Glass, travertine, marble, onyx and steel were his only few choices. As far as colors selection, Van Der Rohe let the natural materials speak for themselves and added only black rug and red curtains in one area of the pavilion which not only contrast with one of the yellow walls but has political statement as well showing German colors. 

After drafting a floor plan, section and research about the pavilion, the final step was an analysis of core spatial strategies within the space. I chose to portray these strategies through diagrams as they would be the best choice to highlight the unique complexity of the pavilion. Sketching through various option helped me to understand the space even better:

Individual strategies I focused on were circulation, interlocking spaces, space within a space, and materials.

Finished diagrams and sketches:

Here is my final presentation of case study of the Barcelona Pavilion:

For more information and photos about the pavilion, you can visit the official website here.