First Year Competition

I am disappointed that I did not consider the element of compression amidst the plethora of tension exhibited in my model. I fell in love with the tiny slits I cut in the piece of Bristol and its reaction to the curves in the paper. I was also interested in tensions so I decided to create the curves through the tension. I faced a lot of difficulty in keeping the tensiles taut. Once mastered one side, the other side changed the dynamic of the first side if the string was pulled slighty too much. The model was overall unforgiving. Tieing of the string at the end was another challenge I faced. I tried different things such as knotting, using a different tensile, burning, a stopper, and glue. I think if I had had more than a week, I definitely could have figured out how to beautifully bring the three elements together. Moreover, I had a wonderful time working on the first year competition. I was clearly challenged and enjoyed working on it and learning from my mistakes. Also because it was a project, all the first years participated in, it was interesting to see everyone's work as well as discuss ideas and their design process with my colleagues.

*I apologize for the low quality photographs. I only had pictures of my model from my iPhone.

Screenprinting Thank you Cards

I really enjoyed designing my own thank you cards. I was able to consider that aspects of design I have learned through out the year as a student from Wednesday lectures, Bill Green's ID class, and just from working on projects in our studio. Being a design major has definitely given me the liberty and the interest in learning more about types of designs and the different mechanics of executing it. I thought I would take this opportunity to learn how to screenprint from Michelle. I have along ways to go before I think I could screen print anything more complex than this because the process initially was more intricate that I had expected. I really enjoyed learning how to screen print though. I will be pursuing it more in my future years for sure.

The Letter B

Although I don't find my letter B design complex or beautiful, I enjoyed the small side project the first year class did altogether. We were challenged to "construct with a pencil the upper case letter "B" in a serif font". The presentation was fascinating because with a simple prompt, every students' letter B was different or at the least constructed differently. I think this challenge encouraged us to investigate further into the history of fonts as well as graphic design. We were asked whether the alphabet was a "graphic element" or "a tool for communication". This approach brought up interesting discussions among students and faculties. For example, am I using the font the way it was intended by the designer or am I combining it with my own style; and how do I find form through structure. The construct of all our letters were intrigueing. Many of them revealed its construction through its drafting lines, almost like revealing its history which made our letters much more beautiful, I thought. Kathryn discussed the beauty of the curves in the letter B; however, I had decided to avoid it completely and focus on the rigid and repetitiveness.

Architecture Folly: the SKIN

Sarah and I had been focusing on skins for the three groups and once the final project was chosen, we focused completely on designing a skin for the pyramids along with Shayna and Shawn. After several trips to Lowe's and JoAnne fabrics and after many discussions about the material, we chose muslin. Since we were on budget, we had to consider the cost of the fabric and its durability in an outdoor environment. This process was long because we had never designed something that was going to actually be built. I learned the complexity of making design decisions because I found that there were so many things to be considered. It was quite overwhelming at first actually. Nevertheless, once we decided that muslin was our best option, we began to brainstorm how the fabric would connect to the wood. There were so many ideas that worked well for us in a smaller scale but at full model scale, they were much more difficult to execute than we had imagine. We experimented with using tensiles and grooves; we honestly loved the clean line the groove provided but that option was not feasible. However, we realized we could create that same line by attaching small pieces of wood. It was an interesting process for me because as the structures team developed the details of the pyramids, our design plans changed with it (probably a lot like the real world). When they built a mock up of one of the pyramids, I realized that a rectangular piece of wood would not allow the fabric to sit flush to the wood. So Shawn, Andrew, Thomas, and I worked on cutting the triangular prisms with the scrap pieces of 2x4s we had left. This was a very time consuming process because we had to constantly change the angle of the table saw blade and the pieces were small and thin. We did decide that because the wood pieces were on the inside, the pieces did not have to be aesthetically pleasing. Ideally, if we could have had uniform pieces that fit perfectly, that would have been wonderful; but this was a learning process. 

[Tensile v Groove]

[Tensile]

[Groove]

[Wood Piece]

[Angled Wood Piece]

Once we figured out the outer skin system we began to work on the second skin. This was a confusing and difficult process because I was unsure what the objective was. Was it creating a different experience? And what would that experience be? Or was it to simply cover up the insides? Or was it even something else? We practically had 18 opinions on. My vision was a skin that went along the inside walls of the pyramid. While Sarah was thinking more about a cloud like structure like Shawn's cloud from his architecture folly proposal.

[combined idea]

Throughout the design of the second skin, we had neglected to consider the full scale properties such as how the fabric would be effected at a much larger scale. Would it be too heavy? How would it be sewn? Could we find fabric large enough? Would it allow enough light through? All these questions really overwhelmed me because I had always been a more linear thinker, task after task. Moreover, this year in studio, I have been learning how design isn't a linear approach but an investigation of several elements. After hours of discussions and sketches with the team, we collaborated our sketches to create three fabric panels, curved by tensile elements.

After completion of the skin, I have learned so much about construction, design, and the entire process of production. For me this project taught me a lot about those three elements than creating a finished product. I definitely think we could have found an easier and more efficient way to attach the outter skin. Whether that was creating a frame with the skin attached beforehand or something else, because our way of attaching the fabric to the pyramid made it difficult to make the corners flush and aesthically pleasing. Our research of fabric could have also gone further. We had decided to wash the fabric so that it would not shrink when outdoors; however, that is exactly what we needed it to do when we experimented with one side. That one side shrunk just enough to be beautifully tight, creating a drum-like sound when tapped. Furthermore, before we had decided to use the sheer fabric we loved for the second skin, we had not considered the possibility of the fabric store not carrying enough. Many of these obstacles taught me something that I could improve my design process for my future projects.

*study models photographed by Thomas Bueche

Architectural Folly

Through studying Peter Zumthor's Thermal Bath at Vals, I enjoyed the layering of the horizontal slabs of locally quarried Valser Quarzote. These slabs of stone are the driving inspiration of the overall design. They created a sense that the walls indefinitely continue outwards and give the allusion of a large quarry. The folly I created uses a similar layering of horizontal frames to create an outstretched feeling as well.

This architectural folly is created through a square frame repeatedly being turned and slightly altered in size after each level. I paid close attention to the simplicity of its construction as well as minimizing the amount of cutting necessary. It was also important in the design to allow for error in sizing/crowning of the wood. I chose to not include a skin in the design, as the slight spacing between the frames creates its own semipermeable barrier for the light.

Dream Project

For this project I wanted to illustrate my dreams through a metaphor. People or places in dreams are never completely made up from one's imagination. That is, these people and places that appear in a one's dreams have actually been seen at some point throughout one's life. So, I painted a series of trees that represent how one's dreams connect to reality like branches connect to a tree. Specifically, I painted the end of a tree branch because I only remember the end of my dreams. 

First Year Competition

For the first year competition, I wanted to create a symmetrical structure in which wooden dowels appeared to penetrate through completely. However, since we had limited materials I had to cut the dowels shorter; but still the goal was for the dowels to appear as if they were penetrating the entire structure. I wanted to imply a different interior structure than the outside without giving the viewer any areas to look at the interior. I wanted the viewer to question if the interior was hollow or if it was filled with smaller diamonds; in an attempt to intrigue their minds. Furthermore, though the structure is symmetrical in the bristol build, it  has many different looks depending on the viewers point of view. 

Architectural Folly

For this project I created a structure that used entire two-by-fours without having to cut them down in size. The structure was designed to be completely symmetrical, however, the experience changes depending on ones viewing point. Also, I knew that light would greatly effect how the structure looks. That is in the day time the sun illuminates the structure and create an interesting shadow pattern on the inside. At night, my favorite time to view the structure, it is lit up with lights from the inside that are connected at the pointed area of the pyramid. Since I wanted my structure to be visible at night, it was important to incorporate a skin that would allow light to be visible from the outside of the structure. 

As we actually started building this project, I realized that my original simple symmetrical idea, was not so simple to execute. Figuring out how each two-by-four connected, how the skin was to be connected to the pyramid and how the structure was going to be illuminated was incredibly difficult. Specifically, I worked on the lighting team. We discussed a variety of ways to light up the structure. At one point, we even considered a candle-lit ceiling, a completely bizarre idea that if executed would most likely burn down the structure. Nevertheless, we considered a plethora of ideas and concluded on a spotlights illuminating the structure at the two pointed areas of the pyramid. We decided that this would make the structure visible from the outside and create an interesting and completely different experience once one entered the inside. 

I am very amazed at how the structure came together. I enjoy the walkway through the two pyramids and the skin on the inside as well. Although it was a difficult project, I feel that I learned a lot about communication in a group, how a structure comes together, and how lighting affects the experience of a structure. 

Photo By: Christopher Pritchett

Map Project

     This was a study of the various ways to map a route from Cowgill Hall to Mish Mish. This was my final map for this study, which depicts the different surfaces that one walks across on a specific course. Each section is larger or smaller relative to how long one walks on that surface before walking onto another. It surprised me how many surfaces a person can walk across in such a short amount of time. This map shows that one can change surface nearly thirty times along this path. 

     I enjoyed this study because it was enlightening to discover how many different ways mapping can be conducted. In the beginning, many of us just thought of the clear-cut form of mapping that we've been exposed to our entire lives. But to learn mapping can be conducted in so many different ways and based on so many different things is incredible. It truly makes you look at the world differently and teaches you to interpret such a seemingly simple idea in complex and new ways.

Rhino Work --- Surface Area Study

     In this project, I had to take a specific volume and double the surface area by either adding to or removing pieces from the volume. I had to create rules for myself as I went through the process of manipulating the volume, and I had to stick to those rules as the volume changed with each step.
     Once the volume was completed, I received a different set of rules from another person within the studio. The next step was to manipulate the original volume as per these rules I received  This volume was constructed on Rhino.

     When this first volume was completed on Rhino, I was so intrigued with the program and the manipulations that one can do on it, that I wanted to follow my own rules and construct my own volume on Rhino as well. 

     This surface area study was very interesting to me. It intrigued me how one can remove a small sliver from the volume, or even remove just one face from the volume, and it can alter the surface area drastically. It was also interesting to see how each person in the studio can start off with the same volume, but by creating his own rules for manipulation, the end volumes can be so diverse. On that same note, it was fascinating to discover how two people can take the same set of rules and original volume, but each will interpret the rules differently, resulting in two completely different ending volumes. 

Poster Heroes

"The Green Light District"

      The motivation behind this poster was to depict the importance of production and economy within our cities; the "Smart Cities" within our country will lead our nation into the next era of energy and production. The color choices were very specific to the meaning of the poster. The bare minimum of three colors on the poster allow for the message to be portrayed clearly without the viewer being distracted by image itself. Placement on the poster was conducted in a particular manner as well. The green light bulb encircles the "green" city that is powered by the windmill shows the positive effects that wind energy can have upon our cities.

Instrument

Modeled in Rhino

 The focus of my string instrument was to visibly portray the vibrations of sound. When the instrument is played, the vibrations of the strings run through the bridge and into the metal plate. The plate may be filled with water or oil which will create ripples when played.  The body of the guitar is made of oak, which was soaked and heated to bend around the face. The neck is made of poplar and is inset with a steel rod for strength. The four knobs on the body of the instrument control the tension of the suspended plate.