[Re]actions

Rotation- Rotation is a term that is used often in history in reference to the fact that history repeats itself. In my history and theory of design class we talked about how furniture made a rotation it started out very simple and then it moved to being very curvy and elaborate and then bake to simple straight lines and then finally back to elaborate again. Blakemore talks about his idea of rotation “during the empire period there was a tendency to more accurately revive classical models: whereas in the early neoclassical period of Louis XVI, designers consciously, freely adapted and interpreted designs based on antique sources of influence” (Blakemore 337) Rotation in design would be the idea that a room or a building or anything that you design is rotational meaning that all sides and all views are designed you don’t just design one wall of something you design the whole space. The picture below is of a drawing that I did of a cardboard chair I thought that this chair represented rotation because of the fact that this chair is made of recycled cardboard and it is basic and simple.

Movement- Movement can be interpreted in two different ways relating to design. The first way that movement can be seen is the way that we talk about in my history class which is moving on and developing designs and ideas. We have recently been studying early America which is all about new things and moving from England to the new world and creating new designs. One of the biggest movements that we talked about this past week was the glass and iron movement. Glass and Iron opened up a whole new realm of possibilities in the design world. Movement in the other since of the word can be used as the actual act of moving. In my drawing and my drafting class this past week we have been working on designing a room that incorporates a living area an eating area and a kitchen. In designing this it has been essential that we focus on movement in the space. People must be able to move throughout the space without obstacles getting in their way. In my Blakemore readings he talked about the idea of the fireplace being the center of the home and everything revolving around it “the chimneypiece was the focal point of the Early Georgian interior, and considerable attention was lavished on it in terms of the ornamentation of the architectural elements as well as its position in the room.” (Blakemore 260) In my studio class we have been building things that manipulate light so movement is seen in the form of controlling or moving nature to fit you desires or needs. The following picture is of the room that I have been working on for drafting and drawing it is a processes picture the final design has not yet been completed. The picture below is of the space that i have been designing for my drafting and drawign classes. This space represents movement by the layout and the way that you manuver troughout it.

Reflection- Reflecting on the past and the history of design is extremely important to understanding design now. Most of the ideas in design if not all have come from the past and the majority of the ideas have been around since the beginning of time. If we do not study these ideas we cannot design now to our full potential. Also reflection is something that is talked about in regards to your work. For example in my house design that I am working on for drawing and drafting the design is something that reflects who I am as a designer. In my studio project with manipulating light the idea of reflection was a good place to start when coming up with my design. In reading Roth I found a quote that I think very strongly represents reflection “Architecture was intended to communicate its purpose directly to the observer, to be l’ architecture parlent, or literally, “speaking architecture.”.” (Roth 448) The picture below is of the crystal palace this building really reflects the period that it was built the industrial revolution when iron and glass were first being used.

Source- This past week in my history and theory of design class we have been talking about colonial America and early America. In talking about this we talked about how America got most of its ideas of design from England so often times in looking at early American design the buildings could be found in either location. America used England as their design source. This past week we also talked about how glass and iron could be mass produced this was during the industrial revolution when lots of new ideas and sources of materials and information were becoming available. In my drawing and drafting assignment of designing the house we had to find furniture and appliances to put in our designs. Often times in design you have to take things from different sources to incorporate into you design. In my design studio class we are building the object for manipulating light and in coming up the design we had to think about our source of light and how it would work with our design. The following quote talks about how these people took inspiration from a painting “Taking their inspiration from the seventeenth-century landscape paintings of Nicholas Poussin and Claude Lorrain, numerous wealthy gentry reshaped their country estates in the manner of these paintings, damming streams to create irregular lakes, and [planting groups of trees so as to frame asymmetrical vistas of meadowland across the landscape, dotted with classical pavilions.” (Roth 453) The drawing below is of one of the pieces of furniture i found to use in my space.

Illumination- My interpretation of the word illumination in reference to design is a building or an object that stands out from its environment. Roth talks about how this house stands out because of its stark design “The stark geometry of the administrator’s house was emphasized by over scaled details, particularly the columns of the portico built up of alternated cylindrical and square blocks of stone.” (Roth 451) In my history and theory of design class we have been talking about the industrial revolution in which country’s were competing with one another to make the biggest and the best designs the prime example of illumination is the Crystal palace whose design was later repeated by America and France. These iron and glass buildings also let in a lot of natural light illuminating the building in a way that had not been experienced before this time. In my design studio class we are playing with illumination with our designs of objects that manipulate light. The drawing below is a symbol of illumination it is a light and without light there would be no illumination.

Synopsis- This week’s words focus a lot on the way that things are viewed for example illumination is about lighting and showing off and rotation is about showing all sides and completion. Reflection can also be tied to the idea of things being viewed. Then movement rotation and source are all tied together with the idea of moving forward progressing and developing new ideas in design and architecture.

Unit Summary: Alternatives

For the past few weeks in my history and theory of design class we have been covering the unit called alternatives. The alternatives unit was a unit that moved us past the foundations of design and got us to more recent design. Starting out in this unit we first talked about the countries of France, Italy, and Germany. We later branched over to Spain and England, all of these countries were moving forward and advancing during these periods. When looking at this unit one of the main building forms that we started talking about was churches or places of worship. The reason that we covered churches is because of the fact that churches were places that extremely important to the people so they designed the churches with the latest inventions and the most elaborate styles. We talked about the idea of buildings reaching heavenward this was where we started talking a lot about Gothic architecture and how they built upward with domes and flying buttresses. Gothic architecture is very elaborate with arches and details all of the buildings are very well planned out with math and drawings geometry played a huge part in the gothic designs. Most of the cathedrals in the Gothic style are place on a cross shaped grid as a symbol to God. We talked about the Duomo in Florence and we used it o compare and contrast other cathedrals of the time. After moving on from gothic architecture we talked about the renaissance and Venice,” the city of floating stone” this city is a huge engineering feat because the whole entire city is literally floating on logs. The city of Venice was known for its production of lace and glassware. A lot of the buildings in Venice take inspiration from these things one of these buildings was the Doge’s palace the exterior of this building looks like lace. The next thing that we covered was the Villas in the Veneto this point in history was the point where people started putting façades and porches on the front of residential buildings which up to this point had been left to government buildings and churches. The renaissance which was a time of rebirth it was time in design where things were designed as a show buildings were big with gardens and paths all on grids and laid out in a clean manner. The renaissance was home to many famous artist and designers such as Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, and Brunelleschi. During the renaissance frescos and elaborate stairwells and sculptures were often incorporated into design. The building that I believe best represents this unit is the Duomo in Florence. The reason that I think that this building well represents this unit is because the Duomo is a prime example of gothic architecture and all of the architecture that we studied that followed the Duomo is loosely based off of and takes inspiration from gothic architecture.

grammer: syntax

Audience- An audience is someone who sees your work and takes part in it. In design everything that you design is for an audience you are designing something that is going to be seen and interacted with. In my studio class we had to become the audience of nature and go and a nature hunt to find things in nature that we like and that inspire us. In my design drawing class we had to make a presentation board that we used to present our work to an audience. In my history and theory of design class we read about the traditional roles of spaces Blakemore talks about how the a space is used to house an audience in this since in a non traditional manner.“Charles II is said to have used his bedchamber not only for receiving visitors but also for dinning.” (Blakemore 196) The picture here is of one of the natural elements that I found. http://icons-pe.wunderground.com/data/wximagenew/s/snow25/389.jpg

[Re]visions- Revisions is a term that I would describe as being taking something and correcting it to make it better, you revise it. It could also be interpreted as taking something and finding a new vision for it and making it something new. We have been talking about how design is constantly evolving and transforming from year to year civilizations take something and revise it to make something better. Roth talks about this concept. “The last phase of baroque architecture in France moved away from the heavy architectural decorative elements and deep colors of the early seventeenth century in favor of more slender decorative features and a much lighter palate of colors.” (Roth 429) In all of my IARC classes we work a lot with revisions when you design something you can never let the beginning be the end you have to take what you have and revise and improve so that in the end you have a clear and successful design.

Character- The word character can be interpreted in a lot of different ways the first way that pops into my head is a character in a story, play, or a movie. However character is a term that can also be used in relation to design for example you can say that a building has character. In my history and theory of design class this past week we have seen character in all of the buildings that we have looked at. There is some sort of character to be seen whether it is the architectural details or the story behind the building. Also in my design drawing class we have been studying the Foust building which is the oldest building on the UNCG campus this specific building shows character through a lot of different architectural details. One specific detail from this buildings past is the fact that it was originally used for an all girls school in my opinion this fact adds a lot of character to the building. Blakemore discusses different elements in design that help to add character “Plaster with fresco, exposed beams with small painted patterns, and white and gold stucco were prominent in the rendition of the interiors.” (Blakemore 177) In my studio class we had to find character in nature when we went on a nature hike, we were looking for inspiration for a design project that we will be working on. The image below is of a door knob in a house I was in that i felt showed a lot of character. .

Transition- Transition is a word that stands for something moving from one thing into another thing or something becoming something new. In my history and theory of design class we have been studying through the whole semester about transitions in architecture and how different styles and time periods have moved on to become a new style with new ideas. Often times past civilizations would take inspiration from others and use them to move into a new style “Influenced as they were by the French and Dutch, the English selectively took continental ideas and modified them to suit their taste.” (Blakemore 201) In my studio class we had to come up with patterns and when doing this you start out with thing and you move over you transition to new ideas by thinking abstractly. Transition is a word that describes my time at this university I am here to transition myself from schooling into the work force. Roth talks about how transitions can be in parts “Above this is a transitional level, with four pendentives that rise for a deeply coffered oval dome.” (Roth 411) The images below are of my patterns transitioning from the object to the pattern.

Datum- The definition of datum is something that is used to draw a conclusion, or it can be used as a line used to make reference points from, when surveying or drawing a plan. In history and theory of design we talk a lot about how in the past civilizations a lot of the cities would build their cities and design them on a datum line meaning they would make all the roads straight making them a direct shot to where they are leading. All of the buildings would be placed along these lines. In my drafting class we have been talking about drafting in perspective and when doing this you have to establish a datum line to make your perspectives from. In my design drawing class this past week we had to make a project board and we talked about datum lines in reference to the lining up of pictures and things on the board the teacher recommended that we draw a datum line and line all of our drawings up with it on the board. The image here is of a house showing datum lines.

Summary- This week’s opus words are all about moving and becoming new things and people interacting with design. Design is always progressing and will continue to. The way people use design has stayed the same as far as living and working however the interaction with the design is constantly changing.

Precedent Analysis: Part 2

Plan view ¼ scale- ink on bond
Elevation ¼ scale- ink on bond
North section ¼ scale- ink on bond
South section ¼ scale- ink on bond
West section ¼ scale- ink on bond
East section ¼ scale- ink on bond
Orthographic- ink on bond
Detail drawing- marker and colored pencil on velum
Line drawing- in on bond
Perspective interior- ink on bond
Analytical essay:
I. Products/ material
a. How it was built and how long it took
b. Framing techniques used to make the curves
c. Summary of process
II. Designer overview
a. Inspiration
b. Other projects
c. Schooling
III. Use of the building
a. Concerts etc.
b. Special programs
c. Any other
IV. Disney company overview
a. Other projects
b. Goals
c. Inspirations
V. Pricing
Questions?
How do I get the plan for my building?
How do I draw a building that is all curvy how do I do the dimensions?

P week

Periphery- periphery means the outside of something the outer edge or what is outside of the rest. In my history class we talked about how the outside of buildings are important the outer shell is what is judged a book is judged by its cover. The designers in the renaissance were more concerned about what was seen and not as much about the other parts of the building they made sure that the outside of the building was seen and focused on. Roth talks about how Alberti redesigned a building exterior in order to make a bigger impression “In putting a new exterior shell… Alberti created a deeply arcaded new wall that enveloped the old church walls in a way that recalled the massiveness of the coliseum in Rome.” (Roth 367)

Portfolio- A portfolio is a group of your work or of someone else’s work that is compiled together. This week in my design drafting class we had to put together a portfolio of all our work from this semester up to this point. In my design drawing class we put together a portfolio of all of our work from the building analysis project and we had to come up with ides so that we could make a display board with all of our information. We did the same thing in my environmental design class with our found in translation project.

Process- Process is a word that describes the steps that it takes to get to something or the design procedure. In my environmental design class we talk a lot about the design process. We have been working for most of the semester on a found in translation project that keeps building on itself. We have been going through a process all semester in order to get to our portal design in which we took inspiration of all the other projects in the unit. In the same way that we have been doing a project that builds on itself in my design class we are doing the same thing in my design drawing class we have been focusing on a building and we have done a lot of little projects on it and we are going to present it all together it was a process not just a one step project. In my history and theory of design class we have been talking about renaissance architecture. This period in time is all about rebuilding and the process it takes to get there. We talked about a really interesting process in relation to Venice. We talked about how in Venice the city floats and in order to get this to happen the builders cut down trees and they floated the whole city on the trees and t is still floating on them to this day. Process is a word that can be used in a lot of different ways Blakemore talks about different decorative processes “In addition to inlay, prominent decorative processes were carving, turning, and painting.” (Blakemore 142)

Perspective- Perspective is the way that something is viewed or the way that something is perceived. In my history and theory of design class we talked about how the designers in the renaissance period designed for a specific perspective. The designers would put a lot of detail on the front of the buildings but they would leave the rest of the building really simple. Blakemore talks about how you can judge the interior from the exterior “The hierarchal arrangement of spaces in the manor houses could be deduced from the exterior. The significance of the level or floor could be determined by the height of its windows, which were taller on stories devoted to ceremony.” (Blakemore 131) In my environmental design class we have been building portals in which perspective is very important. When designing the portals we had to build a scale model of our portal but when doing this we have to be focusing on how people are going to perceive it that is why it is very important that we work with scale models. Roth talks about perspective in the way that a society viewed itself “They had a new confidence in their intellectual capacity and desired a new architecture, one expressing the mathematical clarity and rationality they perceived in the divine order of the universe.” (Roth 353)

Professional- Professional is someone or something that is well prepared or has knowledge of a subject. It also means following or being a part of something like a job. In all of my classes we are learning a profession and that profession is IARC. In my design studio we have to make power point presentations in which we are learning to be professional. For our presentations we have to dress nice and to make sure that our power point is well composed and easy to read it needs to be a professional presentation. Roth talks about how artist began to be viewed differently as professional workers “Coupled with this new sense of human potential and history was the perception of the artist as a humanist scholar-not simply an artisan or a craftsman but a philosopher in paint and stone.” (Roth 353)

Summary- This week’s words were harder to relate to each other than usual however I think that the word perspective and peripheral can be related because they each are words that represent the way things are viewed. A perspective being the way it is viewed from any angle and the peripheral being the way things are viewed from the outside.

drafting