Pathways, Edges, Boundries: Getting Started...

Me along with the rest of my group spent some time outside drawing and just looking at the space we were assigned to work with to formulate ideas.

Our first look at our area, contemplating the space provided, benefits of the area and the unfortunate pieces included, such as the trash cans and the cigarette butt receptor.

Our area...known as the GATEWAY.

Next Step: Combining Ideas and Starting Work

We started completing our ideas so we went shopping to collect supplies!

This is our first model, representing our ideas after combining everyone's thoughts.

This was part of how our area looked at one point. All the leaves on the ginkgo tree in our area fell to the ground. This is where I started getting some ideas to experiment with imprinting the ginkgo leaves into our bubbles or ground planes.

Making Semi-Circle Bubbles

Mixing concrete we found out was really hard and took a lot of problem solving, especially with the use of certain aggregates!

Starting the mixture....

Filling semi-circle basketballs, light fixtures and other bowls.

First products!

BUBBLES

This was one of the haves of the basketball that I had casted. We did not know how well the basketballs would work, but they were perfect size and they left an interesting design imprinted on the bubble.

I decided to experiment with imprinted some ginkgo leaves into the concrete bubble, since our area was full of ginkgo leaves and the ginkgo tree was at the end of gateway. The imprinting was a success, however, in the end, we decided not to use my experiment because it did not flow with the rest of the bubbles and there would be too many patterns if we chose to replicate this one.

This is a close up of how my ginkgo leaf bubble turnout out after it hardened.

This was the result of one Saturday's hard work. In one day, I was able to cast 12 bubbles.

Here we just finished mixing a bag of concrete and we are filling the semi-circle molds with wet concrete.

Final Critique for Pathways, Edges, Boundries

These are some of our final ground planes and "bubbles" laid out on the gateway. This is one of two pathways my group and I created.

This is part of the second walkway that we created for those traveling through the parking lot of follow over the island. The final product will have three ground planes in each row, making there a wider walkway.

On final critique day, a few people in my group created  this wall of photographs and drawings representing our hard work, progress and excellent outcome.

This is the final model for all the groups combined. This is the section of the final critique that I worked on. I am very pleased with the way it came out as it is very neat and detailed and all the same scale.

Drawings for my First Concrete "Bubble"

For Studio's "Pathways, Edges, Boundries" project, we were to make three dimensional shapes out of concrete that will benefit our area in the parking lot. My group, Gateway, were assigned circles, meaning we could ONLY use circles in our final presentation. In our group, we subdivided into mini groups, mine being the "bubble group". In the bubble group, we were to cast 7 1/2'' x 3 4/3'' bowls that would sit flat on the ground like half bubbles. This is a plan and section view of one of my bowls that I had casted into a bubble. The drawings were labeled with dimensions and poched.

Unity and Dialog Questions

1. How is dialog created?

-having pieces back to back

-pieces inside each other

-sense of closure

-intertwine paper

-next to each other

2. How is a sense of space/place defined?

-big enough to serve a purpose

-scale of other spaces----if you have two big, purposeful spaces and then a little "space" somewhere in the creation, the little "space" is not considered a space

3. How is the idea of system generated?

-using negative and positive spaces

-structures are systems

-sense of repetition

-"system of parts"

4. How does the joinery support the project concept/strategies?

-need joints that will hold the shape firm

-skewers set up in a way to join entire project

-skewers go through

-break skewers to join papers

-piling things together

-either sticks come together or spaces come together

5. How is scale utilized in the project?

-leading up to actual space

-scale of objects must be distinct and relate to the spaces designed

6. How do two-dimensional images add to the understanding of the project?

-defines actual spaces---where they are

-detail focuses on actual face

-pictures help see or notice what needs to change

7. How did the initial project idea evolve?

-different types of conversations --angry (confusing/complex design) VS peaceful (simple design)

DIALOG model

This is my first graphic for my dialog project as it is of the beginning of the project process. 

I felt a side photograph of my graphic was necessary as I attached a piece of my model on the graphic.
This was the first rendition of my dialog creation...

My ideas progressed as I decided the placement of my dialog pieces were not as beneficial as I had thought. With this iteration, I created more of a full circle effect and as you can see by the top view, I decided to not have the skewers of the two pieces be inter-twined. This decision was made because I realized that you do not have to make the two pieces touch for there to be a sense of dialog.

drawings for UNITY project

These are my four final drawings of my unity project: ELEVATION, GESTURE, PLAN, and CONTOUR. I found that it was extremely hard and it took a lot of time to draw these angles since my project is so complex and involves a lot of different angles and measurements. Overall, I feel my hard work and time benefited my creation. I am very proud of the outcome of these drawings.

UNITY model

These are photographs of my final graphic for the Unity project...

(this angle is to show how I attached a section of my model to the graphic to have some three dimensional interest and for better understanding)

(top view)

(side view)

These photographs are of my unity project. With the materials of twelve bamboo skewers and twelve, 4x6 pieces of bristol board, I created this unity form that uses multiple aspects of Gesalt principles. Ideas such as proximity, the combination of shapes, the form of pattern that creates enclosure, and opposite shapes of harsh triangle folds and slight curves. My unity project reflects the saying: 

"the whole is greater than the sum of parts!"

My Project with Another Project

(Haley's project)
(my project)

For my "12 rods and 12 planes" project, I created a somewhat complex design that is different from my previous, simple designs. I began this project by just "playing" with the materials and tried to make interesting shapes. I first made the curve with the bristol paper on the skewer and then I made another idea with a bent piece of paper. After putting them side by side, the idea just came to me of putting the bent piece of paper with a skewer inside or between the curved paper and the skewer holding that curve. This then created an interesting piece, which I ended up repeating into six identical figures. From that creation, I took all the six pieces and aligned them in a unified way to create one single design.

Today, October 6, 2008, the entire first year gathered in the crit room to talk about our final projects. Through this, I was able to see fellow IAR's projects and found that my project is very different from many that were presented on the tables. In particular, my project seemed like a polar opposite of Haley Preston's creation. Haley's project was very simple, as it had each bristol paper bent in a table manner layered on top of each other with the skewers going horizontally through each paper, holding the entire design up. As the discussion proceeded, Tommy brought up the idea of music being a focal point in our projects. Our style of music, however, is very different. When one looks at Haley's creation, someone would think smooth, soft jazz as opposed to my "rocker" project. Also, my project seems to encompass a great amount of dynamic energy, where Haley's does not have much energy at all. A first glance at my project will also lead you to believe it was all improvisation, when really, there is great purpose and unity when you look at it a little longer. Unlike Haley, I chose to use complete opposites, one of Gesults theories, with a curved piece and an angle piece together as one. Our projects are alike in that we both have proximity, overlapping, a certain pattern and a sense of unity. Overall, however, my project explains the saying, "the whole is greater than the sum of the parts!"

a place for 12 twigs: THE STORY

this was my first creation for my place for 12 twigs. i like the effect of the twigs sort of flying in the air freely and how it forms a "twig tree" shape. i really like it, however, my ideas did not stop here...

for my second structure, i decided to "go all out" a little bit by changing the wire to a thicker, colored wire that i bent into slight waves. this try, however, was not successful in my decision. i found it extremely hard to attach the structure to its base...it was not pretty. so i went a different direction....

this is my third model, which has been inspired by TENSEGRITY. 

after completing this structure, i thought the gold wire that i used as my binding drew too much attention away from the twigs. to solve this problem, i decided to use silver wire in my next model...

12 Twig Structure

this is my final place for 12 twigs...

TWIG CRITIQUE: September 17, 2008

Today in IAR Studio, we split up into our three, usual mini groups, north, south and midtown, and discussed each of our twig projects. When I presented my twig structure, my group came to a conclusion that my "twig tree", what I call it, is active, simple and achieves great balance. My twigs also give the allusion that they are floating because I have them twisted around thin, gold wire that is suspended in an upward tree form. Graham positively commented that he liked how, "you can't mess with the actual twig, but you can mess with the wire holding the twig." By the end of my groups discussion, we narrowed our main ideas down to how we use SCALE and VISUALIZATION in our structures. Each piece of our project must be relative to each other. For example, in my project, the twigs that I chose are very simple, short and thin so I chose a design that is simple and the wire is thin and different lengths that make sense with the scale. The way we use color in our projects is also considered scale. Colors must enhance the twigs, meaning it would be better to choose colors that make the twigs stand out instead of blend into the structure, which is usually the goal in most design projects like these. Visualization was also an important and commonly used technique between my peers, meaning various structures in some way had pattern and form. My project did not really have a pattern because all the wire limbs holding the skinny twigs were bent in random, upward directions at different lengths, but I shaped the 12 wires in the shape of a tree.

After our mini group, discussions, everyone gathered in the crit room and discussed more about our ideas. More design terms such as FOCUS, CRAFT, and the idea of PURPOSEFULNESS and telling a "story" through our structures really encouraged us new designers to think more about what we were creating. In every project, there must be one focus. What came up in the discussion was that in some peoples project, it looked as if they did not know whether they were focusing on the twigs or the paper when they were constructing their models. Strategic thinking is extremely important in any project because it allows for a clean and organized product. This also goes along with craft because in order to become a better designer, you must make numerous iterations to perfect every project. Along with having a specific purpose, it is also interesting to try and tell a story with your project, where it looks literal in a way, but it is also imaginative at the same time.

Listening to the comments of my peers in our mini group helped me greatly, but listening to the first years as a whole was also helpful and I'm glad they had the effect that they did.

Precedent of 12 Twigs

My place for 12 twigs greatly resembles a single tree of several limbs. The wire is wrapped around the thin, simple twigs and they spread in various directions similar to this tree without leaves. My original intentions for this assignment were not to reflect a tree, but rather to create an interesting and simple structure. However, I am pleased to see a clear connection between my creation and nature.

PLACE FOR A LEAF

This is my "place for a leaf". For this project, I wanted to create a place that was simple and was more about the leaf than the place. That is why I created a small viewfinder and placed the leaf between two pieces of paper. The colors of the paper and the size of the viewfinder square really draw your eyes towards the leaf and highlight the beautiful qualities such as the color and natural vein design on the leaf. Then to complete the simple design, I chose to stay with the square shape and create little square tabs that keep the black paper and blue paper together. 

Place for a Leaf: Sketch #2

 This is a more detailed description of my "place for a leaf". It provides multiple sketches and a description of the qualities and symbolism of it.