BAC Design Studio: project 2

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Project II - Exercise 13

Exercise 13 due Monday October 21:

• Photograph Project II models (including study models) and scan all drawings (including process sketches/drawings).

• Produce a series of 8.5x11 page layouts (landscape orientation) which compile the documentation you have previously done and which describe your process over the course of Project II. Remember to think of these as being viewed within the context of a "book" or "portfolio" rather than as individual sheets pinned to a wall. Be selective about which images and captions tell the story of the project development. Bring the pages to class on Monday.

Project II - Exercise 11

Thursday October 3:

Desk critiques / working session. Please continue to model iterations on your design in class (and beyond, as instructed)

As you continue to develop your proposal for Project II, refer to the following parameters:

• Develop a scheme that negotiates between two distinct spaces accommodating contrasting modes of inhabitation.

• Identify spatial qualities of each area and how they are differentiated (views, light, transitions, etc.)

• Explore approach and context (e.g. how does your construct meet the ground?)

• Consider sequence of movement to and through the design

• Understand scale differences and employ varying levels of detail at different scales

• Determine relationships: between spaces, between people, between landscape and construction

Exercise 11 due Monday October 7:

Write a concept statement.

A well-written concept statement is crucial not only to communicate the intent, motivations, and goals for a design project, but to guide the design process as well. Please write a concept statement and post it to the blog, along with a title. These may seem like unnecessary flourishes to your work, but really they can help encapsulate your ideas. When you link your motivations to a word, phrase, or concept, you can then develop a succinct understanding of your process.

Write the terms of critique.

Critics of your work should be made aware of how to judge your work. The concept statement is one way that critics can evaluate if you met your own goals, and terms of critique are another. These may be reflective questions, and should focus our attention not on the successes alone, but on your concerns, and unresolved questions. In short, these are the topics of your project that you want feedback on.

Take a sequence of photographs that explores the visual approach to your design. Imagine how you might want people to see your structure from afar, and how, through visual proximity, the experience changes. Try to get down at “eye” level with the camera and gradually move closer to the model in order to simulate the approach. Now draw over these photographs, adding a level of detail (such as materials and refinement) and occupation (people in the scenes).

Project II - Exercise 10

At this point you have developed a scheme which negotiates between two different spaces. You should identify how the various areas within the scheme are occupied and in what way they intersect. You should consider aspects of light, views, and connection to the ground plane.

You will continue to expand upon your design by taking notice of moments of transition between spaces, between the context and the structure, between “interior” and “exterior” etc. Are these thresholds clear or ambiguous? Are they physically present or implied?

Exercise 10 due Thursday October 3:

• Identify two moments of transition or threshold within your scheme. For each cropped transition produce 3 study models at 1”=1’-0” that explore the development of these transitions (these are sketch models that work through ideas) . You should not be limited by the thickness of your modeling material, thicken walls and modulate topography as necessary. Use the models as a way to examine methods of intensifying, delineating, or integrating these moments of transition.

• Take 5 photos and post them on our blog of different types of thresholds existing in landscape, architecture, or urban environments. Label them with their location, the types of spaces they are mediating between, and how you identify them as thresholds. You should look for these thresholds in a variety of intimate or vast, public or private spaces and use this opportunity to be critical about the world you dwell in. Perhaps even carry a sketchbook and tape measure to record measurements and notes about the thresholds.

Project II - Exercise 08-09

Formalize your spatial ideas into a coherent proposal in models, drawings, and diagrams.

• How are the various areas of occupation differentiated?

• What are the boundaries and connections between spaces? How are they defined? Are they physically present or only implied?

• How does the structure meet the ground/what is its relationship with the ground?

• What are the qualities of light in the occupied spaces?

Exercise 08 due Sunday September 29:

• Produce a series of sketches and diagrams that explain your project through distilled information graphics, or mapping of information onto conventional drawings. Post your diagrams to the blog by Sunday night.

Exercise 09 due Monday September 30:

• Rework your ½” = 1’-0” model. At this point you can use materials other than plaster (in addition to, or instead of) in order to explore and develop your proposal. However, you are restricted to a maximum of two materials. Models should represent your current ideas on the relationship between the human body, space, and the structure of the built work. Consider using the following materials: chipboard, corrugated cardboard (clean with no labels), basswood (no barcodes), wood dowels, piano wire, plaster.

• Draft a ⅛” = 1’-0” plan and section. What is visible and important to show at this scale? How does one approach the proposal? Are there different experiences depending on the angle of approach? What, if anything, can be seen and understood about each of the spaces from a distance? The scale determines the level of granularity of how you study the built environment in relationship to the human body, view, connections, access, movement, space, tectonics.

• Using images, colors and textures (from magazines, newspapers, rubbings that you’ve taken, etc.) collage over the drafted plan. Every color/texture should help describe the plan and inform the viewer of the general atmosphere that you are trying to create with your proposal. Focus on pattern relationships and intersections as well as color blocking and composition. For examples, see the following:

http://www.bacdesignstudio.blogspot.com/2013/03/site-collage-examples.html

Project II - Exercise 07

Today we discussed the importance of scale both in terms of the interpersonal relationships that arise through inhabitation, as well as its role in design and representation. Additionally, we introduced the idea of constructive order which may be defined as the fundamental organizing principle for the design. As your project develops, the constructive order may also evolve, and you should strive to continually identify the order(s) you are working with.

As you continue to develop your proposal for Project II, refer to the following parameters:

• Develop a scheme that negotiates between two distinct spaces accommodating contrasting modes of inhabitation.

• Identify spatial qualities of each area and how they are differentiated (views, light, transitions, etc.)

• Explore approach and context (e.g. how does your construct meet the ground?)

• Consider sequence of movement to and through the design

• Understand scale differences and employ varying levels of detail at different scales

• Determine relationships: between spaces, between people, between landscape and construction

Exercise 07 due Thursday September 26:

• At a scale of 1/2” = 1’-0”, draft plans and sections of your models. Use this drawing exercise to practice your technical drafting skills. Incorporate the feedback you received in class, and approach these drawings as another medium through which you can develop your schemes further.

• Using your study in casting, the form of which was derived from both the model material and human-movement qualities, characterize the constructive order of your design work. You may define your constructive order through vignette drawings, taxonomies of connection methods, casting operations, simplified models, or purely through written description. The purpose of this exercise is to understand the language through which your design ideas speak. The constructive order should be connected to scale in a discrete manner.

Project II - Exercise 06

Exercise 06 due Monday September 23:

• Read the selected chapter “Distances in Man” from The Hidden Dimension by Edward Hall (pg 69-78) available at the link on the blog. We’ll have a short discussion about this Monday, but mainly try to incorporate elements from the reading into the following assignment.

Conceive of a construction where there are two distinct spaces which intersect at some point. These can relate to the spaces your have been investigating from class but, more importantly, should allow for 2 people in seated conversation and 3 people walking to co-exist within a single construction. The goal is to begin to understand the interpersonal relationships that arise when you start to zoom out in scale and address the accommodation of more than one occupant. Consider both planar and sectional relationships, privacy and communication...the spaces do not necessarily have to occur on the same level.

• Draw 3 schemes for the integration of these two types of spaces. Use plan, section, and axon to sketch out your ideas. Each scheme should explore a specific relationship that can be described using one or two words eg. interlocking, overlapping, isolated, extroverted etc.

• Further develop your sketched schemes in model form by making at least 3 castings (rockite or plaster) that accommodate the two types of occupation. You may begin to incorporate another contrasting material into your constructions. For example, you may choose to embed basswood sticks into your mold in order to define more open, airy, and less monolithic areas of occupation. Castings should be constructed at a scale of ½” = 1’-0”.

Consider the following:

- What are the characteristics/keywords that define each type of occupation?

- Does the activity occur in isolation or in the company of others?

- What does it imply in terms of view or communication?

- What leads into the sequence or happens after it?

Cut out and paste the appropriate scaled figures on chipboard backing to use as a reference when developing your spaces. Bring these to class on Monday.

Project II - Test Molds

Project II - Exercise 05

Tonight we’ll cast the test molds, and review the drawings you've done for the motions of the body through space, with the knowledge of what the next part of the project will be.

Exercise 05 due Thursday September 19:

• Model the space the body occupies. Translate the body-in-motion into a spatial construct interpreting one of your 2-dimensional analyses into a 3-dimensional abstraction through casting. Think about expressing the body (in motion, abstracted) as a space created by the formwork required to cast it. Thus, you will need to model the “body” to create the space for it. Further abstraction, techniques, and methods of construction may be determined by your process of casting. This model should be cast in one of the materials used tonight at a scale of 1/2” = 1’-0”, or 1" = 1'-0", whichever is more scale-appropriate to the motion you are studying.

Bring in your Ex05 piece on Thursday, along with tools for a Thursday activity (keep an eye on email and the website/calendar for a list of what to bring).

Project II - Exercises 02-04

Project II learning goals

- Design for human inhabitation and scale

- Develop an understanding of threshold and spatial relationships

- Discover and develop intentional tectonic systems

- Cultivate spatial awareness

In-class exercise:

a. In pairs or groups of three, take turns photographing and recording measurements of the human body. These measurements will be your document of the scale of the human body. Sketch your surveys and note measurements in your sketchbook or on trace.

b. Map the flow of an action. In a sequence of stills, photograph the human body in the following movements:

moving from a compact position to an open position, e.g. getting up from a chair, crouching to standing, sitting to laying etc.
walking a distance of at least a few paces. Measure time/duration as well as distance traveled.

Attend to the scales of movement of different parts of the body, e.g. the range of movement of the head vs the arm, the impact of these movements (being able to touch something vs. being able to see something). Capture the actions from multiple angles and in series of tightly spaced photos.

Exercise 02 due Monday September 16:

• Using the photos and measurements you gathered in class, produce a series of drawings that describes the two separate activities in space over time. Treat this exercise both as an analysis of the motion, and as an analysis of the amount (and shape) of space the body occupied in each case. Experiment with a variety of ways of representing the information. For instance, you might track one part of the body as it moves across space. Or perhaps you create a boundary line capturing the outermost points of the body throughout the movement. Start to identify the similarities and differences between the two activities. What are the important aspects of each action? View? Linear movement?

Bring in a series of drawings for each activity. They should be constructed and drawn at the scale of 1” = 1’-0”

Exercise 03 due Monday September 16:

We will be casting in plaster for this project and will need to test out the material and the casting technique before we can design for it. Please produce a test mold and bring to class on Monday. It should be made with foam core, all joints should be fully taped with heavy-duty cellophane packing tape, and the top should be open to accept the pour. Also, please bring a small bucket, latex gloves, stirring stick, rockite or plaster of paris, and latex gloves. We'll do the casting in class as a group.

Exercise 04 due Sunday September 15:

• On our blog, post brief responses to the following questions (supplemental or example images encouraged):

-How does human scale and proportion influence the built environment?

-How does the built environment influence human occupation?

Remember to periodically check the blog for reference images, links etc.

Project I - Exercise 05 & Project II - Exercise 01

This week we are wrapping up Project I and beginning Project II. In Project II, you will continue to explore spatial ideas and relationships that were addressed in the previous project. In addition, you will examine ideas of scale and proportion through human occupation. While this is a new project, you should still work to apply concepts from the last few weeks to this assignment.

Exercise 05 due Thursday September 12:

• Photograph the previous assignment and scan all drawings.

• If you are already familiar with computer programs such as Photoshop and/or InDesign, produce a series of 8.5x11 page layouts (landscape orientation) which compile the documentation you have previously done and which describe your process over the course of project 1 in a paragraph or so. If you are not yet familiar with these computer programs, create a layout with printouts of the photos you have taken. Be selective about which images and captions tell the story of the project development. Bring the layouts to class on Thursday.

Project II

Exercise 01 due Thursday September 12:

• With the given print out or PDF file, digitally or manually cut out the figures and selectively collage them into your photographs. With these figures you are indicating a scale to the construction you made. How might people occupy such a space? Does it act as a landscape, a piece of furniture, and interior etc? Post one such collage (or photo of the collage) on our blog.