Oh sweet sweet last blog (really, this time!)

So here are the images of my shells that go with the words I posted last week. The shells correspond to the words from left to right, like reading a book. Enjoy!

Last Blog!!

Oh, Sweet last blog,

It's been a long time coming.

I made a list of twenty words that I got from the chapter about shells in The Poetics of Space. They are:

Shells

1. geometrical
2. mysterious
3. dynamism
4. natural
5. formation
6. solidified
7. coil
8. subtle
9. carved
10. unfolding
11. polish
12. beautiful
13. stone
14. living
15. refuge
16. simplicity
17. creatures
18. magnitude
19. spiraled
20. emerges

My shell sheet is too big, so I'm not going to bother to scan it. It's amazing, I promise.

Have a great winter break!!

-Xtina

Perspective

Since it was the day before Thanksgiving, class was only half an hour long. We briefly discussed The Poetics of Space, which we will soon be reading. We also very very briefly went over perspective and were asked to draw a few images.

pyramid

cube

cylinder

sphere

And now for something a little different...

During our last class session we welcomed a guest speaker. James is a friend of Francisco and also a designer. He gave us his thoughts on Maps of the Imagination and also gave us advice about the kind of things we should be thinking about. Near the end of class, we saw slides of his senior thesis, which I thought was pretty brilliant. I loved seeing the process, starting from the drawings on tracing paper, the photos of the sight and the 3D model. It is a little intimidating because I do feel like such a beginner but we all have to start somewhere.

Macro / Micro

I was feeling a bit under the weather during the last class and think I may have faded in and out during some juicy bits of discussion. However, I did manage to do my sketch:

I chose rhythm as my word. And unless you're not paying attention, you will see that I chose waves as my macro image and cilia as my micro. I hope this was actually what we were supposed to do for the assignment. *fingers crossed*

The class that wasn't

We didn't have class last week. Looks like flu season is in full effect.

I have continued reading the book. I'm almost sad to see it end. I especially enjoyed reading about Chuck Jones in the chapter "A Rigorous Geometry", maybe because I really like Chuck Jones' work or maybe I relate to the logical argument of writing relating to math.

Hope you're feeling better. See you next class.

Maps - Revised

During our last class session, we spent most of the time mapping the word homeless as an example for our own maps. From homeless we ended up with words like lovers, nurture, needy, money and lightness. It was a pretty interesting exercise. It helped us visualize what our own maps would be like. 

For the second exercise, we redrew the words into simplified images. Well, Francisco did it, actually. We just watched (and learned, I swear). 

Map - Chapter 1

More maps

I'm enjoying "Maps of the Imagination" and although the book is geared towards writers, we can apply it to our study of architecture. We started building our maps using a photo from the giant book for inspiration and the words that we chose from each chapter.

Chapter 3: Projections and Conventions

1. measure the whole universe
2. objective presentation
3. assume bias
4. ability to convince us
5. cartographic paradox
6. homogenous
7. "conventions of illusion"
8. "a bank of frozen oatmeal"
9. frenzy
10. "unsettle the suburbs of your routine sentiments"
11. "rattle the tracks of your trains of thought"
12. the issue of color
13. armchair explorer
14. effectiveness
15. transparently useful
16. orientation
17. crucial relationship
18. curious exceptions
19. cause and effect
20. resiliency
21. persuasive evidence
22. logical conclusion
23. implicit assumptions
24. correlation
25. lush descriptions
26. detail
27. context
28. artistic representation
29. intellectual construct
30. selectivity
31. disturbing omissions
32. inconsequential
33. assertion
34. visual statement
35. "Words can never be a simple reflection of life."
36. unspeakable data
37. minimize distortion
38. speak powerfully
39. a point of view
40. vital energy

Chapter 4: Imaginary Scrolls
1. "Perhaps being lost, one should get loster."
2. orientation is entirely arbitrary
3. visually dominant
4. ongoing practice
5. fundamental assumptions
6. the rules of composition
7. automatism
8. scientific desire for comprehension
9. "into the beaten way"
10. technical challenge
11. disorientation
12. disorient and orient us spatially
13. perspective
14. "repeated with progressive vagueness"
15. implications
16. understanding rises
17. linear unfolding of words
18. "navigational systems"
19. travel-oriented enterprise
20. conventional realist
21. absorbed and uncertain
22. conflicting desires
23. the metaphor of seduction
24. the cycle of arousal and denial
25. interwoven narratives
26. desire for coherence
27. methodical
28. utterly controlled
29. familiar trail
30. deviations
31. blending of dialogue
32. never fully yields
33. larger weave
34. adapting
35. formidable
36. repetition
37. infinitely ascending
38. bold assertion
39. a world of obsession
40. crucial components

Maps of the Imagination

The first part of the last class session was spent looking over our visual maps. We must now redraw them using pencil so we can try to foster our intuition.

Idea     ----process---->    architecture    ------->   experience

Chapter 1 - Metaphor: Or, the Map

1. "Every step is an advance into new land."
2. great conflicts
3. meaningful discoveries
4. organize information
5. maps suggest explanations
6. exploration
7. "Tell me a story."
8. overlap, intermingle and impersonate
9. "assertive action in the face of uncertain assumptions"
10. presentation
11. "Artistic creation is a voyage into the unknown."
12. pointlessly lost
13. risk of failure
14. invented answers
15. "What lies beyond the stars?"
16. contemplate a world
17. "objective" or "faithful"
18. governed by intention
19. enchantment and beauty transcend the rational
20. no particular place to go
21. ecstatic fruitfulness
22. exhilarating moments
23. "the technique"
24. methods of expression
25. the muses
26. trailblazers
27. well-worn path
28. "Sometimes it's very tempting to be satisfied with what's easy."
29. preconception
30. to translate one's sensation
31. obsessive devotion
32. spontaneity
33. creative shaping
34. passionate excesses
35. irrational and useless beauty
36. the howl of the Beats
37. the delirium of Dada
38. pilgrimage
39. into the interior of the self
40. benchmark
41. restrict the prescriptive
42. balance of intuition and intention
43. tantalizing in its brevity

Chapter 2: A Wide Landscape of Snows
1. "by its indefiniteness, it shadows forth"
2. immensities of the universe
3. a world of possibility
4. spoiled blanks
5. internal struggle
6. premapping
7. locate onself
8. scenic route
9. sense of place
10. paths of spiritual energy
11. "season-on-the-line"
12. placing themselves
13. deliberately withheld
14. mapmaker's culture
15. "a perfect and absolute blank"
16. aggressive tendencies
17. insufficient curiosity
18. "I love white spaces, love the telling omission..."
19. urban myths
20. spiritual landmarks
21. to destroy false notions
22. fanciful fripperies
23. provocative
24. sounds and smells are difficult to map
25. primarily visual
26. "My map absorbs me with what it does not reveal."
27. unfathomable void
28. surrounded by blankness
29. the world's overwhelming richness
30. "...everything in my head interests, moves and excites me."
31. "Don't go there."
32. putter-inners
33. leaver-outers
34. selection and compression
35. naturalism
36. persuasive whole
37. The Way Finder
38. "We aspire to a kind of magic."
39. the unblank
40. principle of the iceberg
41. "...desiring the darkening effect of ink"
42. explicit depiction
43. tabula rasa

October 7th

For this class, we started putting together the visual map for our building. I chose six vignettes that represented each of the primary characteristics of the Contemporary Jewish Museum. After some insightful tips from Francisco (am I allowed to call you that?), I cleaned up my drawings and added two additional sketches. I am pretty happy with the results.

The two images on the left represent solid and cavity and the image in the center represents the figure/ground relationship.

The top left image shows the texture of a wooden bench, the center image represents the relationship between hard and soft and the top right image shows rhythm as related to music.

The left-hand image shows the scale and proportion of the front entrance as related to the human figure and the bottom right-hand image also represents rhythm as related to time.

texture drawings

The top represents brick and the bottom represents pebbled granite.

The top represents wood on a bench and the bottom some stone, probably granite, on the ground in front of the museum.

September 30th, 2009

We reviewed rhythm, focusing on its relationship to music (music as a metaphor for architecture).
-a line is as light as a feather (line weight)
-what will draw us into an experience? A line?
-asymmetry, cavity (curiosity, unknown), rhythm as AAA/ABA (structure, beats, math/formula)
-timing of music can create balance, be dynamic or evoke stability
-p.196: Alvar Aalto's M.I.T. building - view, perspective, individual
-to see rhythm, think in terms of music first
-BUILD FROM THE CORE, HEART, MIND

We moved on to the subject of texture. What is the experience?
-creating textures
-Cherokee woven basket, used for storage - what is the process? (how: habit, spiritual, function, materials, symbolism, structure); HAND vs TECHNOLOGY
-the Cherokee used to have homes with entrances on top (metaphor)
-we live with objects; our objects describe who we are

We very briefly touched on the subject of color.
-color is associated with material; materials come from nature (the honesty of color)
-painting creates a feeling of homogeneity (historical, i.e. Greek)

*YOUR LINES WILL BECOME YOUR ARCHITECTURE!

texture shots

simple brick

granite base

grain of wooden benches

don't know exactly what this material is, possibly more granite

beautifully pebbled ground

Experiencing Architecture

Since I finished the book a while ago, I think it'll be a good idea to peruse it again and jot down some of my own notes.

Chapter 1 - Basic Observations
- putting together things that belong
- learning from architecture of the past but not trying to recreate it
- appropriate design for environment
- different people experience architecture in different ways
- hard vs. soft
- man's desire to build shelter

Chapter 2 - Solids and Cavities in Architecture
- visual process --> observation
- supported / supporting
- relation of forms
- solid vs. cavity
- figure vs. ground

Chapter 3 - Contrasting Effects of Solids and Cavities
- light against deep recesses
- balance and harmony vs restless / dramatic
- every period of architecture is followed by a period of deviation from it
- harmony with nature

Chapter 4 - Architecture Experienced as Color Planes
- color and light
- hard materials that look like fabric (light)
- importance of decoration
- buildings can appear heavier or lighter than they actually are
- making structures appear thin or light

Chapter 5 - Scale and Proportion
- Pythagorean theorem, golden section, golden ratio
- vibration
- Le Corbusier's Le Modulor and DaVinci's Vetruvian Man

Chapter 6 - Rhythm in Architecture
- subdivisions (windows, doorways, etc.)
- repetition
- rhythm borrowed from other arts such as music and dancing
- axial symmetry
- harmonic proportions vs. tension and mystery
- M.I.T. building's undulation

Chapter 7 - Textural Effects
- intricate patterns of Cherokee baskets
- satisfaction of certain materials over others
- materials must be used with integrity
- honesty of material
- lacquer vs. paint
- when using a cheap material, good design can make it look expensive
- interesting vs. homogenous textures

Chapter 8 - Daylight in Architecture
- daylight is the one true variable but extremely important in its own right
- lighting can affect spatial impressions
- daylight vs. indoor light
- quality vs. quantity
- lighting can add effect, mood, perspective
- good design considers light
- windows are good devices to control light (Holland utilized a very efficient system of windows)

Chapter 9 - Color in Architecture
- architecture does not totally rely on color... the emphasis lies on form
- nature supplies the colors
- link between material and color
- colors can be symbols, create mood or space, express character and spirit
- color theory
- the right color can leave a lasting impression

Chapter 10 - Hearing Architecture
- echo, reverberation
- appropriate acoustics should be considered
- structures can be built to carry sound or absorb it
- use of drapery, rugs, furniture can change acoustics

photos of the interior

Hallway leading to StoryCorps - the angles of the walls drew my eyes into the space

The stairs lent a sense of rhythm but were unique in that they led up at an angle to the wall

Structures hanging from an upper wall

Interior of the cube structure

Close-up of a window - inspiration for solid/cavity sketch

Facing door to Jew on Vinyl exhibit - geometric door area represents proportion

These benches helped me analyze the figure/ground relationship

The front lobby

Recurring angles also represented in the gift shop

more vignettes

rhythm

The pattern on the window represents a sense of rhythm and uniformity.

scale/proportion

I used the figures to show that there is a definite sense of proportion in the design of the door.

scale/proportion

The door to the Jew on Vinyl exhibit had some definite characteristics of scale and proportion.

Museum - wide shot photos

View with details of both cubes and open space

Lots of green

From the left, we are able to better appreciate the plants.

Wanted to get it all in - view from in front of Yerba Buena

Wider shot

Brick building - photos

Detail above exit

Exit door

Entrance to the museum

Windows, grass and water

From this angle, the cube and building almost have no relation to each other.

View of detail of partial cube on roof, along with enclosed plant area