Sarah's blog

2008-10-09T19:15:00.001-07:00

A Habitable Wall: A Retreat for Frida Kahlo

2008-04-24T14:55:00.000-07:00

Introduction
Well, we've finished our last project for IARC 102, and Delilah and I are pooped! So here's the wrap-up on a big and very interesting exercise.

Our final studio project of the year was to design and construct a scale model of a "habitable wall" for a client. My client was Frida Kahlo.

Kahlo (1907-1954) was born in Mexico to a German father and a Mexican mother. Her life was defined by: physical pain from polio and a gruesome accident, her tumultuous marriage to Diego Rivera, her politics (she was a communist and a friend of Leon Trotsky), her deep connection to her Mexican heritage, and her many friendships and affairs with both men and women. For more information about Kahlo, see this site.

My Design
I created a retreat that provided areas for entertaining inside and out, and a private space for rest and work.
My concept was the kiva. This round, often sacred structure, is characterized by its round shape and central firepit constructed from adobe and rock.

Features:
Form: The two semi-circular structures refer to the kiva. I used the rounded shapes punctuated by rectilinear shapes in the windows, seating, bed, and cabinetry. This was partly for practical reasons, but it also reflects the dichotomies in Kahlo's life: feminity and masculinity, European and Aztec roots, independent and deeply dependent on Diego Rivera, spirited and frail.

Materials: The exterior and interior walls are formed from adobe. The firepits are constructed from a combination of adobe and masonry. The masonry is also used in the showcase area that holds ex votos and objects special to Kahlo.

Colors: I used light brown, a deep reddish brown, and blue to evoke memories of Casa Azul, Kahlo's main residence throughout her life. I also included a canopied bed similar to her bed at Casa Azul.
Other: The work table in Kahlo's private area slides over to her bed. She was often bed ridden for months at a time. She continued to work during these times by painting in bed. The fire pits are designed to take the chill off and to create areas for socializing and reflection. The large clerestory windows let in plenty of light, necessary for painting and another feature borrowed from Casa Azul.

Finally, the entire structure is surrounded by gardens. Casa Azul had a large patio and garden area. Kahlo loved the plants of her native Mexico and she made pets of wild birds, deer, and monkeys who wandered freely in her garden and even inside.

The space between the two structures acts as a pass through and a garden space.

Develpment of the Design

Below are the early iterations of my ideas.

In this iteration, and the two below, I am working with the idea of a "wall".

Here are the Merriam Webster definitions of a wall. I've italicized parts of the definition that were especially helpful in my design.

1 a: a high thick masonry structure forming a long rampart or an enclosure chiefly for defense —often used in plural b: a masonry fence around a garden, park, or estate c: a structure that serves to hold back pressure (as of water or sliding earth) 2: one of the sides of a room or building connecting floor and ceiling or foundation and roof 3: the side of a footpath next to buildings... 5: a material layer enclosing space wall of a container> walls 6: something resembling a wall (as in appearance, function, or effect); especially : something that acts as a barrier or defense wall of reserve> wall>

Ah hah! The round shape emerges.

And gets refined.

Creating and maintaining the curve of the model was a challenge. I rigged this foamcore and pushpin system to hold the shape. The initial curve was make by wrapping bristol paper around a wine bottle. Later I formed the curve by sinking the bottom tips of the balsa "studs"
into a foamcore base. This method worked really well to give a nice smooth surface.

The Site
The structure was designed for the Southeast corner of the 3rd floor studio space. The private area would face the window for morning light and good light for painting.

My Board

The board looks better than the photo! My lines were actually straight. But the camera wasn't!

I love my bed

2008-03-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

I love my bed, but here are some other types of sleeping arrangements.

Bottlecap Insulation, IARC 102

2008-03-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Product Proposal from the
L2 Design Team
Troy Link and Sarah Ladd

The L2 Design Team proposes using bottle caps to insulate walls in residential and commercial buildings. The product addresses two problems: the need to reduce landfill waste, and the need to conserve energy resources.

BENEFITS
1. Getting bottlecaps out of landfills.
2. Reducing use of fossil fuels and other resources by adding insulation to buildings and by manufacturing an insulating material from the waste stream (rather than from new materials requiring heavy manufacturing processes).
3. Reusing the caps in a way that avoids any further human consumption of hormone disrupters and other harmful chemicals that are in the plastic.

THE PRODUCT
Bottle Cap Insulation (BCI) is a sheet consisting of 3 staggered layers of bottle caps attached to a vapor barrier. It is manufactured in sheets measuring 16" and 24" (the widths between studs in most construction). The vapor barrier is made from recycled plastic. Adhesives are biodegradable, such as Aquabond.

USES
BCI is a substitute for insulation such as cellulose, fiberglass, and expanded polystyrene materials that limit air flow. These materials reduce heat loss, thus decreasing energy use for heating and cooling and increasing comfort by reducing drafts. BCI is best for applications requiring R-values of around R 11 to R 13. (R-values are measures of resistance to heat flow.) These applications include basements, walls, and floors. BCI can be used in conjunction with other insulation materials to achieve higher R-values (19+) for attics.

MANUFACTURE
Terracycle can manufacture BCI directly or, because it is a relatively low-tech process, it may be an excellent project for a small business cooperative to help a local community.

Nature and Tools as Teachers

2008-03-06T17:10:00.000-08:00

The purpose of this project was to look at design as a process. I saw it as a great approach to almost any project, and an excellent way to get "unstuck" when the ideas just won't flow.
Our end product was a 3-D architectural statement (although we didn't know this was our destination until the very end!). We started by making naturalist drawings of produce, and then abstracted patterns from them. Next we imagined the effects of using a tool on our patterns, dragging, squeezing, slicing, or pulling them. We then began creating a series of 3D expressions from the tool action drawings. In the final step, we used the 3D iterations to make an architectural statement.

By the end of the project our architectural statement was a long way from a piece of fruit or a vegetable. However, it's clear from that without going through the entire process we would not have come up with the very interesting range of creative, innovative architectural statements in the class.

I really enjoyed the process and will add it to my "bag of tricks" for jump starting projects in the future.

Here are my drawings, 3Ds, and architectural statements, and the presentation board of our lovely and talented group, Ingenue.

1. Naturalistic drawings of a red pepper. All of our drawings were 6" x 6" in grayscale. I did 3 drawings of the whole pepper and then a series of interiors (of course!).

2. Abstract drawings. I liked the seeds of the pepper and the sensual, sweeping curve at the bottom. These inspired my abstract patterns.

3. Tool action. I ran the abstract patterns through a pasta (vermicelli) maker, and came up with these drawings.

3. A side trip for Haiku.
We added poetry and collage to the process. Much fun! The collage expresses a memory of vibrancy and warmth amid the cold, gray sameness of winter (all 3 days of it this year!).

Sleet ices windows.
On the counter, sweet peppers
Hold last summer's heat.

4. 3D expressions. We were limited to grayscale paper for these models. My model got rained on so no pics. :(

5. Architectural statements. For these we could use grayscale with one color. I used the same gray and red that I used in my Haiku/collage. My first iteration was the "Fortress of Gloom" and looked like a group of unfriendly skyscrapers. For the final iteration, I deconstructed it, using cut out rectangles. I reduced the amount of red, and used a translucent vellum to allow light to pass through. I used a variety of line weights and 3 levels of scale. The result was a space that lets users interact with inside/outside and with a sense of being larger/smaller within a space. I imagine it as an outside structure for contemplation. (Same pics problem as above. :(

6. The Ingenue boards. Ingenue is Liz Browne, Jessica Crews, Tiffany Graber, and moi. Details of our Boards: Structure: 4 triptychs. Color: Light blue, chocolate brown, ivory. Font: Olive oil. Shelves: balsa.

2 X 4 (More or Less)

2008-02-01T18:36:00.000-08:00

The Project: Our first project in Design Studio and we got to play in the wood shop! Very cool.
We each took an 18" length of 2 X 4 (actually 1 1/2" X 3 1/2") made of construction grade pine and designed and made a self-supporting system from it. We were challenged to use all the lumber leaving only a bit of sawdust as waste. Further, all joinery had to be done without use of screws, nails, or adhesives.

My approach: I started by making a bunch of sketches. Then I googled key words and phrases such as "system", "2 X 4 furniture", "2 X 4 sculpture", "arches" and several others to fuel my brainstorming. I knew pretty quickly that I wanted to take this rectangular prism chunk of wood and turn it into curves.

One early thought was to cut small pieces, about 3 to 4 inches by 2 inches by 1/8 inch and curl them up on the ends and stack them like a Christmas tree. (See sketch below.) But the wood is pretty brittle and shredded along the grain and broke against the grain so on to the next idea. (I still like this idea and I may get some fir or oak and give it a try.)

I sketched a lot of ideas, but it wasn't until I started playing with the wood and table saw that I decided on the final plan. Below are sketches of most of my discarded ideas.

I told my better, sweeter half about wanting curves and he told me about curfing--cutting small notches in the wood at intervals which effectively gives a thinner, more bendable piece while maintaining a fair amount of strength.

Gary made a piece for me with lovely, even notches, and then I had a go at it. Using a miter jig and the table saw I created one very snaggle-toothed piece. I finally got a respectable looking curf after about 4 tries. Then came the bending. About 16+ tries later only one piece survived the double processes of curfing and bending. (I think I used up an entire tree's worth of lumber during this project! So much for my commitment to sustainability!)
At any rate due to the time I spent perfecting the curf, the design of the project got short shrift and it's pretty clear I plopped an arch on top of a piece of 2 X 4. So for me this was more an exercise in working on a particular woodworking skill, rather than composing a harmonious, composed design.

Steps in construction: I cut a 1/4" piece from the long side of the 2x4 for the curfed arch. Then I cut 3" off the length. About 1/2' from each end a cut a dado sized to hold a 1 1/2" piece (made from the 3" piece). I used a band saw to cut notches in the 1 1/2" pieces to secure the ends of the arch.

Thoughts on the project: Surprisingly challenging to use a 2x4 completely! My favorite projects were the ones that obliterated any notion that the designed object started as a humble chunk of pine. (Kurt's and Ben's and Liz' come to mind.) It was great fun playing with power tools. The project helped me develop a bit more confidence in woodworking--I plan to do a lot more!

IAR 112 Contour of Closet and Figures in Perspective 01-21-08

2008-01-21T17:34:00.000-08:00

Our first drawing assignment was a contour drawing of an open closet. Below is our very homemade cubby for clothes.

Ooops! Blogger won't load so I'll try again later.

We were also asked to create an image using figures cut from magazines that gave the impression of figures on an infinite plane. Here's mine.

Once again--Blogger problems. I'll try again later.

Leaf Drawings 110

2007-12-10T05:59:00.001-08:00

This is our final project for IAR 110. I enjoyed playing with views of the leaf and various drawing and shading techniques. The drawing on the left side of the second row is a close up of the vein structure--just in case anyone was wondering!
Oops! Blogger STILL won't upload the dang thing. I'll try again later.

Sustainability

2007-12-08T19:24:00.000-08:00

Sustainability implies equilibrium in a system. A system can be a simple chemical reaction, an old growth forest, or our solar system. The inputs and outflows need to balance (be in equilibrium) in order to maintain the conditions that allow survival of the system. Equilibrium can be destroyed by too much or too little. For example, lack of food will eventually result in death for any plant or animal. On the other hand, too much CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere threatens to change climate in ways that threaten multiple species and ecosystems. The acceptance (finally!) of global warming, and to a lesser extent the acknowledgement of the political and environmental dangers of oil dependency, have led to the realization that we must think about sustainability in personal, economic, and political decisions.
It is important to look at the big picture of resource use, rather simply jumping into "green" trend. Designers will take on roles as educators and advocates in the implementation of sustainable design in built environments.
(For this entry the terms sustainable, green, eco-friendly, and such will be used interchangeably.)
Many magazines, both design and general publications, have articles pertaining to green design, green living, and green products. Natural Home, Innovative Home, and Dwell are examples of publications that focus mostly on how to make individual homes and neighborhoods eco-friendly. Natural Home covers remodels and new buildings which use sustainable design, as well as some articles on energy efficiency and living off the grid. It features many organic and sustainably produced products, from linens to flooring. Gardening articles and recipes are included in some issues.
Dwell's emphasis is on prefabricated homes, both urban and rural. The homes are generally sleek, modern structures. Most have multiple sustainable features, and most are relatively modest in size. However, these are mostly very expensive homes for early adopters of new technologies.
Innovative Home has recently changed its focus to "green building and modern design". While it is geared to the individual home and neighborhoods, it is a bit more technical than Dwell or Natural Home. The current issue has an article on transmaterials (see my entry, "2 + 1 Technologies"). Each of these three magazines is written for readers who have some basic knowledge about sustainability. Many general/home/women's interest magazines such as Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle feature articles with more elementary information--such as recycling, using cloth bags at the grocery store, and sealing drafts from windows and doors. For all of these magazines, sustainability is a more or less personal issue limited to your house, your neighborhood.
Solar Today concentrates on solar technologies, as well as issues like water use and transportation. Most of the focus is on the use of solar design for buildings. A recent issue defines sustainability. "Buildings that address energy and environmental ... factors, we dubbed sustainable design" because they "lessen our impact on the environment".
An article in this month's popular science magazine, Discover, discusses a new prefabricated house. It is part of an exposition in San Francisco, called West Coast Green. It is the first fully manufactured iteration of Michael Kaufmann's mkLotus house. Besides using all sustainable materials, the home has a "living roof". Off site construction reduces waste by 75%, and its small, 700 sq. ft. size makes for a small carbon footprint. With a BIG cost! $294.00 which, according to the article is double the square foot cost of 93% of all new homes in the U.S.
This is an example of the downside of sustainable design. There is a perception that it is only for the rich, and that has been a mostly accurate assessment until now.
This month's UTNE Reader includes an article on sustainable design that is affordable, even in low income housing. It also has a piece on one of the pitfalls of the trendiness of "green" everything. Mick Dalrymple, creator of the PBS TV show, Build It Green, discussed the idea that living in a way that will support the health of ourselves and the planed is not about buying lots of green stuff. He argues that we must look at whole systems. That means sighting buildings to take advantage of daylight, breezes, opportunities for passive solar. And we have to take in to consideration the size of our homes. A McMansion full of sustainable products is no environmental bargain.
Plenty Magazine moves from the local scene of Natural Home, et al, and gets global. Topics in the current issue include: eco-friendly banks (who knew!), an interview with Amory Lovins on the national and global advantages of energy and resource efficiency, transportation systems, food, and wind technology. A cover story is "Function Over Form", a conversation with solar pioneer Travis Price. Price is a critic of LEEDS. Although he sees some advantages, he desires and architecture that it more than a "checklist" of insulation thicknesses and such. He thinks LEEDS makes for engineering, not architecture. He also thinks it crushes free trade and innovative thinking. For example, it galls him that architects must buy local or regional products. He says, "You can't impede bringing in Plybo0 (a sustainable, hardwood flooring) from China because it's not local. That's hippie-dippie talk." He sees two real environmental problems: suburban sprawl and the export of the American way of life to countries like China and India. He wants an architecture that arises from our deep connection to the natural world, an "architecture of the spirit" which incorporates stillness, movement, and nature. All in all he wants not just checklist sustainability, but a philosophy of design that gives rise more organically to structures that connect us to nature.
Finally, Urbanland, from the Urban Land Institute, looks at sustainability as an issue of urban planning. The philosophy is summed up by Sim Van der Ryn, president of the Ecological Design Institute in Sausalito, CA. He proposes, "Surpassibility [as a] form of ecological design that minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with living processes. [emphasis mine] While green building tends to focus primarily on the energy consumption of a particular structure, ecological design extends that focus to the structure's effect on the environment."
So sustainability is the buzz word right now. It has it's roots in basic biology and the idea of systems in equilibrium. I hope the idea of sustainability is not a fad and that it will become a part of our thinking and doing. Clearly, current media use the term in ways both small (recycle your paper) to large (it is involves a global paradigm shift).

Transmaterials

2007-12-08T18:16:00.000-08:00

Innovative Home Design (winter 2007) has a report on transmaterials. These are defined as materials that combine "technological ingenuity and artistic vision" to help us function and connect with the world in ways that are healthy, functional, and aesthetically pleasing.
Three materials that seem particularly interesting are: Reben, Power Plastic, and a Mirror Duct System for daylighting.

Reben is a wallcovering that falls somewhere between paint and wall paper. It is made of all natural materials, is nontoxic (even edible!), and is said to clean the air. The name means "alive" in German, although the product was developed by the Suzuran Corporation which is headquartered in Japan. The ingredients include: powdered Japanese washi paper which controls humidity by absorbing moisture in the summer and allowing it to evaporate in the winter; powder made from scallop shells that prevents the growth of mold and bacteria, and acts as a flame retardant; and titanium dioxide which deodoizes the air and absorbs pollution when the surface is hit with light.
The makers claim Reben is a durable material that performs better than wallpaper. It comes in a variety of textures and colors, and with integrated natural grasses. The "surface conveys a plaserlike richness."

Power Plastic

Power Plastic: This is a really interesting product that may make solar power much more attractive, economically and aesthetically, to builders and building owners. This photovoltaic technology uses lightweight, organic materials (inorganic silicone has been used in the past) to make thin films that can be layered onto a variety of plastics using relatively inexpensive, mass production processes similar to ink-jet or screen printing. The cost is low, the flexibility of the plastic allows for a variety of applications, and the films use a wider range of the light spectrum than conventional solar cells. Power Plastic can be manufactured in an array of sizes and shapes. It is one of the many nanotechnologies being developed in everything from make-up to --well-- solar energy. Konarka Technologies, Inc. produces Power Plastic. Their home office is in Lowell, MA.

Mirror Duct System for Daylighting: This product looks similar to traditional HVAC ductwork. However the inside is lined with aluminum mirrors which reflect and extend light "as much as 60 feet inside a structure". This is another product of a Japanese-based firm, Material House Company, Ltd. The technology is entirely passive, using no energy (beyond what it takes to manufacture it). It reduces the need for artificial light and for the cooling often needed as a result of heat generated by lights, thus decreasing electrical energy use and CO2 emissions.

Time Capsule Site and Orthogonal Drawing

2007-11-29T11:47:00.000-08:00

Maybe in the office?

Orthogonal drawings of a cube are kind of simple!

Making the Time Capsule--Full Scale

2007-11-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

This is the first time I've constructed anything from wood. Fortunately I have a patient and skilled teacher--thanks Gary! I couldn't do it without him. He watches my every cut! Below is a log of the process of making the bench/time capsule.

Saturday November 24: For the bench sides (18" each), I needed to build the width by cutting a 12" pine board into one 52" (18 X 4) by 12" piece and 2 52" X 6" pieces. To do this I first planed the board to 3/4", and then used a jointer to get an even edge. With a straight edge I could then use the table saw to cut to width. Then we glued these pieces together to create one long board measuring 52" X 18". Once glued we used bar clamps to secure the pieces and left them to set over night. I can cut this into fourths and voila! 4 sides are ready to go. The whole process took about an hour.

Clamps hold glued pieces together

Sunday November 25: Today was the really fun, meticulous part -- making the box joints. I removed the clamps from the strips and cut them to size (4 sides at 18" X 16 1/2" each). There are all sorts of routers made specifically for box joints, but I don't have any of them! So we used Gary's table saw. We used a dado blade set at 3/4" and fashioned a jig for the miter gauge. (See pictures below.) The jig has to be made so that the joints can be cut accurately and precisely. Designing, cutting, and testing the jig and setting the proper blade height took up most of the time I worked today, but it made the actual cutting of the box joints pretty easy. The fit of the joints was a bit tight. Since glue would make it even tighter I filed down the horizontal surfaces a bit. Again thanks to Gary for helping me with all this--it was totally new to me! Besides the box joints, I also made the top and bottom panels.
The last work of the day was to cut the rabbets that will be support the interior structure of the bench.

Pieces marked for cutting box joints

Setting up the jig

Set up for the first cut

Cutting the notches for the box joints

Ready to join the pieces

It's a Cube!

Tuesday November 27: Today I dry fit the box and cut off the top. Scary! It meant cutting through each of the 4 sides with the table saw--guiding a 3-dimensional cube over the saw--which was a little tricky, but it worked.
I used the band saw to cut notches in the plywood pieces for the interior and cut the top of the false bottom.

Wednesday November 28: I stained the darker sides of the box, using Minwax, water-based stain in Rosewood. It's a deep, rich brown. Then I laid on a coat of water-based polyurethane, also Minwax, on the unstained pieces. I masked the pieces I stained, but I got a bit of bleed through which I had to sand off.

A stain test. I chose Minwax water-based in Rosewood

Pieces masked for staining

Thursday November 29: Today I finished the lip on the lid. That involved planing a board to 1/2" and then fitting it to the inside of the lid. I used butt joints and fastened each piece with a flush mounted sky. I affixed the top and bottom, using sunk screws covered with bungs. The last steps were to chisel the bungs flush to the surface of the cube and then a final two coats of polyurethane (sanding with 12 0 grit between them.) And it's done!

What I've Learned: Since my concept and the structure were simple I challenged myself by making a full scale model from wood. The whole process was new to me (with the exception of sanding and staining). I learned how to make a jig and use it to make box joints. And I used a variety of power tools, hand tools, and clamps. In general, I found it much easier to get straight lines and true 90 degree corners with woodworking tools than it was when we worked with paper and fiberboard and xacto knives. I still had some mistakes, mostly at the points where edges joined. If I make a few more (which I intend to do--it's lots of fun!) I'm sure the craftsmanship would improve. Two more things: 1) power tools are not made for people who are 5' 4 3/4" tall. I had to do some awkward reaching, and 2) fleece attracts sawdust and woodchips like crazy. I'll wear a less nubby sweatshirt next time!

The completed project

The lid construction

The completed, stained box joints

Tiffany Models for 110 11.20.07

2007-11-20T13:58:00.000-08:00

We created a layout for 4 drawings using the techniques we've been working on this semester. Tiffany sat for us as we tried to remember everything we've been learning. I did a contour profile, a negative contour, a blind contour, and a bit of shading.
The layout and the drawings are below. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sketch model drawings

2007-11-20T13:45:00.000-08:00

Here are the shaded drawings from my sketch models. I think the tall one came out better; the shadows were really well-defined as I drew it.

Time Capsule Process Booklet

2007-11-20T06:19:00.000-08:00

We shall not cease from exploration
and the end of our exploring
will be to arrive where we have started
and know the place for the first time.

T. S. Eliot
Little Gidding/
Four Quartets

This is my booklet for the process of developing my idea for a time capsule for IAR first year students. I chose interlocking "puzzle pieces" for the outside to reflect my chosen concept, community and the idea that "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts". (These pieces aren't included in the scale model due to material availability, but you can see the idea in my sketch models.)
The cube shape is a fundamental form for design now and had been throughout history. Most buildings, furniture, and much ornamentation are made up of one or more cubes or rectangular prisms (except for Frank Gehry's and e.s.!) Cubes have special meaning to the 1st years as well!
I designed a small bench that is easy to move because the time capsule has to be here for 20 years. I wanted it to be useful and portable.
The top opens so that artifacts can be tucked away until the big reunion.

Process Zine Layout Prototype

2007-11-20T06:13:00.000-08:00

Since my time capsule design is a wooden cube with squares and rectangles ornamenting the surface, I wanted these elements in my zine. (Zine is a dumb word!) I found this layout in Birds and Blooms (July 2006).
It breaks down to 2 rectangles with a title, left justified, (my favorite).
Here is my sketch of it.

I used PowerPoint for my zine and found layouts that are variations of this arrangement. Here's one below.

LeCorbusier shading

2007-11-20T06:10:00.000-08:00

This is such a moody, atmospheric picture-my copy certainly didn't do it justice, but it was a great piece to use for practicing shading!

Boston

2007-11-16T07:06:00.001-08:00

I have seen some terrific design up here and I keep wishing the class was here to see it! The new WGBH facility and the Boston Children's Museum (BCM) stand out as wonderful examples of design, technology, and sustainability focused toward creating a pleasurable and highly functional environment to people. The BCM has LEEDS gold certification (see this) and it's a great example of preservation. It was originally a warehouse. They have retained the brick walls in most places as well as the wooden columns. Wood from columns that had to be removed was used for the reception area desks and flooring. The rooftops are planted with sedum--planted by children and the water is used in toilets and for irrigation of gardens. Beyond the "green" features I was so impressed by the care with which every space was planned for young children and their families. This is a museum that also functions as a gathering place for families. There's just too much good stuff to cover it all here but I left so excited that a place could incorporate the absolute best of design, sustainability, and the best educational and community-building practices. Sooo inspiring. Any one who wants to design for children, children's theater (they have one), education, or museums should visit this building.
WGBH the public radio and TV station in Boston also has an amazing new (and huge space). One wonderful thing was that their materials and even some structures were very much like those used in IARC's Lowenstein exhibit. Any student who worked on that project could have worked on these spaces. The architects were Polshek Partners. Again the designers not only created spaces that work for the staff, but they are also available for the community. The neighborhood where WGBH is located is celebrating 100 years and WGBH is sponsoring a huge party at their facility. Even the radio broadcast studio is observable from the street through special sound proof window. Very cool.
Our hotel is also quite a building but the designers weren't totally sensitive to things like noise levels in public spaces. Still it has some very cool features, like a Japanese inspired lighting array beside the bed and every technology hook-up device currently available. Take a look.

Ching Shading Exercises II 11.06.07

2007-11-06T09:04:00.001-08:00

These are exercises from Ching Chapter 2. We were working with how to shade based on tonal values of light, reflected light, and shadow. I tried it out first with a candle and wooden spoon.
Not too bad for a first try. It was tricky to get the variations in tone in the big shadow under the objects. I have to learn to break it down into only 1 or 2 variations.

Here's the same still life using pen and random-style shading. It was easier to make subtle changes with this method.
Mapping study. I like the analytical approach of this technique.
Two showing texture. A part of a waffled yoga mat and a smooth flash drive. I kind of like the way the one on the bottom came out. Looks like two floppy buildings!

10 Graphic/Media (Album Covers

2007-11-04T22:27:00.000-08:00

Since the 1950's LP album covers were often used as an artistic expression of the music on the record. (Note: The LP-- or long playing record- is a vinyl disk approximately 12 inches in diameter. When placed on a turntable-- a padded circular plate that spins round at 33 1/3 revolutions per minute--and scraped by a needle--these black disks produced the sounds recorded onto them.) The apex of album art was arguably in the late 1960's and '70's (before the scourge of cassette tapes). An album had 244 square inches on the front and another on the back that is dedicated to art, a list of songs, and inside information on the band/performer. Some albums opened up like a book for another 1 foot (!) of area that could be used for art and text. I remember buying albums at the Record Bar in the North Hills Mall in Raleigh. The ride home was spent trying to "hear" what was on the record by looking at the cover. Downloading just doesn't offer the same thrill. So--here are 10 iconic album covers from that era. Enjoy.

Late for the Sky, Jackson Browne, 1974
Photographer: Bob Seidemann
One of my favorite albums and album covers. Late for the Sky is a concept album which explores death and salvation, darkness and light, joy and regret. It is quintessentially American in its use of the road and the car as metaphors.
"I'm just rolling away from yesterday
Behind a wheel of a stolen Chevrolet
I'm going to get a little higher
And see if I can hot-wire reality."
Browne gave Seidemann a print of Magritte's The Empire of Light and asked him to use a similar house with a similar mood, and add a car at the curb. Seidemann calls it the "Los Angelization of Magritte". He found the house for the photo in LA and spent days getting just the right exposure. He wanted the edge of the leaves to be visible in the dusk. The sky was a photo by David Coffin and was edited in to the image. The cover is a study in darkness and light that reflects the content of the album beautifully.

The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd, 1973
Image: George Hardie
Cover Designers: Storm Thorgerson & Aubrey Powell
VH1: #4 album cover of all time
This is a concept album about the nature of human experience, including themes of time, money, and conflict. The prism on the cover and the inside image of a sound wave moving through a prism symbolizes the work of Pink Floyd in combining light and sound in their concerts. They were "preeminent among all bands" in creating a total sensory experience for eye and ear in their shows. (Could it be that illicit substances ingested by the audience added to the experience?!)

Horses, Patti Smith, 1975
Photographer: Robert Mapplethorpe
Cover Design: Bob Heimall
Patti Smith is a legend in the punk rock/rock music scene. Horses was her debut album. It's first line, "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine," indicate the radical departure from pop music and especially disco that Smith's music represents. She is considered a founder of punk music, putting the sounds and images of Beat poetry to the garage band, raw sound characteristic of the genre. The cover was photographed by her great friend and one-time room mate, Robert Mapplethorpe. His striking photograph captures Smith's paradoxes: her toughness against her elegance and delicacy and her androgynous beauty. These same paradoxes are woven throughout the music in the album. (She co-wroth Because the Night with Bruce Springsteen.)

Born to Run, Bruce Sprinsteen, 1975
Photographer: Eric Meola
Cover Design: John Berg, Andy Engel
This album made Bruce Springsteen, "the Boss". He wanted to "make the best rock and roll album ever made", and he came close. Almost a concept album, the music and lyrics chronicle the restlessness of a life in the gritty, working class streets of New Jersey. The album rocketed Springsteen to national celebrity; he was on the cover of both Time and Newsweek. The front cover is a simple design in black and white with Springsteen in full rock and roll plumage, wild hair, scruffy beard, leather jacket and guitar. He is leaning against part of a person. Upon opening the cover (or flipping it over) we see it is sax player Clarence Clemmons. Hence, we get the primary image of the "star" balanced with Springsteen's desire to have Clemmons on the cover. The raucous, rascally, smiling image of Springsteen and the intense stance ot Clemmons playing sax are a great indication of the music inside the cover.

Abraxis, Santana, 1970
Designer/Artist: Mati Klarwein
Carlos Santans visited Mati Klarwein's studio and immediately knew he wanted the artist's painting, The Annunciation, to be the cover of his 2nd album. It is a surreal depiction of the story of the archangel Gabriel announcing to Mary that she is carrying Jesus the Christ. The model for Mary is Klarwein's girlfriend and the artist himself was the model for Joseph. Gabriel descends from heaven riding on a conga drum. Santana was taken by the colors and the image of the archangel astride congas. He said the art, "...fit like a hand and glove to the music."

Sticky Fingers, The Rolling Stones, 1971 (first release on Rolling Stones label)
Concept and photograph: Andy Warhol
Cover design: Craig Braun
It was Andy Warhol's idea to put a zipper on the cover--surprise! The album was the first after the Stone's violent experience at Altamont. In response they decided to shift from the devil imagery to pure sexuality. The cover scandalized some retailers, who at first refused to carry it, but it delighted fans. The trademark lips and tongue graphic was also introduced on this album. A technical note: When albums shipped with the zipper up, the albums were damaged. Later shipments went out with the zipper down, which only dented the cardboard center of the LP.

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles, 1967
Cover artist: Peter Blake
Photographer: Robert Fraser
The concept of the Beatle's 8th album is that they are another band, playing a concert. Robert Fraser suggested to Paul McCartney that they use a "fine artist" for the cover. They chose Peter Blake. They decided to do a composite of the faux band surrounded by famous individuals who had just seen their concert (including the Beatles themselves, as wax figures). Robert Fraser took photos of the Beatles in their alter ego garb. Blake spent two weeks constructing the collage from pre-existing images. The boy who delivered the floral arrangements asked if he could make a guitar from some of the flowers, and did so. The overall effect is a surreal, vivid hodgepodge of celebrity, and historic figures, and baroque decorations. Fanciful and a little creepy (e.g. the Shirley Temple figure wearing a "Welcome the Rolling Stones" tee shirt). The music was also a mix of circus tunes, discordant sounds, trippy mind wanderings, and one sad ballad. Pretty great match of cover and music.

The Beatles, the Beatles, 1968
aka: The White Album
Cover design: Richard Hamilton

The release of this album was a long awaited event. It is the only Beatles album which does not have a picture of the Fab Four on the cover. The design by Hamiltion is a huge change from the Beatles previous album, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (see above). Hamilton wanted it to be in the conceptual art style, wherein concept and planning are everything, and craft and execution are secondary. The minimalist design included a "stamped", unique serial number on the initial pressings--an ironic statement about having a "numbered edition" of 5 million or more. On the back were photos of the Beatles, portraits by John Kelley. These were also found as 8 X 10 prints inside the cover. The Apple logo is on the center of each of the LPs. The change in cover design signalled a change in the music. Despite melodic tunes like Blackbird, much of the music had a harder, more anarchical edge to it. Charles Manson even found inspiration in Helter Skelter. This 9th album from the Beatles was a masterpiece of reflecting the ideals of the '60s, while also exposing the anger and chaos of the period.

Cheap Thrills, Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin), 1967
The cover art is by Robert Crumb (R. Crumb). He and Janis Joplin were friends. Crumb founded the underground comix movement with characters such as Mr. Natural, Fritz the Cat (an X-rated comic), and the "Keep on Trucking" guy.
Joplin is in the circle in the middle and each cell has either a song title and image related to it or info on the band and the location of live material in the album. On the far right is a great depiction of "Janis Joplin vocal". The original album title was Sex, Dope, and Cheap Thrills, but the record company nixed that idea.

Bringing It All back Home, Bob Dylan, 1965
Photographer: Daniel Kramer

Dylan caused an uproar when he played an electric guitar at the Newport Folk Festival. Many followers felt betrayed by the man they considered a poet and prophet. Side A of BIABHSeeger. But now, we have a sophisticated Dylan, almost Edwardian in dress, paired with a sophisticated woman (his managers wife, Sally Grossman), in front of a classical mantel, sitting in a leather chair. The artifacts reference the songs, particularly, is acoustic, but Side B is electric, Dylan's first electric recording. Both Dylan and the recording company, Columbia, recognized that the cover art needed to reflect this dramatic change in Dylan's music, the "emergence of a new rock-laden and quasi-psych influenced change of course". (It was the first Columbia cover that did not list song titles on the front.) Dylan chose to work with his friend, photographer Daniel Kramer to create a new image. Previous covers had been black and white or fairly monochromatic affairs with the folksinger and his guitar (and in one, a girl). He looked working class in the mold of Woody Guthrie and Pete She Belongs to Me. There are 3 albums in the photo. One by Robert Johnson (a famous Delta Blues man), one by Eric vonGrossman, Dylan's previous album, Schmidt( a folk-blues guitarist and artist), and, tucked in behind Sally Don't Look Back. Kramer also points to the use of rich, saturated layers of color as the symbol of the "technicolor" of Dylan's new sound.

Ching Shading Exercises 11.01.07

2007-11-01T11:12:00.002-07:00

These are 3 drawings exercises from Ching which use shading to transform 2-D objects to 3-D. I enjoyed this exercise. I particularly like the effects of stippling. I had trouble turning the triangle into a cone.

Other Drawings

2007-11-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

These are sketches I've done outside of class throughout the semester.

This is a plan for our shop renovation at home. I have notebooks filled with pictures of plans for our house and yard.

Zero Energy building in Chicago (from the Urbanland journal). And the chair is from a SAPA ad in the same journal.
Parti and Narrative for the Memory Project..
A quick sketch of Melia. I like the gestural quality. One of my first attempts at full face contour drawings. Sorry Liz!

I just liked the business of these sketches of magazine layouts.

I've been listening to Jackson Browne's tunes loving his lyrics for 35 years! Not a great drawing though!
A couple of more self-portraits I did after the project was over and I felt more playful about it all.
My hands.
Two of my gestural drawings from class.

Another plan--this time for a frameless support for a picture at home.

This is a still life of stuff on my studio desk. It was a warm-up assignment for 110.
Class doodles.
One of the Ching exercises.

Shading 10.23.07 IAR 110

2007-10-24T07:26:00.000-07:00

We started working with shading yesterday. Our assignment was to make two drawings, using a different style of shading in each. I've always been amazed at how the slightest variation in shading brings life and dimension to a drawing. I have a LONG way to go.

For these drawings I went very simple: an egg and a yoga block . I used diagonal shading for the egg, and random shading for the block.

Self portraits

2007-10-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

Our assignment IAR 101 this week was to mount a display of 8 (!) self portraits. No limits were placed on the materials we could use. The total floorspace of each display could be no more than 3.24 square feet (e.g. an 18" X 18" square).

This exercise was very challenging for me. I took 7 very different approaches. (Two were variations.) My vision definitely exceeded my skills! April suggested that each sketch take no more than 30 minutes. At first I took a lot longer than that, but then I stayed within the limit. That freed me up to go with an idea and not stress so much about "being perfect". I sure admire Jake, Suzanne , and others who can whip up interesting, accurate, lively sketches in a few minutes. I'd like to get to that point so that I can add a visual component to my daily journals and the ones I keep for our family.
So here they are:

The center is my own, using a mirror. The top is after an Art Nouveau picture I found. The bottom is inspired by Picasso's Blonde Model.

This is a mix of drawing and a photo.

Another Mobius iteration. This time as a piece of playground equipment.

The words on the right are from a Mary Oliver poem, The Summer Day. "...I don't know exactly what a prayer is/ I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down/ into the grass, how to kneel down in the the grass/ how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields/Which is what I have been doing all day/ Tell me, what else should I have done?/ Doesn't everything die at last and too soon?/Tell me, what is it you plan to do/ with your one wild and precious life?"

This is Diana the Huntress who captivated me in my nature, wood-nymph youth. And Diana Rigg, who played Emma Peele on The Avengers. She was smart, independent, mysterious, and she was no damsel in distress. She could fight and shoot a gun. And she looked great in leather. Another childhood hero.

These two are plays on Norman Rockwell's "Three Self-Portraits". It's about my self delusions on a good day and on a bad day. The figures in the good day are Georgia O'Keeffe, Jane Goodall (another childhood hero), and Johnny Depp. On the bad day, the Wicked Witch of the West, Shrek, and a very fat cat.

Part of my psyche--do I act from fear or reason?

My stand is made from wood and dowels; the drawings are attached with clothes pins. I was thinking of self-portraits as a kind of "airing your dirty [or not] laundry" and wanted the stand to resemble a small wooden clothes-drying rack.

Designer/Architect Websites

2007-10-20T19:17:00.000-07:00

Website: Henrybuilt
Type of Company, Location: Kitchen cabinets and storage systems, tables and seating, serving and media cabinets. Classical modern style. Seattle (home base),New York, Los Angeles.
Type of Information Provided: Info on products, design and engineering of the products and systems, customer service options for purchase and installation. Also areas for press contacts, clients, showroom locations, and job openings.
Graphics/Organization of Site: Minimalist. No more than 2 paragraphs of text on introductory pages, and lots of white space on all pages. Text is concise and informative. Text font is easy to read. Black and gray color scheme. Easy to navigate. Good photos show details of pieces and how they fit together to work as a system.

Website: 2 Form Architecture
Type of Company, Location: Architectural firm designing residential and commercial properties with emphasis on sustainability. Eugene, Oregon
Type of Information Provided: Architects, projects, design philosophy, sustainability, news articles about the firm.
Graphics/Organization of Site: The site is clean with well organized pages. Easy to navigate; every page has a navigation bar as well as contact information. The font was too small for me to read comfortably. The photos of projects are well chosen to highlight specific features of each project. I would have liked more written information for each project.

Website: Aleks Istanbullu Architects
Type of Company, Location: Architectural firm. Residential, community, adaptive re-use, urban design and mixed use. Santa Monica, California
Type of Information Provided: Design philosophy, awards, publications, contacts. Projects including competitions and urban planning ideas.
Graphics/Organization of Site: Well organized. Home page is gray and black except for the word, "architects", which is in red. The black and white photos transform to color as you scroll over them. All project pages use the same layout. The consistency adds to ease of use. The pages include a photo on the left and text on the right with plenty of white space. The firm's name is in the top left corner (where your name always belongs on a paper!) and a navigation bar runs along the top. On the far left is a "back" icon and a "contact" icon. This site was a pleasure to look at and play around in because of the clean lines, ease of navigation, and very cool projects.

Website: ChrDAUER Architects
Type of Company, Location: San Francisco. Residential, commercial, and avocational design
Type of Information Provided: Projects, awards, design philosophy, contact information, and a password protected space for clients.
Graphics/Organization of Site: Layout is very clean. Project tabs are at the top of each screen and at the bottom: home, about us, contact, and client access. The center of the screen is a rectangular band divided into text and pictures. The text is white on a burnt orange background and is easy to read. All rectangles are softened with rounded edges. On the home page, the 3 photos change automatically to show a variety of projects. The site is easy to navigate, has concise text, and excellent photos of projects. One of my favorite sites.

Website: NBBJ
Type of Company, Location: Beijing, Columbus, Dubai, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Shanghai. Interior design for: civic, commercial, corporate, higher education, healthcare, science, sports, and transportation buildings
Type of Information Provided: Projects in various market sectors listed above, services offered, description and location of their offices, information for job seekers, contact information, awards.
Graphics/Organization of Site: This site was sort of off putting and it took me a while to figure out their navigation system. Instead of "home" they have "menu" with 5 headings. Click on one of these and then you get sub menus. It's just not quite as intuitive as some other sites I've used. I don't like the black background--the overall feel of the site is dark and somber, and the pages feel disjointed. One neat feature is well produced video of clients talking about projects.

Website: Mancini Duffy Architecture and Design
Type of Company, Location: 170 member firm, 86 year old firm. New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington, DC., London UK. Commercial architecture and interior design.
Type of Information Provided: History of company, mission statement, staff, client list, awards.
Graphics/Organization of Site: This is a well designed site. The home page has an orange rectangle with photos and the menu to the left. The orange is solid at the left side, but becomes textured with a grid, which fades to white about halfway across the page. The 3 photos on the homepage change automatically. Projects are listed by sector (accounting & consulting, government, retail, and so on). The text was white on orange and easy to read. It was thorough, but concise. The site was easy to navigate. The big problem I had with it was encountering error messages when trying to open several pages. This happened both times I went to the site, several days apart. Not a good thing for the firm.

Website: I. Michael, Interior Designer
Type of Company, Location: Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Residential, commercial, and hospitality interior design
Type of Information Provided: Projects, awards & publications, "about us", contacts, links.
Graphics/Organization of Site: Like NBBJ this site had a black background which just looked dull and unimaginative. The text was gray, scrolling turned it orange. There were three big problems with this site. First, the really well-designed i've looked at have all text and graphics in a shape (usually a rectangle) that fits well within the boundaries of the screen. All information fits on the smaller screen and if you have to scroll down there is an arrow provided. In effect the text comes to you, rather than you having to chase the text down the screen. The I. Michael site did not have this feature, and it scrolled more like a blog. Gave it a bit of an unpolished feel. Second, none of the photos, which were dramatic and well composed, had any kind of caption or identifying information. Finally, although the list of links was a nice feature, it would have been more helpful to have them grouped by type (furnishings, firms, etc.).

Website: Interior Reflections
Type of Company, Location: Houston, interior design mostly traditional style
Type of Information Provided: "About Us", FAQs ("My husband keeps suggesting I call a designer. ... What can Interior Reflections do for us quickly, inexpensively, and still have a dramatic result?"), "Ideas" (DIY how-tos), her projects, a sign up for free newsletter, monthly specials (e.g. a two hour sprucing up of one room using items you already own), and contact information (e-mail Beth).
Graphics/Organization of Site: This site looks and reads more like a home magazine, a combination of Better Homes and Gardens and Traditional Home. It appeals to those who like decorating themselves as well as those who want to hire a professional. The layout has a banner masthead with the company logo and, " Creating Fine Interiors Since 1982", plus photos of projects. The text is in two columns. It features the specials, free newletters, and monthly specials mentioned above, as well as pictorials of before and after makeovers. These are staples of HGTV and home magazines. The text is cozy and chatty. It's tone is welcoming and cozy and probably is perfect for the clientele she seeks--people who like "gracious living" in a traditional American (with a splash of trends like Tuscany) style.

Website: Design Synthesis, Residential and Commercial Interiors
Type of Company, Location: Los Angeles, Interior Design Firm
Type of Information Provided: Profile of owner, Fran Kerzner, Projects, Contact, News & Appearances (her work has been featured on HGTV).
Graphics/Organization of Site: This site is less detailed than many others I looked at. It doesn't include much about her philosophy or approach with clients. There is no list of clients. It's not extensive, but it is a good introduction to her work.

Website: Richard Schultz
Type of Company, Location: Outdoor furniture based on designs of Richard Schultz. Pennsylvania.
Type of Information Provided: About Us, including a video bioraphy of Richard Schultz and his son Peter. Our Garden featuring the furniture set in the garden of the family's 250 year old Pennsylvania farmhouse (love the garden chairs piled with snow!). Product lines. Dealers. Contact information. A password protected area for people who register--can get downloadable brochures and other literature.
Graphics/Organization of Site: This sight is as lean and minimalist as the furniture it showcases. The background is white and, although each screen is organized, there are no visible margins, borders, etc. All text is black except the Richard Shultz logo which is a green rectangle with his signature in white. The mission statement and primary contacts are also in green. The home page has the menu and an animated graphic of the rocking chair that is part of their new line. This alternates with images of other products. Text is spare, but informative. This site is a perfect match for the form and spirit of the designer and the chairs he created.

Zine IAR 110 10.18.07

2007-10-18T13:47:00.000-07:00

Our assignment was to create a zine using one of our design research topics as its focus. I chose Interior Spaces, Bedrooms. Bedrooms don't have all the nifty gadgets and widgets of bathrooms and kitchens, and I wanted to look at the ways people approached a space mostly used for sleep, intimacy, and relaxation.
I usually go minimalist in my design and this time I wanted to be a little more abundant. So I often have more than one photo per page and I included the thumbnails and Beatle quotes to add a unifying element and a fairytale-like mood. The result is okay, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped. The need for absolutely, totally straight edges is painfully clear in a couple of places. If I did this again I would either choose a more forgiving layout or I would mark up each page (like we used to do for out high school newspaper and measure every cut and paste to the nearest 32nd inch.

Metamorphosis IAR 101 10.12.07

2007-10-12T02:51:00.000-07:00

The Assignment: This was a very interesting project. The task was to fuse two objects that were randomly selected (the name above and the name below our own on the iar blog site). After choosing the two objects and the qualities/elements we wanted for emphasize, we made three objects. One was to draw from each object about half and half. Then using the first object and this "middle" object we made a second object. Finally using the middle object and the second person's object we created a third.
So it looks like:

Object Person 1 (OP1)
Mix 1 (OP1--half & half)
Middle (half OP1, half OP2)
Mix 2 (OP2-half&half)
Object Person 2( OP2)

It took a while just to decide which two objects to work from. I chose the Memory Boxes from both Sara Z's and Shannon Heggar. (I couldn't get images from their sites to copy so I only have the links. Sorry.) I chose to work with the colors from each: gray, black, and pink and the textures: the woven surface of Shannon's and the spikes of Sara's.

Ideas and Iterations: Here are all the ideas I had--in Studio, in my car (not moving!), at McDonald's, and in the middle of the night.

And here are my 3.

The first is mostly Sara's with a gray stripe added to introduce Shannon's. (I had a lot of trouble with the photos and they are not the quality I would like. Here , for example, you can't see the spikes inside the box. But they are there!)

The second has a roughly 50/50 ratio of pink (Sara) and gray (Shannon). It still has the black interior of Sara's but has now lost all the spikes.

Finally the third box is all gray except for a single strip of pink around the bottom. The interior walls are made of the basketweave and the inerior bottom is solid gray.

So I went from a pink, black, and spiky object to a predominantly gray, soft one. And from an object with unexpected "danger" to one of soft, domestic, safe feel of basketweave.

Lessons Learned: If I worked on this more I would do the second basket again to spiff up the craftsmanship. By the last box I had a good methof worked out for this style of woven box. Even though the second box was really my 3rd or 4th try at it (see picture below), it wasn't until the last on that I think I got it. (I must have been daydreaming in kindergarten on the day we learned this technique!) I also felt a bit of a discontinuity because of the shape. Sara's was a cube, mine were rectangular, and Shannon's was a curvilinear triangle. It would be interesting to try to morph from cube to triangle.

Templates for plain box and basketweave box

Practicing the basketweave.

If you don't like your photos, color them, filter them, and saturate them! Much better!

Composition IAR 110 10.11.07

2007-10-11T05:28:00.001-07:00

Our assignment was to find a 2-page print layout that we liked and duplicate it using our own choice of graphics and text. Our pages focussed on, "What is Studio?". The image I found was in the October 2007 issue of The World of Interiors.
I like the simplicity of the layout and the equal weight given to text and the photo. (The shadowy stuff in the background is bleed through from the scanner. I tried blocking it with paper, but it came through anyway.)
So here's my version. I used their text as a template because I thought it was strong and gave me a good way to describe Studio. I used 4 photos to show different aspects of Studio, but arranged them in a rectangle that roughly imitates the original dimensions. I must have proofed this tiny bit of text (and made minor changes 20 times--yet...can you find the typo?!)

10 Buildings

2007-10-06T21:06:00.000-07:00

Chateaus de Versaille
Location: Versaille, France
Year(s) built: 1661-1774
Architects/Designers: (1st round) Louis Le Vau, architect. Charles Le Brun, interior designer. Andre Le Notre, landscape architect. (2nd round) Jules Hardin-Monsart
Type/ purpose: royal residence and palace for King Louis XIV
Style: Baroque
Unique/interesting features: More is never enough with Baroque design especially for Louis XIV. Every inch of wall and ceiling are painted with designs, portraits, and allegorical murals. Sixty-seven staircases in the (then) new style of open stairwells let in light, improved movement through the spaces, and gave people a place to be seen. Louis XIV moved his entire government out of Paris and into Versaille, which at its peak, housed 5000 people. The grounds included tremendous areas of formal gardens. Landscapers created geometric shapes with parterres (planted beds framed with hedges). Fourteen hundred fountains with water provided by the Seine River were scattered thoughout the gardens and paths.

Paddington Station
Location: London, England
Year(s) built: 1852-1854
Architects/Designers: Islamband Kingdom Brunel (his name sounds like a country!) Born in Portsmouth, England (b.1806-d.1859) he was an engineer/architect. After working many years for his father, he was appointed chief engineer of the Great Western Railroad in 1833. He was a prolific designer of tunnels, railways, bridges, prefabricated buildings, and ships. He expanded the use of iron and used wrought iron and cast iron for, what were then, new purposes. He is considered one of the key figures in bringing about the Industrial Revolution. The ornamentation of Paddington Station was done by Matthew Digby Wyatt, because Brunel felt is was the one area of building for which he had little talent.
Type/ purpose: Train station (still operational)
Style: Victorian
Unique/interesting features: Made of wrought iron and cast iron. High, arching ceilings allow for air circulation, and a feeling of spaciousness. Light enters through glass ceilings.

Empire State Building
Location: New York, New York
Year(s) built: 1931 (in middle of Great Depression)
Architects/Designers: Shreve, Lamb, and Harmon
Type/ purpose: Commercial office tower, skyscraper
Style: Art Deco
Unique/interesting features: Built as testament to American strength and resiliency during Great Depression. At 102 stories it was the largest building in the world from 1931-1972 when the World Trade Towers were built. Materials include: 60,000 tons of structured steel; 200,000 cubic feet ofIndiana limestone and granite. Design: The setbacks offset the optical illusions of height and emphasize the tower. Interior: The lobby is 5 stories tall, an "art deco masterpiece" of granite, marble, and brushed stainless steel. It has huge bronze medallions to celebrate the laborers and craftsmen who worked on the building (about 100 workers died during construction). A metal mosaic shows the Empire State Building as the center of the Universe.

The Robie House
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Year(s) built: 1909
Architects/Designers: Frank Lloyd Wright
Type/ purpose: family residence
Style: Prairie Style
Unique/interesting features: The quintessential Prairie Style house. Exterior: Flat, low-pitched rooflines with long overhangs covering multiple patios and porches. Wright calculated the pitch and length of the overhangs so that rooms stayed shaded in the summer. Horizontal lines predominate; even the brick joints are raked on the horizontal. Interior: House has 3 levels. Rooms on a grid system. Dining and living areas on the main floor are really one space divided by a fireplace and chimney. Bedrooms are on the upper level, and a playroom and billiard room are on the lower level. There is no basement. Decor: Wood furniture, stone fireplace and chimney. ceilings have are wood supports with white plaster (?) panels, which reminded me of the ceilings in medieval English halls. Many windows have stained glass accents. Great Buildings.com notes that there is a "high degree of integration of the mechanical and electrical systems designed by Wright into the visual expression of the interior". This is intriguing, but I found no more info on it. Are the ducts, etc. visible?

Bag End (Hobbit Hole)
Location: The Shire
Year(s) built: 2889 Third Age
Architects/Designers: Bungo and Belladonna Baggin's (Bilbo's parents)
Type/ purpose: Home
Style: Hobbit Hole (Earth sheltered structure)
Unique/interesting features: "His house was perfect, whether you liked food, or sleep, or work, or story-telling, or singing, or just sitting and thinking best, or a pleasant mixture of them all."
Bilbo's house was an earth-sheltered ( and therefore highly energy efficient) hobbit hole with a green door and a large brass door knob. Round windows let in light and warmth, perfect for an afternoon nap. The home had "countless rooms": bedrooms, bathrooms, dining rooms, living areas, rooms for clothes, and many pantries for storing comestibles. The ceilings are white plaster with wood . They are arched, and tall enough for a human or wizard to stand with just a whisper of a stoop.

Dogtrot House
Location: Upland south, Louisiana and Florida, Appalachian mountain region
Year(s): Pre-civil war
Architect/Designer: Vernacular
Type/purpose: House
Unique/interesting features: These one-story houses were characterized by an open breezeway (dogtrot) that ran through the middle of the structure from front to back. The dogtrot was flanked on either side by rooms. They sometimes had rear shed rooms. A chimney was placed at each end of the building, and a front porch ran its length. The breezeway coupled with exterior windows in each room provided a type of passive cooling system of cross ventilation. This symmetrical structure was a "frontiersman's attempt to build a formal, ... Georgian central hall house" (see site).

Azuma House
Location: Osaka, Japan
Year(s): 1976
Architect/Designer: Tadao Ando
Type/purpose: Row House
Unique/interesting features: This is a one bedroom, one bathroom home in an urban neighborhood. It is 10.5 feet wide and 42 feet long with a total of about 700 square feet on two floors. Because only the front living room faces the street and the rest of the house is organized around a central courtyard behind the living room, the house is buffered from the "hustle and bustle" of the city. All the rooms open onto the courtyard which provides natural light and cool breezes in a semitropical climate.

Charles Moore House
Type/purpose: House
Location: Orinda, California
Year: 1962
Architect/Designer: Charles Moore
Type/Purpose: Neo-vernacular house
Unique/interesting features: The original house was 25 feet square. It was supported by steel trusses with a wood frame. Sliding walls opened the house to the outside. The interior was organized around two aedicules which divided the areas of the house. The cantilevered roof had dramatic overhangs which seemed to float over the house. Moore bought the house because he though the site "seem[ed] full of magic". He was inspired by the "primitive" huts of Mayan and Hindu temples and the Trenton Bathhouse by Louis I. Kahn. The house was "drastically remodeled" in 2006 (pictured).

Frank Gehry House
Type/purpose: House
Location: Santa Monica, California
Year: 1978
Architect/Designer: Frank Gehry
Type/Purpose: Deconstructivist
Unique/interesting features: Yep this house, set in the suburbs, has Frank Gehry written all over it. Gehry bought an existing house and wrapped it in corrugated metal with accents made of chain link fencing. He added large glass openings off square. It is a conglomeration of angles and slanted roof lines. Like most of Gehry's work the house is more sculpture than architecture. Gehry was influenced by Robert Rauschenberg; as a result his buildings often look like metal and glass collages.

10 Designers/Architects

2007-10-05T10:57:00.000-07:00

Frank Lloyd Wright with John Lautner behind him (in vest) at Taliesin

The Chemoshere House-Lautner

John Lautner (1911-1994) was born in Michigan and was deeply inspired by the beauty of the northern woods and the blue waters of Lake Michigan. He spent his professional life exploring the "relationship of human beings to space and of space to nature". He wrote that we should work to create a "beautiful architecture...to daily increase the joy in life."Architecture should be "alive, fresh, and exhilarating" as well as "solid and enduring." Lautner never graduated from an accredited school of architecture, but he apprenticed with Frank Lloyd Wright for six years, and collaborated with him on many projects. His work reflected Wright's ideas of fitting buildings into a landscape, using a human scale, and incorporating natural materials and views into design. After he finished his apprenticeship much of Lautner's work was in Los Angeles, although he designed buildings for places as far away as Australia. He moved far beyond the Prairie Style, using organic and often dramatic, geometric shapes in buildings. Large, clear span interiors are found in many of his structures. He considered concrete to be the ultimate building material because it could take on so many shapes.
His most famous house may be the Chemosphere House (see photo, above) which the Encyclopedia Britannica calls, "the most modern house" ever built. And, in fact, it looks as if it were taken straight out of the Jetsons (or more likely, the Jetsons' house was inspired by the Chemosphere House.) Other significant buildings include: Silvertop, the Sheats house, the Arango house, the Elrod residence, the Segal residence, and the restaurants Henry's, Googies, and Tina Naylors.

Fallingwater--Wright

Frank Lloyd Wright (1867-1959): Wright is arguably the most well-known American architect, and Fallingwater (above) one of our most recognizable residences. Wright was born in Wisconsin and attended a few semesters at the University of Wisconsin in the School of Engineering. He never graduated, instead he moved to Chicago and worked for a short time in the offices of J.B. Silsbee, before working at Adler and Sullivan. He was greatly influenced by Louis Sullivan's dictum that, "Form ever follows function" and that architecture should reconcile nature with science and technology.
Wright is most noted for the Prairie Style houses. These were low structures, usually L or T shaped, with strong horizontal lines, intended to merge into the flat mid western landscape. Materials included brick, wood and plaster. The interiors were usually built around a central chimney. Rather than closed off, separate rooms, Wright created broad open spaces delineated by screens, shelves, and other furnishings. His rooms were "overlapping and interpenetrating with areas of shared space." The Robie House is considered the epitome of this style.

The Robie House--Wright

He involved himself in the interior details including fabrics, stained glass, furniture, and carpeting, and even went so far as to sometimes design clothes for clients. All this whether the clients wanted him to or not! He fervently believed that, "the architect is the maker of men" and he meant to design environments that met his vision of a supportive space. He said, "Early in life I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose the former and have seen no occasion to change." It's interesting that a man so committed to creating human spaces, and spaces that merge with natural settings was himself so rigid.
Wright's home and studio in Wisconsin, named Taliesin was filled with apprentices, including John Lautner (see previous entry). A fire started by a servant killed his wife and several members of his household and destroyed the buildings. Later, Wright built Taliesin West as a winter retreat in Arizona.
Wright focussed on residences, but two non-residential buildings were so influential here and in Europe that they helped bring the art-nouveau movement to an end, and provided a new direction in architecture. These buildings were the Larkin Administration Building in Buffalo, NY and the Unity Church in Oak Park, Illinois.

The Quarry by Doris Leeper, 1962

Doris Leeper (1929-2000) Leeper was a painter and sculptor, and so not technically a "designer". However, she has been important to me, as she opened my eyes and mind to what art can be. In 1962 my mother bought one of her paintings, The Quarry. It's roughly 4' by 5', a sweep of whites and blues, roughly textured. I loved the colors, the motion, and the way I could see the form even though it was not "realistic". In the conservative climate of Raleigh, NC in 1962 it was one of a kind.
Leeper did a series of Quarry paintings and later moved on to sculptures. She moved to New Smyrna, Florida where she founded both an artists' colony, the Atlantic Center for the Arts, and was instrumental in creating the 57,000 acre Canaveral National Seashore. Her estate donated over 100 pieces of her work to the University of Central Florida College of Arts and Sciences.

Lovell House--Neutra

Richard Neutra (1892-1990). Neutra was born in Vienna, Austria but he later lived and worked in California. Contemporaries and influences included Le Corbusier, and Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. He is recognized as introducing the International Style to Southern California and for introducing Los Angeles architecture to Europe. He was trained not only in design, but also in methods of construction. This knowledge allowed him to design and build on very steep slopes and to use materials in daring and dramatic new forms. He worked mostly in residential design, and his most famous home is the Lovell house (picture above). This house, like many of his structures, incorporated metal frames finished with stucco. Much of the structure was made off site and then brought to the site for construction. The house was industrial-looking, and pavilion-styled with sweeping flat surfaces. Two big "wow factors" in the Lovell House were the balconies that were supported by thin cables slung from the roof line, and a U-shaped concrete "cradle" for the pool. His patios, porches, and balconies blurred the boundaries between inside and outside. Another important Neutra residence is the Kaufman house. (Are these the same Kaufman's that owned Fallingwater?!)

Little Ajax--Gluck

Peter Gluck (currently practicing): Peter Gluck is an unapologetic modernist. He cites AlvarAalto and Louis Kahn as his "architectural heroes". He also spent several years in Japan after graduating from the Yale School of Architecture, and a subtle Japanese Modernist sensibility can be seen in many of his buildings.
He is an outspoken critic of the American Institute of Architecture, (AIA )and the architectural industry in general, believing it is too concerned with legal liability and farmed out actual construction to contractors. He believes the AIA is less interested in practicing architectural excellence than it is in promoting and protecting its members. Gluck, in contrast, holds that the architect should be responsible of all phases of creating a building. So his company, Architectural Construction Services, provides services from concept through design and construction at an "affordable cost". Whereas he once designed homes for upper income clients, he is now deeply committed to creating homes and communities that are affordable to middle and lower middle income families. The Little Ajax Affordable Housing Project in Aspen is one of these (picture above). Ironically, the AIA gave Gluck an award for this development based on its green/sustainability features.

Ministry of Health and Education--Niemeyer

Oscar Niemeyer (1907- ). Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer is most noted for his work on the United Nations Building in New York City (along with Le Corbusier and others in 1947) and for being the chief architect of the city of Brasilia, which was created on barren land in the center of Brazil as its new, modern capital in the late 1950s. In collaboration with Le Corbusier, he designed the first state sponsored skyscraper: the Ministry of Health and Education in Rio de Janeiro. (above). Although a modernist he was also influenced by Brazilian Baroque. He used the very new material of reinforced concrete to create dramatic and sensuous concave and convex curves. He called his style "Ionic" modern and compared to the "Doric" blocky forms used by many of his contemporaries. The Copan Building in Sao Paulo (picture below) is a good example. Some have criticized Niemeyer for being more of a sculptor than an architect. Regardless it's clear he has created an architecture for Brazil that has influenced design around the world.

Copan Building--Niemeyer

The Ball Chair--Aarnio

Eero Aarnio (b. 1932) Born in Finland, Aarnio studied at the Institute of Industrial Arts in Helsinki from 1954-1957. Aarnio did much to define the look of the 1960's. He explored the organic shapes and vivid colors that can only be manufactured from plastics. He created the Ball (above), the Bubble, and the Pastil chairs--all from molded plastic. His designs are playful and engaging.

TWA building--Saarinen

Eero Saarinen (1910-1961): Another great Finnish architect and designer, Saarinen studied in Paris and in the U.S. at Yale University. His first interest was sculpture, but then he chose to study architecture. He worked with his father , Eliel Saarinen, until his death.
The younger Saarinen used unique and innovative shapes, but always kept his buildings practical and functional. He moved between the International Style and Expressionism. His buildings often featured dramatic curves and cantilevers. The most famous building was the TWA terminal (and above) at JFK Airport in New York.
Saarinen also designed a collection of furniture in collaboration with Charles Eames for a Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) competition in 1940. He later developed a successful line of furniture for the Knoll International.

Eames House--Eames

Charles Eames (1907 -1978) and Ray Eames (1912 -1988) were a married couple famous for furniture design, particularly the Eames Chair. They also created puzzles, children's toys, films, and the iconic Eames House and theEntenza House in the Pacific Palisades. In 1941 Charles was a set designer for MGM studios. "Open, organic, and emotionally expressive" were the hallmarks of their designs and of their lives. Their first designs were made of plywood, fabricated in a spare room of their Neutra apartment. Once they began making money and had a separate studio their use of materials expanded to fiberglass, plastic, and aluminum. Much of their furniture was sold to "Corporate America" and was a status symbol for executives. This was true of the Eames Lounge Chair manufactured by Herman Miller.

Eames Lounge Chair

However, the Eames also made more folk crafted works that the sold in the U.S. and India. See this site for a lively biography of the couple. The Eames also made the spectacular film, Powers of 10, which is a wonderful visual guide to --well--powers of 10. I used this in my math class one year and the students really loved it. Cool! I had no idea about the Eames connection!
After Charles died in 1978, Ray continued to work on projects that they had already started, but she did not take on any new projects. She died 10 years to the day after her husband.

Proximity Hotel--Dennis Quaintance (developer/owner)

Dennis Quaitance, (currently practicing): Dennis Quaitance, is not an architect but he had embarked on career of designing hotels and restaurants. He,along with Nancy King Quaitance and Mike Weaver are the owners of Quaitance-Weaver Restaurants and Hotels. They designed, own and operate Lucky 32 Restaurant, the Green Valley Grille, and O'Henry's hotel all in Greensboro, NC. Now they are opening the Proximity Hotel which will be only the 2nd hotel in the country to achieve the gold level rating from Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.
Quaintance started out as a housekeeping assistant in Missoula Montana at the age of 15, and over the years worked his way up in the hotel and restaurant industry, gaining experience for a number of 4 and 5 star hotels and restaurants.

A Container for a Memory 10.2.07

2007-10-02T19:55:00.000-07:00

The Assignment: Design and create a container for a memory. The container itself should evoke some essence of the memory, but not necessarily the specifics. Materials include: paper, matte board, plastic, cloth, and adhesives.

Early Iterations: I spent a great deal of time and effort on the inner, circular box. First, trying to figure out how to join the base to the side and then making the top fit snugly over the bottom. I figured out that if I built up the circular base with 5 layers of bristol paper so that the sides had a wide, glued surface to grab on to I could get a sturdy structure. As for the top--that was just trial and error in 1/32" increments. Because I spent so much time "perfecting" the circular box, I didn't work through problems with the triangular box as thoroughly. I used a template and was able to fold most edges, but the whole thing had a slight twist that I couldn't get rid of completely.

A few of my many circles.

Delilah checks out the quality of the paper stock.

An early triangle.

Final Iteration: I really like the design of this box, and it does a good job of representing my memory. I'm not so pleased with the craftsmanship. The circular box came out okay and I like the color and ribbon. The tissue paper top is fine, except the piece I cut has a bit of a :) face on it, which is distracting. But the triangle is torqued and not overly symmetrical. Drat!

Lessons Learned: Manage my time better so I don't get caught with one part of the project looking good and the other looking--well--less good. Sometimes it's the part I think is going to be easy that is, in fact, the most challenging.

Emergence of Self 9.24.07

2007-09-24T19:29:00.000-07:00

I believe firmly in cultivating "Beginner's Mind" and practice it daily. But honestly, sometimes being a clumsy, confused novice is just icky :(! This is one of those times. Before I did the "Emergence of Self", I tried a basic contour using the info from class plus Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. The proportions are okay and some elements of the features are good, but it sure lacks personality! Then I went on to the shadow picture. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to stick to contours or shade in the bright spots. So I did a bit of both. Now that I've looked at others on the blog I have a better idea of where we were supposed to be going. I'll try this technique again when I get some spare time!

Contour profiles redux 9.19.07

2007-09-19T16:37:00.000-07:00

Here are two more contour profiles. The first one is of an elderly woman at (where else?) Barnes and Noble. Her chin really was pointed!

The one below is from a photo. It's Charlize Theron glammed down for a role. I'm doing a bit better with chins and foreheads but overall, I'm less happy with these than my others--I was hoping for more improvement. Guess I need to do a bunch more, if I can find people to sit still!

Pencil Box IAR 101 9.14.07

2007-09-18T19:28:00.000-07:00

The Assignment: Design and create a container for the pencils we use in this class. Pay particular attention to craftsmanship. Materials: Matte Board, Paper, Adhesives.

First Iteration: I started with a box with two drawers. I made the dimensions correspond to the Golden Ratio. But I ended up with a huge (13.5" tall) out of scale, ugly monstrosity. I then thought about going with a hexagon outer shape with a 6-sectioned inner holder in order to mimic the 6 sides graphite (the Carbon atom) nd the 6 sides of a pencil. But I saw that another student had done that so I dropped it. Next I decided on a matchbook/easel design I saw for a small notebook in the Levenger's catalogue. I did two iterations, and had trouble with the scale. To make the closure work, the total height woul have been 9 to 10". Another problem was making something to hold the easel in place so the 2 sides wouldn't slide apart. I wanted it to be integral to the design and easy to use. The one I made was clunky and looked out of place. Below you can see my prototypes.
The Last Iteration: I knew that I wanted some reference to China/Asia a source of incense cedar used for pencils. I also knew I liked the simplicity of the matchbook closure. I discarded the idea of the easel, and rotated the closure so it was on the right side, instead of at the bottom. The paper I used provided the Eastern look and it has a wonderful, soft texture. It's a tone on tone tissue paper. The blue dragonfly paper was serendipity. Suzanne noticed a glue mark on the paper I originally chose, so I went to Adam's for replacement. The dragonfly paper continues the Eastern reference and the blue works better with the cover paper. Yeah!

Lessons Learned: Measure twice, cut once is an understatement. I measured numerous times, cut numerous times, and started again--numerous times. I'm still not happy with the scale. It's rather large for just four pencils. But, I like the look of the papers, and the softness of it. It's a pretty piece.

Contour profiles 9.16.07

2007-09-16T14:35:00.000-07:00

I enjoyed doing these so I did a couple of extra. The first one is from Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. Had a lot of trouble with the mouth and chin--she looks like she swallowed a toad!
Below is a girl who was studying with a group of friends at Barnes and Noble. They left in a big swoosh--so I didn't get a lot of detail. But I think I "got" her nose really accurately.

This is from a photo of me, taken by my father, when I was 5 years old. Too bad you can't tell I'm wearing my red and black fringed cowgirl outfit!
This is my ever patient and supportive husband--who is a LOT cuter than this!

Design Research: Products and Artifacts

2007-09-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

"Foto" Table Lamp: These table lamps have elements that reference older-style photographic lights. They look like square Fresnels, complete with barn doors, and tripods. The lamps are made from die-cast aluminum and come in black and white and other colors. Thomas Bernstrand and Mattias Stahlbom of Sweden designed the lamps for Zero. I like both the technical and the retro feel of these. Very cool. You can see pictures of them in Wallpaper.

The Studley Tool Chest: The name is not a marketing ploy to appeal to male egos. Henry O. Studley (1838-1925) was a piano builder from Lowell, Massachussets who is most noted for creating the self-named tool chest. Here is a picture. For the organizing junkies among us this is a delight. The chest holds over 300 hand tools and each one has its own place. Some even fit in with a satisfying "click". It's built from mahogany and walnut; details include inlays with ebony, rosewood, , and mother-of-pearl. He most likely gathered much of the wood from scraps left over at the Poole Piano Company where he worked. The chest is made to hang on the wall. Closed, the chest measures 39" X 40"X 9". It opens to 40"X 40". It's the Swiss Army Knife of tool chests with sections that swing out to reveal 2 or sometimes 3 layers of tools. If you want a poster, the Taunton company has one for sale.

Tool Landscape: From traditional (above) to modern. The Tool Landscape is a curvy, delicious version of the pegboard. The two "pegboards" are made from waves of overlapping metal on a blue metallic background. This is all surrounded by a metal frame. The designer is Malin Lundmark from Sweden. The board is designed to be a "moving landscape" changing when you rearrange your tools. It's from Lundmark's collection, "As if...fantasy was reality" and plays with her, "view of inanimate objects as living things." This is a fun piece of functional art (it costs about $2200!). You can see a picture of it here.

Dinette Set: I want a '60's/'70's style linoleum topped table with aluminum legs and vinyl-covered seats. Why this appeals to "give me natural. sustainable, non-toxic materials" me is a mystery. I think it's the bright color of many of these sets. I also like the small scale--they usually seat a maximum of 4--and the openness of the design. There is plenty of legroom since the legs are at each corner of the table (no center support to stub your toe on) and the seats are comfortable. It's easy to settle in for coffee, conversation, and a Sunday paper. There's a nice set in Atomic Ranch: Midcentury Marvels No. 15, page 42.

Rainwater-catchment systems (Rainbarrels): Rainbarrels were used over 2000 years ago in Thailand, among other places. As climate change brings us unpredictable rain/drought patterns, and as water becomes a scarce resource, the rainbarrel is making a comeback. Today the rainbarrel is often part of a more complex system designed to catch, store, and use rainwater. Even the simplest models have spigots and other fixtures that make using the water easier. The New England model (see this site) is an example of simple design. It's made out of recycled plastic, has an aluminum screen to catch leaves and other debris, and brass fittings. A more complex system was installed in the Clipper House in San Francisco. It includes storage tanks, pumps, filters, and drainage systems. The system was designed and installed by Wonderwater. The general formula for rain catchment is that a 1000 square foot catchment area (such as a roof) will provide 600 gallons of water with every 1 inch of rain. Rainbarrels aren't the most aesthetically pleasing additions to a landscape (although I bet this will change as demand increases), but they are an easy way to save and use water that would otherwise be lost as runoff. And they speak to the "new" green ethic which is being driven less by ideology these days, and more by personal experiences with the effects of drought, high fuel prices, and daily ozone alerts.

The iPod: No list of nifty gadgets can ignore the iPod. Forget the technology. What is revolutionary about the iPod is its design. They are the tribbles of technology--plastic and metal boxes that are almost cuddly. There are many ways music can be downloaded, stored, and listened to, but the iPod is a hit, I think in large part, because of it's smooth surface, rounded corners, and the way it snuggles in the palm of your hand.

The Humble Egg Beater: In our family's cabin in Maine we have a sweet little spatula. It has a wooden handle that was once red. The head is stainless steel with 3 rectangular slits. It is small, maybe 3 to 3 1/2 inches. The turned handle fits perfectly in my hand and it slides under a fried egg and lifts it off the cast iron with smooth efficiency. We've tried to find another one like it, but so far no go. We love going to Maine for many reasons, and the spatula is one of the little pleasures we look forward to. The hand egg beater is like that spatula. I rediscovered this gadget a few years ago, also in Maine. The gear mechanism was patented around 1920; the beaters are usually stainless steel, and the body is a metal alloy. I use it for making scrambled eggs and other small mixing jobs because it's light, doesn't have to be plugged in, and it's easy to clean. But I also use it because the rhythmic click of the nylon gears moving the metal center, and the hypnotic sight of the beater spokes meshing perfectly are tactile, sensual pleasures.

Wooden Drying Rack: Another low-tech item that is a pleasure to use. The rack folds up into a rectangle and then expands to reveal a series of dowels to use for hanging wet clothes. I like the feel of the wood and the clever use of dowels and hinges. And it's nice to unplug from the electric dryer at least some of our laundry.

Chairs: Every design magazine has scads of chairs. The editors of Wallpaper (August 2007, No. 101) wrote: "...[S]ince Philippe Starck produced his three-legged 'Costes' chair..., every designer and his dog has wanted to create an iconic chair, and many have." One chair I came across (I don't remember where) is a contemporary version of a curule chair that references many of the elements of classical Roman and ancient Egyptian interior design. It's constructed with twisted brass arms, wrought iron legs and stiles, and a creamy white, lightly upholstered seat. The front legs and front of the armrests and the back legs and stiles create the classic curule form. There are lion's heads on the stiles and lion's feet at the base of the legs. The airy woven brass, white upholstery, and graceful curves are balanced with the weight and formality of the wrought iron, lion's heads and spiraling leaf motifs.

Organic Cotton Flannel Sheets: A heavy weight (6 ounces) flannel sheet set is wonderful. They get softer with wear. They are warm and cozy in winter and surprisingly cool in the summer. I have found that they are prone to shrinkage over time so air drying is best. The organic, un-dyed or low impact dyed sheets are more expensive but worth it to us as a way to be a bit gentler on the environment.

Contour Drawing--People

2007-09-12T17:43:00.001-07:00

Here are 4 contour stealth drawings of unsuspecting (I hope) folks. I agree with other students that this practice was surprisingly enjoyable. Maybe I expect something close to perfection when drawing immobile squares and rectangles. With bumpy, wrinkly, fidgety people I'm happy for every accurate line!
This is at Smith Street Diner. They have biscuits the size of your head!
This one and the next are folks in my favorite hang out, Barnes and Noble. (I know, I'm a wild one!)

EggProject IAR 101 8.07

2007-09-10T19:46:00.001-07:00

(A physics joke) Q. How do you unscramble and egg? A: Feed it to a chicken.

The Assignment: Design and create a place for an egg that 1) celebrates some quality of "eggness", and 2) is a clearly defined space for the egg to be. Our materials were limited to paper (no adhesives).
I started with research of eggs and made a couple of webs with what I found.

Then I found the Orphic Egg.

First Iteration: I liked the idea of the metaphor of the egg as nascent life and the serpent as the fire that fuels the birth of the divine self. I made the connection to an article I'd read about ayahuasca, a South American hallucinogen that causes the same visions of serpents, twisted ladders, and such in almost everyone who takes it. (See this article from The Walrus magazine.) There is an idea that the vision is the unifying energy in all living things, which to a molecular biologist, is DNA. So we have a union of opposites--mythology and science. I decided to use the Orphic (or Orpheus) Egg. The spiraling snake would be the place for the egg. Its body would be the twisted ladder of DNA.

Gravity and the limitation of using only paper to build a supporting, upwardly moving structure thwarted my scheme. I tried twisting paper and Origami but nothing worked. All I had to show for my first iteration were a few orange origami triangles. Dumb old physics!

Second Iteration: I talked with Suzanne and she helped me distill my idea down to one phrase: the unity of opposites. The egg symbolizes the unity of male/female; delicacy/strength; openness to the environment/shelter; beginning/end, and so on. Then I remembered one of my all time favorite math "tricks": the Mobius Strip. You can make one! It continued the idea by uniting the opposites of inside/outside. It's simple to make out of paper and its gorgeous curves are perfect for nestling an egg.

I used heavy white bond paper, and painted a 6" wooden egg with white gesso. Since white is the combination of all colors in the light spectrum it fit with the unifying of opposites idea.

This attempt was successful. I tried it with a few different kinds of paper and also tried glazing the papers with a white glue and water mixture. I also had to try a few different styles of tabs for closing the Mobius strip, and then had to practice a few times with the style I chose. I planned to set the egg on top of the closure and I wanted it to be as smooth and invisible as I could make it.

I really like the result. It's simple and sensuous. I think it makes the "unity of opposites" visible in its structure for those who want to ponder it. Otherwise it just looks neat and the egg has a definite place to be.

Lessons Learned: I started with a jumble of big, loosely connected ideas and images that weren't clearly focused or articulated. That led me to try an over-complicated design. What I learned is that I have to take that unwieldy, beginning mess of images and ideas and pare it down, and then pare it down again until I get to the essence. I had to be willing to let go of my favorite parts of the design if they did not work. When the idea became clear and simple, clear and simple design followed.

DowntownContours 9.07

2007-09-10T18:41:00.000-07:00

We were supposed to take a total of two hours on these four sketches, but for me it was six! But again I learned a lot and I'm pleased with these drawings. Thanks to both Jake and Suzanne for encouragement. And thanks a million to Jake for catching my mistake with trying to find angles using my pencil. It kept dipping into the 3rd dimension! He gave me the "pane of glass" image, and it has made a tremendous difference. Yeah! This first drawing is a law office on Elm Street.
I wanted to find something modern and something simple. This bank is on the corner of Market Street and Murrow Blvd. Very simple lines with a creamy, adobe-like surface.
Cheesecake by Alex on Elm Street was closed :(. I like the coziness of the small shop and the gathered curtain. Looks very inviting.

This was my first choice for the downtown contour series. Whoa! I went back 3 times. It definitely challenged me. But I love the building and its place in the GSO arts community so it was fun to do.

110 Contour Sketch 9.4.07

2007-09-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Once upon a time, during my first round of college, I decided to switch from an English major (the major for which I was genetically and socially programmed) to Biology. That meant taking Chemistry. And I had no idea what that teacher was yapping about. But for some reason,probably pure stubbornness, I decided I was absolutely, positively going to understand all those symbols and formulas. And though it took some tears and a few temper tantrums, in time I had a revelation. I saw the world as a chemist and it changed the way I looked at everything from a piece of chalk to a poem. Drawing is like chemistry--unknown. And I'm definitely in that frustrating, "I'll never get it" part (though I seem to have outgrown the tantrums!). But I know I'll get to that epiphany and I'll see the world through the eyes of an artist/designer. And I'll get to see chalk and poems in a new way--again.

International Design Magazines

2007-09-05T05:49:00.000-07:00

Here is the research I did on International Design. It includes a two entries on British design, a piece on the stone mansions of the Swahili people in eastern Africa, a look at Objekt International magazine from the Netherlands, and a bit of French style from Art and Decoration.

The English Home: Elegant Living in the Traditional English Style (EH). EH chronicles rural, historic homes renovated in the Traditional English Style. Construction dates of homes in the magazine range from the 15th century to the 1930's.
So what makes a home English Traditional? In spite of the wide range of ages in the homes shown in EH, there are a number of design elements common to all of them.
Setting and grounds: These homes sit on large expanses of lawn with few trees or other plantings. Most have either formal or cottage style gardens on the backside. There is no attempt to nestle the homes into the landscape. Instead, they sit on top of it, visible from long distances.
Exteriors: The homes are symmetrical--a single rectangle or a central rectangle with wings. House fronts are constructed of stone or brick; some have ivy or other climbing vines covering the facades. Casement windows are the norm with a 2 over 2 or 6 over 6 pattern.
Floors and ceilings: Many ceilings have open beams, sometimes original and sometimes added during renovations. Other ceilings are flat. Ceilings range from about 8-12 feet. Floors may be covered in local limestone tiles, checkerboard patterns of black and white tiles, hardwood, and occasionally low-pile carpets.
Furniture: Furniture is mostly rectilinear and substantial. Wood is used extensively for tables, chairs, and cabinets. Windsor chairs and variations are common. Side chairs and dining chairs have upholstered seats and backs, and often have turned legs. Upholstered sofas and chairs often have exposed legs. Dining tables are most often constructed of wood and may be rectangular or oval. Fireplace mantles (chimney pieces) have architectural features with lintels, carved cornices, engaged columns, etc.
Walls: Molding is used to delineate wall from ceiling, and wall from floor, as well as to define the areas around windows and doors. It may be the same color as the walls or painted in a contrasting/complementary shade. Walls are made from stone in the oldest houses. In all the homes walls are painted in a single color (which varies from room to room). Walls are generally flat (i.e. no frescoes, carvings, or other 3-d effects except for the molding). Beds have wooden or metal head and foot boards; only one had a canopy. Most had one or two small shelf or cabinet nightstands flanking the headboard.
Colors and decor: Wall and decor colors tend toward neutrals and some blues, yellows, and pinks. These are generally a rich pastel (spring or "Easter colors"). Drapery is often fairly heavy, floor length with matching valences, although some windows are left untreated in sunny gathering rooms or kitchens. Ornamentation ranges from very spare (a small painting on the wall) to an eclectic mix of colors, textures, and styles that parallels the American "cottage" style of decorating. Decoration on walls was mostly in the form of framed paintings hung singly or in small groups. Small sculptures adorn side tables and mantles. I saw little overhead, recessed, or track lighting. Most was task lighting on tabletops.
Kitchens and bathrooms: Bathrooms incorporate current technology and comfort and even include some modernist shapes and sensibilities. They often combine the minimalism of Asian design with "cottage" elements such as bead board. Kitchens use traditional cabinetry (many with free standing cupboards) but have state of the art appliances ancd countertops.
Conclusion: The style of Traditional English homes uses rectilinear shapes, bilateral symmetry, wood, plush upholstery and simple decor to create a feeling of stability. The style fuses features from the past seamlessly with modern appliances, comforts, and technologies. The style is functional and comfortable.

British Design (Part 2)
Livingetc: The British design celebrated in Livingetc. is entirely different from The English Home: Elegant Living in the Traditional English Style . This magazine is set squarely in the modernist tradition, but it is a family focused publication, as much about actually having a functional, comfortable, and kid-friendly environment as a stylish one. Colors and shapes really caught my eye. Many rooms are white or neutral with just a few big splashes of bold color. Reds and yellows are definitely in. What I noticed most was a variety of styles. Unlike the traditional English which seems to be defined by a somewhat limited number of shapes and materials, the rooms in Livingetc. range from "vintage charm" and "striking monochrome" to "daring color" and "natural touch". Materials for furnishings included wood, upholstery, and organic forms of molded plastics. I found the magazine to be full of playful and vibrant ideas.

Swahili Chic: The Feng Shui of Africa by Bibi Jordan with a forward by Richard Leakey.
It's a book, not a magazine, but I really wanted to find information on so-called non-western design, particularly any with an Islamic influence. So when I found this book I sat myself right down and started going through it. It is sumptuous.
For this entry I will focus on the Stone Houses of Mkomani in the city of Lamu in northern Kenya.
The Swahili culture of east Africa stretched northward from Tanzania to Kenya and into Somalia. The "stone towns" of the Swahili culture are areas of townhouses built in mazes of narrow passageways, just wide enough for a people and donkeys to pass through.
They are heavily influenced by the architecture and values of Islam (introduced to the area in the late 9th century). They also have some elements from the aesthetics of China, India, Europeans, and Arabs--all of whom passed through the Swahili people's lands.
The stone mansions were built by wealthy patricians. The exteriors were made from coral and except for the highly ornamented wooden doors, they were indistinguishable from one another. This uniformity reflected the Islamic values of conformity and equality.
All the mansions had a uniform layout that emphasized seclusion and scholarship. The homes were on an axial plan, oriented north-south, in alignment with the holy city of Mecca which was due north. The homes were 3 stories tall. Like Roman temples and dwellings, and those of Egypt, the spaces in the homes grew more private and intimate as one moved deeper into the structure.

Here's an overview of the floor plan:

The street is a male space, and in general public areas were for men only. One step up from the street was the daka, a recessed front porch which was used for informal gathering, like a row house stoop. The door to the house opened off of the daka. The doors were the only exterior features that expressed individuality. They were made of expensive hard wood and had ornate carvings of symbols for fortune, love, and health. The hardware was made of brass.
Just through the door was the ground floor, a "dark cavern" for servants and donkeys. A steep staircase led up to a guest room and then to a covered landing which was used as a reception area. It had high, clerestory-like windows that let in light but provided privacy from neighbors. The ceiling was high, and the walls were whitewashed with a border of carved plaster friezes. The atmosphere was formal and stately.
Non-family males were not permitted beyond this room.

An atrium courtyard, kiwonda, was the center of activity for servants to work and children to play. It had no windows, but was open to the sky for light and ventilation.
A second steep staircase led to the third floor and a rooftop kitchen as well as a penthouse veranda for women. Beyond this area were 3 rectangular galleries. Each was gently sloped toward the courtyard and each was one step higher than the one before it. This arrangement allowed wash water to cascade into the kiwonda and into street gutters that emptied in the sea.

The three galleries were the main living areas of the house. Each one was deeper, darker, and more intimate than the one before. The first was a sitting room. The second was a sleeping chamber with 2 alcoves for beds at each end, with a sitting area in the middle. The innermost room was the bedroom/bathroom suite for the parents. The gloom of the inner rooms was offset by "luminous white coral plaster carvings that increased in grandeur as one went deeper". Niches in the walls were filled with family heirlooms, china, and leather bound books.
Photos of the houses, some restored and used as inns, show the symmetry of design, and the simplicity of the wall, floors, and ceilings enlivened with the treasures of the family. Jordan writes, "The interior was rich with family life, heirlooms, libraries. The homes embodied "purity and peace".

Objekt International Magazine
The philosophy of this publication is "quality over quantity". It has been in circulation in over 80 countries for 15 years. Seriously upscale. Gorgeous heavy paper--bet it has no recycled content! Most of the articles focus on homes and commercial properties, although there is an interview with Harm Lagaaij, the chief designer at Porsche as well as an article about the Fiat. Featured houses include: Fujiya, a 350 year old inn that has been restored with modern amenities while preserving its historic structure; an over the top (my opinion) remodel/redecoration of a 1990's architect designed house outside London (including a round bed by Ipe Cavalli with a voile hanging by Fox Linten in a child's room); a spa and "wellness temple" of "six illuminated sail-like glass elements. And so on. Wow--this is less?!
I can't find design elements that tie all these structures together. They are all designed to the nth degree, and in general the design is meant to be oohed and ahhed over as far as I can tell.
Some of it is tasteful (I like the Japanese inn) and some is just annoyingly "look at me". There is no thought to sustainability in these designs, and too often it appears there isn't much thought to how one is going to actually live and function in the spaces. Oh well it's certainly an interesting look into how the other .01% live!

Art and Decoration from Paris (with English summaries!)
I would put this on par, as far as type of readership, with Traditional Home.
Except for summaries in the back of the magazine I couldn't read this one, sooo it's all about the pictures. This is a summer issue so there are several beach houses (seaside houses?) featured as well as products for outdoor living. Many of the furnishings and products would fall into our "shabby chic" style with distressed wood, mixes of floral and striped fabrics, "weathered" metals along with ceramics and textiles in turquoise, hot pink, orange and lime green.
Floors and cabinetry are often hardwood in light colors. Windows are often left bare or treated with sheer, textured fabrics. As with our shabby chic and cottage styles most furniture and wall surfaces hold pictures, vases of flowers, nautical artifacts, and natural objects such as driftwood.
A feature on outdoor showers has wood or stone enclosures. Most are meant to look quite old as if they're weathered into the landscape. I liked these. They were relatively private and felt like secret grottoes.
There was a nice spread on room screens. Most of these were constructed of wood. They were accented variously with louvers, cane, and sheer fabrics.
Overall the interior design and decor seemed to be made for comfort and nostalgia. It was the French version of "Cottage" style. A little fussy and busy, but welcoming.

Blind Contour: My Room

2007-09-03T17:01:00.001-07:00

I posted this just because I like it. I was very relaxed and took plenty of time with it. Can you see our cat on the dirty clothes?

Negative Contours

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2007-09-03T16:56:00.001-07:00

Negative Contour: Leaves

Blind Contour: My Hand 8.07

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A blind contour of my left hand

Amazing sketchbook blogs

2007-08-29T19:48:00.000-07:00

Before I knew it 2 hours went by. I just kept moving from link to link. If I have to choose a fave among the 6 sites listed on the "ready, set, blog" handout, I'd choose France Belleville's (wagonized.typepad.com). Her sketches show a great use of light and shadow. It is helpful that she grouped her work by pen and by pencil--nice to be able to look at lots of sketches in the same medium. Most of her sketches are portraits (of people and dogs) which leads me to my other favorite (even if it means 2 superlatives) Tommy Kane's site, www.tommykane.blogspot.com. His lines are amazing and he does lots of architectural drawings, which relate directly to IA.