Monday, February 16, 2009
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
PAT'S FURNITURE
These are my technical drawings for Pat's furniture. I feel that they give a pretty accurate example of what this couch/desk thing would look like. This piece definitely serves the purpose of function or commodity. How well does it do with overall aesthetics or delight? ... I'll let you decide!
OPUS entry 3 : 2/11/2009
The relationships between human beings, the spaces they occupy and the material things they need to survive are what tie this weeks focus words together. We continue to learn how architecture evolves from pure necessity at first into massively complex structures that continue to have more complex meanings. The importance of how the dynamic between humans and their buildings work becomes more evident as we study ancient cultures as well as observe how average people exist in the comfort of their favorite coffee shops. Also, we dive further into accurately portraying the custom furniture we’ve designed so that any common person can see and understand what we have designed with precision and ease.
SCALE in my opinion, is perhaps the greatest factor in deciding what and how to design or build anything. Above are a couple of images of scale people I drew along with a scale from the plan view of my piece of furniture. While I believe it is usually the most important factor, I also feel it isn’t always the most obvious factor in a design. Just imagine how different every aspect of the world we know would be if the average human height was 1 ½ feet less or 1 ½ feet more than it is now. A foot and a half isn’t much, but I feel confident the world would look very different it you changed the human scale by that small of a degree. The massive power of the ancient structures such as the Great Pyramid at Giza and Hatshepsut’s Temple wouldn’t come across the same way if they were built at a small scale, their large scale gives us a big hint to their great importance. As Blakemore says in regards to the relationship between social hierarchy and furniture on page 13, “In particular, the size and stature of the people affected chair design.”
UNITY is a word that has broad meaning to me, which also made it hard for me to illustrate. The more I looked at and thought about the Greek structures, the more the column stood out to me as what truly symbolizes unity. Our whole lives we have seen images of ancient Greek structures with these massive columns still standing after thousands of years. And yet in present day construction of college buildings and government buildings alike, the presence of columns still show through, unifying the past and present while segwaying into the future of important structures. Blakemore points this out on page 28 when he says, “Subsequently, derivations from ancient Greece and Rome in different periods of interior architecture have included… the structural use of the column, among others.”
BOUDARIES play a role in design in more ways than one. For example, obvious literal boundaries exist in things such as the wall that surrounds the Acropolis and even the Agora, an area near the Acropolis as Roth says on page 222, “who’s boundaries were defined by the surrounding houses and public buildings.” Also natural boundaries were created But in another sense, I have learned how when drawing a scene, the lack of an obvious boundary can effectively be turned into a dynamic way to create a boundary in itself. This drawing of Suzanne and her TA’s shows how deciding where the lines in the walls end serve as a good boundary for the image without an obvious solid border.
SECTIONS are used in many ways in design. In the literal sense when applied to drafting, this section view shows a “sliced” section of Pat’s piece of furniture so the viewer can better understand what is happening. The great columns had to be made in sections as Roth says on pages 242 and 243, “Each component block or column drum, each piece of narrative sculpture was crafted to perfection.” In another sense, section is applied in the ancient Greek architecture through the use of the porch, the court and the hearth. These sections each fulfilled a purpose for the way their society functioned. The Greeks went on to repeat these sections throughout their structures which resonated throughout architecture from their time on.
VIGNETTES are used to illustrate small scenes in a way that is easy to understand and pleasing to the eye. In this example I chose to draw the same scene twice and also incorporate multiview into these vignettes. By simply changing the choice of angle, color and color placement, these two images can portray two totally different feels. The use of all of these tools together become a large and powerful part of the way architecture works and how effective all designs are.
SCALE in my opinion, is perhaps the greatest factor in deciding what and how to design or build anything. Above are a couple of images of scale people I drew along with a scale from the plan view of my piece of furniture. While I believe it is usually the most important factor, I also feel it isn’t always the most obvious factor in a design. Just imagine how different every aspect of the world we know would be if the average human height was 1 ½ feet less or 1 ½ feet more than it is now. A foot and a half isn’t much, but I feel confident the world would look very different it you changed the human scale by that small of a degree. The massive power of the ancient structures such as the Great Pyramid at Giza and Hatshepsut’s Temple wouldn’t come across the same way if they were built at a small scale, their large scale gives us a big hint to their great importance. As Blakemore says in regards to the relationship between social hierarchy and furniture on page 13, “In particular, the size and stature of the people affected chair design.”
UNITY is a word that has broad meaning to me, which also made it hard for me to illustrate. The more I looked at and thought about the Greek structures, the more the column stood out to me as what truly symbolizes unity. Our whole lives we have seen images of ancient Greek structures with these massive columns still standing after thousands of years. And yet in present day construction of college buildings and government buildings alike, the presence of columns still show through, unifying the past and present while segwaying into the future of important structures. Blakemore points this out on page 28 when he says, “Subsequently, derivations from ancient Greece and Rome in different periods of interior architecture have included… the structural use of the column, among others.”
BOUDARIES play a role in design in more ways than one. For example, obvious literal boundaries exist in things such as the wall that surrounds the Acropolis and even the Agora, an area near the Acropolis as Roth says on page 222, “who’s boundaries were defined by the surrounding houses and public buildings.” Also natural boundaries were created But in another sense, I have learned how when drawing a scene, the lack of an obvious boundary can effectively be turned into a dynamic way to create a boundary in itself. This drawing of Suzanne and her TA’s shows how deciding where the lines in the walls end serve as a good boundary for the image without an obvious solid border.
SECTIONS are used in many ways in design. In the literal sense when applied to drafting, this section view shows a “sliced” section of Pat’s piece of furniture so the viewer can better understand what is happening. The great columns had to be made in sections as Roth says on pages 242 and 243, “Each component block or column drum, each piece of narrative sculpture was crafted to perfection.” In another sense, section is applied in the ancient Greek architecture through the use of the porch, the court and the hearth. These sections each fulfilled a purpose for the way their society functioned. The Greeks went on to repeat these sections throughout their structures which resonated throughout architecture from their time on.
VIGNETTES are used to illustrate small scenes in a way that is easy to understand and pleasing to the eye. In this example I chose to draw the same scene twice and also incorporate multiview into these vignettes. By simply changing the choice of angle, color and color placement, these two images can portray two totally different feels. The use of all of these tools together become a large and powerful part of the way architecture works and how effective all designs are.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
DRINKING AND DRAWING
This is a drawing I did in Tate St Coffee. I have to admit that I was kind of overwhelmed by how much was going on in the space... a lot to draw! I did this drawing in the morning so everyone was in a hurry and moving quickly. I tried to show the movement of the people in with the water colors.
I did this drawing at Barnes and Noble's coffee shop. I used the blue water colors to try to open up the feel of the image. It kind of makes the scene look spacey.
This drawing is of the same setting, just from a different angle. I tried to use different colors to get a different mood from the same scene as the previous image. I really liked the old guy that was facing me in the chair, he had a lot of character.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
SCALE FIGURES
Here are a handful of sale figure drawing sketches that I though were both tasteful and helpful ...
- Gabi Campanario did this group
This is a cool drawing of a woman with her daughter by Isabel Fiadeiro
This is a layout of examples found on www.design-skills.org This site has a lot of helpful info for design drawing in general.
This site has a large amount of resources and examples of quick scale figure drawings
- Gabi Campanario did this group
This is a cool drawing of a woman with her daughter by Isabel Fiadeiro
This is a layout of examples found on www.design-skills.org This site has a lot of helpful info for design drawing in general.
This site has a large amount of resources and examples of quick scale figure drawings
OPUS entry 2 : 2/4/2009
This week we continue our pursuit of design knowledge. Expanding and exploring what we know about the fundamentals in key areas of our craft. We work on our abilities to do technical drawings, illustrate people and things in a simple yet strong way, and learn about the ancient history of architecture and its place in the world. The key words of the prompts for this week’s entry seem to reverberate the basic messages all of us designers must comprehend and control if we are to do our job well. The phrase, COMMODITY : FIRMNESS : DELIGHT as coined by Sir Henry Wotten, builds on Vitruvious’ original statement that "Architecture must provide utility, firmness and beauty.” (Understanding Architecture, p. 11) From my perspective, this is an undeniable truth. There is no debating that it is the job of all architecture to fulfill these three categories. Commodity is present in the sense that there is a need that must be filled, or a job to be done if you will. Firmness is important because it addresses the necessity of durability in design and construction. Delight refers to the job of the designer and the design itself to be both aesthetically pleasing as well as physically pleasing. This idea is put into words well by Roth when he says, “Architecture accommodates psychological as well as physiological needs of the human family, whose basic social institutions are at the very least a million years old.” (Understanding Architecture, p. 160) While I have been talking about architecture, these ideas apply throughout all forms of design. Take for example this boot-
Worn by a classmate, this boot to me echoes many of the same principals of design as architecture. Especially those of commodity, firmness and delight. Commodity - All people need shoes to survive and live day to day without getting injured or sick. Firmness- This boot is made of leather and in a style that has been used for centuries. Tried and true to this day, leather boots are some of the most durable shoes a person can buy. Delight- With out a doubt the angular cuts and stitching of the leather as well as the purple color make this pair of boots very beautiful.
The use of leather in the boots brings up the use of MATERIAL in design. Whether you are designing clothing, furniture or a house, what materials you have available and plan to use always plays a big part in how good your design will turn out. As we are learning about in Patrick’s class, the materials available greatly shaped the course of the ancient Egyptian’s architecture.
This is the “Pyramid of Zoser” as shown on page 197 in Understanding Architecture. It is important for us to learn about this culture because as Roth says, “Egypt is where western architecture begins.” (Understanding Architecture, p. 188) What’s important to notice about this picture is that the pyramid is made of sandstone, the most available material to the Egyptians. It is what they had a lot of and by paying close attention to its qualities, they managed to design and build something that demonstrated firmness for thousands of years.
The Great Pyramids of Egypt were a strong example of another important element of design, ILLUMINATION. Though they do not look like it now, when the pyramids were constructed, they were covered in polished white stone and had golden tops. In a setting of vast flat deserts of sand, the pyramids intentionally stood out. The Egyptians placed the gold tops on their white man-made mountains to catch the always present sun and illuminate their accomplishments. The point of illumination is to be able to see better. I could not help but think of the improvement of sight when I looked at Tristan’s artifact goggle’s he made …
IDIOM is described by some as a characteristic mode of expression in music or art. I do not know what Tristan was trying to express through his art but I’m sure they demonstrate some form of the use of idiom. As Sir Herbert Read says on page 159 of Understanding Architecture, all art is “a mode of symbolic discourse.” Again, the Egyptian culture was a powerful example of the use of idiomatic design. In order to memorialize the traditions of their culture and religion, they wrote stories on scrolls and engravings into their architecture. These stories were written in their language of hieroglyphics. This is an example of such hieroglyphics, found at fontriver.com
Other aspects of idiom are found in the interiors of all buildings in the present day. For example all buildings have furniture. A good piece of furniture typically encompasses the "style" that is inevitably "shared by all" people who are in the space. And if a piece of furniture is liked, it will become multi-generational as it is passed on through family members. This drawing I did is of a girl in class sitting in a chair that struck me a something that encompasses these elements of idiom in design.
This week, I feel we have learned a lot about where architecture and art began with the human race. It is becoming more obvious to me that all aspects of life, art and design are completely interconnected. Also I am starting to realize that in art, architecture and design, sometimes less is more. The use of simplicity in the lines of the designs of the pyramids are powerful. Equally powerful are the simple lines, rather than tons of shading that can be used in the gesture sketch of a person to express the energy of their pose. Of course we have much more to learn, but these elements of design are now a huge part of the catalog of knowledge we will use as designers.
- Jeff
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
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