Wrappin' Up the Semester Like Christmas Presents

its over. finally over.  I am actually rather upset that this studio has come to an end.  Even though in the last few weeks I have been constantly trying to put my mind back together from the explosion of abstraction that occurred.  There is a lot to discuss so this post will be finished soon.

The Wheels on the Bus Go Round and Round...

Slowly but steadily everything is progressing.  The building model has made it to the last stages of completion.  There are a few questions that need to be resolved before completing it fully.

Today marks the beginning of the construction of the abstract wax site model.  8 lbs of wax and patience are what to look forward to, oh yeah, and finding a site plan to scale.

I'd Like A Coffee, Bagel, and a Side of Abstraction.

Thanksgiving break was a well needed time away from the back pains of a studio desk, but turkey or no turkey, the process continues.

Finishing the drawings without paper was a sign of relief, but also a sign that the end was near.  It was after this critique that I gained a better realization of how fascinating the sub-concious power of the human mind is.  On the outside this project was pieces of art that related to our building design in some way, but it was the ways that it did not relate that became topic of interest.  In the end each project formulated a conversation about issues that were occurring in the design.  For me, the spatial qualities and the way the building makes the transition and connection from above ground to below.  From here I was able to indulge further into making a strong relationship between the transitions.

Making the transfer to building a final model I took along with me the ideas and conversation provoked by the drawings without paper.  But still there was an in congruency of form.  The peeled back forms protruding from the ground are the base of the project, and their relationship to spaces below.  With issues of ramps entering into the building and how they would be incorporated I was told to build the model from the ground down.  Essentially from top to bottom.  Stepping out of the normal comfort level of build from ground up, this strategy was meant to push the envelope of how I was thinking about the forms.

Progress continues steadily.  This model being for a more regular building mode,l I have made the choice to build a more abstract site model.

It will be crafted out of wax.  The space where my building is located will be a void projecting through the model.  This idea relates to how my building creates a relationship between what is above and below.      The model will be lit from below for the presentation, displaying also the idea of transparency I am attempting to convey.

Harnessing the Power of Wax

After some different tests attempting to synthesize color into the plain white wax, a final technique was established.  I found that instead of cutting off a piece of crayon and putting it into the hot wax, that it was better to hold the crayon over the mold and pour the hot wax over it.  This allows some of the color to be pulled from the crayon but not over saturate the wax block. Colored wax, not an issue.

With the technique for coloring wax, and wax in general down, I could start to better recognize what I wanted to achieve with my final casting.  Roofs. The connection between what is underground and above ground.  The connection I have been struggling to establish.

I decided a 9 x 9 mold would be an adequate size for the casting, giving enough space to place the colored blocks into the wax.  The process is relatively simple except for the fact that wax being placed into hot wax is not exactly the best idea.  It starts to melt.  Some shapes began to go limp, so I had to pull them out and allow the wax to cool for a few minutes before placing them in. So after a thin layer of wax starting forming on the surface the blocks were placed.  I had earlier decided that wherever the pieces of colored wax would protrude above the clear wax would be where the building and ground would relate.

Success! After letting the wax set up and harden for about an hour I trimmed away the sides of the mold, allowing the sides of the wax to get air and even further dry out. Shortly after the rest of the mold was removed and I was left with a large chunk of wax with other pieces of colored wax sticking out of it into space.  The effect of this casting is even further heightened when placed on a light table, or simply illuminated from behind.  When the clear wax is lit up it becomes more transparent.  On the interior of the mold there are pieces that do not come above the surface, they can be seen when light is put to it giving a sense of spatiality to the mold.

The finished product.

Finally the battle with wax came to an end.

Please watch the floor near my desk and surrounding areas...its slippery.

Apparently Wax Isn't Any Easier

Please, don't touch my crock pot full of hot wax.

Wax is fun, building the mold on the other hand lacks the level of 'fun' involved.
It's tough to try to envision what this wax sculpture will look like as the mold is being built, but it's that sense of the unknown that I find quite intriguing.  Once the molds built its up to the wax to do the rest. Cool down. Harden. Be removed...seems simple.
Luckily I sealed the edges of the mold well enough that there was no wax leaking out everywhere.  But, unfortunately how the model was planned to come out did not occur.  What was supposed to come out as one large piece, came out in 9 different pieces.  The chipboard did not remove from the interior sections of the model as well as the outer boundaries, thus causing cracking.  Through this event a new way to explore the space formed in between the separate pieces was brought to mind.



If it's in 9 pieces...make it back into 1, but how?
      Adding more wax. Of course.
But!,
This time with some color added with crayons that are melted into the wax before it is poured.  Currently I am experimenting with different ways to synthesize the plain wax and colored wax so not to be over powering or obnoxious to the viewer.

This method of model making, or 'drawing', is actually quite enjoyable.  It allows the mind to remove itself from normalities, such as drawing on paper, to what a drawing is in the space that is the paper...or in this case, the space of........whatever you mind desires.

And The Mayhem Continues

After choosing reasonable methods of accomplishing the drawings without paper, the actual process began...and has yet to end.  The first of attempt was one done in wire

Working with wire in concept should be easy, right?...not.  A rather frustrating process of bending and manipulating the wire.  When one piece of wire is bent, another one will bend with it. Tediously bending them all into place. The image depicted is the floor plan of my building..now onto wax.

When Paper Becomes to Typical...

...do drawings without it. Drawings without paper, funny concept. More so an intriguing way of being able to explore different mediums of 'drawing' and remove yourself from the normal mechanics of architecture school.

My weapon of choice for this adventure is wire, a low gauge floral wire, and wax, a 4 pound block of it for now.

this should be interesting.

Irrelevantly Relevant

Not so much does this short film have to do with process, or studio, but it deals with the way one can trick the mind, and do it through use of lenses and techniques in photography.

This short film is a stop motion animation, one consisting of over 25,000 individual photos. Take notice of the way the artist uses focus and camera angle to captivate the viewer and place an illusion on what is real.

Follow me through the portal...

and the stacks of trace grow larger

After finally beginning to come to conclusions of how to enter into the building, and how to interact with the site, a few steps backwards needed to be taken.  I thought I had figured it out, but then realized that my main source of circulation was descending through the library, into the theater area....can't happen.

Needing a more clear separation of public vs private entry became essential.  This and a need for another means of circulation brought up new ideas.  A clarity of the interior form of the building becomes more clear as you descend into the space.  The more private stair coming to a terminus at the library level, and the other, public, entry leads you down to the theater level, only being able to view the library and archive from a far but without any direct way of accessing it.

Another Media of Abstraction

Check out the film that I have created.  Let the music aid you on the journey.

Enter into the other universe here!

Along Comes Abstraction

so the progression of ideas seems to be at a standstill and unfortunately a jumble of different ways to approach this film archive and theater are running circles around my desk.  is it curiosity? is it revealing? at what rate do things become revealed?...overload.

What a Cool-lage

More abstract renditions of the site. In this collage I make my intentions of design clear by showing a connection between the architecture and nature. Along with this my approach to the sectional qualities of my site becomes apparent in the collage.

A New Way to Interpret a 2-D Drawing

Drawdels. The combination of a drawing and model to make a new kind of visual experience.

The drawdel above depicts the areas of instance where there is passage between two buildings.

Browsing...

These images reminded me of the Architecture Principe drawings...except these are video game consoles as buildings.

press here

Hmm...I Want My Building...There.

Here is a few diagrams explaining my strategy with choosing the site I have...

Possible points of entry/Line of sight with Carpenter Center

Site Sections

Views from areas surrounding

Existing circulation paths

Seeing Machines

There is an endless variety of how to approach designing and coordinating a device/machine for seeing.  A logical way of examining different ways of seeing was to look into machines that have already been produced for specific seeing purposes.  For this I analyzed a periscope.
The idea of have an image bouncing of a mirror, being flipped, then reflected again of another mirror to 'right' the image you see, intrigued me.
From this a modified version was created.
Pulling an element of abstractness was where the project took a beneficial turn.  From a standard periscope, to one that had a set of mirrors with varied heights.  By first experimenting with bent mirrors, they skewed the image too much, thus causing the original object to go beyond a point of recognition...a variation of this was the mondrianesque mirror arrangement, with slopes given to each specific piece.
The result was an image that gave an effect of a layering of spaces, just as the Cubist painting had portrayed.  It was this layering, and the relationships formed between different moments of incline and decline, and how the image was affected by that, that produced something new and unique. An abstraction of the landscape.

The Landscapes of Abstraction

...Turn an abstract painting into what?...a landscape. Never did I think that an abstract cubist painting could be conveyed in a spatial way such as a landscape.  The approach for my transformation was the use of topography to shape the landscape and areas within.  After reading about the Shodan House by Le Corbusier, an understanding of cubist organization came into thought...regulating lines.  It was not until I made a comparison between the way the first floor of the Shodan House was designed, and the way Le Corbusier painting Pale Still Life with Lantern that I realized how identical the thought process of an artist of this time was no matter what the medium.
Based on the regulating lines pulled from the painting certain areas of level ground could be formed and a structure replicating the gentle curve of a teapot.  This structural extrusion is accompanied by a ramp that winds down to ground level from a second floor terrace.  Topographic heights were determined by the layer in space that the objects in the painting were.  The further back, the lower that area of ground. The closer to the front of the painting, the higher the ground.
Abstract landscape, frustrating, but intriguing.

Finally...an understanding

With a more solid understanding of cubism and why the artists make specific choices that they do in the paintings, I was able to achieve a greater sense of what occurs spatially.  Here are the results.

Object/Space

Diorama

Layers

Into the Depths of Purism

The opening of the abstract mind occurred more quickly than expected. A collection of thoughts and an overwhelming feeling.  Before finally getting a grasp on the whole Purism trend, utter frustration was the only information that could be pulled out of the painting below, Le Corbusiers, Pale Still Life with Lantern.

A noticeable difference between a Cubist painting and Purist painting is the integrity of form, round shapes being displayed as a square.  By taking a step into the painting a world of depth and space became apparent.  The not so flat painting is a collection of forms that when being painting were placed on a table together.  It is this layering of forms from the front to back that provides the painting with depth.

The lantern is the largest and most prominent object in the still life and a great sense of space is conveyed with it.  By depicting the glass door of the lantern open it allowed for other objects to be placed in the empty space making a more intricate relationship between them.

Space is depicted in a more subtle way by making objects more opaque in order to show what may be occurring behind.  This can be seen with the large tea pot and the stout of it which is shown behind an object.

A collection of models have been made to further study and discover relationships between objects and space. Being able to visualize the three dimensionality of the painting is the key to understanding it.  After cutting countless pieces of chipboard and overloading my head with abstraction a successful understanding of the painting has been found.