Learning Portfolio(In progress) Angelica Flores Arch20 Spring 2016
Week 2: First Project-Dog House Arch 20 Spring 2016/Angelica Flores
Dog House 1
Perspective Views(from left to right): Front, Left, and Right
Perspective Views(from left to right: Worm’s eye view, at eye level, and bird’s eye view
Reflections Learning how to u se Google Sketch Up is both a challenge and a fun activity. During the f irst 2 weeks of school I became very much aware of my lack of computer skills . However I have learned in class that mistakes are ju st an opportunity to get bette r. Now I try my hardest not to get stuck and instead figure out how its done. It always takes me a while before lessons really sink into my memory so I learned to deal with this fact by revisiting notes and try ing to keep up with demonstrations in class. My first dog house that I tried to construct on my own didn't turn out quite as how I envisioned it and given current time restraints in conf lict with othe r classes I decided to keep it how it is and move on from it for now. I’ m hop ing that the next dog house I construct will be better than the first.
S.W.O.T Analysis Strengths: Even if this is my first
time using Google Sketch Up, I was able to use what I learned in class and apply them in my first attempts at designing.
Weaknesses: I did not consider the degree of reality upon my construction such as dimensions and thicknesses. In result, my dog house has no thickness to it. I only realized this when a classmate asked a question regarding the topic. Opportunities: I always have the opportunity of going back and making my dog house better. Threats: The possibility of messing up when I attempt to fix my previous mistake and end up making it worse than before.
Dog House 1.2 My Self Practice of Technique Afte r learning about the offset tool in class I tried to u se it to create depth and dimension to my dog house. I was able to off set and create the window successfully. I thought maybe I could offse t my existing roof to cre ate the desired thickness that I wanted but it didn't quite work out that way. I first offse t one side and then used the push/pull and did the othe r side. This created an awkward inte rsection of p lane s whe re the point of the gable shou ld be. So I thought abou t draw ing a line and try ing to form that point by deleting some parts but that didn't work out eithe r because it would just delete at odd angles. I ended up drawing a line across the awkward intersection and deleting what stuck out. My end result is a f lat su rface where the point of the gable shou ld have been. I then realized that I forgot to offset and try to create thickness on the overall walls.
Lessons: Digital Versus Drawing Rapid V isualization
Practice: Drawing lines, circles, and spirals
Drawing things that we believed to be simp le is harde r than I thought even if I’ve taken drawing classe s before. I have the tendency to always sketch so it was hard for me to keep my pencil to the paper and draw in c continuou s fashion. Going back to the basics really challenges the ability of the mind to focus and slow down so that we pay attention to detail.
Lessons: Digital Versus Drawing Cubes In Space Before we started the Cubes in Space study in class I tried it on my own at home. I used the measuring tape tool to sp ace out everything. In my version the cubes are five feet by five feet and then I used the push/pu ll tool to bring it up to five feet. Than I spaced the cubes five feet apart from one another. In class I learned an easie r way of doing it by se lecting and copying more than one cube. Its faster and takes up less time.
Week 3: Dog House 2 Arch20 Spring 2016/Angelica Flores
Dog House 2
Perspective Views(from left to right): left side view, front, right side view
Perspective Views(from left to right): rear view, top elevation, and close up of window detailing
Reflections I decided to start anew using all the technique s I’ve learned in Sketch Up. I got the idea for Dog House 2 by think ing about puzz le pieces and how they fit togethe r. I played arou nd with the roof until I got this cool shape that look s like it fits like a puzzle. I even incorporated the idea of a puzzle in the way I style the window s. The windows are a set of three with the middle one slightly larger. Dog House 2 is more realistic than my Dog House 1 and 1.2. It has thickness to it and extras since I learned how to import images from 3D warehouse.
S.W.O.T Analysis Strengths: This time around I was able to design the dog house using a concept I came up with on my own. Weaknesses: Although my dog house 2 shows improvement from my dog house 1, the real problems show in the interior. I started of creating thickness in the walls but than lost them again because of my use of the push/pull tool. Opportunities: I had the opportunity of exploring 3D warehouse.
Threats: I had thoughts
of starting over once again but to much work has been done and I wasn’t sure if I could replicate what I had done, especially the detail of the roof.
Lessons:1 and 3 point perspective Learning abou t 1 and 3 point perspective jogged my memory of when I took basic design, basic drawing, and freehand drawing classe s. Its good to be able to reme mbe r perspective views again because I w as able to apply it to my cu rrent freehand drawing class. For me, since I’ve taken drawing classe s before, I know some basics of shadow s but never the math of it. It w as ne at to le arn how the suns rays fall at an angle and in paralle l lines because I never thought of it that way. I’m not really a math person and it was never my favorite subject bu t to re late it to some thing I actually like, like drawing made it interesting.
On Sketch Up we saw the d ifferent perspectives in ac tion. We also le arned about Groups and Components. I struggled with groups and components so more practice is needed.
Lessons: Constructing Forms in Space This is a continu ation of last class rapid visu alization. Even if I’ve taken drawing classes before the term “casting edges” w as never really explained. I know abou t light sources, highlight, shadow, and then casting shadow. But I never paid attention to edges. Then we learned how v arious shapes can be derived from a cube. I found this helpful becau se usu ally whe n you learn perspective its alway s with cubes. Now I can see how I can draw other figu res in perspective. Since I like to d raw human figu res some times I’ve tried to env ision how to do it in perspective. Maybe a cylinder can be the arm, a circ le for the joint and so on. Its still hard for me to f igure ou t bu t I try whenever I have time.
Creating Floor Patterns We applied the concepts of perspective, shadow s, and forms in space to create f loor patte rns. In, all hone sty I never really pay attention to f loors. I think usually people look up at the ceilings and then to the walls, and then their attention passes the f loor. So for me, it was a little hard to design f loor patterns. The designs I drew started off with me trying curved lines and then I had the idea of distorting a checkerboard for my third drawing. Then my thoughts shifted to things in nature such as f lowe rs and water ripple s. For a brief moment I went back to shapes and tried to see if I could make a pattern going a certain d irection. I even went back to the simp le wooden f loor patte rn and then shaded a rectangle in the insides. Af ter I was finished I realized it looks like a close up of a plant cell which I thought was really cool.
Floor Patterns using Sketch Up In Class: Floor Patterns and animation
Sketch up is always fun and now we used animation. Animation and drawing were one of my dreams in high school. I use to do f lip animation using post it note s. Now actually being able to do at least scenes was really cool. Hopefully when I get better in Sketch Up I’ll be able to do even better animations.
My Own Floor Patterns
These are f loor patte rns I designed. I kept with the idea of ripple s in the wate r for the first two and I liked how they turned ou t. I also tried my plant cell idea but colored not the rectangle in the inside like my drawing but instead the space be tween. The patte rns I created plus the overlapping shadows makes for an interesting space.
Week 4: Walls and Follow Me study Arch 20 2016/Angelica Flores
Wall Studies: Planes/Sections/Variations The wall studie s we did in class coinc ided with the wall studies I’ m doing in studio class. Even though we had to go through almost the same lec ture again I didn’t mind having it repeated. It jogged my memory and gave me the idea that I c an explore my wall designs using Sketch Up. During bre ak I started sketching variations of a wall and some of the m tu rned out pre tty inte resting. With all the different ideas it re ally challenge s the notion of what is a wall and what makes a wall. In some of my ske tches I que stioned that if I have negative space in between two volumes doe s that make two walls or together one wall composition. I found that compared to the f loor study I was able to sketch out more ideas. I think its becau se I wall can be construed more ways than one compared to a f loor which alway s has to remain f lat for practic al reasons. But then if you think about it maybe a be nt f loor could be considered stairs. Afte r taking down notes we applied our studie s to Ske tch Up. This allowed us to see how variation and scale can change the imp act of a wall. Then we practiced using the rotate tool to rotate a whole set of walls.
Follow Me/Intersect Tool Study We used the follow me tool to create domes today. I got the hang of it the first two times and then when it came to the oc tagonal shape that’s w hen my dome s d idn’t turn out right. Sometime s in class it w ould even lag a bit because maybe I was pre ssing buttons too fast try ing to fix my mistake. Yet even though I messed up, I inste ad came up with this pretty ruby shaped dome that looks like a jewel tu rned upside down. Afte r that my circle tool started ac ting up and kept giving me pentagons. Since I was alre ady behind I decided to just take noted instead. It was only towards the end of class that my circle tool gave me circles again.
Week 5:
A Plaza Inspired By Michelangelo’s Piazza del Campidoglio Arch 20 2016/Angelica Flores
Piazza del Campidoglio: In Class/at home
Reflection I tried to start this project at home and it tu rned out look ing weird because I couldn't get the move tool to copy. Late r on I found ou t how and was able to complete the steps at home. In class I found out an even easie r way to complete the the petal patte rn which is to cre ate a group, rotate, and the n input how many more copies are needed. Then we had to off set each individual patte rn. It got me thinking that if we offset the original petal and then copied it would that be even faste r? However I never got to try my idea because of time conf licts with other classes. Work ing on the plaza in class really forces you to concentrate and pay attention to detail especially in the cle an up stage whe n we had to erase extra lines. When I continued to work on it at home I had to repeat some steps so that I can show I full transition in the animation. I’m still getting the hang of animation. Af ter I checked how it played out I realized that I forgot to show the very first step.
S.W.O.T Analysis Strengths:
I was able to follow along in class and get most of the work done. Weaknesses: In class we didn’ t show all the steps so w hen I went home I repeated the steps so that I can show the process in the animation. In the f inal stage s of the animation I realized that I forgot to start it from showing the first step. Opportunities: I had the opportunity of trying out the easier me thods of comple tion at home since I had to repeat steps. Threats: The first time I tried this project I stayed up until 2am trying to figure ou t how to do it. I need to try and get enough hours of sleep.