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TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS: LAWRENCE KANSAS
[FALL 2000]
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
Murali Ramaswami
5 REFLECTIVE AGENDA 7 SECOND YEAR STUDIO 9 LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP 25 SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE 39 GRADUATE STUDIO 41 EXISTENCE STATION 47 SCHOOL OF THOUGHT 55 PROJECT DESCRIPTIONS
CONTENTS
Murali Ramaswami
Poetry does not grow from rules, except by chance, but rules on the other hand, are derived from poetry and therefore there are as many kinds of rules as there are poets. Giardano Bruno Nolano
Reflective Agenda
In terms of a reflective agenda, this studio is concerned with the existential aspects of place making, particularly from a phenomenological perspective. Such themes as reality and representation, sensory perception, and hegemony of vision through modernity will recur through out. The aim is to become comfortable with the subjective/objective, science/art axis that architecture traverses, but without rest. Formulating this in a personal and articulate way is itself a long process. This studio will utilize the projects as vehicles to begin this process. An open forum for discussion aided by periodic readings will accompany the design process. The pedagogical goal of this studio is to illuminate the need (and identify certain means) for a personal interpretive process in the process of learning to apply the principles and conventions of making buildings. The intent is to bring to surface the interaction between the learned, conditioned aspects of design process and the spirit that wills to transgress these limits.
STUDIO METHOD/PROCESS: It is the intent of this studio to engage in conceptual discussions that, by necessity, involve some novel phrases and terminologies that originate from other disciplines such as Art, literature, philosophy etc. When used properly and with sincerity these become meaningful, and open our minds to make creative leaps. Like most studios a polemic stance will underlie this studio. I aim to communicate this as well as it can be done, both through dialogues and periodic written statements. I aim to make this accessible and de-mystified but without risking oversimplification. As in a game of chess focused mental effort is expected toward this process.
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Reflective Agenda / Extract from project hand-out
Murali Ramaswami
SECOND YEAR STUDIO FALL 2000: UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS Project One: An Aural Object>>> 1.5 weeks Project Two: A Luthier's Workshop>>> 6 weeks Project Three: Public Space: A Place to Protest>>> 6 weeks A major focus of the studio was on conceptual interpretation of the programmatic limits. Focusing on multi-sensory modalities of architectural experience the projects centered around the sense of hearing and the explored the notion of sound. A beginning excercise required the fabrication of an aural object that embodied an interpreted idea of sound led to the second project: A House and Workshop for a Luthier. The final project transitioned from the aural sound to visual realm of expression within a socio-political context. This project while continuing to stress on a conceptual basis of the design process, became a tool to critique public space and explore the inherent contradictions entailing the phrase freedom of expression.
List of Readings>>> Art and Craft: Chapter II from "Principles of Art" by R.G. Collingwood Hapticity and Time by Juhani Pallasmaa
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SECOND YEAR FALL STUDIO 2000
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
SOUND PROSTHETIC
LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP 15th and massachusettes. lawrence kansas
university of kansas
Luthiery, the art of crafting stringed musical instruments, by hand, has surprisingly survived the many decades of industrial mass production. Perhaps even because of this threat, it seems to have become more entrenched in some ways, as a loose network of individuals around the country and the world craft these instruments for the more discerning musicians. Modern technology, in the form of Internet, has in fact become a tool for a geographically dispersed group to share information ranging from technical to personal, through guilds and organizations. Materials and tools for this specialized activity are also much more easily exchanged and traded. Luthiery thus represents one of those activities where an archaic and seemingly romantic mode of making is sustained through the communication abilities of technology. Yet the work itself directly engages the senses and the mind as a whole. Mechanized tools, even though employed, act as an extension of the human body rather than as abstracting tools. The art of luthiery seems to embody in an instance the technical/scientific and the poetic/intuitive. It is only through a deliberate dissection that these sub-elements can be separated.
PROGRAM The task is to design a building, on a site at the northwest quadrant of 15th and Massachusetts Street, for a single occupant who builds acoustic guitars. The building you will design will be a place for her/him to live and work within. Consider the following activities and associated spatial limits as suggested requirements. Sleeping 150sf / Eating 150sf /Bathing 75sf / Cooking 100sf / “Living� 200sf / Workshop 450sf / +1 Car
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
adam beck
model views
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
shane dickson
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
shane dickson
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
kim ilhardt
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
kim ilhardt
sherry hoover
bret boleski
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
nathan friese
marshall morrison adam friese
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
yi xin soo
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LUTHIER'S WORKSHOP
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
ARCHITECTURE MEDIA
SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE: A PLACE TO PROTEST 11th and massachusettes. downtown lawrence kansas
university of kansas
Just what constitutes a "public space?" Can architecture become a tool, an instrument in territorializing a space for the public at large? Specifically this project is interested in a sociopolitical space as a form of public space. Here groups of people, brought together periodically by their shared viewpoint on some societal issue, will appropriate the space temporarily and use it to communicate messages. The specific site, the likes of which can be found in other cities happens at an intersection and seemingly at the threshold to downtown Lawrence. The slowing down of the traffic becomes opportunistic for the pedestrian demonstrators. The Site lies in the shadow of the Courthouse and the Police station, two obvious symbols of government: symbols of power.
How can architecture aid and assist in the process of communication, in this desire to engage the passer by/driverby? The solutions can consider a variety of technologies including projected, manipulated images and words. How does architecture respond to and compete with media that can be “everywhere?� How does it draw from its own stasis and yet communicate? How can architecture help frame, accentuate, and amplify the message(s) as well the messengers? What is the purpose of the rhetoric?
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
adam beck
dan bradbury
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
bret boleski
jeff kloch
nathan friese
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
jimah rogers
joshua wight
marshall morrison
michael colburn
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
kim ilhardt
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
shane dickson
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work
sherry hoover
shannon cole
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SOCIO-POLITICAL SPACE
Murali Ramaswami | Student Work