Jessica Trevino ARCH 101
Fall 2015 Instructor Jerry Lum
Contents 1. 2. 3. 4.
“What’s Your Sign?” Collages Constructed Signs: Version 1 and 2 Documenting Our Journey: Mount Davidson
“What’s Your Sign?” For this project I brainstormed a list of words that I feel describe myself. I reached out to family and friends to add to the list, adding an element of how others see me as well. The top ten are as follows: a. Quiet
b. Curious c. Inventive d. Hardworking e. Mature f. Structured
g. Kind h. Intelligent i. Driven j. Quick
“What’s Your Sign?” After narrowing it down, I came to settle on my three main words –
STRUCTURED CURIOUS INTELLIGENT While these three were the main source of my inspiration, I have also injected other aspects of my personality into the collages and constructed signs.
Collages (Top to bottom: Collage 1, 2, 3) For the collages I chose to work with images that conveyed my 3 descriptive words, but not in overtly obvious ways. My main components were glasses, gears, grid structure and books – all in a muted tone. A verticality began showing in my collages and additional sketches that I decided to keep for the design of my sign. The collages show a layering and intermixing of various items that come together in surprising ways. The color, or lack of – mainly a grey tone, black, and a wooden or antique yellow tone – were the main color choices in my sign designs as well. The mechanical, structured look was an insight into my more structured, logical way of looking at problems.
Constructed Signs: Version 1 and 2
Left: Version 1 Right: Version 2
Constructed Signs
Materiality and Method: I decided to use simple, straightforward materials that I could manipulate and layer in the amount of time given. Paper and wood were my main materials, of differing thicknesses and colors. With an X-acto knife, miter handsaw, scissors, glue and paint I was able to build the structure needed to hang the sign and design a layout that spoke about my personality.
Design Layout: I discovered through my collages and additional sketching, several areas I would focus on. The three words I chose to re-imagine were structured, curious, and intelligent. I liked the vertical lines that came through in my collages, reminiscent of a structural grid. Gears was chosen because they point to curiosity, the brain and the inner workings of the mind. Glasses point to an intellectual way of thinking. The wording on my 2 signs, “Curiosities” and “Curiosity Shop” give more clues to the main word Curiosity, but lead one to think of what a curiosity shop is – a collection of many varied items, secretive or elusive in nature. My palette was more muted, with only small pops or hints of color, because it gives a secondary layer into my way of thinking and my personality. Strengths and Challenges: My signs clearly communicated my intention and my personality. The main issue I would change about my signs was that my second sign could have had more dynamic qualities. I was happy with the strong grid and stability in my first sign, but I wish I had played with more curvilinear shapes and been able to have my sign hang out from the wall.
` Perceiving, Experiencing, and Interpreting Spaces and Places: Documenting our Journeys For this assignment, I brainstormed a list of places in SF and the Bay Area to possibly visit. After researching my top choices, I settled on Mount Davidson – a small peak with hiking trails that lead up to a massive cross. This was a great chance to explore a new area with fresh eyes and make unbiased observations of the land and design choices. Following is a presentation I put together to show the most interesting elements of Mount Davidson and what emotions those elements evoked in myself.
Moment of Most Impact: The moment that held the most impact for me was that pause on the trail, before you turn the corner and see the cross. The expansive flatland, overlooking the grid of the busy city that unfolded below and over the horizon. It is that moment when you can feel a calm, quiet peace spread through you. As you turn, you catch a glimpse of the cross – unexpected in this environment but also an invitation to come closer, to delve deeper into the somewhat shrouded nature trail and see what lies beyond. That pause and suspense is what remains the most vivid in my mind. Emotions: There were several strong emotions or feelings evoked on my hike up and around Mt. Davidson. Peace Tranquility Reverence Calm Suspense Enlightened Enveloped
Gesture Drawings: “Tranquility� These drawings are emotion-based, drawn quickly and from a gut reaction. From my visit to Mount Davidson, I was trying to create a sense of tranquility and peace. The top photo was my first attempt, where I created an enclosed void with rushing movements and sharp angles to contrast the inner quiet void. In the bottom photo, I focused on some of the same elements with several quiet areas created in contrast to the fluidity and rushing movements surrounding them. In my opinion, this gesture drawing was more successful at evoking tranquility; to improve even more, I would blend the lines to make them into a more fluid motion. I would also make a sharper contrast by using more pressure on the charcoal, being less shy about my movements.
Collages 1 and 2: A Journey to Transcendence
Wall of Wonder: To start, I researched different wall and window designs from famous architects. I made a collection of this for my precedence study. The next step was using gesture drawings to hone in on what “wonder� really means to me. After this, I drew up a narrative for my wall design and sketched multiple options. My wall that evolved was made of triangular cut-outs, making a dynamic and interesting web that interplays with the sun and changes with the different times and seasons.
Gesture Drawings: Multiple iterations of my personal idea of WONDER
Gesture Drawings: Multiple iterations of my personal idea of WONDER