Julia Larson
“Design is not making beauty, beauty emerges from selection, affinities, integration, love.� -Louis Kahn
Julia Larson University of Minnesota Undergraduate Portfolio Bach. of Design in Arch. Completed May 2011 jlarson3@uoregon.edu
This project was the culmination of a materials workshop based on creating a space for napping. After studying the properties of cardboard and manipulating it at a small scale, a curious relationship to bark and a tree form was discovered. To create such a tree made entirely of cardboard, strips of ‘mega-corrugation’ were created by peeling off the laminated top of the cardboard so it would bend freely. This malleable piece was then glued to two strips of cardboard, 3 feet long and 4 inches wide,and ‘mega-corrugation’ was created.
Exploring Corrugated Cardboard and Developing a Napping Space
The base was delaminated cardboard rolled into soft tubes laid on an incline. The structure had a screened shell so light and white noise came through.
Using the camera to capture texture, material and light is a joy of mine. By creating the perfect composition with attention to colors, a feeling can be evoked by just looking at a picture. “A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.� - Brigitte Bardot
Capturing Moments in Time in Visually Creative Ways
Both these works are drawing exercises. One focuses on an interior space and what creates the experience a person feels in the space. The other drawing focuses on a single, small object. This object is a simple strip of paper twisted and taped to a wall.
Representing Space and Object through different Media
By focusing on the shadows, reflections and proportions, a realistic drawing was created. By doing multiple iterations of the drawing, a new way of seeing the space was revealed. Through drawing, the environment becomes one of detail and attention, not seen by looking at a photograph.
These drawings emphasize a lot of technical skills and the use of tools through a pencil on paper. The first drawing is an abstraction of a staircase through the door that leads to the stairs. Depicting the feeling of going up and down along with the details of the space is shown through placement of flights of stairs and the detail drawings. The second is a descriptive section of a cantilever made from cards. The structure is made of only playing cards and are held together by only playing cards. By using the French curve as well as straight edges, measurements were translated onto paper. This taught me meticulous drawing skills as well as perfecting my skills at crafting with my hands.
Using Graphite along with Tools to Document existing Features in Technical Ways
This is a staircase in Rapson Hall at the University of Minnesota. By working with a partner we drew on four sheets of paper, 24 inches by 36 inches. By having the drawing be a view through the staircase door, a frame was created as well as an emphasis on the role the door plays with the staircase.
By using a deck of cards, design a cantilever to hold a tennis ball as far from a railing as possible. Curves were designed to transfer the forces back to the railing. Each partner drew a third of the elevations, the assembly and the connection points.
This design started with a simple knot, the butcher’s knot. By looking at the motion of the string being tied into the knot and the voids left before tightening the knot, I abstracted the spaces to create a form from chipboard. After this form was modified and reworked, an “egg crate� model was created which showed the spaces and intricacies of the knot. The study of the form through light also enhanced my understanding of the attention that needs to be paid not only to form design but the design based on effects of outside forces such as light.
Taking a tied Knot, creating Form and documenting Issues
Most commonly referred to as ‘collage’, this design involved choosing an everyday object, taking elevations from photographs and dissecting the object‘s form by assembling other objects into its form. The chosen object is a hair clip. By using hair cutouts from a magazine, one collage included a direct metaphor to hair relating to the hair clip. The general roundness of the hair clip was emphasized through the use of tractor tires from a farm magazine. By looking at the shape of the clip and the feelings that it provokes, the use of lips and arms emphasized the winding, creature-like feel of the clip.
Removing Images from their Context and Reassembling them to Imitate a Different Subject
An in depth study of an existing building in Kansas City, Missouri with several partners began this design. The study included the climate conditions, sun patterns, rain amount and wind speeds of the area. Later, each person was asked to design a pavilion. This was to be ‘a place of refuge from the natural environment, when necessary; and a place to experience the vast array of climate conditions that the specific site has to offer’. I found the silo shape to be the most appropriate to the climate conditions, including forcing the wind to go around the structure’s curve and by inventing a roof system which can be opened or closed during the rain providing a place safe from the forces of nature.
Creating a Pavilion after Intense Study of a Site