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FOUNDATIONS
O F D E S I G N : R E P R E S E N TAT I O N
PORTFOLIO STUDIO 17: CARL ARESKOUG LOUIS (LUYAO) ZHANG - 914946
Contents
Module 1 Module 2 Module 3 Module 4 Reflection
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M O D U L E
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O R T H O G R A P H I C P R O J E C T I O N D R A W I N G S :
C R O I S S A N T S
Photographs: Three photocopied sections (top left), photograph of side elevation (bottom left), photograph of frontal elevation (top right), and photocopied plan (bottom right).
Orthographic Drawings:: Pencil shaded side elevation (top left), pen hatched plan view (bottom left), Pen outlined, and pencil shaded, sections (top right), and detail of hatching (bottom right).
Axonometrics: Construction of axonometric and result. Several attempts were made to idealize the oblique-plan configuration of the axonometric, particularly upon deciding how lines should adjoin each section. Final overlay on plan.
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F L A T N E S S V S P R O J E T I O N :
M A R I O W O R L D
Harmony and Contradictions: Employment of a largely limited colour palette, as well as a leading of one’s gaze via water features. The seemingly planar encasing background toys with an axonometric’s ambiguity upon encountering depth - an implied cubic form is contradicted by protruding elements that maintain its impossibility. A reference to “le Petit Prince” is made in correspondence with my own awkward conception of an axonometric - a combination of depth and picture.
Early Stages: (Left) Each “front” and “back” of the completed axonometric. (Right) The combined projection in pen. An attempt of sorts in cascading forms to eventuate in ground-level theatrics required in maintaining congruity to the frontal image. In this sense, the drastically differing “facades” became an advantage.
Drawings, and Disposed Drawings: Photographs from the projection and drawing process. Included illustrations are remaining evidence of alternative ideas: an appropriation of “Wanderer Above the Sea of Fog� (Caspar David Friedrich, c. 1818), or that of a zoo viewed from above, where Mario blends in with a crowd in an attempt to rescue the entrapped Yoshi
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F L A T N E S S
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S U R F A C E
Contrast in Form: Foremost, the transition between 2D and 3D panelling is considered: isolated panels seem to fall to the bottom collective - this implied line of movement, one that is planar and in one direction, establishes a certain frontality. However, as one’s eyes lower, the triangular forms juxtapose against one another, leading to a dramatic inference of 3-dimentionality. Implicated, then, is the interesting encompassment of both the pictorial and three dimensional in the a manipulation of surface.
Detail: Close up shots under different lighting reinstate focuses of contrast – between light and shadow, as well as between the 3 and 2 dimensionalities.
Digital Components: (Top right) Two 2D customised panels are explored, each inspired by tessellations of M.C. Esher. (Top Left). The digital 3D panels are then manufactured, this is achieved by first creating random offset point, then creating a wedged panel, followed by manually arranging each panel. The foremost focus of the digitally manufactured panel had been the relationship between light and shadow. The bottom are some unrolled surfaces with tabs attached. These were printed, and subsequently folded/glued into eventuating panels.
M O D U L E
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F R A M E V S F I E L D :
C A LV I N O ’ S I N V I S I B L E C I T I E S
Zoe: a City of Almost No Differences: Zoe, as understood in its description, is a city that transcends the average city on two fronts. First, the different functioning units of the city do not rely on their appellation to indicate their purpose. Secondly, and moreover, the city is unspecialized, therefore devoid of difference in all of form, structure and function. Following from the readings of the module which relate to deconstruction and similar, it became my interest then to explore how a city functions on only two interrelating difference: that of light/shade, and solid/space. There is no definitive starting point to the narrative. Instead, fragmentary pathways encircle piers and at times traverse from one to the other. At each pier, Marco stares intensely into his surrounding. Such a configuration then relates to a fundamental human condition conversed in the text, that knowledge to man is “made only of differences� - though one may assign name to objects and such, without underlying, direct differences all are indistinguishable. The pier and its surrounding space provides such a vital difference and somewhat serves as a point of centricity from which he observes his surrounds. Nevertheless, as his surroundings are marked only by light and shadow, Marco upon reaching pier-to-pier-to-pier is inflicted with deja-vu, wondering if he has indeed already graced the very pier, implying a reframing of time and space to where he believes he had previously been. This lost in locus and temporarily disappearing self-reflectivity from time to time too see shadows play an essential role. Within the shadow bound of the quadrangle (accurate to Perspectives), in that Marco does not perceive his shadows upon canvases of light, he spans time and space without recollection.
Light, Shadow, Perspective, and a Futuristic Take: Odalisque’s Baths (upper left) and Leprosarium (lower left) are perspectives that can be read in two ways. In one sense, it was composed to demonstrate how, by functioning upon solely light/shade and solid/space, Zoe is able to be identical spaces can be rendered to fit seemingly different, and indeed even oppositional, functions. Glancing from one pier, light dominates Marco’s view in perspective 1, creating a light atmosphere (see Iso). Nude figurines take are perceived. The coincidental blocking of a pier by its most foreshortened likeness deems the figures to positions of illusionary centricity. Here Marco defines the space he sees to be the Odalisque’s Baths; for its relative radiance and balance. However, moving a mere few piers further, Marco’s second perspective has shifted drastically in setting - the mood is heavy, sordid and damp as rendered by shade. The figure, he confesses, are similar in nudity, but if his perspective is indeed mirrored, then why does it not appear in similar centricity? Influenced by the atmosphere and assured by an impossibility established in a previous illusion, Marco decides this room must be the Leprosarium for the sickly. by shifting position, then, Marco has shifted from one perception to the other. Metaphorically, he has passed an unnoticed “entrance”. Hence my symbol of “renewed interpretation” in the Iso. The blurring and static rendering of the photos refer to yet another narrative – here, Zoe is the modern city. After Paul Virilio’s “The Overexposed City”, Zoe has lost its formal distinguishing features, for technology bares all. Vast networks that broadcast information instantly has rendered specializations mundane. Each room Marco visits is therefore shrouded by a glitching, electric “cloud”, where again, depending on subtle changes in viewing angles, so can one’s perception of a space change dramatically.
Process: Plans and process work. The lower two strips demonstrate the process of rendering the final perspectives. First, figures have their backgrounds removed and inserted into the setting of the old quad. Secondly, a saturation layer is applied to see the image in black and white. A light image of smoke (transparent PNG) is added, the image is pixelated, its RBG is shifted, while an online program corrupts each image to the slightest degree, so as to leave band markings.
Reflection: The central term of this subject has no doubt been “representation�. First illustrated is the persistent barrier between the represented and the representation; drawings are never truly direct evocations of their 3-D subjects. In addition, though graphic systems may not have semiotic relationships as complex as language, it never the less lacks a true descriptive discourse. Orthographic drawings, then, are a fundamental means of impressing 3-D objects upon a 2-D surfaces. It deconstructs, though not ideally, the object into linearly projected facades, with which dimensions and detail are maintained. The use of the photocopier is especially illustrative of this point, as the scanner does not function on a singular, apex-like collection of light to render images, but on an pansensor where reflected light is collected in orthogonal, parallel fashion, thereby maintaining orthogonal projection. Next, the axonometric, or the oblique-plan-drawing, is introduced. As its appellation suggests, such is a rudimentary, scaled combination of elevations and related plans. However, it is with such awkwardness that we find its usefulness. By remaining consistent in dimension, it is a tool of instrumentality. Moreover, it becomes a more objective means of representation, for at least some elements of its description are true to all, not just one person at one time. This, of course, casts the perspective under intense scrutiny. Such a theme is repeatedly covered in both the readings and module, it is thus easy to see its monumental implications on every facet of design. Finally, the culminating reveal is that the graphic systems of design are in need of an overhaul. Like language, it is ridden with constructs that when removed from context, become meaningless. The age of modernity has no doubt accelerated, if not having sprung this realization. Stan Allen then proposes the use of notations – true signifiers that are universal across language and time. Nevertheless, much progress is still to be made.