Mariajose Meza: Portfolio 2019 by mariajosemeza

Mariajose Meza

SCI-Arc 2014-2019

SECTIONS 1A

3-33

35-65

67-89

91-117

119-145

147-171 Intersectionality Life Maze

173-209 Feminsims: Texts & Contexts Mariajose Meza

211-239

Level 33: WeLive- Living Units, Gym, Activity Room

240-259

Level 31: WeWork- Open Office Floor Plan, Conference Rooms, Auditorium

260-281

Thesis Semester

Level 16: WeLive & WeWork- Living Units, Working Spaces, Pool, Aerial Studio

Level 11: WeLive- Living Units, Diving Pool, Skate Park, Rock Climbing Gym

Level 1: Lobby- Reception, Public Forum, Cafe, Gallery Space, Grocery Store

Plans 1/16” = 1’

CONTENTS Statement...................................................................................................................................................... 1 1A- Design Studio: Material Strategies for the Physical World...........................................................3 1A- General Studies: Collegiate Writing...................................................................................................23 1A- General Studies: Visual Rhetorics......................................................................................................27 1A- General Studies: Intro to Design Cultures........................................................................................31 1B- Design Studio: Conceptual Strategies for the Physical World......................................................35 1B- Visual Studies: Fabrications and Delineations................................................................................51 1B- General Studies: Humanities I........................................................................................................... 57 1B- Cultural Studies: History of Architecture I.......................................................................................63 2A- Design Studio: Formworks: Sites and Contexts..............................................................................67 2A- Visual Studies: Technologies of Description I................................................................................. 79 2A- General Studies: Humanities II.......................................................................................................... 83 2A- Cultural Studies: History of Architecture II......................................................................................87 2B- Design Studio: Frameworks- Programs...........................................................................................91 2B- Visual Studies: Technologies of Description II................................................................................ 99 2B- General Studies: The History of Ideas...............................................................................................107 2B- General Studies Elective: China Inside Out..................................................................................... 115

3A- Design Studio: AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics I.................................................................... 119 3A- Visual Studies: Domestic Landscapes...............................................................................................129 3A- Applied Studies: Environmental Systems I..................................................................................... 133 3A- Applied Studies: Tectonics + Materiality...........................................................................................139 3A- History/ Theory: Architecture Theory................................................................................................143 3B- Design Studio: AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II................................................................... 147 3B- Visual Studies: Familiar Form............................................................................................................155 3B-Liberal Arts: Philosophy of Technology..............................................................................................163 3B- Liberal Arts: Film II.............................................................................................................................. 167 4A- Design Studio: AMIGAA: Positions......................................................................................................173 4A-Applied Studies: Environmental Systems II..................................................................................... 183 4A- Applied Studies: Design Development..............................................................................................189 4A- Liberal Arts Elective: Feminism Texts & Contexts..........................................................................201 4A- Liberal Arts Elective: The History of the Future/Sci-Fi Film........................................................205 4B- Vertical Studio: Easy House.................................................................................................................211 4B- Applied Studies: Advance Construction Development...................................................................221 4B- Liberal Arts Elective: Mindwandering & Boredom in the Arts..................................................... 229 4B- Liberal Arts Elective: Apocalyptic Film/ His End of the World.....................................................235

5A- Vertical Studio: Silicon Beach WeWork..............................................................................................241 5A- Liberal Arts Elective: Contemporary Sculptures............................................................................253 5B- Thesis Semester: WeWork, WeLive, WePlay.....................................................................................261 5B- Liberal Arts Elective: Time Travel Films.......................................................................................... 279

Mariajose Meza mariajosemeza3@gmail.com Southern California Institute of Architecture 2014-2019

STATEMENT I knew that Architecture was a field that merged space efficiency, design, and people together. Yet there is so many other aspects about architecture that I had completely underestimated, and had no idea about. The more I learn about architecture, the more curious I get; I keep wanting to explore and learn new methods of approaching different discourses. Learning about all the factors like façade, circulation, site, and program that play into the design of a building became the moment of realization that architecture is not modest, it is a complex study that tries to uniquely resolve different problems while at the same time creating one. Being able to design a building freely but with limitations and constraints is a 3-Dimensional puzzle that has too many answers to simply go with one. Designing a building that breaks some rules but follows others is provocative. When designing with the limitations that program and site bring there is a thrill that keeps me grounded to what is possible but also tries to challenge the “impossible”. I know everything about architecture has not been explored or even discovered yet and I hope to keep learning about everything that has. This 5-year journey I have embarked on here at SCI-Arc will help me further explore an idea that has been discovered and maybe even discover one along the way. In my most recent projects to me have become something more than a production of a space, it has become a representation of the architect. I’ve noticed throughout my projects that graphics, patterns, and color are things that I enjoy incorporating. It feels as if i’m personalizing them and embedding another layer of design in them. Thus expressing these type of architecture ideas and projecting myself onto my projects.

COMPARATIVE TRANSFORMATION Maria j o s e Me za / 1 A Fall 201 4

1A Design Studio Design Studio: Material Strategies for the Physical World Instructor: Mira Henry Term: Fall 2014 Course Description: As students embarking on the first design studio in your architectural education, this course serves as an introduction to the fundamental means and manners of working spatially and abstractly. The territory of architecture is as broad as the world around us, it can be thought of at a global environmental scale, or at the size of cities and planning, transportation and infrastructure, buildings and structures, and even down to the smallest objects that surround us. Whatever the size of architectural intervention, there are fundamental aspects of space, form and experience that traverse all scales. A robust ability to manipulate form towards desired intent will be the focus of this studio. A series of exercises in various media (both digital and physical) will serve to introduce students to the relationships between form, space, geometry, light, and effect. The exercises are organized as a catalog of formal and spatial geometric investigations that will build upon each previous project during the semester. While the exercises are succinct, the entire semester’s body of work will be thought of as one continuous project. The studio will require that you learn to communicate ideas both verbally and graphically. Critique of student work will focus on the intent of the investigation vis-à-vis the quality, breadth, and precision of the specific projects modes of representation (models, drawings, verbal & written description, etc.) This studio is an opportunity for students to learn new manners of seeing the physical world, and to simultaneously develop a spatial vocabulary that serves as a basis for more complex manners of investigation throughout your academic career.

1A Design Studio

Cuboctahedron

Mira Henry

3 23 9

15 1

10 10

12 22

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Construction Geometry

1A Design Studio

Transformed Cuboctahedron

Mira Henry

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Construction Geometry

25 0

20 37

10 8

12 22

32 25

17 7

1A Design Studio

Aperture Transformed Cuboctahedron

Mira Henry

Section A

Section B

0 14

9 6

4 9

16 7

5 5

3 0

22 24

8 3

8 12

10 6 11

8 5

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Construction Geometry

1A Design Studio

Lofted Transformed Cuboctahedron

Mira Henry

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Construction Geometry

Small Living Space Small Living Space was a project which consisted of creating a living area specifically for you, the space dimensions were that of a typical parking spot. Within this space you had to be able to do numerous actions. These actions were measured to ensure that our personal space allowed us to walk, sleep, point, stretch, lounge, and sit. In creating this personal space, I was interested in having the space go from tall to short in height. I was also interested in creating difference between the right and left side by using the contrast of planar and curved surfaces. Working through the interior i started from the midline and used half circles to move away from the pure rectilinear extrusion. The apertures were strategically placed where you wouldn’t have to move your head in order to look out, the apertures are in the person’s natural line of site. The different hatches were used in order to accentuate the flatness of all the sides of the “building” both in the interior and exterior.

1A Design Studio

Small Living Space

Mira Henry

5’-4 1/2” (163 cm)

1” (2.5 cm)

2’-10” (86 cm)

1’-7” (48 cm)

1’-6 1/2” (46 cm) 7” (17 cm)

10” (25 cm) 5’-4 1/2” (163cm)

5’ (152cm) 1’-5 1/2” (44 cm)

STANDING

1’ (30 cm)

LOUNGING

LAYING DOWN

Mariajose Meza

Body Geometry Analysis

Portfolio 2014-2019

6’-6” (198 cm)

6’-7 1/2” (201 cm)

2’-7” (78cm)

6’-1/2” (184 cm)

2’-7” (78 cm)

2’-3” 1’-8 1/2” (70 cm) (52 cm)

1’-5 1/2” (44 cm)

1’-4” (40 cm)

5’-7” (170cm)

2’-3” (68 cm) 2’-8 1/2” (82 cm)

REACHING TO THE CEILING

POINTING

3’-3” (99 cm)

SITTING AT A DESK

1’-5 1/2” (44 cm)

Mariajose Meza - Body Dimensional Data Scale: 1” = 1’-0”

1A Design Studio

Small Living Space

Mira Henry

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans-Sections

Level 2

Level 1

1A Design Studio

Small Living Space

Mira Henry

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Sections

1A Design Studio

Massing Diagram

Elevations

Small Living Space

Mira Henry

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Renderings

1A General Studies General Studies: Collegiate Writing Instructor: Claire Phillips Term: Fall 2014 Course Description: This is a college level writing class with a creative emphasis. Different approaches to writing are explored through the reading and composing of literary analysis, persuasive essay, memoir, critical review, and a short research paper. Critical study includes the analysis of poetics, modes of writing organization, academic writing, literary style, the short story, and research strategies. Special attention is paid to close textual reading and analysis, peer review and editing.

1A General Studies

Collegiate Writing

Claire Phillips

The House of the Future Tall, sleek, and narrow, the small house stands on a hill. It has the typical square and rectangular shaped windows, a typical entry door, but what lies within is not typical at all. Just like IPhones’ have Siri, Androids’ have S Voice, and Windows have Cortana, this house has a personal assistant. This is the house of the future, by definition animate means to bring something to life, by including a technologic personal assistant in your house you bring it to life because the house doesn’t become just a place, it becomes almost like a person that helps you get through your day. Imagine getting home from work, entering your home, hanging you coat, keys, and bag, and being welcomed by your assistant. As you enter through the main door you turn to your right and see a hologram of your system’s assistant. You just got home from work and all you want to do is shower and rest. Through your voice and movements you can indicate that you are tired. The sensors and cameras around your house will be able to detect your feelings and try to help you out. Additionally, you can speak to your assistant and say something like, “hey, I had a tough day at work would you please turn on the water for me to bathe in”. The purpose of the personal assistant is not for it to be your slave or do everything for you, it is for it to be of company to you and help you get through your day with ease. Making your daily life simpler is the motto by which this system runs. Sometimes the pace of life goes too quick for you to even grasp on to the moments that matter the most. Imagine you’re in your kitchen dinning table surrounded by your guests who have come to celebrate with you your son’s fifth birthday. You wish you could get a family picture right at the moment your son blows out his candles. Since you personal assistant has cameras and sensors you can simply program it to take the photo at the right moment. The cameras and sensors are placed strategically around your house the grasp the best views and provide the most accurate information. These cameras and sensors are extremely helpful and act as a security system as well. If you are in the bedroom and there is sudden movement of someone who is not in the system the assistant will let you know the exact location of the possible thief. In addition it will notify the nearest police station and provide you with important information. The houses of the future will have secret doors and chambers that will allow you to be safe in case of an emergency, the assistant is capable of leading you through a certain path to safely arrive at the designated space. This type of technology is meant to be helpful and prevent tragedies from occurring, keeping you and your family as safe as it possibly can. Since your kitchen has a similar personal assistant, but specially designed for helping you cook and organize your food, you can be sure that in case of a fire or hazard the system will respond and prevent the fire from spreading. The kitchen personal assistant has access to the refrigerator’s temperature, the stove’s fire, and to other kitchen appliances that are registered under its

system. The personal assistant also helps you organize the food in you refrigerator and notify you when something is past its expiration date. As you wake up in the morning from your night’s rest you will most likely want to go straight to the bathroom to freshen up. The bathroom also has a personal assistant; the bathroom mirror has a hologram that has a timer to help you brush your teeth for the recommended two minutes, it can display the weather, update you on current traffic, and even show you a calendar of your day’s tasks. Once you are ready to change you can step out into your closet and get help from your personal assistant to decide what to wear. All of you clothes, garments, and accessories can be recorded so that in the morning when you don’t know what to wear, the closet’s hologram can display outfit arrangements that are adequate for the day’s weather and for your day’s tasks. You can walk into you closet stand in front of the mirror and switch on the mirrors hologram, then you can input your tasks for that day and filter the options by checking the colors or type of clothing you would want. For example if that day you are going to present something at work and even though the weather will be nice and warm you don’t want to wear a skirt or a certain color you check off these options. The outcome will be outfits that fit the scheme you have set up.The technology of the personal assistant is so advanced it can help you get through your day smoothly and also prevent tragedies. More and more people each day are becoming aware of the revolutionary technology will have in the future. According to IActive, “Personal assistants have capabilities such as planning for the future, answering goal oriented questions, test multiple long term decision scenarios, process intensive tasks, adapt for plans in the long term based on real times, and solve complex problems.” I think that personal assistants are capable of doing this and so much more. The houses of the future will have such assistants that help people and are also capable of preventing misfortunes. Houses equipped with this technology will be the houses of the future that everyone will desire. Technology advances so quickly and becomes available to so many that in a short amount of time everyone will be able to have a personal assistant helping you out and making everyday different and interesting.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

House of the Future

Works Cited “About Siri.” - Apple Support. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014. “Interactive Kitchen Assistant Future Technology.” Future Technology. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014. “Personal Assistants - IActive Intelligent Technologies.” IActive Intelligent Technologies. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014. “Toshiba’s Smart Mirror Concept Puts the Future on Display.” Toshiba’s Smart Mirror Concept Puts the Future on Display. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

1A General Studies General Studies: Visual Rhetorics Instructor: Stephen Phillips Term: Fall 2014 Course Description: This seminar provides an introduction to analysis, critical thinking, argumentation, and rhetoric through a wide range of visual media. It explores the history and theory of communication in the fine arts (painting, sculpture, drawing), theater, film, architecture, graphic design, advertising, and computer design through close analysis of seminal texts and surrounding the history of persuasive discourse, alongside varied media. From Aristotle’s Art of Rhetoric to Kenneth Burke’s Counter-Statement we will establish a clear understanding of the many means and methods available to engage in constructive debate surrounding any visual, graphic, or textual medium. Applying and developing skills of persuasive argumentation and discussion through in-class debate, we will analyze and explore different forms of imagery and material form in an attempt to become more aware, informed, and active in our capacities to engage in complex cultural discussions surrounding all forms of visual media. It is our assumption that all media is communicative, whether intended or otherwise, and that the artist’s role, whether accepted or not, is to engage an audience, perceived, known, or assumed in dialogue through acts of creative artistic production. To understand the role of visual imagery in society, we will read canonical texts on the subject and in each class explore a different medium as a group through intensive class discussions. Students are expected to learn there is an art to every work that is produced, and how to engage in discussion and debate through varied visual forms of communication. Additionally, students will become more aware of how visual media influences them, and how to become active participants in our visual environment.

1A General Studies

Visual Rhetorics

Stephen Phillips

Drawings That Deceive I find that paintings that make you rethink and look twice at are worth seeing. The two drawings I found the most interesting are in black and white and are by M.C Escher. I think that these two works share a theme, which is illusion and deception. Each image makes you think about the space and the objects’ place in that space. The images are interesting too because they show a type of continuous infinite space. I feel like these images relate to the one another in the sense that you have to look twice and think about what the artwork is trying to portray. It makes you think of why it is confusing and also makes you realize that there really isn’t a right answer. I think that overall these images show an unrealistic but intriguing idea of infinite and continuous space. Although these images are similar in expressing this type of special illusion I find it interesting that the first image shows actual people oriented differently corresponding to the stairs to further show the different positions. The second image uses this idea of illusion through a continuous path to make it seem as if there were different grounds. I think that what makes these drawings interesting overall is the way it creates these overlapping spaces. The first image plays with the orientation of things and creates multiple spaces in different places based on the view and position of the drawing. The image shows stairs vertically to demonstrate the way the characters inside the image move through the space but some of the actual people are showed horizontally. This makes you look at the image and follow the path of the stairs; it’s interesting to see that the stairs are correctly oriented with the image, but the outside spaces’ orientation seems to be tilted at times. I like how some of the stairs have steps on both the bottom and the top to be able to place people walking on both sides and create this illusion. It makes you wonder what is the top and what is the bottom which overall makes you wonder what the real orientation of the whole drawing is. By moving around the image ninety degrees I noticed that the window closest to the stairs shows that part of the drawing balanced. For example if the image was turned ninety degrees (example image A) and you focused on the staircase and window closest to the top right, you would be able to see people walking outside. The rest of the windows and stairs wouldn’t seem to be correctly located. If the image were to be mirrored on a horizontal plane (example B), none of the people’s orientation seen through the windows would make sense, but the stairs would still look normal, since they are vertical. I really find this drawing amusing because you can see it over and over again at different ninety-degree orientations and notice something new. What I find interesting in image 2 is the way the drawing plays with levels and planes. The first time you see the drawing you think everything is at a different level. The first time I saw it I thought there were four levels and I thought the water fell over three levels. By looking at the image again and following the path I noticed it was basically one continuous path. I find it really interesting the way this visual confusion is produced; the zigzag path allows corners, at these corners pillars are placed and make the illusion

that there is another path on top of it when in reality it’s the same path at the same planar level. These pillars are basically what make it seem as if there were multiple levels when in reality there is only one level. I really like how the pillars bring dimension to the image and allow it to seem as if there were multiple levels. The waterfall adds to this illusion that there is more than one floor plane because it makes it seem as if the water is falling over two levels. When I look closer into the drawing I notice that the crossflow water turbine sits on the first floor, this makes it seem as if the water is being recycled. If you follow the water’s path you notice that is starts at the bottom of the water turbine, and ends where it falls into the turbine creating the cycle. This technique helps create the illusion of multiple levels. In general I think that images that create illusions are interesting and important because they show you something you wouldn’t be able to see in the real world. Illusions in three-dimensional space exist but are easily explained when you move or change your perspective. Drawings showing illusions aren’t as easily figured out, even after you’ve seen where the drawing tricks you, you are still misled. In many occasions it takes several glances to understand the image, and even after seeing it several times you can’t completely understand or explain the image. I think it is noteworthy to say that both these drawings show something that would be impossible to build in the real world. I think that these drawings are valuable and fascinating because they are able to deceive you and confuse you, which is something that they wouldn’t be able to do if they were to be modeled three-dimensionally in real life.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Perspective Drawings

1A General Studies General Studies: Introduction to Design Cultures Instructor: Dora Epstein-Jones Term: Fall 2014 Course Description: Proceeding through a chronological review of major movements in global architecture from the Enlightenment to the present, this course will analyze key works to develop an understanding of specific relationships between the organization, configuration, and articulation of buildings and the historical, conceptual, and cultural contexts with which they are associated.

1A General Studies

Introduction to Design Cultures

Dora Epstein-Jones

Architectural Flexibility When an architect designs a building that architect usually has a purpose in mind. It’s interesting that buildings can have several functions, almost like different personalities. During the first Fall 2014 lecture at SCI-Arc, Alfredo Brillembourg and Humber Klumpner talked about Torre David , a tower in Caracas, Venezuela, which had never been finished and was currently occupied by the poor. The building had no water, walls, electricity, and all other things needed to create a habitable home. Klumpner and Brillembourg had an idea of creating a flexible building in the sense that it could be used in several ways. They both wanted to create a parking structure that would be used as shelter for those who had nowhere to sleep. During another lecture, Joshua PrinceRamus talked about the concept of the Dallas Theater Center , which demonstrates the idea of flexibility as well. Flexibility in buildings is the ability to transform the use of that building. In architecture a building is usually designed to fit a given scheme. Walter Gropius said once that, “although the architect’s ultimate concern was expected to be the use and occupation of buildings, his involvement generally ceased at the moment occupation began”. Torre David was simply an unfinished building that was taken over by the people in the community who had nowhere to live. It wasn’t intentional but the tower became an example of flexibility in architecture. During the lecture they brought up an idea of a garage that could be a parking structure during the day and during the night it became shelter for those in need. In addition the structure could be used as public space to hold performances and to promote sociability between the people of the neighborhood. To them unfinished buildings were the buildings that became multifunctional, obviously for the architects letting go of the unfinished building wasn’t on purpose, which is why many think that it is better to purposely make buildings multifunctional. During Joshua Prince-Ramus’s lecture he talked about the Dallas Theater Center, the design process, the built process, and the overall multifunctionality of the theater. This theater if flexible in the sense that it could reconfigure its stage and adapt to different performances; the performers can decide which stage configuration and setup works best with their performance. During his lecture Prince-Ramus said that as an architect you shouldn’t assume what the building will be used for. Flexibility is important because just a society changes so does their interests and preferences. A building should be flexible in order to adapt and accommodate to these changes. Flexibility and multi-functionality are similar in architecture since it means that a building isn’t destined to solely one purpose. Several architects have started to adapt ways of designing to make buildings have different purposes. Hitoshi Abe in his lecture mentioned architectural informality, he said, “it [architecture] is not permanent, it is flexible, and can be really different.” Abe, like many architects believes that architecture flexibility can be achieved by either having a hierarchy in space or having no hierarchy at all.

Space hierarchy allows the architect to develop the space and its design for its possible uses. Sometimes flexibility in a space is achieved by being psychically able to move the walls in the space to make different uses of it. Since walls are used to divide spaces by being able to move them around the space can be transformed. If walls were used to enclose a space and hold a meeting, they can be removed to hold a sociable event. There are occasions in which flexibility is achieved without having to modify the space, like Sou Fujimoto’s Wooden House. The space is flexible in the sense that many things can be done when inside the house. As mentioned in 100 Ideas that Changed Architecture, one of the earliest examples of flexibility is Gerrit Rietveld’s Schroder House. The living room, kitchen, dinning room, reading, and studio space could be transformed. In an ArchDaily article segment called AD Classics: Rietveld Schroder House / Gerrit Rietveld , it says that since the house was so flexible it meant that there was “no hierarchy in the arrangements of rooms in the floor plan”. In 100 Ideas that Changed Architecture free plan is described as the outcome of two ideas and of spatial composition. This idea like flexibility allowed spaces to be transformable and modifiable. The idea of flexibility has been applied to buildings but will soon be applicable to automobiles and cities. Flexibility in architecture is such a strong characteristic, as it doesn’t define a space it allows the space to define itself.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Architecture Flexibility

Works Cited SCI-Arc Lecture: Klumpner Building SCI-Arc Lecture: Joshua Prince-Ramus 100 Ideas that Changed Architecture: Flexibility (pg. 158) SCI-Arc Lecture: Atelier Hitoshi Abe ArchDaily Article: Rietveld Schroder House 100 Ideas that Changed Architecture (pg.136) “AD Classics: Rietveld Schroder House / Gerrit Rietveld.” ArchDaily. N.p., 29 Dec. 2010. Web. 12 Dec. 2014. “Dallas Center of the Performing Arts.” Architecture We Keep You Informed with Our News. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. “U-TT Is a Partnership Committed to Building and Sustaining Dialogue between Stakeholders and Policy Makers. We Use Our Work to Explore Design as a Strategy for Sustainable, Urban Development throughout the World.” Urban-Think Tank. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. Weston, Richard. 100 Ideas That Changed Architecture. London: Laurence King, 2011. Print.

1B Design Studio Design Studio: Conceptual Strategies for the Physical World Instructor: Betty Kassis Term: Spring 2015 Course Description: Progressing into the second semester of the foundation sequence, this studio serves to develop analytical and conceptual strategies that direct notions of spatial ordering systems and architectural form. A series of evolutionary and interrelated projects involving various media, both digital and physical, will serve to guide the students toward an understanding of spatial composition and geometric principles. The exercises begin with a research based formal analysis of a significant building, which subsequent projects build on during the course of the semester. Together, these individual assignments will constitute a whole, culminating in the design of a small institutional building. Students will construct, disassemble, and later reassemble space to study program, circulation, scale and site. Each exercise will require a rigorous method of working, deploying representational strategies for examining and describing geometry and form in two-dimensional and threedimensional formats. Emphasis will be placed on developing precision in the investigational process through critical thinking, drawing, and model making. The studio will develop students’ abilities to communicate ideas in a critical manner, not only graphically, but also verbally. In-class discussions, lectures, and readings will play a great role in positioning the goals of the assignments in disciplinary and historical terms. Student work will be critiqued and graded throughout the semester based on the precision, care, and craft of the presentations in desk-crits, pin-ups, and reviews.

1B Design Studio

Karl Friedrich Schinkel-Bauakademie

Betty Kassis

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Precedent Analysis

1B Design Studio

Precedent Analysis

Betty Kassis

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Figure Geometry

1B Design Studio

Figure Grid

Betty Kassis

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Public- Private Diagram

Archives

Digital Archives

Exhibition Space

Glass Display

Plan 3

1B Design Studio

Section A

LACA Museum

Betty Kassis

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Sections

Section B

1B Design Studio

LACA Museum

Section C 46

Betty Kassis

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Section

1B Design Studio

Model Photos

Betty Kassis

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Massing Model

1B Visual Studies Visual Studies: Fabrication and Delineations Instructor: Emily White Term: Spring 2015 Course Description: This course forms the introduction of the core Visual Studies curriculum for the Undergraduate Program at SCI-Arc. It introduces students to the conventions of architectural projection for the description of form and space. The exercises build on the understanding of the logic inherent to deployed techniques, physical modeling and manually constructed geometry. This includes the fundamentals of Euclidean and nonEuclidian geometry, the construction of plan/section/elevation and axonometric and perspective drawing.

1B Visual Studies

Traffic Cone

Emily White

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Dumpling

1B Visual Studies

Cone -Dumpling

Emily White

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Cone Fortune Cookie

1B General Studies General Studies: Humanities I- Premodern to Modern Instructor: Jill Vesci Term: Spring 2015 Course Description: This course will trace the development of literature, fine art, music and technology from the Classical era through the Renaissance. Instruction will focus on the arts and culture as they are influenced by geography and the religious, economic and political forces of history. Significant technological advances that affected art production will also be presented. Lectures will combine both a formal examination of the arts and the context in which they were created.

1B General Studies

Humanities

Jill Vesci

Depiction of Women Throughout history the way women have been represented through sculptures and paintings has changed and evolved just like women have. The Egyptian, Greek, Roman, and Byzantine societies each had different roles for women. Women were treated and seen differently in their corresponding time periods. Although the Egyptian sculpture of Menkaura and Queen was completed prior to the Hellenistic sculpture of Gallic Chieftain killing himself and his wife, and the Young Woman Writing, the Egyptian sculpture shows that in their society women and men had the same rights, similar to the society we live in today. The 2,500 BCE Egyptian Sculpture of Menkaura and Queen demonstrates the idea of equality. Both the male and female are shown standing up straight with broad shoulders and one leg in front of the other. Egyptian women are said to have had equal rights to men compared to other women in other ancient societies. According to The Status of Women in Egyptian Society, “Egyptian women’s rights extended to all legally defined areas of Egyptian civilization. Women could manage, own, and sell private property, which included slaves, land, portable goods, servants, livestock, and money. Women could resolve legal settlements. Women could conclude any kind of legal settlement.” Egyptian women also had the right to sue at law, carry out testaments, free slaves, make adoptions, and could even appear as a contracting partner in a marriage contract. One aspect in which women didn’t have the same rights as men was in education, “they were not allowed to undergo scribal training or serve as important officials, but shore personal notes between women of social standing suggest at least some degree if female literacy”(Coffin 39). This type of equality between men and women can clearly be seen in this sculpture since both Menkaura and Queen’s posture is powerful and equal. In comparison to ancient Greek and Roman societies where women needed a designated male to represent her in all legal contracts and proceedings, Egyptian women had a lot more rights in their society. The 220 BCE Hellenistic sculpture of Gallic Chieftain killing himself and his wife shows the woman somewhat less important. Gallic’s wife is seen slumped and held by her arm by her husband. She isn’t standing tall; instead her body is lifeless and limped in the side of Gallic. On the other hand Gallic’s body looks strong and powerful. During this time period, women still didn’t have nearly as many rights as the men. According to a background information site on women, children and slaves in ancient Greek society, “women couldn’t inherit property, they didn’t appear in court as jurors, and family law was handled by a woman’s guardian e.g. father, husband.” Women in classical Greece experienced great discrimination and isolation, “Public spaces were restricted to male activities such as athletics and political gatherings, while domestic, private spaces were reserved for female activities such as child rearing and weaving” (Coffin 125). The sculptural frieze from Parthenon in Athens, Women Processing in the Panathenaea, shows what was one of the few ocasions in which respectable Athenian women were

allowed to be in public. Through the frieze you could see how the women’s position is reserved and even unenthusiastic, their heads appear to be slightly lowered while the men point at them as if they were being reprimanded for something. Despite them being able to be out in public, through the frieze, it seems as if this event isn’t really a “festival” they are enjoying. Wool –working and weaving were some of the tasks women were expected to do, once they got married (usually at age fourteen with men sometimes up to twice their age) and had their first child, (two- four years after marriage), they were expected to take care of their children. Several ancient Greek vases demonstrate women weaving and wool working, their facial expressions are apathetic and their bodies are slouched, needless to say they appear to be bored, sad, and overall uninterested in their daily activity. In comparison men were able to be sociable outdoors, many times “women were expected to withdraw into private rooms if visitors arrived” (Coffin 126). Men looked down on women and had very little emotional attachments and attraction to their wives. The transition between classical Greek to Hellenistic time period, reveals a noticeable change in women’s role, especially among the upper class women. “The Hellenistic period seems to see some increases in women’s status and roles over the previous two periods”(Berkeley). Although the sculpture of Gallic Chieftain and his wife doesn’t demonstrate this evolution in women’s roles, we do see these ideas of women and education in the 50 CE Pompeii, Roman painting; Young Woman Writing. These changes in women roles are seen during the Hellenistic era and continue on throughout the Roman era. Young Woman Writing is a painting of a young woman with a stylus in her hand and an early version of a notebook. Without a doubt early Greek and Roman societies still had such beliefs “ that all women should be under the control of a guardian, who might be the father, husband, or a male relative, or someone appointed by the will of the father or husband, or by an official of the state” (The Romans). The idea of men being in charge and controlling the women’s lives still continues through several cultures after this time period. During the Hellenistic time period it was acceptable if women could read, write, and obtain some sort of education. A Hellenistic Period informational site said, “Despite the fact that society was patriarchal, a woman’s role during the Hellenistic period was not confined exclusively to the household, reproduction and the upbringing of children... During the Hellenistic period, women had more chances to acquire education...” Another article on GraecoMuse stated, “With the Hellenistic period we also see a vast improvement of female education which is not so pronounced in Classical society, and with this we see an altered ideology of the position of women in society.” The Hellenistic statue of an Old Market Woman shows this change in women’s tasks “...a detail often seen in representations of old women that hints at the liberation of the elderly from the restriction imposed on women of childbearing years” (Heilbrunn). Instead of sending their slaves out to the market to buy the needed ingredients women were able to complete this task, to them this was a major improvement.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Depiction of Women

The Byzantine Empire civilization also had gender discrimination. Dur- roles have changed and though the fight for equality still continues women in ing this time period women spent most of their time in their home. According to the United States today women can be sure that our current status in our society the source; Women in Byzantine Society, “A woman was invariably accompanied is influential, powerful, and indispensible. whenever she left her house to go to church, attend a festivity, visit the baths, or call on her relations -- the sole activities of a woman outside her own home that were socially acceptable.” In addition, women in Byzantine society weren’t allowed to sit at the same table where men were sitting unless it was the woman’s brother, husband, or father. In contrast with the Hellenistic ideals, Byzantine women’s, “education was usually limited to reading and writing. Very few women acquired a wider learning” (In Focus). “Although generally discriminatory, certain aspects of Byzantine legal practice also favored a degree of female economic independence which is striking in the context of a pre-modern society: Women had equal rights to bequeath and inherit property, and married women maintained ultimate ownership over their dowries.” Needless to say while they were able to acquire a higher education Byzantine women were still under the mandate of men. A major flaw in the Byzantine civilization was prostitution among lower class Byzantine women. “It is probably because prostitution could occasionally be very lucrative and thus beneficial through taxation, that the Christian Byzantine State turned a blind eye” (Women in Byzantine Society). In many aspects a women’s life could get worse rather than better especially worse rather than better especially for the lower class women. One of the most influential women in Byzantine was Theodora, wife of emperor Justinian I. “Theodora is remembered as one of the first rulers to recognize the rights of women, passing strict laws to prohibit the traffic in young girls and altering the divorce laws to give greater benefits to women” (Theodora). Theodora was one of many women who because of their low social status had to work degrading jobs, “Theodora was born as a commoner, and her father worked for one of the circus factions in Constantinople. At a very early age, Theodora seems to have followed her sister into low-class theatrical entertainment which essentially constituted prostitution” (A quick note on Theodora). Despite her past she was extremely influential and powerful. Women throughout history and all around the world have always had different roles and rights in their society. It is interesting to see how these roles have changed as time progressed, women’s rights have fluctuated having its up and downs. Despite being discriminated and isolated in their societies, women have evolved and so has the men see and treat them. It is remarkable to notice that the closest society in terms of women’s rights to our current society is one of the first, the Egyptian society. Women may not have always been influential and independent but they knew they weren’t being treated fairly or equally. Their voices may not have been heard in the past but throughout time women

1B General Studies

Old Market Woman, JulioClaudian, 1st century A.D, Roman, Marble

Menkaura and Queen, 2,500 BCE

Humanities

Birth of Venus, Sandro Botticelli, 1482-1485

Gallic Chieftain killing his wife and himself, 220 B.C.E

Young Woman Writing, 50 B.C.E

Jill Vesci

Women Processing in the Panathenaea c.447-438 B.C.E

Women wool-working and Weaving, unknown

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Depiction of Women

Works Cited “A Quick Note on Theodora.” From the Garden into the City. N.p., 11 Dec. 2011. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. “Ancient Greece - Staff Room.” Ancient Greece - Staff Room. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. Coffin, Judith G., and Robert C. Stacey. “The Development of Civilizations in Egypt.” Western Civilizations: Their History & Culture. New York, NY: W. W. Norton, 2008. 39. Print. “Explore Byzantium: Meet the People: Byzantine Women.” Explore Byzantium: Meet the People: Byzantine Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. Fazio, Michael W., Marian Moffett, Lawrence Wodehouse, and Marian Moffett. A World History of Architecture. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008. Print. “Greek Women Classical to Hellenistic: A Brief Discussion of Changing Factors.” GraecoMuse. N.p., 11 Jan. 2013. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. “Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History.” Statue of an Old Market Woman [Roman] (09.39). N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. “Theodora | Biography - Byzantine Empress [died 548].” Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. “The Romans.” The Classics Pages: Antony Kamm’s ‘’: 5.3 The Place of Women. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. “The Status of Women in Egyptian Society.” The Role of Women in Ancient Egypt. Cornell Edu, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. “Women in Byzantine Society.” Women in Byzantine Society. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2015. “Women in the Hellenistic World: Issues, Evidence, and Conclusions.” (n.d.): n. pag. Orias.berkeley.edu. Berkeley. Web. 24 Apr. 2015. “Women’s Role.” Hellenistic Period. Ime, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2015.

1B Cultural Studies Cultural Studies: History of Architecture I- Premodern to Modern Instructor: Michelle Paul Term: Spring 2015 Course Description: This course follows the development of architecture from pre-history until the Gothic era. Cultural, religious, anthropological and sociological factors support the architectural readings of this time. Students should aim to formulate original critical arguments regarding historical architecture using cultural concepts through reading, research and discussion. We will evaluate contemporary architecture with this historical lens to enrich our view of todays architectural landscape.

2A Cultural Studies

History of Architecture & Urbanism

Michelle Paul

Islamic Geometry in 21st Century Building Islamic geometry, art, and architecture have distinguishable unique characteristics. Typically Islamic religious buildings have decoration that even though look elaborate and complicated it is rather executed through a series of grids, patterns, and symmetry. This type of architecture has inspired and influenced several other buildings and architects in the 21st century. Ehrlich Architects has recently won a design competition for the Federal National Council’s New Parliament Building Complex in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. This building has noticeable Islamic geometry influence in both the interior and exterior. Not only is the geometry similar but the use of arches and color make its appearance much more Islamic. Ehrlich Architects’ design concept for the new Parliament Building Complex has noticeable Islamic architecture characteristics. A World History of Architecture stated that Islamic building’s exterior was “controlled by primary and secondary grids and extensive use of repetition, symmetry, and patterning” (Fazio 154). Ehrlich Architects’ project has an exterior top that clearly demonstrates the use of repetition of polygon shapes such as triangles and decagons. These repeated shapes are arranged in such way that a pattern begins to form allowing the top exterior shell to get a more geometrically diverse façade. The exterior top’s geometry begins to develop different shapes and as the shell makes its way towards the ground arches are formed (diagram 1). Looking at the building in elevation pointed arches surround the building. The top part of this exterior “shell” has a center decagon with triangles filling in the gaps and creating secondary shapes like stretched diamonds and pentagons. This geometrically diverse exterior works as a surrounding frame to the more simple building. The actual building seems to be a stacked combination of an octagon and inverted triangles creating star shapes (diagram 2). The only colors that appear throughout the entire building are in the glass on the top frame; the colors are warm tones like shades of yellow and orange, the colors are present yet don’t disrupt the building’s overall modern look. According to an article, Ehrlich Architect’s Design Principal, Steven Ehrlich said “The New Parliament Building Complex will balance Islamic Heritage with U.A.E’s global contemporary aspirations, where modernity and tradition are in harmonious balance”(Bustler). The overall feel of the building does seem to have achieved that balance; the exterior façade has the Islamic influenced arches, geometric patterns, and warm colors. While the building itself feels simple and modern. The interior of the building also has Islamic geometric influences. The ceiling to one room has a more intricate take on the exterior frame. The shapes aren’t as pure, like the equilateral triangles and pentagons used on the outside, instead the interior ceiling has intersecting geometry in the center, through which light is able to pass. The exterior structure doesn’t have anything in the center nonagon in order to make that light path available to the interior. Within the larger frame on the exterior structure there are smaller patterns

perforated into the material to cast patterned shadows. These shadows have patterns that are often seen in mosaic in the interior of Islamic buildings (diagram 3). The New Parliament Building Complex clearly has Islamic geometry in its design. Despite being a building that is yet to be built there are clear Islamic architecture characteristics present like the pointed arches and geometric patterns. Other characteristics like color and mosaic are implied but not direct enough to overpower this contemporary building. Islamic architecture has a distinguishable style and beautiful characteristics that are powerful, Ehrlich Architects took the challenge of designing one 21st century building with both the modern simplicity and the Islamic geometric intensity.

Works Cited “Ehrlich Architects to Design New United Arab Emirates Parliament Building Complex.” Bustler. N.p., 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. “Ehrlich Architects: UAE Parliament Building Complex.” Designboom Architecture Design Magazine Ehrlich Architects UAE Parliament Building Complex Comments. N.p., 03 Feb. 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. “Ehrlich Architects Wins International Design Competition for the Federal National Council’s New Parliament Building Complex.” ArchDaily. N.p., 27 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Apr. 2015. Fazio, Michael W., Marian Moffett, Lawrence Wodehouse, and Marian Moffett. “Chapter 7 Islamic Architecture.” A World History of Architecture. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2008. 153-75. Print.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

21st Century Architecture

“Unroll” of top Diagram 1

Mosaic pattern shadows Diagram/image 3

Stacking Diagram 2

2A Design Studio Design Studio: Formworks-Sites and Contexts Instructor: Emmett Zeifman Term: Fall 2015 Team: Christopher Becerra (Precedent Studies) Course Description: The 2A Core Design Studio foregrounds the disciplinary problem of directing a given program or “brief” towards the production of a work of architecture. The students are introduced to techniques for moving beyond abstract models towards the “fleshing out” of an architectural diagram (particularly as drawn in plan and section) as a material, functional artifact on a site. The studio approaches this problem through the idea of formal, material and programmatic density, as expressed through the resolution of multiple scales of program, spatial organization and formal articulation within a tight building envelope. It advances the students’ previous work on massing and interiority by introducing building to ground relationships, more sophisticated methods of organizing interior space in relation to massing, and formal articulation, particularly as it relates to entry and aperture. These architectural issues are addressed through the precedent analysis and subsequent design of a slab or bar-type building housing a multi-functional research and educational institution in a rural setting.

2A Design Studio

Aldo Rossi- Gallaratese

Emmett Zeifman

Mariajose Meza- Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Precedent Analysis

2A Design Studio

Aldo Rossi- Gallaratese

Emmett Zeifman

Mariajose Meza- Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Precedent Analysis

2A Design Studio

Desert Arts Institute

Desert Arts Institute in Joshua Tree, California Project Description: The idea behind the massing for the Desert Arts Institute is based on the precedent study; Aldo Rossi’s Gallaratese. The bar typology was further explored through massing models. In my massing I was particularly interested in a rectangular bar typology with folds. Throughout the building folds are created in the exterior and interior. Folds are also used for the ground in order to create a smooth transition from desert ground to manipulated ground into the building. By folding the massing, a tilt is created on one side of the building. This cantilever condition creates a contrast fold against the ground. For the program, the void central space is used as the main source of circulation, this acts as an outdoor communal hallway.

Site Plan

Level 1

Emmett Zeifman

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans

Level 3

Level 2

2A Design Studio

Level 5

Level 4

Desert Arts Institute

Emmett Zeifman

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans-Sections

2A Design Studio

Desert Arts Institute

Emmett Zeifman

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Massing Study Models

2A Visual Studies Visual Studies: Technologies of Description II Instructor: Jenny Wu Term: Fall 2015 Course Description: This course introduces the principles of digital drawing tools essential to 2D architectural representation. Working with primary digital representation tools, students learn both the application of projective techniques for architectural subjects and the conventions of operation and interface. Of central importance is instilling in students a critical sensitivity for the inherent bias and nature of each deployed medium.

2A Visual Studies

Drapery Detail

Jenny Wu

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Drapery

2A General Studies General Studies: Humanities 2- Modern to Contemporary Instructor: Jill Vesci Term: Fall 2015 Course Description: This course will trace the development of literature, fine art, music and technology from the Baroque period through the Contemporary World. Instruction focuses on the arts and culture as influenced by geographic location and the cultural, religious, economic and political forces of history. Additionally, significant technological advances, as they effect art production and manufacture, will be presented. As a result, lectures will combine both a formal examination of the arts as well as providing contextual analysis.

2A General Studies

Humanities II

Jill Vesci

Humanities II Notes for Final Terms: Aespective Art: trying to convey as much as possible, used to show what was there, what they saw. Literal representation, little interpretation. Perspective Art: Is subjective, one viewpoint, the artist’s viewpoint. Shows artist’s interpretation. Abstract Art: trying to represent something that is not in the world. Abstracting something that’s meaningful through objects that aren’t there. Trying to abstract meaning and significance by simplifying it dramatically only to convey that ambiguous idea. Finite attention to detail, color, position, etc. Romanticism and its relationship to the Enlightenment: During the enlightment we thought we could record and know everything about it. Romanticsm is the backlash, Man vs nature, enlightenment backlash, nature is more powerful than us, and we are small compared to nature. Human emotion over logic. Ukiyoe and the floating world: City life, picture of the floating world, 9 separate blocks used for painting, key block print, color block, cumulative print. Man coexisting with nature, showing how small we are compared to nature, nature is powerful and abundant, a form of respect to nature. Another aspect of this way of painting was the illustrious nightlife, graphic intercourse scene (shunga). Walled areas in major cities for teahouses and theaters, walled sections became known as the “floating world”. Japanese are flooded international markets and citizens. Impressionist art and its context: Documenting what they see, immediate perception. Somewhat ambiguous and vague to give you room to make your own idea. WWII and its effect on European and American Culture: WWII led to individualistic society, which leads to capitalism, which led to mass production of appliances. Consumerist society where Americans took pride in what they owned. The US and the USSR (Russia) became the most powerful in the West. DaDa and Surrealism: Reaction to World War I & mass industrialized killing. Desire to wipe the slate clean through revolution.

1922 DaDa became what they hated—another art movement. Must destroy common sense, public opinion, and public education. Anti-art; chance. Advances in psychology (freud), especially the acceptance of “inner worlds” significant on modern literature, Frankenstein. The mind had the power to create new ideas and spur revolution. Psychology advances were at least attempting to “cure” pyschlogical problems, rather than just removing the aﬄicted person from society. Abstract Expressionism and the Cold War: Meaning comes afterwards, represents the artistic impulse. Used as propaganda, anti-communist physcology, articulated the power & freedom of the American Individual, polluck art. Capitalism: Climbing up the social ladder, taking care of you. Egocentric, you reach your own goals. Self induced, pursuit of happiness. Warhol and Consumer Culture: Mass production of things, having many options, Warhol was acknowledging the effective branding of Campbell can soup. Using pop art to show the consumer culture, example of arraying the can art and multiplying it and laying it out as it would in the stores. Uses the idea that the way you are induced to look at something is as much about making it art as what the object actually is.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Final Notes

Questions: 1.How is the concept of the “self” represented in western culture from the Enlightenment through the Modern Era? Use examples from visual art, literature, philosophy and advances in psychology to show how the concept of the “self” has evolved over time. Romanticism, man alone against nature, nature is overwhelming, don’t trust your intellect trust your heart, enlightenment backlash, enlightenment ideals have gotten us the French revolution, Napoleon, independent state- borders, WW2 ideas of literature Frankenstein, post WW2 American reaction to western Europe, response to communist ideas. Surrealist-Freud, new ideas for artist, idea that mind could be cured, dream analysis, creating a world in your head. Takes froyd to understand that you had constant thoughts running in your head, thinking about something inside, affects the abstract expression. Rene Margritte surrealist art, not showing a face not to be reproduced. Person in crowd interacting, person in nature, person without a face, Inner-conscious warped images, literal representation of what you do (Andy Warhol) and questioning who you were worshiping (Marilyn Monroe). Wonderer above the Sea of Fog, Shen Zhou Poet on the Mountaintop. Dali surrealism, the Waltz (good old times) Renoir 2. In what ways were Dada, Surrealism and the Russian Revolution related? How did political events in Europe influence these developments and what were their attitudes to the cultural conditions and movements that preceded them. Use examples of specific works of art or literature to support your answer. Discuss how these movements and events contributed to the development and evolution of “Modernism”. -wipe the slate clean, start from scratch, start fresh, not base it on western ideas, start a brand new society, Russia turns to Marxism and then to communism, Malevich –communism, communism no break in power no sharing, believed in idea of supremacist, Tatlin art to service communist propaganda, Malevich pursues more of a spiritual representation. Malevich wants to give something new to believe in doesn’t want to share authority with the church. Using Abstract art like Byzantine Icons, praising shapes-art.

2A Cultural Studies Cultural Studies: History of Architecture II- Modern to Contemporary Instructor: Todd Gannon Term: Fall 2015 Course Description: Proceeding through a chronological review of major movements in global architecture from the Enlightenment to the present, this course will analyze key works to develop an understanding of specific relationships between the organization, configuration, and articulation of buildings and the historical, conceptual, and cultural contexts with which they are associated.

2A Cultural Studies

History of Architecture II

Todd Gannon

Gesamkuntswerk and Central Cores In a field as diverse and broad as architecture there will always be debatable decisions and theories. With such liberty and capability of design it’s often seen; architects taking complete control over their project. Gesamkuntswerk refers to the idea that the architect takes complete control over the project and creates, “a total work of art”. In which the architect starts to design things that go beyond the façade, doors, walls, and exterior, in addition to the “usual” the architect begins to design furniture, interior subdivisions of spaces, and sometimes even the way structural joints come together. In comparison other architects decide to deviate from designing every aspect of the project and rather focus on the on programmatic circulation. Though at first thought you’d think that architects would want to simultaneously design the interior and exterior to create a uniform interior and exterior project there are architects that demonstrate their interests in other aspects of the project. Architects like Adolf Loos, Frank Lloyd Wright, Gerrit Rievtveld, and Charles Mackintosh take a stance and favor the “total work of art” idea. With the rapid changes in society and technologies new ideas were bound to occur, ideas like main hallways that lead to different rooms or overall open rooms. Architects like William Morris, Le Corbusier, Ludwig Mies Van der Rohe and James Stirling prioritize circulation and programmatic problems in the development throughout their projects. Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1936 Falling Water demonstrates “total work of art” from the material used to the way the house responds to the site to the interior- exterior relationship formed, everything was designed and chosen to be that way by Wright. Wright aside from locating the windows facing and framing a specific part of the forest that surrounds the house, strategically built in furniture, like the couches and chairs. Wright takes complete control over the project and makes sure the furniture is stationary in its intentionally thought out location. Wright’s renowned low flat ceilings serve as a great purpose in this particular project. The ribbon windows that wrap around the house between the flat ceiling and floor frame the view. Details like having a small gap where a window meets a corner giving a sense of release and break and having narrow hallways only to feel the difference from slim spaces into an immense space like that of the living room and overall exterior landscape are details only few architects put in the process of designing a project (AD Classics: Fallingwater House). Yet another architect with “Gesamkuntswerk” driven projects is Gerrit Rietveld. Notably Schroder House located in Utretch has

an exterior and interior that gives the idea that is was simultaneously developed. The Schroeder House is impressive to many; the execution of “total work of art” and ability to maintain a “flexible” plan layout is commendable. In addition, just like Frank Lloyd Wright chose materials that would make the interior-exterior and landscape become one, the colors Rietveld chose for the interior and exterior bring the whole house together consistently. Since Rietveld’s Schroder House is about intersecting planes and planar surfaces the windows are limited to only being opened at ninety degrees from the wall is it hinged to. This allows the project to be seen as straight, simple, linear surfaces even when the windows are opened. Even the furniture inside the house although not necessarily “built-in” was designed by Rietveld in order to create a house in which exterior, interior, and interior furniture becomes one singular language. Although there is a notable fact, which is that the art featured in the house was done by Piet Mondrian and Theo van Doesburg, according to The Telegraph: The Schroeder House in Utretch. These architects have shown that in their projects the interior, exterior, and in some instances the surrounding site or art featured inside, have to fluently read as one. The same concept of “absolute work of art” yet completely different approach was that of Phillip Webb and William Morris in their project The Red House. The house’s exterior and interior was also designed to merge together but the attention to the interior was as specific to the furniture as it was to having a central hallway with access to all the surrounding rooms. Khan Academy source states that “Webb, Morris, his wife, Jane, and the painter Edward Burne-Jones all worked together to design everything in the home, from the wallpaper to the stained-glass windows to the builtin cabinets and furniture, so that all celebrated the beauty of nature and the medieval guild ideal.” This in many ways can be interpreted as Webb and Morris wanting to have complete control over their project, yet the power and control to design everything is shared, therefore is it “Gesamkuntswerk”? It can go either way, because they were all collaborating and distributing different aspects of the house to design, the house can be an example of “Gesamkuntswerk”, in reality they were working together but still the fact is that there wasn’t just one architect making all the decisions therefore is wasn’t completely an “absolute work of art” because it wasn’t absolutely just one architect’s work. A major alteration to the circulation scheme was the introduction of the hallway with William Morris and Phillip Webb’s Red House.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

When there is flexibility of room partitions or large open spaces circulation is blurred. The idea of a hallway or central corridor is key to many architects. Where before you would have to go through one room to get to another, the hallways brought the idea that there could be a common shared space between the rooms to allow entree to all the rooms surrounding the hallway. Among the architects who favored the central core was Le Corbusier, Unite ’dHabitation in Marseilles demonstrates key understanding in circulation and demonstrates hierarchy to the central core. There is an understanding of what the building must be able to do, house hundreds of families. The program is given priority and thus a central core is created to allow access to the many units. The way in which the units are subdivided is what’s most intriguing. To allow for maximum space and equal units the apartments are shaped in interlocking L’s around the main square core. Central corridors not only facilitate circulation throughout the building but also allow for privacy, whether that be in a house with different rooms of a building with different apartments. In this specific project there is an incredible amount of detail to the interior not in how it looks and relates to the aesthetics of the building but to how it functions and successfully meets the program of the building. The detail in the interior is in the overall development of the units, how they come together and making them distinguishable in form but equal in spatial qualities. In conclusion whether or not the architect decides to design every aspect of his or her project, decides to share that power of designing every aspect, or decides to approach designing that aspect differently is totally up to the architect. Whether the architect designs the interior to fit the program or designs it to uniformly coexist with the exterior and site, Ultimately whatever they choose is already in a way an “absolute work of art” since they are making the decision of how much of the project they want to design and how much of it is left exposed and open to interpretation.

Central Cores

Works Cited “AD Classics: Fallingwater House / Frank Lloyd Wright.” ArchDaily. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “AD Classics: Rietveld Schroder House / Gerrit Rietveld.” ArchDaily. N.p., 28 Dec. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “AD Classics: Unite D’ Habitation / Le Corbusier.” ArchDaily. N.p., 04 Nov. 2010. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “Gesamkuntswerk.” GreekArchitects. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “Interior Design: The Schröder House in Utrecht.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “Khan Academy.” Khan Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “Unite D’Habitation.” GreatBuilidings. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. “William Morris and Philip Webb, Red House.” Khan Academy. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

2B Design Studio Design Studio: Frameworks- Programs Instructor: David Freeland Term: Spring 2016 Course Description: The 2B studio is the fourth in the sequence of seven studios that constitute the core of the undergraduate B.Arch curriculum. It follows the lessons of previous semesters by designing material form in close relationship to techniques of drawing and modeling. This studio expands from building purely abstract massing models to constructing materially specific models. This shift necessarily addresses building constraints—such as material size and thickness, structure, and finish—which, in turn, produce interesting limits and problems of translation between digital and physical media. To intensify this exchange, this studio tackles the form and finish of the interior as its starting point. Referencing Gottfried Semper’s and Adolf Loos’s work on cladding and its principles, exercises build up from inside outward, adding material and structural layers, fattening corners, and plastering finishes. This studio is a precursor to the 3rd year, which enlarges the scale of the models to include structural, mechanical, and environmental systems. The program of 2B centers on two cinema halls, each presenting a kind of center or an internal world within one singular building. Public spaces connect these interiors and contribute to the construction of the overall form, apertures, and ground articulation of the building in its site. Situated in an urban environment, the project brings together multiple constituencies, addressing public space, traffic flow and site accessibility.

2B Design Studio

Unfold of Box Interior

David Freeland

Cinematheque in Alhambra, California Project Description: For the Cinematheque in Alhambra there are two interior cinemas that are the same except for an extra split that occurs in the smaller scale cinema. The larger theatre and the smaller theatre share a proportioned side that allows them to speak to one another instead of ignoring each other. The material application of travertine and marble is located the same way in both cinemas, yet their orientation on the overall enclosing envelope is distinct. This allows there to be a different reading in plan and a different material presence. The envelope that encompasses them reflects on the interior cinemas, the fold on the roof is placed above the fold of the larger cinema, the fold on the right corner is strategically placed in order to make the building welcome incoming viewers and addresses the corner it sits on.

Travertine: Cut 4-ply museum board to desired size. Cut thin strips of tape and place them either horizontally, vertically, or both across museum board with desired increments. Spray a thin even layer of Krylon Natural Stone Textured Finish Cream Color spray paint, let dry for 30 minutes. Peel off the tape, revealing the unpainted museum board underneath. Alternative Technique: Using (1”) masking or gaffing tape, tape across the museum board, creating strips (either horizontally or vertically). Spray a thin even layer of Krylon Natural Stone Textured Finish Cream Color spray paint, let dry for 30 minutes. Cut thin strips of the tape and peel them off revealing the unpainted museum board underneath.

Box Unfold with rendered implied fold lines

Material Assembly Instructions

Marble: Cut 4-ply museum board and (220-grit or 320grit) sandpaper to desired size. Glue sandpaper onto museum board. Spray a thin even layer of Montana Marble Effect spray paint, let dry for 30 minutes. Alternative technique: Cut sandpaper into even rectangular pieces. With Wall Mur Muro Montana spray paint half of all the rectangular pieces lightly. With Roof Tojit Tejado spray paint the remaining half of all the rectangular pieces lightly. Glue all the pieces onto the 4-ply museum board using Elmer’s glue. Spray a thin even layer of Montana Marble Effect and let it dry for 30 minutes.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Material Application

Material Application to Unfolded Box

2B Design Studio

Alhambra Cinematheque

David Freeland

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Material Application

2B Design Studio

Level 1

Alhambra Cinematheque

David Freeland

Level 2

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans-Sections

2B Visual Studies Visual Studies: Technologies of Description III Instructor: Jackilin Bloom Term: Spring 2016 Course Description: Visual Studies II culminates the technical sequence of required Visual Studies courses. The course introduces scripting-based tools (currently, Grasshopper for Rhino) as well as advanced rendering and animation tools. As the need for, and definition of, advanced tools changes rapidly, the exact composition of the tools and techniques covered will evolve from year to year. In every case, it will include a rigorous introduction to scripting (a pre-modeling tool) and a set of post-modeling tools for the advanced representation of projects. Lectures and readings will place these representational tools into the contemporary discourse on the status of representation and abstraction in architecture.

2B Visual Studies

100

Overlapping Lines

Jackilin Hah Bloom

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Overlapping Lines (Color)

101

2B Visual Studies

102

Cube “Unroll”

Jackilin Hah Bloom

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Overlapping Lines (Color)

103

2B Visual Studies

104

Transformed Cube

Jackilin Hah Bloom

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Rendering-Physical Model

105

2B General Studies General Studies: The History of Ideas Instructor: Dora Epstein-Jones Term: Spring 2016 Course Description: This course surveys a broad integrated history of human consciousness and the awakening of ideas, from the concept of monetary exchange to the idea of democracy to the valorization of ingenuity, and all points in between. Studied through a broad reading, the understanding of ideas is seen inclusive to all economic, social, cultural and political forces, and seeks to expose students to this basic complexity. This course is also taught with an eye towards aligned developments in the definition of knowledge and knowledge categories in pedagogical systems.

2B General Studies

The History of Ideas

Dora Epstein-Jones

A Key’s Role in Past and Future Society When we think of privacy we think of a room that yours, a home that yours, things that only you have access to. But, what guarantees you that others don’t have access to your personal things as well? Most likely you are the only one with complete access to them. You probably own a key or numerous keys that allow you to almost effortlessly enter your home, look inside your mailbox, or open your safe with stored valuables. By law no one can search through your personal belongings without your permission or a warrant from authorities, yet everything valuable anyone owns has a lock that only they have the key to. In today’s digital world most privacy and security icons are locks. The lock can represent protection of the contents found within or access that it limited to certain people. The key’s role becomes crucial, the lock always signifying that things are closed and safe and will only open only under certain circumstances, forcefully by breaking the lock, or naturally with the corresponding lock key. The key holds the power to open that lock and therefore anyone with the key has the power to whatever is locked. The key has had an important role in our society; it helps us ensure our privacy and can even be associated with certain emotions. The first key known to historians is said to be about six thousand years old, from Ancient Babylon and Egypt. According to History of Keys- Who Invented Keys? “Keys started at the same moment when first locks appeared in ancient Babylon and Egypt.” Wooden devices with small pins concealed near the bolt where lifted by a “wooden toothbrush-shaped key” which would then unlock the bolt. Undoubtedly the key and lock were designed simultaneously in order to achieve accuracy and efficiency. From early on the key and lock came as a pair, although in future years the key itself almost vanishes completely, for many years the lock and key have stayed together loyal to one another. According to Historical Locks: History of Keys , Early Roman keys were objects used to display their status, it told society that they had something valuable to protect. The keys “possessed technical finesse and elegance,” the design of the key occasionally displayed the architecture of that time and sometimes even the lock to which the key belonged. In addition, small key finger rings were designed with the intention of facilitating the common act women would do of locking their valuables in jewelry boxes. This contributed to the idea of having a small space with a lock to store your valued possessions, it also introduced the simple concept of privacy; locking something from the outside to protect and prevent unauthorized people from having access to the inside.

108

The key as first seen was made out of wood, throughout its time “engineers and inventors managed to greatly improve upon the designs of Egyptian wooden locks.” By using iron and bronze, Romans were able to create much stronger and smaller locks, with keys that were light enough to be carried around. Pertaining to its form, one great invention changed their appearance forever. The introduction of “wards” and divisions into the locks reshaped the keys to become flat structures with carved out depressions, the design referred today as the “Skeleton key – a simple cylindrical shaft that has one single, thin and rectangular tooth (or bit).” Perhaps the biggest change made to its original design was the flat key; Linus Yale Sr. and Jr. introduced this in the mid 1800s, the innovative design allowed keys to be easily cut and replicated. Being able to replicate keys was groundbreaking because now there was the possibility of giving a copy of the key to allow for multiple people to have access to a place or thing. The way keys and locks function has been steady and familiar since the beginning, with the exception of the material used and the internal function. These types of changes allowed the lock and key’s reliability to be enhanced. According to Schlage’s History of Locks: An Introduction to the History of Locks “They operated by keys that turned, screwed, and pushed. The push-key padlock was of simple construction, the bolt kept in locked position by the projection of a spring or springs. To unlock, the springs were compressed or flattened by the key, which freed the bolt and permitted it to slide back.” The overall design of the lock and concept of the key started to quickly need change in the beginning of the 21st century with the massive increase in the use of digital technology, keys and locks started to experience the stress of having to keep up with technological advances and maintain its primary function. Its role in society wasn’t necessarily in jeopardy, but the design and efficacy wasn’t proving to be reliable. This was due to the fact the overall design and function of the lock hadn’t changed much for the past years, making it fairly easy for “lock pickers” to open them. According to New York Times article by Steven Kurutz, Losing the Key , “In this age of rapid transformation, the house key has been surprisingly resistant to change.” Kurutz mentions that car keys have changed to fobs, hotels and office buildings “favor the pass card”. He makes the point that despite these changes the “little metal keys” we move around with us, “— part security device, part domestic totem — aren’t that different from the ones carried by our parents or their parents, going back to the Civil War, when Linus Yale Jr. invented the cylinder lock, modifying an ancient Egyptian design.” Kurutz believes

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

that metal keys have been “resistant to change”; interestingly enough each key still holds an immense amount of power and importance. Though physical metal keys are still extremely common among our society they aren’t resisting change. Change in home security has already begun; this change hasn’t been visible in the metal key we know because it has been replaced. The key that was used to unlock and lock your car has disappeared; it’s been replaced by a small device that performs the same actions at a distance and at the push of a button. The keyhole that allowed you to insert a key to turn on the car’s engine has been replaced with another button. This isn’t to say that car keys no longer exist, to date many cars still have keyholes and keys, the difference is that keys are no longer the primary source of unlocking and locking your car or turning your car on and off. The key is something that has been taken for granted by many, it has commonly been used for centuries, it is an item that can never be replaced completely because people still trust in the way they work. Keys work mechanically; there aren’t any potential digital bugs or flaws that can cause your key to fail. A key doesn’t know failure; it simply works, just like Velcro, paper clips, staples, etc. “Losing the Key” also mentions that brands like Schlage and Kwikset, common locksmith brands, have released door locks that can be unlocked through your computer, tablet, or even your smartphone. Before introducing a whole new digitalized system of locks and keys, other changes before these are notable. A new form of lock without the direct presence of a key called the “Speed Dial” by the brand Master is a notable one. This lock uses a dial-slider mechanism that can be moved up, down, right, and left. You are able to create a pattern that consists of an arrangement of these movements, which then allows you to open the lock. Another innovation to the lock without a key is the use of a dial turning mechanism found in “Combination” locks. These locks open through a set of three numbers (the range of numbers is from 0-40) that are turned to the right, to the left past your number once, and then to the right again. Other variations of the combination lock exists in versions that include letters, yet another version of this type of lock is turning a smaller dial usually a set of 3 numbers with the numbers ranging from 1-9. These locks aren’t necessarily the locks used in your house, mailboxes, or cars, but nonetheless used to lock something personal and valuable. Locks for homes and cars have seen a similar update with the introduction of number combinations, but mailbox locks have stayed consistent in their form. It is quite obvious that the physical key starts to lose its place next to the lock. Its importance with its

Keys (locks)

corresponding lock is still valued but as the lock itself develops the presence of the key vanishes. Kurtz in “Losing the Key”, mentions that experts agree that these new “smart” locks aren’t necessarily providing more safety, they are simply more convenient, “So the sales pitch for smart locks appears not to be additional security, but convenience.” The convenience it refers to is straightforward; you don’t need a physical key to get into your house, you don’t have to look through your pockets and through you keychain to find the correct key, you simply open the app on your smartphone and unlock your door. With this new “smart lock” you can also allow for multiple passcodes to be registered, in case you forget one. Critics of the “key” like Take Don Norman bring up valid arguments, “...exchanging keys is an act invested with emotion, I don’t think the ritual requires the physical key. It is the exchange that is the source of emotion, not the psychical key.” He also brought up the point that people aren’t attached to their keys, all keys look the same, and according to Norman since it isn’t personalized often it means that people don’t have a strong connection with the object and therefore isn’t as important as we may think it is. Perhaps people don’t personalize their key because they are accustomed to that way it looked, or maybe because they are taken for granted and people to think twice about their design and aesthetic appeal. The improvements Linus Sir. and Jr. made to the key, specifically that of making it flat and easily replicated contributed to society and our standards on trust and privacy. By having multiple copies of the same key you are able to control the amount of people access to your privacy. Shared privacy is important not only in the professional business system but also in relationships with family and friends. Having the physical key can possibly have emotion tied into it; it can represent trust, ownership, and responsibility. It wouldn’t be the same to buy a car and instead of being handed a key you were given a number, or when you buy your first home and the agent tells you the codes to access different parts of the house. Receiving a key when purchasing a home or vehicle brings a sense of pride and satisfaction. A physical key makes you feel powerful, trusted, and triumphant a feeling that isn’t achieved by being given a code.

109

2B General Studies

The History of Ideas

The key is criticized as easily lost; in reality, your smart phone is equally prone to getting lost, misplaced, and even worse stolen. Losing your keys would be equally of a hassle as losing your phone and having to deactivate the app or something as simple as running out of battery where you would then have to go to a place to charge your phone enough to let you open the app to be able to get inside your house (assuming that the only access you have to entering your house is by opening the app on your phone, no codes, no keys). But apps like Tile are acknowledging the importance of the key and have applied modern day technology to help you easily find your misplaced keychain. On their website they have a picture of a keychain with the Tile device and they explain how it works, “Tile is a tiny Bluetooth tracker that helps find your lost stuff in seconds. Attach, stick, or place Tiles inside everyday items and keep track of them in our easy-to-use app.” This device solves the problem for all those who forget their keys on a regular basis, and proves that keys to day are still extremely significant. Among our current society this new passcode system has even been given the name “e-key”. By adding the “e” it is stating that it is a digitalized version of a key. This “e-key” is essentially your smartphone, there are now such settings that allow you to give an “e-key” to a guest and have it deactivate in a certain about of time. In our current society many objects have been “de-objectified” and used as simple icons representing something. An envelope representing messaging, a magnifying glass in place for searching, and many other objects have been brought down to a basic design icon. The key is slowly starting to become everything but itself, it does still provide access to an otherwise “locked” space but its losing its identity as an object and becoming less its definition, “a paramount or crucial importance”(Google). The key is suffering from the common “de-objectifying” process several objects have gone through. It is starting to become like the word “mail” were its now assumed to be an email and not a piece of paper you send or “mail” to someone. It is like the word “hanging up” you are no longer hanging up the phone to end a call. Or like when your “dial” a phone number, you aren’t dialing the number anymore, you are simply touching them on your phone screen. Words like these derive from an action or object but as time passes they start to take on a different meaning, what was once an object or action becomes just another word. were its now assumed to be an email and not a piece of paper you send or “mail” to someone. It is like the word “hanging up” you are no longer hanging up the phone to end a call. Or like when your “dial” a phone

110

Dora Epstein-Jones

number, you aren’t dialing the number anymore, you are simply touching them on your phone screen. Words like these derive from an action or object but as time passes they start to take on a different meaning, what was once an object or action becomes just another word. We know our society and our technology have experienced a lot of changes throughout the years, yet there are in fact things that haven’t changed at all, like your personal rights as stated in the Bill of Rights. In Politico Magazine Article , a clear understanding of the application of the Fourth Amendment and technology is demonstrated, “Privacy is a core American value. For 235 years, the Fourth Amendment has protected us from unwarranted searches of our personal belongings. All the while, technology has been changing where and how we keep those belongings.” Although clearly the subject matter is technology it is important to note what the Fourth Amendment protects and what its relationship to the Key is. “The Fourth Amendment grants to the people the right to be “secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures.” ...the use of the “general warrant” whereby the crown gave officials almost unfettered authority to search colonial homes, rifle through papers and scour personal belongings.” The key by the time the Bill of Rights was introduced had already been invented, used, and reengineered. More than the key itself the concept that is necessary to understand is that without the key and lock, this right may have not been possible. The idea that something could be private was a common one, but without the key and lock, enforcing and practicing this right would have been impossible. The key as it does now, gave whoever had it in its possession the capability of opening the lock. Similar cases regarding keys and locks have occurred with phone companies, in which the government is trying to make a case for having the right to unlock your phone to do a search through it. Most phone companies state that this isn’t correct, as it goes against their user agreements and under the law the contents within your phone are still debatable as they are not yet seen as part or your private belongings covered in the “Search and Seizure” Warrant (CGPGrey). The key has allowed the notion of private property to be truly private, it has allowed there to be a physical object allowing or impeding access to someone’s private property. The key is something physical that is trustworthy more than a piece a paper with an agreement and a signature. The key has allowed there to be such thing as private property and has proved to be reliable and worthy of being present in

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

our lives today. Although the key in our society today isn’t much of an object anymore, the digital version of a “key” has emerged; passcodes, patterns, and fingerprints are the leading the future of not the key as an object but the key as a term.

Keys (locks)

Works Cited CGPGrey. “Should All Locks Have Keys? Phones, Castles, Encryption, and You.” YouTube. YouTube, 14 Apr. 2016. Web. 16 Apr. 2016. “History of Keys.” Http://www.historicallocks.com/en/site/h/Articles/HistoryAboutLocks/History-of-keys/. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. “How It Works - | Tile - Never Lose Your Keys, Wallet Or Anything Again.”How It Works. The Tile App, n.d. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. Kurutz, Steven. “Losing the Key.” The New York Times. The New York Times, 11 June 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2016. Oy, Dafor. “An Introduction to the History of Locks.” Schlage’s History of Locks. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016. Paul, Rand, and Chris Coons. “Founding Fathers Would Have Protected Your Smart Phone.” Politico Magazine. Politico Magazine, n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016. “Who Invented Keys?” History of Keys. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Apr. 2016. Images: “Evolution of Keys.” The Evolution of Everyday Objects. Slate, n.d. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. “Padlocks - Google Search.” Padlocks - Google Search. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016. “Model No. 1500eXD.” Model No. 1500eXD. MasterLock, n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

111

2B General Studies

The History of Ideas

Dora Epstein-Jones

In order from left to right: Top row: “Brass Body” Padlock, “Combination” Padlock, “Combination Dial” Padlock, “Speed Dial” Padlock, “Digital dialSpeed” Padlock Second Row: Ancient Roman Keys, car key with side device to lock and unlock car, device to lock and unlock car integrated into the key’s design (the key folds inwards concealing itself) Last Row: How keys work in pin locks, the key’s cuts creates its grooves and wiggly shape, these indentations align the pins inside the lock in a horizontal position allowing the key and pins to turn unlocking the lock.

112

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Keys (locks)

113

2B General Studies Elective General Studies Elective: China Inside Out Instructor: Mary-Ann Ray Term: Spring 2016 Course Description: What makes China what it is today and what will it become? How are we, as architects, planners or city activists able to intervene amidst the tidal wave of extreme conditions that are shaping the outset of the 21st century and that are directly affecting one out of every five human beings on earth? This seminar will explore and examine these conditions in both the cities and the countryside and their fascinating interrelationships. We will use current and historical texts, Chinese and Foreign Press, Microblogs, Chinese Cinema and Contemporary Chinese Art as source material. Each student will produce an animated video chapter of “A Lexicon of Chinese Urbanism and Ruralism”.

2B General Studies Elective

116

China Inside Out

Mary-Ann Ray

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Mouse Tribe

Project Description: A “Mouse Tribe” is a term used by the Chinese in reference to the people who live in basements of developed cities like Beijing. In 2010 5% of Beijing residents were living in these air raid sheltered basements. The series of images shown are highlights of a stop-motion video of about two minutes length. This short film shows a wife and child being left behind in the countryside, the husband/father decides to leave the countryside for the city in order to improve his family’s lifestyle. In the city he becomes part of the “Mouse Tribe”. Underground in the Beijing basements he looks through door peepholes to find a vacant room and as he peeps he sees several different residents, men, women, and even young students. The new member of the “Mouse Tribe” finally finds a vacant room where he settles in and starts a new chapter in his life. The poem “Rented Room” expresses the thoughts of many people who live in these air raid shelters.

Works Cited Images: Mouse Tribe Wudaoku BASEbeijing Mary-Ann Ray and Robert Mangurian Poem “Rented Room”: An Illustrated Lexicon of Chinese Urbanism- Migrations & Migrators

117

3A Design Studio Design Studio: AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics I Instructor: Margaret Griffin Term: Fall 2016 Team: Christopher Becerra Course Description: Moving from the conceptual and the abstract to the physical realities of building, the work of the third studio of the core sequence aims to productively embrace novelties and differences in the production of vertical organizations. Students consider the uses of precedent and antecedent in their work, while the main investigation examines the particular impact of the building envelope and its material and geometrical determinations on site and a Tall Building form, and the capacity to use transformation as a methodological tool to guide a rigorous approach to decision making. By studying the specificities of the Tall Building envelope students are exposed to the tight dependency existing between serial determinations of both geometric and material orderof the outermost surface, and the spaces it encloses, including the building’s core and structure; construction technology.

3A Design Studio

Facade Studies

Margaret Griffin

Intersecting Planes- Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagnol

Non-Intersecting Planes- Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagnol

Continuous Planes- Horizontal, Vertical, and Diagnol

Chunk Design Development

120

Mariajose Meza- Christopher Becerra

Non-Intersecting & Continuous Planes: Vertical and Diagnol

Portfolio 2014-2019

Linework Pattern

Unrolled Elevation

121

3A Design Studio

Tower in Mexico City

Margaret Griffin

Office and Hotel Tower in Mexico City, Mexico Project Description: For the tower project in Mexico City, my partner and I were interested in how a continuous arrangement of lines could accentuate the tower typology. From our previous facade studies we determined that we wanted to keep the idea of louvers wrapping around the tower therefore the corners would be continuous and we eliminated any horizontal fins in order to keep the verticality of both the pattern and the tower. Through the linework we realized that some figures became too prominent and decided to shear the fins in different directions in order to provide a different reading of the project as you walk through the building from the inside and outside, producing different solid-void relationships throughout the whole extent of the building.

122

Mariajose Meza- Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Axon Chunk

123

3A Design Studio

Tower in Mexico City- Plans

Level 27- Office

Level 3- Lounge Area

Ground Plan- Lobby

124

Margaret Griffin

Level 19- Hotel

Mariajose Meza- Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Model Photos

125

3A Design Studio

126

Section-Elevation

Margaret Griffin

Mariajose Meza- Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Renderings

127

3A Visual Studies Visual Studies: Domestic Landscapes Instructor: Florencia Pita Term: Fall 2016 Team: Emma Manguy Course Description: This class will start by observing and repurposing the work developed for the exhibition in Italy: The New Domestic Landscape curated by Emilio Ambasz in 1972 and displayed at MoMA in New York. The exhibition presented the work of prominent and novel Italian designers such as Superstudio, Archizoom, Gae Aulenti, Mario Bellini, Gaetano Pesce, Ettore Sottsass, etc. The contents of this exhibition were arranged in two categories: Objects and Environments. During the first classes we will catalog both Objects and Environments, as they were presented at the MoMA exhibition. After that initial research we will develop our own series of Objects and Environments, we will look at everyday objects of the domestic realm, as well as everyday environments that transform the ordinary domestic into extraordinary landscapes.

3A Visual Studies

Project Description: Using Ettore Sottsass and his black and white pattern as a point of reference we decided to create a Domestic Landscape that made the illusion of floating objects and objects that blend into the environment that work together within an enclosed mirrored space.

130

Domestic Landscapes

Florencia Pita

Mariajose Meza-Emma Manguy

Portfolio 2014-2019

Model Photos

Top View of Domestic Landscape

131

3A Applied Studies Applied Studies: Environmental Systems I Instructor: John Bohn Term: Fall 2016 Team: Christopher Becerra, Ssuhan Chen, Emma Manguy Course Description: The International Style advocated terms for architectural expression that superseded specific geographies and often intensified the inefficient use of active building technologies for human comfort and environmental performance. Conversely, biological organisms are typically optimized for specific, local environmental performance for survival and prioritize the efficient consumption of energy resources. This dichotomy between the built and the biological is no longer sustainable in contemporary architectural production and has become a fertile territory for design expression. In fact, in spite of ambitions to the contrary, local ecologies did find their way into even the most dogmatic works of Architecture as Modern architecture evolved. Recently, the re-discovered passive systems found throughout the history of building, performance-based design techniques and emerging digital technologies have been leveraged to inform the production of architecture. Not simply to optimize environmental performance, but also for architectural expression; both based on project-specific environmental performance parameters.

3A Applied Studies

Environmental Systems

John Bohn

Eames House in Pacific Palisade, California Project Description: Using the Eames House located in Pacific Palisades as the point of reference each person in our group studied a different energy in relation to the building; daylight, sound, wind, and shadow. I focused on the shadow aspect of the Eames House.

10:00 AM

Sun Path

Shadow Space produced at 10:00 AM

Eames House Palisades, California May 27 10:00AM 4:00 PM Sun Path

Shadow Space produced at 4:00 PM

Transformed-Eames House Phoenix, Arizona May 27 4:00PM

134

The focus of the assignment was to make modifications to the current building in order to design the outcome of representation from the energy system. Therefore by folding down the roof we were able to create new figures in the representation techniques we used. For the shadow representation in particular the folds on the transformed Eames House translate and become visible in the projected shadows

Becerra, Chen, Manguy, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Shadow Studies- Representation

The representation of shadow is through a dense field of micro figures that give an otherwise flat “surface” a spatial dimension.

135

3A Applied Studies

136

Environmental Systems

John Bohn

Becerra, Chen, Manguy, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Composite of Energy Systems

137

Tapered Corner Module Corner module is tapered at a 45 degree angle to establish a clean and resolved corner condition. Rubber spacers allows movement and compensates for expansion and contraction of the concrete.

High Density Concrete Module This diagonal module makes it efficient to transport and assemble on site. It’s truncated edges allows for a rigid interlocking effect to avoid movement and increase stability.

Concrete Cube Joint

This joint transfers vertical load into each module. Its 45 degree orientation avoids lateral buckling. The cube established a 1/4” gap that allows for a loose tolerence during construction.

Catwalk

Catwalk extends throughout the perimeter of the building on every floor and is seemlessly embedded into the thickness of the brisele exo-skeleton. The primary use for this catwalk is to easily maintain the glass.

High Tension Steel Rod

This 6” Diameter steel rod behaives as a sheer wall within each unit of the exo-skeleton. This supports the structure and avoids any horizontal distortion due to lateral loads of the cross bracing brisele.

Precedent Study: Atlas Building Facade System: Exo-Skeleton

3A Applied Studies Applied Studies: Tectonics + Materiality Instructors: Ramiro Diaz Granados + Maxi Spina Term: Fall 2016 Team: Christopher Becerra, Sarah Carcamo, Emma Manguy Course Description: The seminar joint areas of investigation are Tectonics –understood as architecture’s material anatomy and its effects and Performance largely consisting of technical, technological and cultural environmental dimensions. The class focuses predominantly on the curtain wall particularly on its forms of articulation and modes of assembly. The curtain wall “can be broadly defined as the non load bearing building envelope that typically hangs like a curtain from a structural frame.” Since its inception in the Bauhaus in Dessau, Germany, the curtain wall has evolved into a highly performative enclosure system and ranges in thickness and number of layers according to aesthetic desires and climate demands. As a tectonic concept it occupies the territory that is made possible by frame structures, which is a tectonic alternative to load bearing solid walls, and addresses both the “free plan” and the “free facade”, two of Le Corbusier’s five points.

3A Applied Studies

Tectonics & Materiality I

Ramiro Diaz Granados - Maxi Spina

Spandrel glass

2.8’ x 6’ Insulated glass with low-E coating

T-beams Suspended dropped ceiling

Permeable steel grate maintenance catwalk

Extruded aluminum mullion

Operable window frame 1.7’ x 4.8’ Insulated glass with low-E coating

Addition to Atlas Building in Wageningen, Netherlands Project Description: My group and I studied the Atlas Building by Rafael Vinoly in the Netherlands. We found that the facade serves as an exoskeleton for the building which is a research Precedent Study: Atlas Building Tectonics and Materiality AS3033 center for the Wageningen University, this allows there to be an open plan that helps move things around with ease. Through some sun studies we were able to determine the facade Facade System: Exo-skeleton Mariajose Meza side that would require more shade. The Exoskeleton facade was very open and allowed much natural light to illuminate the space, in order to filter the amount of light that enters the building we each developed a different iteration and improved upon one. For the iteration I developed I used the sun’s path as a way to determine which side required which orientation (vertical of horizontal) of the perforated panels.

140

Becerra, Carcamo, Manguy, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Tectonic Addition Iteration

Original concrete dia-grid

Top perforated panels filter light in during the summer allowing interior spaces to stay shaded.

Side perforated panels help regulate the light during the winter.

Description: This iteration consists of aluminum perforated panels in between the original Atlas Building dia-grid. The perforated panels are strategically placed and angled in order to control the amount of light that enters the space during the summer and winter. Porosity: 70% Material Calculations:1’x4’Sheet $51 Performance: Shading Durability: High Maintence Required: Minimal

Mariajose Meza

Curtain Wall

Original concrete dia-grid

141

3A History/ Theory History/Theory: Architecture Theory Instructor: Todd Gannon Term: Fall 2016 Course Description: This course provides an introduction to architectural theory by examining key concepts and ideas in 20th and 21st-century architectural culture. Lectures and discussions will focus on the rise of theory in architectural discourse in the 20th century; on fundamental concepts related to architectural form, composition, and aesthetics; on major intellectual movements including modernism and postmodernism; will review major projects and polemics of the periods, and will unpack salient theoretical arguments associated with them. The course will devote significant attention to specific relationships between the organization, configuration, and articulation of buildings and the historical, conceptual, and cultural arguments with which they are associated as well as the social and political consequences of such arguments. Special attention will be paid to the advent, maturation, and deliquescence of “critical theory” in the late 20th century, and to burgeoning alternative methodologies in the 21st.

3A History Course

Architecture Theory

Todd Gannon

What is Theory? Theory is many things at once, it is an idea, it is a response to current events, it is a set of rules, and it is a religion. Theory is the outcome result of a problem with no definite solution. It is an answer and explanation to something that can’t be proven. Theory is much more than just an opinion, for it to be valid and have an impact it must have some research and evidence to support the claims. When it comes to theory in the field of architecture it is much more intense; it becomes a religion. With the rise of Architecture Theory in “the sixties”1 the following decades saw a rapid growth, Architecture Theory became broad and diverse, with the development of perhaps the most influential; digital three-dimensional software, new problems arose and therefore new ideas became known and explored. Since then “architecture theory” has become “architecture culture.” Among successful architects different ideas, styles, and problems have raised, conflicts in ideas such as the Duck vs. Shed; in which architecture is either iconic or symbolic. Dramatic differences within the field offer different solutions to distinct problems in some instances ideas on the same topic conflict, as do Jencks and Eisenmen over whether or not Modernism has arrived. Every architect has his or her own ideas; those ideas are usually based on a certain architect’s style or written manifestos. The amount of theories are endless, new theories surge when there is a disagreement to an existing concept or when there is an idea that hasn’t been explored. The ideas that are implied with such theories have a direct impact on social interactions and directly affect society. With such power it can be said that architecture may have started to slow down in the production of new ideas, but theory allows architecture to continue producing new concepts. The future of architects seems to lack true originality and instead the “new” arrives as a combination of previous ideas (i.e. curvilinear, courtscraper, etc.), yet theory permits there to be new ways in solving and addressing certain problems. When a new style emerges there will be discussions and disagreements on its worth and importance to the present and future. Charles A. Jencks and Peter Eisenman couldn’t disagree more on modernism. While Jencks believed Modernism was dead Eisenman believed it was yet to come. Having completely different views on one idea or on multiple is extremely important in today’s society. Since mankind found self-awareness the amount of opinions and ideas discussed among society were overwhelmingly exciting. New original ideas emerged and in the world of architecture the process of designing and using different materials and techniques became of such importance that opinions on what architecture was and how architecture’s worth was measured became theories. Among some of the most well known architects is Le Corbusier; his modern architecture captured the attention of many. Peter Eisenman among others believed that though being proclaimed as the “most modern of all modern architects” he was anti-Modernist. The theoretical writings done on Le Corbusier by Colin Rowe proved that the ideas about space that Le Corbusier seemed to be identifying with had origins from the sixteenth

144

century. The truly Modernist aspect to Le Corbusier’s work is “its aspect as a self-referential sign, its existence as an architecture about architecture.” The Maison Dom-ino became a clear “simple and straightforward statement... an example of the potential of the then new technology, a prototypical unit expressing ideas of mass production, repetition, and so on.” Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House and Philip Johnson’s Glass House are two strikingly similar examples that took Le Corbusier’s Maison Dom-ino and incorporated the ideas into their architecture. The open floor plan, ribbon windows, and columns address aspects of the Maison Dom-ino and became some of the basic elements to Modern Architecture. In many aspects theory takes the form of a religion; strongly believing in something and trying to live your life as closely to the rules it dictates. Architecture theory is similar; once you encounter the ideals of a certain theorist you decide to either address architecture in a similar manner or oppose it completely and find ways of challenging those ideals. Having someone or something to relate your architecture to is extremely significant, by being able to interpose your design to an existing system with regulations you are able to come across new problems and make new discoveries. Theory is directly interconnected with society; the development and experimentation of new ideas have a direct impact on social relations. When corridors first appeared in “England at Beufort House, Chelsea, designed around 1597 by John Thorpe,” they were used to separate the servants from their rich masters. The hallway connected several rooms and made it easier for the servants to quickly enter and exit a room, it kept them out of the way of the guests they were serving. The “discovery” of the corridor had a strong impact in architecture, but it also directly affected social relations. The addition of the corridor into the house meant that there were boundaries between servants and owners. The servants were to stay out of way of the owners and their guests; the hallway became a direct representation of the status level they were at. Michael Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish” illustrates a clear idea of architecture’s power over social and spatial interactions. The Panopticon demonstrates hierarchy and control over social relations. The use of space and position of cells in relation to the center tower in which a person of power and authority has clear view in all angles of all the surroundings imposes a “state of consciousness.” In the Panopticon walls aren’t used to frame social spaces, instead they separate and prevent social interactions. By rearranging walls in a plan the architect has the power to make a space private or public, the configurations of walls have the capability of setting up a space for a particular use. The space between walls speaks to society, as said by Bernard Tschumi “the more traditional means of defining and articulating space, such as walls or columns, is important.”

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

With so many theories revolving architecture there is one you are bound to strongly agree or disagree with, this offers new opportunities in approaching an architectural challenge. Although in our generation it may feel as if everything has been discovered and done before, architecture theories will still be the outcome of new standards, new rules, and new aesthetics. Theory is a practice, an interpretation, and a response to an idea. Architecture theories allow professionals to somewhat understand a problem and give implications of how it may be resolved. Paul Rudolph states Mies’ standpoint, “All problems can never be solved... Indeed it is a characteristic of the twentieth century that architects are highly selective in determining which problems they want to solve. Mies, for instance, makes wonderful buildings only because he ignores many aspects of a building. If he solved more problems, his buildings would be far less potent.”7 Social status, economic status, and social groups can have direct influences on what problems they decide to confront. Not only does theory allow architects to decide what problems they will try to resolve but it also allows them to determine how those problems should be resolved. Theory in the field of Architecture gives a set of ideas that allow an architect to make choices and design as they please. Theory allows an individual to reflect on their work, to explore different techniques and to further develop ideas in search of the next revolutionizing idea that can change architecture and its relationship with the world.

What is Theory?

Works Cited Eisenman, Peter. “Aspects of Modernism - Maison Dom-ino and the Self Referential Sign.” Academia.edu - Share Research. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2016. Evans, Robin. Translations from Drawing to Building. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1997. Print. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage , a Division of Random House, 1995. Print. Hays, K. Michael. Architecture Theory Since 1968. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. Jencks, Charles. The Language of Post-Modern Architecture. New York: Rizzoli, 1977. Print. Tschumi, Bernard. Architecture and Disjunction. Cambridge, MA: MIT, 1994. Print. Venturi, Robert. “Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture.” The Museum If Modern Art Paper on Architecture, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2016.

145

3B Design Studio Design Studio: AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner Term: Spring 2017 Team: Christopher Becerra Course Description: The 3B Studio introduces students to the comprehensive design and development of a large scale, institutional building on an urban site. Advancing on the pedagogyestablished in previous studios (AMIGAA: Architecture as Mass, Interiority, Ground, Apertureand Articulation), this studio focuses on the design, development, and tectonic logic of the building envelope and its ability to articulate contemporary formal organizations. Assemblage versus monolithic form, surface versus mass, iconicity and image, the intentional obscuring of hierarchical mass, layered, and graphic assemblies, tectonics and materiality, constitute a range of concerns in the design work. Beyond design competence, students are expected to articulate and argue for conceptual and disciplinary positions in relation to issues of AMIGAA in anticipation of more advanced work invertical and thesis studios.

3B Design Studio

Berkeley Library- Section

Herwig Baumgartner

Library in Berkeley, California Project Description: For the Library project in Berkeley, California, my partner and I wanted to study the potential for an aggregate of figures to produce a holistic reading. We were particularly interested in the idea of figures being nested into one another and forming clusters. To further push the part to whole relationship we projected a graphic that wraps around the whole building in order to falsify the parts and disguise the seams. The apertures became their own independent system that rejected the linearity of the graphic. The building’s profile became the carving for the ground, in order for the building to not sit heavily on the sloped ground a new ground was created and the building sits on “feet,” this allows people to really experience the building from all around including the underneath.

21.8305

32.2736

48.0301

48.0301 21.8305

21.8305 32.2736 48.0301

32.2736

48.0301

21.8305

32.2736

21.8305 32.2736 48.0301

148

21.8305

48.0301

32.2736

48.0301

21.8305

32.2736

48.0301

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans

Level 3

Level 2

Level 4

Ground Plan

149

3B Design Studio

150

Berkeley Library

Herwig Baumgartner

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan

151

3B Design Studio

152

1/8th Final Model

Herwig Baumgartner

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Model Close-ups

153

3B Visual Studies Visual Studies: Familiar Form Instructor: Florencia Pita Term: Spring 2017 Team: Jianing (Millie) Yang Course Description: This class will investigate the lineage of ready-mades (objet trouve) as a body of research that originated in the art world and has permeated to architecture. Indeed, instead of investigating architecture’s earlier forays into historical familiarity, the 80’, we will dwell onto contemporary notions of familiar figures and their versatile maneuvers of digital geometries. The images above, by Chippendale and Hockney, take two very familiar objects and flatten them by means of the medium of representation: drawing and photography. In this class we will look at objects with delineated volumes and will convert them to flat panels. These panels will aim at maintaining the allure of the familiar forms and their sense of volumetric mass by producing a texture relief (CNC milling) and an image imprint (offset printing and vacuum forming). These ‘flat’ models will oscillate between the realm of representation and object making.

3B Visual Studies

156

Familiar Form

Florencia Pita

Mariajose Meza-Jianing Yang

Portfolio 2014-2019

Model Close-ups

157

3B Visual Studies

158

Familiar Form

Florencia Pita

Mariajose Meza-Jianing Yang

Portfolio 2014-2019

Model Close-ups

159

3B Visual Studies

160

Familiar Form

Florencia Pita

Mariajose Meza-Jianing Yang

Portfolio 2014-2019

Models Arrangement

161

3B Liberal Arts Liberal Arts: Philosophy of Technology Instructor: Jake Matatyaou Term: Spring 2017 Course Description: We do not know what technology is, yet we share an accumulated knowledge of technologies. With this premise as our starting point, we will set out to answer the following questions: What is technology? What is our (human) relationship to technology? How do material and form affect our relationship to technology? We will approach these questions through a series of weekly readings organized by theme. A situated reading of technology will help us better understand how the making and use of objects and things to achieve specific ends (our preliminary definition of technology) is a force of social, political, ethical, and biological change. This suggests that while a given technology embodies a constellation of values (though often latent and hidden), our relation to those values is not fixed. How we structure our relationship to technology and how technologies organize, order, structure our relationship to each other will be questions that animate our readings and discussions throughout the semester.

3B Liberal Arts

Philosophy of Technology

Jake Matatyaou

Control and Artificial Intelligence Worrisome? “Artificial Intelligence is the future” we’ve heard that numerous times throughout the last few years. It’s development has become fast paced and improved everyday. Perhaps the most basic and achievable form of AI is available through our own smart phones. Siri, Cortana, and the newly released Bixby keep you up to date on what you want to know as your very own personal assistant. The technologies used to improve smartphone personal assistants keeps requiring more and more access to other features. In a recent article from Popular Science “Samsung’s new digital assistant, Bixby, tries to push past voice recognition toward true AI” by Rob Verger, we are introduced to Bixby the new “digital assistant” in Samsung’s Galaxy S8 phones that pushes the boundaries of current AI in smartphones and strives towards a better faster response to completion of tasks. In Dave Lee’s article “AI should help us do less, not more” Dave touches upon the idea that no current digital assistant actually assists you. The amount of notifications you receive through your phone daily are overwhelming and Lee wants to challenge companies to develop digital assistants that actually “take the load of your mind”, by monitoring your notifications and only allowing the ones you truly want to receive to get through. An idea that emerges, if we want smartphone digital assistants with Artificial Intelligence to really help us accomplish tasks we need them to have access to more things. If this is the case, AI will be able to control all aspects of our phones, which to many is equivalent to having access to your whole life. If this becomes the case how far will it go and how much will it impact our lives; positively or negatively? The online Oxford Dictionary defines control as “the power to influence or direct people’s behavior” and “the ability to manage a machine.” Ironically with Artificial Intelligence capabilities rising the potential for machines to manage us are also rising. In a video titled Social Conformity from Brain Games, a women goes into a waiting room filled with other people, a few minutes into the room a beep sound goes off, all the people stand and sit back down, the beeping occurs a second time and once again everybody stands and sits back down, although the women does not now why everyone does this the sound occurs a third time and this time she follows the rest of the people, stands up and sits back down. As people begin to leave the waiting room at some point she is left alone, the beep occurs again and once again she stands up and sits back down. To the new set of patients that walk in she becomes the “teacher” in a way and others start to stand and sit down at the sound of the beep. In this particular scenario the machine making the beeping sound is controlling the waiting room patients, there were no visual directions on why they had to stand up when the beep occurred nor was there an illustrated consequence that would challenge those who didn’t stand. In the course of the study everyone “conformed to society” and followed along. In Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish” it introduces “strict the sound of the beep. In this particular scenario the machine making the beeping sound is controlling the waiting room patients, there were no visual directions on why they had to stand up when the beep occurred nor was there an illustrated consequence that would

164

challenge those who didn’t stand. In the course of the study everyone “conformed to society” and followed along. In Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish” it introduces “strict discipline as an art of correct training” in which through hierarchy, power, and punishment a person could discipline and control multitudes of people. With technological machines we are utilizing them as tools of discipline but eventually they could become the ones to discipline us. In the waiting room scenario the woman was following the rest of the people, in a way they crowd was disciplining her, but the sound was just a sound, there were no authority figures that were ensuring that she follow the “rules” nor were there demonstrated or verbal consequences if she didn’t stand up (as was the case in the first two beeps), therefore the machine more than the people themselves was controlling her actions. As said by Michel Foucault in “Discipline and Punish,” “Discipline sometimes requires enclosure, the specification of a place heterogeneous to all others and closed in upon itself”(141). Through the use of technology, in particular our smartphones, this statement is becoming less relevant to today’s society. Artificial Intelligence in digital assistants will become a form of disciplining ourselves and we won’t necessarily be in an enclosed environment (spatially). This already occurs with our social media notifications, as soon as we hear the sound or feel the phone vibrate we check our phones, it has become the routine. In this case we have trained ourselves to check our phones when we hear the sound or feel the vibration. “What do machines reveal about our ability to control or be controlled?”(Matatyaou Lecture) It reveals that machines control us. We have trained ourselves to determine following actions based on machines; their sounds, displays, and vibrations. Not only have we conditioned ourselves into responding to machines but we have given them the ability to control us. An example would be the SelfControl App, an application you install that “lets you block your own access to distracting websites”. By setting a timer you essentially give up your right to surf the web freely for the period of time you’ve chosen, restarting your computer nor deleting the app will counteract the blockage. Though this application may not be used as common as we use our phones, it gives a clear description of how we are able to use technology against us and our own “free will”. Giving machines the power to do stuff against our will, will result in perhaps more effective results from AI digital assistants, but as the effectiveness goes up so does the possibility for unsuccessful tasks to go wrong. Imagine someone playing a prank on you and using the SelfControl App to block a website you desperately need for a research paper, there would be nothing you could do but wait fot the timer to go off until you could finally go onto that site again. The probabilities of this actually happening may be low but the idea that a machine could have so much control over you for long periods of time is quite concerning. Machines like everything else aren’t perfect, there can be many flaws within the system itself and trusting them completely can result in mishaps. The film “Ex-Machina” directed by Alex Garland depict/predict this idea of machines following their configurations too closely. Ava an AI prototype

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

is programmed to be “self-aware” and to “learn,” all goes wrong when she learns that there are other things outside of the room she is stuck in and learns about desires to visit and see new places. She has learned about the use of words and is able to trick Caleb, a programmer, into helping her get out. Isaac Nathan, the creator and owner of Ava, is not in control of what Ava is capable of doing or saying, Ava becomes a direct threat to him and Caleb, she simply does what she was programmed to be capable of doing; learning and becoming self-aware. Through films we are able to see what AI could become capable of doing. Following the digital assistants through smartphones concept the 2013 film “Her” depicts the future of digital smartphone assistants as “Operating Systems” that are extremely similar to human like characteristics; their voice shows understanding of tones and emotions and the tasks they are able to achieve are truly remarkable. Theodore finds himself starting a relationship with his digital assistant Samantha. Theodore is in control of Samantha as she is in his handheld device, yet Samantha controls him more than he realizes. During the carnival scene Samantha is telling Theodore to spin around in the middle of a crowd and so he does, he keeps his eyes shut and his device’s camera straight out, Samantha becomes his eyes and tells him in which direction to move, what to do, and what to say. As Theodore and Samantha’s relationship begins to “grow” into a “romantic” relationship we begin to notice just how much control Samantha has not only over Theodore but over herself; she is capable of dismissing herself, when she doesn’t want to talk she simply “hangs up”. Compelling is the fact that she is a computerized personal assistant, if Theodore was to command her to do something she would have to do so, if not this would result in a failed system. This brings up the point of how much control digital assistants should have. As developers continue to improve upon digital assistants they seem to put emphasis on how much they can do, this ultimately results in how much control you’re willing to give your phone’s operating system in order for it to be capable of accomplishing these tasks. Bixby for example now uses the camera to scan objects around you in order to search for similar things and recommend them to you. The senior director of Samsung Sriram Thodla said during the Galaxy S8 announcement said, “Bixby understands context. It knows what’s happening on your screen.” Bixby is an improved AI that learns, this way it becomes more accurate in completing the tasks you want it to complete. For people like Dave Lee who want digital assistants to actually assist Bixby is the next step towards an “Operating System” like the ideal Samantha from “Her.” But what comes after Samantha? A physical AI like Ava from “Ex-Machina” or multiple AIs that assist all aspects of your life like the ones seen in the Disney film Wall-E. Wall-E depicts the technological future most of us are afraid to get to, yet the way companies are improving upon AI it seems to be the future we are headed towards. A future in which your environment controls you, your environment being AI systems and you being the controlled subject.

Artificial Intelligence

Works Cited Ex Machina. Dir. Alex Garland. Perf. Alicia Vikander and Domhnall Gleeson. Universal Studios, 2015. Film. Foucault, Michel. “Docile Bodies.” Discipline and Punish. New York: Vintage, n.d. 141. Print. Her. Dir. Spike Jonze. Perf. Joaquin Phoenix and Scarlett Johansson. Annapurna Pictures, 2014. Web. Lambert, Charlie Stigler Steve. SelfControl. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2017 Lee, Dave. “Dave Lee at SXSW: AI Should Help Us Do Less, Not More.” BBC News. BBC, 11 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. Matatayaou, Jake. Week 12: Control. N.p.: n.p., n.d. PDF. Social Conformity-Brain Games. YouTube, 14 Dec. 2015. Web. Verger, Rob. “Samsung’s New Digital Assistant, Bixby, Tries to Push past Voice Recognition toward True AI.” Popular Science. Popular Science, 29 Mar. 2017. Web. 20 Apr. 2017. Wall E. Dir. Andre Stanton. Perf. Ben Burtt and Elissa Knight. Disney, 2008. Film.

165

3B Liberal Arts Liberal Arts: Film II Instructor: Michael Stock Term: Spring 2017 Course Description: This course explores the vital and complex intersections between the arts of film and architecture - from the representation of architects in film to the role of architecture in film and of course the architectural qualities of film itself. Much of the class will focus on films strongly invested in architecture, exploring the relationship between directors, art directors and production designers in the construction of cinematic architecture. We will even stop to consider the unique architecture of several of the classic Hollywood film studios themselves, as well as the work of architects and designers who have worked in and with film, and have embedded their architecture and design practice in various cultures of the moving image. You will soon see that in many of the films the architectural environments and even entire cities themselves are characters as integral as any of the actors in the cast. By the end of the course you will a have a new perspective on the impact that films have had on the practice of architecture and the way we experience our built environments.

3B Liberal Arts

Film II

Michael Stock

Rear Window and its Parallel to Social Media In Alfred Hitchcock’s 1954 film “Rear Window” themes involving today’s society are constantly present, themes such as, the variety of social media outlets, privacy in social media accounts, and the way people selectively display their lives through their social media. Though being in completely different mediums, L.B Jefferies’ apartment window is similar to our devices screens. Jeff’s apartment window is equivalent to today’s smartphone with applications such as YouTube, Facebook, Snapchat, and Instagram. The way Jeff navigates through his neighbor’s apartment windows is equivalent to how we navigate through people’s social media accounts. The ideas of privacy and the “front” and “back” of people are themes that challenge credibility and morality in both social media and the film. In the film Rear Window we as the viewer know only what we see through the window of the different apartments. We see Miss Torso a dancer that often hosts social gatherings. We see Miss Lonelyhearts, who seems to struggle with her loneliness. There’s also a Songwriter who plays the piano, a newly married couple, a sculptor, a couple with a dog who sleep on their balcony, and Mr. and Mrs. Thorwald who become the subjects of interest when Mrs. Thorwald suddenly disappears. Mrs. Thorwald really only disappears from our direct view, from the one position we were used to seeing her in, through her bedroom window in her bed. The film is set up in the perspective of Jeff, a photographer who has broken his leg and is therefore forced to stay within his apartment throughout a long period of time. The film’s set-up is fairly straightforward, the setting of the camera never changes it is always in Jeff’s apartment, particularly in his living room in front of his large window with clear view to his neighbors’ apartments and the common courtyard. From his apartment window he is able to see at least seven different scenarios. His setup is almost as if he were seeing the lives of his seven friends on Facebook through his phone. In today’s society it reflects more on the position we have when we are scrolling through people’s social media accounts on our phone or computer screens. Through their social media we get a glimpse of their life and what they are doing. During the film we start to learn a little bit about every character’s life. The turning point of the film is when Jeff no longer sees Mrs. Thorwald. Jeff has been so used to seeing Mrs. Thorwald that when she isn’t in her usual position and doesn’t appear for several hours Jeff’s interest as well as ours arises. Similarly when we are used to seeing a particular person upload content to their social media accounts often and all of a sudden we don’t see that person’s post, our attention focuses on what happened that caused the change. When we do end up seeing them post we tend to say, “You disappeared for a while…” Sometimes it is something serious that caused the “disappearance” but most of the time it turns out that that person simply wanted to keep their actions private for some time. Privacy in social media and in reality becomes an extensive issue with various opinions.

168

In today’s society sharing parts of your daily life isn’t uncommon, we have become accustomed to constantly upload and check our social media accounts. People on YouTube put up videos of things many consider private and wouldn’t disclose so quickly; their home, their friends and family, and even their everyday routines. Something worth noting, is that what we see is highly filtered and almost always setup in a particular way. This is so that we perceive it how they want us to view it. People are capable of regulating their own social media accounts and are conscious about the content they decide to disclose to their audience. For example many YouTubers do room tours, and sometimes even house tours; almost always is the case that they say that they recently cleaned their house or room and are finally able to film the “highly requested” video. What we see is a clean bedroom, highly organized, and nicely decorated. The author of the content is aware of what they are filming and try to have everything set up exactly how they want it to be perceived as; clean, organized, and desirable. When people upload content onto their social media the content isn’t in its pure nature, it has been edited and likely gone through a whole process of selection to display exactly what they want their viewers to see. Logically the author wants to have complete control over what they are choosing to put on display for others to judge and see. The content people upload represents them and naturally it has to be at its best. What we decide to show and what we are constantly shown through social media can be considered as the “front” of people. Front being what’s directly visible, what gives the first impression, what we are willing to show. How many times have we ever used social media to “learn” more about a person? We really aren’t learning much about that person through their social media accounts; we are only viewing what they want us to view. We are only being exposed to what they are willing to reveal. Evidently they will expose the best of themselves, therefore that is the only thing we see. In the film Rear Window the courtyard seems to be the common space for the back of several apartments. The front is always seen first; in architecture the front is usually directly visible from the streets, but in Rear Window the back is where everything takes place, everything that nobody would usually see. The back is the private, the secluded, and the hidden. By viewing each character’s life through the back of their apartment it reveals every character’s private interests and activities. Miss Torso dances, Miss Lonelyhearts drinks and pretends to have conversations with another person, and Mr. Thorwald has arguments with his wife. Although one could argue that this is simply the way their building complex was built and they are just being comfortable in the privacy of their apartment, the director Alfred Hitchcock specifically decided to set it up in this manner to create a metaphor between the font and back of people. The back of people as well as buildings has always been the underdeveloped, the side that people don’t usually see, and sometimes even the part you don’t want people to see. The back in people is the part of them that is undisclosed and unrevealed publically. In the film, Jeff is seeing the back of people because they are unaware that he

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

is watching them, in contrast to social media where people know there are being watched and purposefully show their “front” selves. In Rear Window we know that the subjects in each apartment are well aware of their privacy, the newlywed couple keep the blinds to their window mostly closed. There’s also an occasion in which the Thorwald’s blinds are also shut, and the most interesting instance occurs when Lisa lowers the blinds in Jeff’s apartment and says “Show’s over for tonight.” Lisa interprets Jeff’s actions as watching a show; he has different channels with different stories and plots happening all at once. There is a direct relationship within this scene and the social media application Snapchat. When users of Snapchat post something onto their story they are opening their window, friends and followers alike can open theirs as well and look into yours to know what you are doing. If you don’t post anything your blinds are shut and even though the other users may have theirs open they cannot see into your life. In real life having your window blinds open isn’t an invitation for people to see into your space similarly having your account private in social media doesn’t mean you don’t want anyone to see your posts, in both occasions you want to have control over who sees your life and what part of your life they see. Privacy is something everyone wants, you want to be able to choose when people are allowed into your life and how much of it they are exposed to. Social media tries to have such features, though there are constant flaws. For example, you post something on your Instagram for your friends and family to see, you are aware of what you are sharing and wish to share it for only those people to see. The problem occurs when your friends or family members share that post with other people whom you don’t know, suddenly you feel as if your privacy has been intercepted. Instagram allows for three different options to take place; 1) you send an image or a direct message to someone, 2) you post something on your profile and it stays there for as long as you want it to, and 3) you upload something onto your story in which that video or image is only available for a certain about of time (typically 24 hours) before it “disappears”. Instagram has even gone further with their viewing settings by allowing you to choose who from your followers are allowed to see your “stories”. By offering this privacy setting you have even more control over who sees your content, even though a person follows your account they may not be able to see you story posts. In this case you are only opening your window in the direction of those you allow to see through. While privacy is a big issue and an important one as well, one understands that your social media accounts are never really private. You are only able to control that who sees your content directly but you are unaware of those who see your posts indirectly. If this had to be put into a scenario it would be as if you opened the window that faces your friends, you know that your friend can see through if they wanted to but you cannot control who goes into their apartment and sees through their window into your space. In Rear Window this happens several times and as the plot begins to unfold, the view is no longer limited to

Rear Window & Social Media

Jeff who is crippled and can’t leave his apartment, his caretaker Stella and his girlfriend Lisa become the spectators as well. Therefore even if Mr. Thorwald’s window blinds were open knowing that Jeff could potentially see through he was not aware nor in control of Stella, Lisa, and later on detective Doyle’s presence and observance of his actions. In real life and in social media you understand that privacy is something you want to have as much control over as possible, you expose what you want, how you want it, and to the audience you want. In actuality as in social media you cannot control how the information you wish to share with someone is disclosed to other people. The “front” of people will most likely always be the best; in social media a person can really manufacture their life to only share things they allow you to see. Although Rear Window is not an exact metaphor for how we use social media today there are definitely similar themes that run parallel to questions about privacy and the “front” and “back” in people in association with social media.

Works Referenced “Instagram Help Center.” Stories | Instagram Help Center. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017. Madden, Mary, Amanda Lenhart, Sandra Cortesi, Urs Gasser, Maeve Duggan, Aaron Smith, and Meredith Beaton. “Teens, Social Media, and Privacy.” Pew Research Center: Internet, Science & Tech. N.p., 20 May 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2017. Rear Window (Motion Picture: 1954)--electronic Press Kit. 2000 Re-release. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Perf. James Stewart and Grace Kelly. Paramount Pictures, 1954. Videocassette. “The Internet Movie Script Database (IMSDb).” The Internet Movie Script Database. IMSDB, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2017.

169

3B Liberal Arts

Film II

Michael Stock

Dark City and Two Women: The Representation of Emotion and Control We often find ourselves walking in and out of our homes and institutions as we please. We go to the places we want and visit family and friends as we wish. Many times the spaces we spend the most time in reflect our personalities and aspirations. The cities we grow up in have a huge impact on how we grow as members of society, as children we can’t decide where we want to live or what we want to be, but as we grow up we gain more control over our own lives. In many ways our childhood surroundings mold us into our future beings; what we decide to study and where we decide to go, these decisions are often times determined from what we remember and experience as kids. As young adults we become the “architects” of our spaces and our lives, we begin to shape our path towards our future. The films Dark City directed by Alex Proyas and the Iranian film Two Women directed by Tahmineh Milani both, although set in contrasting living environments have similar effects on the main character’s life. Their surrounding environment as well as the people in power have a direct influence on them, the new “architects” in their lives disrupt and alter both character’s present and future. In Dark City when John Murdoch first wakes up he is confused and can not remember anything about himself he wanders around the city trying to find out who he is; his name, his home, his family. When he walks out of the apartment he woke up from he walks around during the night through the complicated city. The city is dark and crowded, no bright lights no animated digital posters, no car sounds. The only thing that stands out to him is a poster in fading color that has a woman in a bikini with a beach ball in her hands smiling and says “Shell Beach”. As he walks through different alleys of the city he realizes it all looks the same, there are no landmarks that indicate or trigger any emotion. The only thing that grabs his attention and demands a reaction is the billboard. The Shell Beach billboard becomes important in his blank life because it makes him realize there is something important which he needs to remember. The city gives John no clues, the blank facades represent John’s blank memory. During the film Two Women we learn about Fereshteh and Roya, friends studying Architecture at a university in Tehran. Fereshteh comes from a lower class family and is intelligent, she makes money to help her family back home by tutoring other classmates, among those is Roya. Roya in comparison to Fereshteh comes from a wealthier family and is able to pay for Fereshteh’s tutoring services without a problem. The film follows closely the life of Fereshteh and how it drastically changes by one particular person; Hassan, a stalker who “loves” and wants to marry Fereshteh. During the scenes where Hassan is stalking Fereshteh, she always finds herself in an enclosed space making it harder for her to run away or hide. From the many times Fereshteh realizes she is being watched, she is always “trapped”. She sees him on the bus on her way home, she sees him when she is using a public telephone booth, she sees him from her own house when she is married and has kids, and she sees him when she is trying to run away from her husband. All these times a sense of fear and anger overwhelms

170

her, this feeling is emphasized by the compactness of the space she finds herself in. From all the times she realizes he is following her the space she encounters herself in during the situation doesn’t make her feel neither safe nor relief. The way the films portray both John and Fereshteh’s surrounding space mimics exactly how they feel inside; John feels blank and Fereshteh feels cornered. Both Dark City and Two Women use space to really deliver to the viewer a sense of emotion of what the protagonists are feeling, in addition both characters realize part of their life has been taken away and a sense of resistance to conforming to their present situation emerges. Since the billboard of Shell Beach is in color it gives the viewer as well as John Murdoch a feeling of importance, it stands out because it becomes the purpose of escaping the unknown reality John Murdoch is living in. Shell Beach becomes the only possible escape or answer to John’s taunting present. Little by little John starts to remember himself as a kid playing in Shell Beach this makes John feel in control again. The Strangers, the group that is in charge of the “experiments” they are performing on humans are manipulating John’s whole world.They consistently transfer memories in and out of people’s minds as easy as transferring data from computer to computer through USB flash drives. Though the Strangers haven’t been able to manipulate and control John and his thoughts everyone else has changed leaving John even more confused and alone. Fereshteh also experiences that same feeling of helplessness, her world too changes in a matter of days and she becomes lost as to what her new life consists of. Fom being an aspiring, intelligent, promising student she becomes a wife to a man she barely knows. As soon as she is forced to go back to her parents and leaves her college she loses full control of her life. Her parents become “The Strangers” from Dark City they become the manipulators of her life and her surroundings, they soon pass over their power to her husband, Ahmad. Ahmad alters her world dramatically. In both cases the protagonist are no longer the “architects” of their lives, they have little to no control over their own thoughts and movements. As John walks around the sleeping city trying to find answers to his many questions the buildings begin to morph and grow as the Stranger’s wish. The Strangers become the actual architects of John’s city and everyone’s life. A couple that sit across from each other in a small kitchen table with barely any food get implanted with a new identity, their kitchen turns into a big luxurious space with plenty of food, they turn rich without even knowing they were poor. Fereshteh’s city is more traditional in what we know as a city, yet her husband Ahmad becomes the architect of her world. By cornering her into their home and secluding her from her friend; Roya, he is in full control of all aspects of her life. She is not allowed to go out of the house without him, neither is she able to freely contact her family and friends through non-supervised phone calls. Hassan, the stalker, is also the architect in her life as he poses threat and fear on her since the beginning. He becomes the architect of her space because

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

he keeps moving her into places she does not want to go to. In both cases John and Fereshteh are being constantly watched and monitored, this only makes them want to regain control of their lives even more. Though the physical environments they are living in are enclosed and almost suffocating as there is no clear way out both John and Fereshteh are able to find a destination to look forward to, John’s being Shell Beach and seeing daylight again and Fereshteh’s being free and continuing to study and learn. In both occasions being cornered and surveilled into the point of inquietude sets them free. John is able to break free from the maze-like city with dead ends and finds within him the capability to fight against the Strangers, he finds the capability within him to “build” Shell Beach. Fereshteh runs into a dead end as well as she tries to run away from both her husband and her stalker, though she gives up upon realizing there is no way out, the fight that occurs between Hassan and Ahmed ultimately breaks the chains that had her tied down to Ahmed and indirectly to Hassan, thus setting her free to accomplish her dreams. Both the communication of spaces and the antagonists’ roles as the “architects” of the protagonists lives in the films add another layer of depth to the story line, this layer being much more analytical and influential to the forthcoming events that take place.

Emotion & Control

Works Referenced Dark City. Prod. Alex Proyas. Dir. Alex Proyas. By Alex Proyas. Fox Studios Australia, 1998. DVD. “Dark City (1998 Film).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Apr. 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017. Ebert, Roger. “Two Women Movie Review & Film Summary (2000) | Roger Ebert.”RogerEbert.com. N.p., 06 Mar. 1999. Web. 13 Apr. 2017. Ebert, Roger. “Dark City Movie Review & Film Summary (1998) | Roger Ebert.”RogerEbert.com. N.p., 27 Feb. 1998. Web. 13 Apr. 2017. Jeremykirk13. “39 Things We Learned From the ‘Dark City’ Commentary.” Film School Rejects. Film School Rejects, 12 Jan. 2012. Web. 13 Apr. 2017. Two Women. Dir. Tahmineh Milani. Perf. Niki Kamrimi & Merila Zare’i. Arta Film & Arman Film, 1999. DVD. “Two Women (1999 Film).” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Apr. 2017. Web. 13 Apr. 2017. Samuelsson, Ingrid Pramling, and Yoshie Kaga. “The Contribution of Early Childhood Education to a Sustainable Society.” (n.d.): 11+. 2008. Web. 14 Apr. 2017.

171

4A Design Studio Design Studio: AMIGAA: Positions Instructor: David Ruy Term: Fall 2017 Course Description: The final studio in the core sequence introduces students to independent thinking and integrative design through an open yet defined framework. With one foot in core and one pointed towards thesis, the pedagogy is based on culminating all previous core studios by charging the students with constructing a disciplinary position and formal agenda as it relates to advanced notions of Precedent, Tectonics, Aesthetics, & Composition. This four-fold foundation is intended as an underlay for students to think about and produce a multi-dimensional architectural proposal. The studio, as a whole, works on the same project and site with different trajectories within this framework according to the guidance of each instructor. This provides an experimental platform for students to test ideas and their execution, with the crafting of a position having as much currency as the crafting of the project and its representations.

4A Design Studio

Le Corbusier- Villa Savoye

David Ruy

Communal Living in Boyle Heights, California Project Description: In order to address the gentrification happening in Boyle Heights I made an appraoch to integrate a communal living building into the neighborhood. The overall building’s height is thirty-three feet and length is one hundred, seventy-three feet, staying within the zoning regulations. The building takes on as much area on the site allowed and provides parking for up to four cars. After looking at Le Corbusier’s Villa Savoye I saw different ways of reading the project. I also looked at two other Le Corbusier projects; Villa La Roche, and Villa Stein, and analyzed their ciculation. Villa Savoye’s is centered, Villa La Roche’s is pushed to one side and Villa Stein’s is pushed outward onto the exterior. For my project I decided to push the circulation out onto the sides as much as possible. The ramps are separated and used to emphasize the length of the rectangle shaped building. The stairs are also placed on opposite ends of the building to allow for long open floors. There is a direct contrast between the simple orthogonal outline of the building and the particularly detailed curviness of the overlayed pattern it superimposes a strong graphic language onto non-graphic architecture and tries to bridge two completely different systems.

Layer Stack

174

Corner Rotation

Layer Slide

Mariajose Meza

Split + Slide

Portfolio 2014-2019

Split + Fold

Precedent Diagrams

Split + Fold

175

4A Design Studio

Villa Savoye

176

Le Corbusier Precedent

Villa La Roche

David Ruy

Villa Stein

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Precedent Collage

177

4A Design Studio

178

Communal Living Building

David Ruy

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans

Level 4 Roof Garden

LevelLevel 3 3

LevelLevel 2 2

Ground Level Ground Level

Underground Level 1

Lower Level 1

LowerUnderground Level 2Level 2

Plans 1/16” = 1’

179

4A Design Studio

Communal Living Building

David Ruy

Section Marks

Elevations

Sections 1/16” = 1’

Facade Unroll

180

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Sections

Sections 1/16” = 1’

Sections 1/16” = 1

181

4A Applied Studies Applied Studies: Environmental Systems II Instructor: John Bohn Term: Fall 2017 Team: Christopher Becerra, Stephan Bica, Prarthna Misra Course Description: The production of architecture can be considered the synthesis of performance and expression. In the sequence of Environmental Systems courses and content at SCI-Arc, this second course focuses on more advanced and technically specific building systems and their environmental performance. Students will use this Project to build on their conceptual understanding of energy systems and their behaviors. Applying professional practice standards to propose both active and passive modifications to a well-known work of Modern Architecture in Los Angeles students will propose a comprehensive environmental system for the precedent that has been re-located to another Climate Zone and site.

4A Applied Studies

Environmental Systems II

John Bohn

10:00 AM

63 Lx 210 Lx 1,623 Lx Double Pane Glass

These spaces receive natural light through the front windows.

Windows are strategically placed here in order to allow light to illuminate these spaces. The front of the house has multiple windows for natural light to enter therefore side windows are needed for light to enter further back spaces.

Painted Cemesto Panel

These panels block any light and creates a balance for the amount of light that enters the space.

12,794 Lx 10,417 Lx

35,317 Lx

Eucalyptus Trees

Daylight Mariajose Meza Group #8

LUX- Lx luminous flux per unit area 1 lumen per sq2

Eames House Location: 203 Chautauqua Blvd, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Climate Zone 9 Date: September 28, 2017 Time: 10:00 AM Duration: 15 Minutes

184

63 Lx

1,623 Lx

35,317 Lx

2,339 Lx

20,040 Lx N

0 Lx

Direct sunlight is diffused by large Eucalyptus trees throughout the site providing shade on multiple areas.

70 Lx

22,351 Lx

Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Eames House Study

10:00 AM

63 Lx 210 Lx 1,623 Lx Double Pane Glass

These spaces receive natural light through the front windows.

Painted Cemesto Panel

These panels block any light and creates a balance for the amount of light that enters the space.

12,794 Lx 10,417 Lx

35,317 Lx

Eucalyptus Trees

Daylight Mariajose Meza Group #8

LUX- Lx luminous flux per unit area 1 lumen per sq2

Eames House Location: 203 Chautauqua Blvd, Pacific Palisades, CA 90272 Climate Zone 9 Date: September 28, 2017 Time: 10:00 AM Duration: 15 Minutes 63 Lx

1,623 Lx

2,339 Lx

20,040 Lx N

0 Lx

Direct sunlight is diffused by large Eucalyptus trees throughout the site providing shade on multiple areas.

70 Lx

22,351 Lx

35,317 Lx

185

4A Applied Studies

Environmental Systems II

John Bohn

Eames House in Denver, Colorado

Ground Floor

Light Mariajose Meza Group #8 Eames House Location: 2900 E 16th Ave. Denver, CO 80206 Climate Zone 5 Scale: 1/8” = 1’

186

smoke detector

recessed LED lighting

switch

large pendant light fixture

switch with dimmer

wall light exterior post light

Project Description: Having looked at the Eames House in Pacific Palisades my group and I decided that the best way to modify the house and see the effects its local weather has on it was to move it to a location with a drastic difference in climate. We decided to place the Eames House in Denver Colorado as it would be colder during that winter than its original location. Through sun studies and site analysis we were able to determine it most efficient orientation, directly laying the bar buildings facing North. This way the sun would be able to warm up and illuminate the spaces through the windows that were placed on its facade. We also decided to sink the studio building half way down in order to preserve heat during cold weather, access would still be available through the ground floor. Additionally modifications had to be made to the original Eames House walls, we decided to thicken the walls by adding a layer of adobe brick and insulation this way during the Winter the interiors would maintain its warmth.

Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Wall Section Metal Roof

Slanted metal roof allows the sun to melt snow during the cold winters.

Cavity Insulation Square Beam

Summer Sun

C- Channel Sheathing Bulk Fiber Insulation DCT Thermal Laminate Gypsum Board

Adobe Brick Exceptional thermal regulating qualities. Absorbs heat during the day, and releases at night.

1” Rigid Insulation Additional insulation conserves lost heat that escapes via the soft insulation.

Winter Sun

Waterproofing R-60 Soft Insulation

Soft insulation conserves a majority of the heat radiating from both humans and floors.

Low E- Coated & Solar Control Coating

Low E- Coated glass window reflects the heat back into the space during the winter and during the summer it reflects the heat outwards.

Connection Bolts Dry Wall

Two Piece Adjustable Brick Tie Open Head Joist Sweep 16” O.C Masonry Flashing

Concrete Foundation Waterproofing Ground

Double Height Studio Space Allows for natural light to illuminate the studio area.

Light Mariajose Meza Group #8 Eames House Location: 2900 E 16th Ave. Denver, CO 80206 Climate Zone 5

187

188

4A Applied Studies Applied Studies: Design Developement Instructors: Scott Uriu + Pavel Getov Term: Fall 2017 Team: Anna Bahudian, Christopher Becerra, Stephan Bica, Prarthna Misra Course Description: The course investigates issues related to the implementation of design: technology, the use of materials, systems integration, and the archetypal analytical strategies of force, order and character. The course includes a review of basic and advanced construction methods, analysis of building codes, the design of structural and mechanical systems, environmental systems, buildings service systems, the development of building materials and the integration of building components and systems. The intent of this course is to develop a cohesive understanding of how architects communicate complex building systems for the built environment and to demonstrate the ability to document a comprehensive architectural project and stewardship of the environment.

189

Design Developement

Scott Uriu-Pavel Getov

1 A-6.00

BANDITS

4A Applied Studies

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

1 A-3.00

1 A-5.00

12” Steel Tube Secondary Structure

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIMER

Steel I-Beam

To the best of my knowledge, t plans are drawn to comply with and/or builder’s specification changes made on them after pri be done at the owner’s and/or expense and responsibility. Th actor shall verify all dimensi enclosed drawings, and be sole responsible thereafter.

LED Lighting System 18” Steel Tube Primary Structure

STAMP

Escalators Columns

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRAR 2642 BANCROFT W BERKELEY, CA

SHEET TITLE

3D MEGA CHUNK

3D MEGA CHUNK SHEET NUMBER

A1.00

190

Portfolio 2014-2019

Chunk Detail

BANDITS

Bahudian, Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

1/2” SHEATHING WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE

PRARTHNA ANNA BAHU

1-1/2” RIGID INSULATION

ALEX STEP

MARIA JO

CHRISTOPH

FRP CASTED VOLUMES FRP 4’x8’ PANELS TERTIARY STRUCTURE 2”x2” STEEL TRACK ROOF GUTTER

FRP CASTED VOLUMES FRP 4’x8’ PANELS TERTIARY STRUCTURE 2”x2” STEEL TRACK 1/2” SHEATHING

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIME

To the best of plans are draw and/or builder changes made o be done at the expense and re actor shall ve enclosed drawi responsible th

STAMP

C-CHANNELS

PROJECT A

SOFT INSULATION

BERKE 2642 BERKE

DRYWALL METAL DECKING 4” PEDESTAL

C-CHANNELS METAL DECKING 4” PEDESTAL

SHEET TIT

ROOF GUTTER

FRP CASTED VOLUME

3D FACADE CHUNK

SHEET NUM

191

Design Developement

Scott Uriu-Pavel Getov BANDITS

4A Applied Studies

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

1-1/2” RIGID INSULATION FRP CASTED VOLUMES FRP 4’x8’ PANELS TERTIARY STRUCTURE 2”x2” STEEL TRACK ROOF GUTTER 1/2” SHEATHING WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIMER

To the best of my knowledge, these plans are drawn to comply with owner’s and/or builder’s specifications. Any changes made on them after prints will be done at the owner’s and/or builder’s expense and responsibility. The contractor shall verify all dimension and enclosed drawings, and be solely responsible thereafter.

A6.00

STAMP

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY BERKELEY, CA METAL DECKING 4” PEDESTAL

SHEET TITLE

DRYWALL

3D WALL SECTIONROOF TO WALL

SOFT INSULATION C-CHANNELS

ROOF TO WALL

SHEET NUMBER

BANDITS

A3.01

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIMER

STAMP

A4.00

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY BERKELEY, CA

SHEET TITLE

RIGID INSULATION SECONDARY STRUCTURE

3D WALL SECTIONFLOOR TO WALL

FLOOR TO WALL

SHEET NUMBER

A3.02

SOFT INSULATION DRYWALL/INTERIOR FINISH C-CHANNELS

BANDITS

GUTTER/DRAIN

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

A5.01

1/2” SHEATHING WATERPROOFING MEMBRANE FRP 4’x8’ PANELS 4” PEDESTAL TERTIARY STRUCTURE 2”x2” STEEL TRACK

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIMER

STAMP

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY BERKELEY, CA

SECONDARY STRUCTURE

SHEET TITLE

SOFT INSULATION DRYWALL/INTERIOR FINISH C-CHANNELS GUTTER/DRAIN FLOOR TILES

GROUND TO WALL

3D WALL SECTIONGROUND TO WALL SHEET NUMBER

A3.03

192

Portfolio 2014-2019

Wall Section Detail

BANDITS

Bahudian, Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

PRARTHNA ANNA BA

MARIA J

ALEX ST

CHRISTO

Gutter FRP Panels Tertiary Structure Sheathing Waterproofing Membrane Rigid Insulation FRP Window Frames Tongue In Groove System 0

Secondary Steel Structure

A4.00

C-Channels

RECOR

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/201 B C D E F

Insulation

DISCLAIM

Attachment Pedestal

To the best plans are dr and/or build changes made be done at t expense and actor shall enclosed dra responsible

Drywall Concrete filled Deck

STAMP

Primary Steel Structure I-Beam T-Bar Suspender Dropped Ceiling

PROJECT

BERK 2642 BERK

SHEET TI

WALL 2

WALL DETAIL-RENDER

WALL DETAIL

SHEET N

193

Design Developement

Scott Uriu-Pavel Getov

BANDITS

4A Applied Studies

1 A-4.01

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERR

Aliuminum Window Frame

Low-E Double Pane Glass Dry Wall FRP Apeture Tertiary

Structure

1” FRP Panel

RECORD

rev

12” Steel Tube Secondary Structure

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIMER

Steel Studs 16” O.C

To the best of my knowledge, plans are drawn to comply wit and/or builder’s specificatio changes made on them after pr be done at the owner’s and/or expense and responsibility. T actor shall verify all dimens enclosed drawings, and be sol responsible thereafter.

Corrugated Concrete Tray

STAMP

18” Steel Tube Primary Structure

Steel I-Beam PROJECT ADDRESS

Air Conditioning Ducts

BERKELEY LIBRA 2642 BANCROFT BERKELEY, CA

Drop Ceiling Ties

SHEET TITLE

3D DETAI 1

FLOOR TO WALL DETAIL SHEET NUMBER

A4.00

194

Portfolio 2014-2019

Window Detail

BANDITS

Bahudian, Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

PRARTHNA ANNA BAH

MARIA JO

Tertiary Structure

ALEX STE

CHRISTOP

Welded Pipe Connection

Window Flashing

Window Frame

Low-E Double Pane Glass

FRP Window

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

DISCLAIM

To the best o plans are dra and/or builde changes made be done at th expense and r actor shall v enclosed draw responsible t

STAMP

PROJECT

BERKE 2642 BERKE

SHEET TI

3D 1

WINDOW DETAIL

SHEET NU

195

Design Developement

Scott Uriu-Pavel Getov

BANDITS

4A Applied Studies

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

12” Steel Tube Secondary Structure

Steel Studs 16” O.C

Tertiary

Structure

Welded Pipe Connection

RECORD

Dry Wall

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

1” FRP Panel

DISCLAIMER

Waterproofing Membrane

STAMP

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRAR 2642 BANCROFT W BERKELEY, CA

SHEET TITLE

3D DETAIL 1

GROUND TO WALL DETAIL SHEET NUMBER

A5.01

196

Portfolio 2014-2019

Ground-Roof Detail

BANDITS

Bahudian, Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

PRARTHN ANNA BA

MARIA J

ALEX ST

CHRISTO

1” FRP Panel

Tertiary

Structure

18” Steel Tube Primary Structure

Welded Pipe Connection

12” Steel Tube Secondary Structure

RECOR

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/20 B C D E F

Steel Studs 16” O.C

DISCLAI

Welded Steel Plate Connection

To the best plans are d and/or buil changes mad be done at expense and actor shall enclosed dr responsible

Waterproofing Membrane

STAMP

Dry Wall

PROJECT

BERK 2642 BERK

SHEET T

3D 1

ROOF DETAIL

SHEET N

197

BANDITS

4A Applied Studies

Design Developement

RECORD

rev

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

SCALE = NTS

BOL

FO STE

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

STAMP

STEEL COLUMN BOLTS

BASE PLATE ANCHORAGE BOLTS

INTERIOR FINISH TONGUE-IN-GROOVE FLOORING LAMINATE BOLTS

SILL PLATE FOOTING/ STEM WALL ADDRESS PROJECT

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY BERKELEY, CA

RECORD

rev

SHEET TITLE

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

2D DETAILS

WPM FLASHING

DISCLAIMER

FOOTING & ANCHORAGE

SCALE = NTS

SHEET NUMBER

INTERIOR FLOORING DETAIL

A19.00

SCALE = NTS

STAMP

CRUSHED STONE

FILTER TO PREVENT CLOGGING 24”x24” CONCRETE CATCH BASIN WITH WATER TIGHT BOTTOM STEEL COLUMN BOLTS

WPM

BASE PLATE

FLASHING

ANCHORAGE BOLTS

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY BERKELEY, CA

SHEET TITLE

CRUSHED STONE

FILTER TO PREVENT CLOGGING 24”x24” CONCRETE CATCH BASIN WITH WATER TIGHT BOTTOM

198

DRAIN DETAIL

SCALE = NTS

2D DETAILS 1

FOOTING & ANCHORAGE

SCALE = NTS

SHEET NUMBER

A19.00

INT TON FLO

SIL

PRARTHNA MISRA ANNA BAHUDIAN

DISCLAIMER

INTERIOR FLOORING DETAIL

Scott Uriu-Pavel Getov

DRAIN DETAIL

SCALE = NTS

E F

SCALE = NTS SCALE = NTS

FLOOR TO WALL DETAIL

SCALE = NTS

WALL DETAIL

SCALE = NTS SCALE = NTS

DISCLAIMER

Bahudian, Becerra, Bica, Misra, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

DISCLAIMER

To the best of my knowle plans are drawn to compl and/or builder’s specifi changes made on them aft be done at the owner’s a expense and responsibili actor shall verify all d enclosed drawings, and b responsible thereafter.

2D Details

STAMP

COLUMN CAP BOLTS STEEL

STAMP

COLUMN CAP BOLTS

WPM PLYWOOD SHEATHING OVERFLOW PIPE

E F

STEEL

RECESSED GUTTER BREATHER MEMBRANE

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY BERKELEY, CA

(END COLUMN CAP)

FRP SYSTEM

SCALE = NTS

COLUMN CAP DETAIL ROOFFRP DETAIL HOOK CONNECTION

SCALE = NTS SCALE = NTS

TERTIARY STRUCTURE STEEL TRACK

SECONDARY STRUCTURE

INTR. FINISH

DRYWALL SOFT INSULATION

RIGID INSULATION WPM

SOFT INSULATION INTR. FINISH

SHEET TITLE

(COLUMN CAP)

A18.00

MARIA JOSE MEZA

GUTTER DETAIL

ROOF DETAILCOLUMN CAP DETAIL

SCALE = NTS SCALE = NTS

2D DETA

PRARTHNA MISRA SHEET NUMBER ANNA BAHUDIAN

A18.

MARIA JOSE MEZA

ALEX STEPHAN BIC

ALEX STEPHAN BICA

CHRISTOPHER BECE

CHRISTOPHER BECERRA

SECONDARY STRUCTURE

INTR. FINISH DRYWALL

INTR. FINISH

SOFT INSULATION

DRYWALL

C-CHANNEL

SOFT INSULATION

SECONDARY STRUCTURE

INTR. FINISH DRYWALL

SOFT INSULATION

FRP SYSTEM

C-CHANNEL

FRP HOOK CONNECTION

SECONDARY STRUCTURE

TERTIARY STRUCTURE STEEL TRACK

PEDESTAL

SHEATHING WPM

WPM

TERTIARY STRUCTURE

FRP

SHEATHING

WPM

TERTIARY STRUCTURE

FRP

RECORD

PEDESTAL

rev

C-CHANNEL

SCALE = NTS

SHEATHING

R TO WALL DETAIL

SHEET TITLE

(END COLUMN CAP)

(COLUMN CAP)

2D DETAILS

PRARTHNA MISRA SHEET NUMBER ANNA BAHUDIAN

BERKELEY LI 2642 BANCRO BERKELEY, C

BANDITS

INTR. FINISH

BANDITS

RIGID INSULATION WPM

SOFT INSULATION

TER DETAIL

PROJECT ADDRESS

TONGUE-IN-GROOVE PANEL WALL DETAIL

SCALE = NTS SCALE = NTS

RECORD

PEDESTAL

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

rev

C-CHANNEL

FLOOR TO WALL DETAIL

SCALE = NTS

WALL DETAIL

SCALE = NTS

DISCLAIMER

To the best of my knowled plans are drawn to comply and/or builder’s specific changes made on them afte be done at the owner’s an expense and responsibilit actor shall verify all di enclosed drawings, and be responsible thereafter.

COLUMN CAP BOLTS

STAMP

STEEL

date / issue

A 12/4/2017 B C D E F

WPM PLYWOOD SHEATHING OVERFLOW PIPE

TONGUE-IN-GROOVE PANEL COLUMN CAP BOLTS

STAMP

SCALE = NTS

STEEL

RECESSED GUTTER BREATHER MEMBRANE

PROJECT ADDRESS

BERKELEY LIBRARY 2642 BANCROFT WAY

PROJECT ADDRESS

199

BERKELEY LIB 2642 BANCROF

Intersectionality Life Maze

Feminsims: Texts & Contexts Mariajose Meza

4A Liberal Arts Elective Liberal Arts Elective: Feminsim: Text & Context Instructor: Melissa Lo Term: Fall 2017 Course Description: What was the Women’s March? Why did Beyoncé sample Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s definition of feminism in “***Flawless”? What is “mansplaining”? Over the course of this semester, we will begin to answer these questions with a selection of contemporary American cultural criticism and some of the pivotal feminist texts that informed them. Each two- to threeweek unit will begin with a single work of contemporary writing – an essay, an excerpt from a memoir, even satire. Throughout the rest of the unit, we will craft a partial genealogy for that first text. We will work to connect the texts we read throughout our term. And we will use these texts to pay close attention to the structures and assumptions that organize our society. This course is predicated on interdisciplinary adventure, and a willingness to expand our curiosity about the world in which we live and work. In our classroom, we will foster a culture of respectful, intellectually honest inquiry. As we talk about stimulating but often difficult questions together, we will sharpen our skills as listeners, writers, and conversationalists. We will also ask how we can bring these questions and their provisional answers into our practices as designers, critical thinkers, and citizens.

4A Liberal Arts Elective

White Women: Middle-High Class

Feminisms Texts & Contexts

Melissa Lo

Women of Color: Low-Working Class

Women of Color: Middle- Low Class

Fulﬁlling* Life

Fulfilling* Life: -Graduated college -High paying job -Home in a safe neighborhood -Reliable source of transportation -Health and dental insurance -In general achieved most of all their goals and aspirations *using the term “fulfilling” very loosely, a fulfilling life can have multiple different meanings to each women within each category. The list represents what the term fulfilling is most likely to be defined by women in general.

202

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Intersectionality

Intersectionality Life Maze Throughout the Feminism Text and Contexts course the term intersectionality was brought quite often, intersectionality is where race, gender, sexual orientation among many other factors meet on the “road” of feminism. Learning about feminism and how it pertains to women and men is what most people look at, but there are other factors that heavily influence feminism as it pertains to women as a group and that is race. It’s been established that among men and women there is a gap and an unbalanced relationship when it comes to pay and opportunities for holding higher positions in the working environment. Nonetheless the struggle for many women becomes part of other issues, race, sexual orientation, and social class become part of the formula. The visual representation of what I consider to be feminism is a series of mazes. I visualize my current perception of feminism to be a “race” between many women that are subdivided into three main groups and are on the path of life. Through this maze race i’m depicting the three main groups of women that can be seen in our current society. This overall maze shows the game of “life” where everyone is brought into this world with a set of given facts, their gender, their race, and their social class. The finish space shows what is considered the “desirable fulfilling life”, achieving a college education, having a stable high paying job, a house in a good neighborhood, a reliable source of transportation, and lots of things that are considered privileges to others. Through the path of life some women can get “lucky” and find extremely helpful cards along their path; maybe a “get out of jail free card,” “advance to go”, “move 5 steps forward”, etc but those are the lucky few. The rest have to simply continue their path and follow the rules. Rules that are set by society and aren’t always neither right nor fair. The first maze is for the women who are most likely white, from a wealthy family, and have connections as well as the means to go to college get an education and get a good job. This type of life path is for those who had mentors, tutors, constant reminders that they could be whatever they wanted to be and succeed. Their life maze has some dead ends but they are able to quickly get back on the right track, the path leading to the “fulfilling life”. These women are likely to move along their path with people and signs showing them the right way. The second maze is the life of those women of color growing up in the middle class family, they had the needed materials at their reach but had to look for those mentors and role models, they had some people who believed in them, they know they have what it takes but not all have the means to pursue their dreams. These women are able to get college education through much financial struggle, working while in school, loans, scholarships, financial aid etc. Their parents income is good enough to survive and have certain privileges but college costs are too high and they must make some sacrifices. Along the way many encounter situations in which they are diminished as potential for a successful woman, in this case they reach the part of the maze where they can’t see a clear path, they are stuck between closed walls. To them the finish line is at times visible and at times impossible to see. The last life maze shows the path of a woman of color living in

what is who believed in them, they know they have what it takes but not all have the means to pursue their dreams. These women are able to get college education through much financial struggle, working while in school, loans, scholarships, financial aid etc. Their parents income is good enough to survive and have certain privileges but college costs are too high and they must make some sacrifices. Along the way many encounter situations in which they are diminished as potential for a successful woman, in this case they reach the part of the maze where they can’t see a clear path, they are stuck between closed walls. To them the finish line is at times visible and at times impossible to see. The last life maze shows the path of a woman of color living in what is considered the lower class, perhaps this woman lives in a low-income neighborhood, she was brought up with the bare necessities didn’t really have guidance from parents nor teachers. This woman grows up searching and searching for mentors that can help show her the right path but these mentors are hard to come across in her surroundings. Throughout all three mazes women encounter tough situations, they all encounter dead ends at some point. Many of these women conform to the life they think they are “destined” to have, whether that be at a much closer spot to the finish line or closer to the starting point it’s a different spot for every women for every separate maze. Even within their own maze some women have the “I’ve made it” moment where they feel they’ve reached their “fulfilling life” even if they are somewhere in the middle, this occurs to those who feel as if they’ve reached their potential, this demonstrates the glass “ceiling” in this case the glass “wall” that although they see and know the path continues they feel as if the place they’re at is the finish line for them. They may or may not be content but they would rather stay in that spot than lose their way again and end up in a much worse place in life.

Note: This visual representation of women and their lives according to their class and race may seem too drastic but this is trying to represent the broad majority of scenarios that happen to women. I am aware there are many exceptions and other factors that affect each group of women and what their lives are like. The color pink is used in the diagram in order to make it familiar and legible, pink has been associated with the female gender for many years in our society. The gradient goes from a blueish tone to a pinkish tone as it moves from the white women maze to the colored women maze, this is done in order to demonstrate that white women are slightly closer to the same opportunities men have while women of color are in the pink area where all the issues revolving women collide.

203

4A Liberal Arts Elective Liberal Arts Elective: The History of the Future- SCI-Fi Films Instructor: Michael Stock Term: Fall 2017 Course Description: This course explores the 115-year history of Science Fiction films and its vital and complex intersections between the past, present and future of our very own real world-hence the admittedly cheeky course title: The History of the Future. Each film we will be watching posits its own forecast of our future, and in each we will see eerie and uncanny forecasts ofthe world we already living in, as well as laughably off visions of the luxuries we should already be enjoying, technological and otherwise. Prompting the oft-asked question for decades now: where the hell are our flying cars??? over the course of our semester together, we will examine the tropes, techniques, and preoccupations of science fiction. Space, cyborgs, aliens, and virtual reality will be among the weekly topics. By the end ofthe course you will a have a new perspective on the impact that Science Fiction films have had on the shape of our past, present and future.

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Sci-Fi Film

Michael Stock

Paranoia in Sci-Fi Films A large portion of a Science Fiction film is the relationship between the characters and the technology or life form that don’t yet exist or achieve the potential being depicted. Many times in movies paranoia is established into the plot as a person feeling watched or followed, that in and of itself is already more than enough reason to feel tense and afraid, but the idea of the unknown makes the paranoia even more justifiable. In some films paranoia becomes about the human characters and the technology they are surrounded by while in other films it’s about the characters and their unknown living species counterparts. Though the paranoia always stems from occasions in which the unknown forms a problem and dilemma in the main characters lives, there are differences in how that paranoia is established and demonstrated for the viewer to witness. In the film 2001: A Space Odyssey1 directed by Stanley Kubrick aboard on the spacecraft destined to Jupiter are Dr. David Bowman, Dr. Frank Poole and Hal 9000 the “brain and heart” of the spacecraft. Throughout different scenes, David and Frank seem comfortable with each other as well as with Hal, Hal is a crucial member of their crew and they treat him like so; they ask for assistance and converse with about the plans for their mission. Slowly David and Frank start to realize that Hal’s system may be “mal-functioning” in since it is unable to detect certain problems. David and Frank decide to go into one of the “EVA” Pods to privately converse about Hal’s system. At this point it’s safe to assume that both Frank and David have a sense of paranoia. They know they are being watched and heard by Hal and though he is someone who should be trusted they are losing confidence in his system. Justifying their paranoia and to their surprise Hal is able to read their lips and knows that both Frank and David plan on unplugging him if they find that his system is “malfunctioning”. While trying to replace an EVA pod unit, Frank finds himself in a situation in which Hal makes decisions on “his own” and releases him into space, furthermore he deactivates the life support system that had been maintaining three other scientists in “suspended animation”. It is at this point that David realizes that Hal is making decisions that he was programmed for and those decisions are jeopardizing his life. David knows that if doesn’t disconnect Hal he won’t be able to follow through with the mission, he is paranoid and the only way to restore control is by disconnecting Hal. David approaches Hal’s system and begins to remove cartridges that allow Hal to operate, slowly Hal begins to fade away until he longer works. David and Frank decide to go into one of the “EVA” Pods to privately converse about Hal’s system. At this point it’s safe to assume that both Frank and David have a sense of paranoia. They know they are being watched and heard by Hal and though he is someone who should be trusted they are losing confidence in his system. Justifying their paranoia and to their surprise Hal is able to read their lips and knows that both Frank and David plan on unplugging him if they find that his system is “malfunctioning”. While trying to replace an EVA pod unit, Frank finds himself in a situation in which Hal makes decisions

206

on “his own” and releases him into space, furthermore he deactivates the life support system that had been maintaining three other scientists in “suspended animation”. It is at this point that David realizes that Hal is making decisions that he was programmed for and those decisions are jeopardizing his life. David knows that if doesn’t disconnect Hal he won’t be able to follow through with the mission, he is paranoid and the only way to restore control is by disconnecting Hal. David approaches Hal’s system and begins to remove cartridges that allow Hal to operate, slowly Hal begins to fade away until he longer works. The film Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) directed by Michael Radford depicts a dystopian future in which men and women aren’t allowed to enjoy sexual intimacy and are constantly being watched. Throughout their spaces; interior and exterior, there is always an image of “Big Brother,” their leader, looking at them with a penetrating fierceness look in his eyes. Though this is only an image poster it creates an ambient in which the people feel that they are being watched at all times. Furthermore there are cameras monitoring their lives in their “homes”. Homes in which one is supposed to feel liberated from society and have privacy, yet they feel the exact opposite. These rooms in which they live in have a large thin screen placed in the center of a wall and a camera that has a complete view towards the whole space. This type of surveillance can be compared to Michael Foucault’s Panopticon3 and the idea that if there is a guard house in the center of a prison with a complete 360 degree view of the prison, the inmates will have the thought of being watched embedded into their minds so much that they will not do any wrongdoings. The cameras in public and private spaces and the constant image of “Big Brother” watching over them create paranoia amongst the citizens, paranoia that they don’t disclose nor reveal. Their paranoia isn’t frantic or chaotic; it’s a calm sense of knowing they are being watched and either finding the “loop holes” in the system or conforming to live in that manner. Winston the main male character finds an area in between the sidewall and the huge screen in his room, there he has a secret hiding place in which he conceals a diary, a diary that really allows him to freely think and write. Both Winston and Julia, female lead character, meet each other in secret. They find a place in which they think they can’t and aren’t being watched but even that place is under “Big Brother’s” surveillance. It may seem as an oxymoron to state that there can be such a thing as calm paranoia but in both 2001: A Space Odyssey and Nineteen Eighty-Four the characters are so paranoid that exposing that feeling would totally ruin their “cover”. These characters want to be able to feel free to say and do things as they wish at least for some amount of time without being watched and heard. The characters are desperately trying to display living the life in the way they are supposed to in order to go “under the radar” and remain unnoticed to what’s on the other side of the technology device; Hal and Big Brother.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

The other type of paranoia that surged throughout the films watched is the paranoia between humans and another living creatures. The films Invasion of the Body Snatchers4 and Alien 5are similar in the idea that a new type of living species could begin to alter the protagonist’s surroundings. The idea of “the unknown” is what truly sparks the fear in the main characters and begins a journey of survival among a threatening species. In Invasion of the Body Snatchers produced by Walter Wanger and directed by Don Siegel the main character Dr. Miles Bennell along with his friends become aware that something is happening in their town of Santa Mira in which people are being replaced by “clones/aliens”. These aliens come in the form of pods and begin to take on the appearance, voice, features, and memories of people in general who in their sleep are taken over. This new version of “humans” is one that is essentially the same as the already existing people but is missing one crucial element; emotions. Paranoia strikes Miles, as his friends and neighbors are no longer human, he doesn’t know who to trust, and to make matters worse the “new humans” are trying to convert him and Becky, his love interest. Becky Driscoll and Miles try to appear emotionless in order to go unperceived but this proves to be rather difficult. They find themselves constantly running away from their town, Santa Mira, which at this point has only an alien-pod population. Running away, looking for refuge, and struggling not to fall asleep Miles is in constant paranoia and fear of becoming one of “them”. Alien, is another film in which an unknown species is discovered and upon realizing that it threatens their lives fear takes over. During the process of returning to Earth from an outer space mission seven-crew members find themselves in a terrifying situation. Receiving a transmission of some sort from a nearby planet, the crew decides to stop and investigate; a large spacecraft is found with thousands of large egg-like figures. One of the crewmembers, Kane, tries to further analyze these “eggs” and is attacked by the unknown creature inside of it. The creature attaches itself to Kane and Kane is brought into the crew’s spacecraft unconscious. Eventually the creature kills Kane and disappears into the spacecraft. The true panic begins when the remaining six-crew members are looking for this alien creature. Throughout the film we experience the characters terror and paranoia in not knowing where the alien is and what it is capable of doing. The alien ends up killing off all the characters except for Riley the main character who is in constant fear of encountering this alien. Alone with very little possibilities of surviving Riley watches carefully her every move in order leave the alien behind in the spacecraft, self destruct it, and leave in a separate shuttle attempting to save her own life. Through these four films there are two distinct versions of paranoia, the hectic one, and the one that isn’t externally displayed as so. The frantic displayed paranoia seems to surge from the physical appearance of an unknown species where as the more calm internalized paranoia is fed from knowing you are being watched through a technologic device. In all the situations one would naturally

Paranoia in Sci-Fi Films

feel scared and paranoid, but the contrast with how humans react to a technologic device and an alien creature, though both their full capacities are unknown, is portrayed and perceived completely different. Is it possible that we may feel less intimidated by a piece of technology than another species? It can be argued that both the boundaries that are crossed through the help of technology are equally as disturbing as the boundaries being pushed by other living species, whether that be an alien or a human.

Works Cited/Referenced: “2001: A Space Odyssey (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Nov. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film). “Alien (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Nov. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_(film). Foucault, Michael. Discipline & Punish (1975), Panopticism. dm.ncl.ac.uk/courseblog/files/2011/03/michel-foucault-panopticism.pdf. “How Paranoid Is Too Paranoid When It Comes to Privacy and Security?” The Sydney Morning Gerald, 17 Feb. 2017, www.smh.com.au/technology/gadgets-on-the-go/ how-paranoid-is-too-paranoid-when-it-comes-to-privacy-and-security-20170216guf0h1.html. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Nov. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invasion_of_the_Body_Snatchers. Kubrick, Stanley, director. 2001: a Space Odyssey. MGM, 1968. “Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 6 Nov. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nineteen_Eighty-Four_(1984_film). Radford, Michael, director. Nineteen Eighty Four. 1984. Scott, Ridley, director. Alien. Brandywine Productions, 1979. Siegel, Don, director. Invasion of the Body Snatchers. Allied Artists, 1956.

207

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Sci-Fi Film

Michael Stock

Gender in Technology It is already known that the impact technology has on our social interactions is high, yet there is a more unintentional undermining effect technology can have on feminism. The future of feminism is always questioned through politics and culture but the evolution of technology could have a huge impact on how women are perceived. The female characters in science fiction films whether human or technological have many times fallen in the shadows of their male counterparts. Throughout the films watched there are two main types of interactions we have and will continue to have with technology visual and vocal and in some instances both. The evolution of both seems promising and intriguing but a very strong difference one has over the other is gender. The visual technology mainly being screens has no gender attached to it whereas the vocal technology like digital assistants always have a gendered voice. The way sci-fi films choose to demonstrate and portray the technology of the future to some extent becomes what our future looks like. Sci-fi films have the power of showing us their views of the future world, it shows us the problems that could arise and the type of society it takes place in. Throughout the films there are two main ideas to the future of technology; one being visual and the other being vocal. Although both are crucial to the growth of each other and often come hand in hand their base of either being mainly vocal or mainly visual could have a huge impact on the Feminist Movement. The film 2001: A Space Odyssey demonstrates a mission of high importance being executed by men on the ship. Frank and Dave are scientist boarding the “Discovery One” who are working together alongside Hal 9000, the “brains” of the whole ship and essentially the leader of the mission, HAL is a highly intellectual powerful technologic device which is given a male voice. As mentioned on 2001: A Space Odyssey’s Wikipedia page, “Most of Discovery’s operations are controlled by the ship’s computer, HAL 9000, referred to by the crew as “Hal”. Hal states that he is “foolproof and incapable of error”. Hal is referred throughout the film as a male; using pronouns such as “he” and “him”. Hal’s capabilities are further detailed, “HAL is capable of speech, speech recognition, facial recognition, natural language processing, lip reading, art appreciation, interpreting emotional behaviours, automated reasoning, and playing chess.” Throughout the film Hal is consulated and talked to on a regular basis, Hal is as much part of the mission as Frank and Dave. Throughout the film Alien, we understand Ripley’s role as the lead character and ultimate heroine. Similar to 2001: A Space Odyssey the Nostromo in Alien houses seven crew members on their way back to Earth. The article “Feminism and Anxiety in Alien” by Judith Newton touches upon the fact that the portrayal of Ripley as the lead heroine is a depiction of a “utopian” society and how her character is able to stray from stereotypes. Yet in contrast to 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien’s second most important “female” character; MU/TH/UR 6000 is far below HAL 9000’s capabilities and influence. The article “HAL, Mother, and Father” by Jason Z. Resnikoff touches upon the fact of how

208

underwhelming Mother’s character is in the film, “Consider Mother, the semiintelligent computer system on board the Nostromo. Unlike HAL, who has complete knowledge of every aspect of his ship, Mother is perfectly isolated in a compartmentalized white room, complete with shimmering lights and padded walls....And where, in all of this, is Mother? If the alien were set loose on HAL’s watch, he would probably neutralize it all on his own, automatically, as it were. Mother, on the other hand, spends the whole movie like a fated southern belle hooked on laudanum, locked in her room. She can’t even advise on how to defeat the monster. The computer cannot help.” In comparison to Mother, Hal has full control over the spaceship’s utilities, he disposes of Frank through one of the Eva Pods and turns off the life support for the fellow crew members that were in suspended animation. Even though Mother has similar technology as Hal she is simply not as powerful nor as influential as Hal. Comparing Hal 9000 and Mother 6000 as technological intelligence devices puts Hal as having superior knowledge and power than Mother, the fact that they have clear gendered pronouns and voices complicates the way in which these two systems are ranked within each others capabilities. In many of the films watched the technology displayed was screen-visual based which doesn’t have any correlation to gender at all as is the case of the computers and supporting devices in The Matrix, or also the monitors in the early scenes of 2001: A Space Odyssey. It is in the instances in which the highly intelligent operating systems are given a voice that starts to create an issue for the way in which their “gender,” in this case the gender their voice is given, is represented and shown. Samantha in the film Her is clearly female, as soon as Theodore sets up his OS (operating system) he is presented with the choice of it having either a female or male voice, he chooses female. Samantha’s capabilities are astounding, as an artificial intelligence she is programmed to learn and grow, since her developers provided the option to consumers as having either a female or male voice it gives users the sense that there is equality in what the systems are capable of doing. The film starts to demonstrate what the not so far future technology-human relationship could be. Similar to our current technology, the film is correct in showing a preference for having a female voiced operating system ultimately leading to having some men sexualize this technology. With our current technology our phone assistants are given women voices, “Apple’s Siri, Amazon’s Alexa, Google Now and Microsoft’s Cortana, all sound like women by default.” The article, “Why computer voices are mostly female”, touches on the fact that Siri has in many ways been sexualized, “Her gender has even prompted some users to flood blogs and online forums with sexually suggestive questions for Siri such as “What are you wearing?” (Siri’s baﬄed response: “Why do people keep asking me this?”)” Clearly many developers have not only gone as far as giving their phone assistants female voices but they reinforce their gender by giving them female names.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

The article, Why Are Digital Assistants Like Siri Given Female Voices? Talks about what influences developers in gendering their digital assistants, “It would be easy to credit—or fault—male designers, perhaps influenced by science fiction characters (in Her, for example, or Ex Machina) or, worse, defaulting to the stereotype of a compliant sidekick. But the biggest reason for the female slant rests in social science and its impact on business.” Also touching on the psychological effects like people responding positively to hearing a woman’s voice, feeling more comfortable and historic details such as women being telephone operators, there seems to be multiple reasons as to why their devices’ voices are given a female gender. Other similar articles mention Hal 9000 as being the possible cause as to why developers have chosen to go with a female voice, “people might be disturbed by male robotic voices because of HAL 9000 from the film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” If the future of technology is bound to be mainly vocal based as is demonstrated in the film Her, we can expect feminism to experience further obstacles. The film shows what could be a “normal” relationship between a human and an OS yet human women may suffer the consequences. Her actually shows “normal” human interactions between men and women, but the interaction between Theodore and Isabella, the “sex surrogate,” is alarming. Isabella was there at her free will because she wanted to help Samantha and Theodore’s relationship nonetheless this type of help, sexualizes her, and in the real world future this could result in an increase in sex slaves and human trafficking. Though technology has been an evolutionary process building technology upon technology to create something powerful and new, scientists, engineers, and developers should always question the capabilities their new technology will have and how that can affect the gender they are choosing to default. It is extremely difficult to separate a voice from a gender therefore the way this particular technology is used in films and the real world should be extremely thought out and careful as to not draw in the wrong interpretation. If the future of our technology is screen-visual based, it may be easier to evade certain gender stereotypes and overall allow for a well rounded experience to its user.

Gender in Technology

Works Cited/ Referenced “2001: A Space Odyssey (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film). “Alien (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 16 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Alien_(film). Beres, Damon. “Why Are Digital Assistants Like Siri Given Female Voices?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 1 Aug. 2016, www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/ technology-female-voices_us_56c8a6cbe4b0928f5a6c1942. Griggs, Brandon. “Why Computer Voices Are Mostly Female.” CNN, Cable News Network, 21 Oct. 2011, www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/tech/innovation/female-computervoices/index.html. “HAL 9000.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ HAL_9000. Hempel, Jessi. “Siri and Cortana Sound Like Ladies Because of Sexism.” Wired, Conde Nast, 28 Oct. 2015, www.wired.com/2015/10/why-siri-cortana-voice-interfaces-sound-female-sexism/. “Her (Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2017, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Her_(film). Jonze, Spike, director. Her. Warner Bros, 2013. Kubrick, Stanley, director. 2001: a Space Odyssey. MGM, 1968. “MU/TH/UR 6000.” Xenopedia, avp.wikia.com/wiki/MU/TH/UR_6000. Newton, Judith. “Feminism and Anxiety in Alien.” Ideologies, pp. 82–87. Nunez/Getty, David Becker/Getty and Johnny. “Shine Theory: Why Powerful Women Make the Greatest Friends.” The Cut, www.thecut.com/2013/05/shine-theory-howto-stop-female-competition.html. Resnikoff, Jason Z. “HAL, Mother, and Father.” The Paris Review, 11 Jan. 2015, www. theparisreview.org/blog/2015/01/09/hal-mother-and-father/. Scott, Ridley, director. Alien. 20th Century Fox, 1979. Silver, Joel. The Matrix. Warner Bros, 1999.

209

4B Vertical Studio Spring Vertical Studio Spring: Easy House Instructor: Florencia Pita Term: Spring 2018 Course Description: The project will be a set of homes on an urban block and will ultimately focus on a single “easy” house. The studio will look at deferring the exterior formal agenda of a house to an instance of an interior condition. Rather than take on the subjectivity of personal interior space, the accumulation and assemblage of interior “stuff” will question norms of domesticity and how a house is interpreted from its exterior. The studio will engage in a recursive 2D to 3D process where a banal arrangement of interior “stuff” yields descriptive flatness as a way of expressing an interior domestic condition on the facade and form of the house. The project will be located on a site in Rosario, Argentina (fig. 3), we will address the typology of single family housing, the class will collaborate with Procrear which is a governmental program in Argentina that procures home loans, and builds low income housing throughout Argentina. The studio will look closely and critically at Rachel Whiteread’s works as examples of ways to enact new readings of materialized constructs and engage with an underlining disciplinary discussion of the studio, to define “easy” work as that which is in fact difficult, complex, excessive, transitional and implied

4B Vertical Studio

Easy House

Florencia Pita

Everday Objects Collage Project Description: For the initial studies I was drawn to collecting and “hoarding” items with bright colors made from plastic. The items were specifically chosen through their overall design and texture quality. In the arrangement of the items I wanted to maintain their color significance by grouping them together as well as creating “paths” through their shape.

212

Mariajose Meza

Clear (PETG) vacuum-form of everyday plastic kitchen items

Portfolio 2014-2019

Object Collage

White (Styrene) vacuum-form of everyday plastic kitchen items

213

4B Vertical Studio

214

Easy House

Florencia Pita

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Collage Figure Extraction

215

4B Vertical Studio

Easy House

Florencia Pita

Affordable Housing in Rosario, Argentina Project Description: Through the initial collage I was able to extract and combine figures that would then be read in 2D as a new way of approaching the site map. Given the magnitude of the site these figures became communities and blocks of housing. For the building itself I decided to place a typical ProCrear (Argentinean government institution that helps make affordable building complexes) rectangular building onto the center of the site plan. The building was then cut by these site lines and the interiority began to change as well. Half of the building maintained its regularity and interior composition while the other half began to morph and embed some of its spaces. Through a subtle bend in the mass new spaces were created; an overhang provides shade and roof to its exterior and a communal second story roof garden is created. Through this extruded and bent mass every floor has access to exterior space that promotes communal gatherings.

216

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan-Plans

217

4B Vertical Studio

218

Easy House

Florencia Pita

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Final Model Pictures

219

3D View 3 1

Con Add Add Pho Fax e-m

Con Add Add Pho

4B Applied Studies Applied Studies: Advance Construction Project Delivery Instructor: Pavel Getov + David Ross Term: Spring 2018 Team: Christopher Becerra, Sarah Carcamo, Emma Manguy Course Description: The course focuses on advanced methods of project delivery and construction documents incorporating digital technologies and investigating new models for linking design and construction processes. It introduces Building Information Modeling as one of the tools for realignment of the traditional relationships between the project stakeholders. Using a single unit residential building located in Los Angles, students will analyze and develop the architecture by creating a detailed 3d digital model and a set of 2d construction documents specifically tailored for the design challenges of a single unit residential project. Lectures and site visits to fabricators and construction sites will further inform students of technical documentation methods for projects that are operating on the forefront of design and construction technologies to date.

4A Applied Studies

Construction Documents

Pavel Getov-David Ross

Mix-Use Building: Office Space & Residential Living in Los Angeles, California Project Description: For this project my team members and I decided to design a building that had a strong presence on the street. The facade is mostly a curtain wall with FRP panels that mimick the look of concrete. Looking at the building longitudinally and “splitting” it in half we lifted the first floor allowing for a parking entrance and an exterior cafe. The first floor serves as a small cafe, a gallery, and a lobby. The second floor is office space and the third floor contains 1-bedroom apartments and lofts with an exterior communal area.

1 A-2.2

Glass Rooftop Access Port

1101 South Boule

4'X8" FRP PANELS

Roof 39' - 0"

3.5'x5' Operable Ribbon Window Panel

SCI-A

3.5'x5' Operable Ribbon Window Panel Exterior Patio Access Door

Exterior Aluminum Hand Railing 1

A-2.1

Level 3 27' - 0"

1.5"x2.5" Window Mullion

Consultant: Soil Engineer, Bay Address: 1423 S. Beverly Gle Address: Los Angeles, CA 900 Phone: (310) 429-6681 Fax: (310) 429-6682 e-mail: jonathanmiller@baycit

4'x8' FRP Panels

Level 2 15' - 0" 6'x6' Exterior Window Panels

Consultant: MEP Specialists, Address: 510 West 6th St Sui Address: Los Angeles, CA 900 Phone: (213) 254-4750 Fax: (213) 254-4751 e-mail: AustinAllen@henderso

Consultant Structural Enginee Address: 888 S. Figueroa St. Address: Los Angeles, CA 900 Phone: (323) 733-6673 Fax: (323) 733-6674 e-mail: la@englekirk.com

Main Lobby Entrance Exterior Cafe Patio

Consultant: Landscape Specia Address: 185 S Myers St Address: Los Angeles, CA 900 Phone: (213) 384-3844 Fax: (213) 384-3833 e-mail: office@studio-mla.com

Exterior Cafe Tables

Level 1 0' - 0"

Consultant: Civil Engineer, Wh Address: 5200 West Century B Address: Los Angeles, CA 900 Phone: (310) 645-3205 Fax: (310) 645-3206 e-mail: info@whitsonengineer

No.

Descri

Parking -11' - 6"

NORTH EL 1 A-2.2

A-3. North 1

1/4" = 1'-0"

222

1 A-2.1

Becerra, Carcamo, Manguy, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Elevations

Glass Rooftop Access Port

A 1 A-2.0

4'X8" FRP PANELS

1101 S

Roof 39' - 0"

3.5'x5' Operable Ribbon Window Panel

Sloped Glazing System

Level 3 27' - 0" 6'x6' Exterior Window Panels

Consultant: Landsc Address: 185 S My Address: Los Ange Phone: (213) 384-3 Fax: (213) 384-383 e-mail: office@stud

Consultant: Soil En Address: 1423 S. B Address: Los Ange Phone: (310) 429-6 Fax: (310) 429-668 e-mail: jonathanmi

Level 2 15' - 0"

Consultant: MEP S Address: 510 Wes Address: Los Ange Phone: (213) 254-4 Fax: (213) 254-475 e-mail: AustinAllen

Exterior Stucco Wall Exterior Cafe Extrance Exterior Cafe Tables

Consultant Structu Address: 888 S. Fi Address: Los Ange Phone: (323) 733-6 Fax: (323) 733-667 e-mail: la@engleki

Level 1 0' - 0"

Consultant: Civil E Address: 5200 We Address: Los Ange Phone: (310) 645Fax: (310) 645-320 e-mail: info@whits

Basement Parking -11' - 6"

No.

1 A-2.0

EAS

East 1

1/4" = 1'-0"

223

4A Applied Studies

Construction Documents

Pavel Getov-David Ross

Glass Rooftop Access Port

A-2.1

1101 South R Bouleva

A-2.2

Roof Drainage Slope

Roof 39' - 0"

SCI-AR

APARTMENT

320

330

DINING TERRACE

14' - 0"

Exterior Aluminium Hand Rail

12' - 0"

Exterior Patio Access Door

Consultant: Landscape Specialist Address: 185 S Myers St Address: Los Angeles, CA 90033 Phone: (213) 384-3844 Fax: (213) 384-3833 e-mail: office@studio-mla.com

Interior Hand Rails MEZZANINE

CONFERENCE ROOM

270

280

12' - 0"

Level 3 27' - 0"

Interior Hand Rails MEZZANINE

Consultant: MEP Specialists, Hen Address: 510 West 6th St Suite 8 Address: Los Angeles, CA 90014 Phone: (213) 254-4750 Fax: (213) 254-4751 e-mail: AustinAllen@hendersonen

Level 2 15' - 0"

16' - 6"

1 A-2.3

DINING PATIO

LOBBY

762 SqFt

10' - 1 1/32"

6' - 6 13/16"

Level 1 0' - 0"

9' - 0"

Consultant Structural Engineer, E Address: 888 S. Figueroa St. 18th Address: Los Angeles, CA 90017 Phone: (323) 733-6673 Fax: (323) 733-6674 e-mail: la@englekirk.com

Consultant: Civil Engineer, Whitso Address: 5200 West Century Blvd Address: Los Angeles, CA 90045 Phone: (310) 645-3205 Fax: (310) 645-3206 e-mail: info@whitsonengineers.co

PARKING ENTRY

GARAGE

Consultant: Soil Engineer, Bay Ci Address: 1423 S. Beverly Glen Bl Address: Los Angeles, CA 90024 Phone: (310) 429-6681 Fax: (310) 429-6682 e-mail: jonathanmiller@baycityge

No.

Descripti

Parking -11' - 6" 48' - 0"

1 A-2.2

LONGITUDANAL 2

1 A-2.1

A-2.0 Section 2 1 1/4" = 1'-0"

224

Becerra, Carcamo, Manguy, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans-Sections

6/23(' &857$,1 :$//

+$1'5$,/

6RXWK 5REHUWV %RXOHYDUG

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJLQHHU %D\ &LW\ *HRORJ\ $GGUHVV 6 %HYHUO\ *OHQ %OYG % $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOHU#ED\FLW\JHRORJ\ FRP

:$ $

&RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFDSH 6SHFLDOLVW 6WXGLR 0/$ $GGUHVV 6 0\HUV 6W $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR POD FRP

6T)W

$3$570(17

6T)W

5220

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6SHFLDOLVWV +HQGHUVRQ (QJ $GGUHVV :HVW WK 6W 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#KHQGHUVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

287'225 $5($

6T)W

5220

$3$570(17

5220

6&, $5&

6T)W

5220

6T)W

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJLQHHU :KLWVRQ (JLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW &HQWXU\ %OYG 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

(

$3$570(17

678',2 $3$570(17

:$ &

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUDO (QJLQHHU (QJOHNLUN $GGUHVV 6 )LJXHURD 6W WK )ORRU $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN FRP

:$ $

5220

:$ $ :$ $

5220

'HVFULSWLRQ

:$// 7<3( $

:$// 7<3( &

:$// 7<3( '

:$// 7<3( )

7+,5' )/225

/HYHO

6RXWK 5REHUWVRQ %RXOHYDUG

&: $

6RXWK 5REHUWVRQ %RXOHYDUG

6&, $5&

5(675220

( $

6T)W

&$)( 6T)W

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJLQHHU :KLWVRQ (JLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW &HQWXU\ %OYG 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

(

'DWH

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUDO (QJLQHHU (QJOHNLUN $GGUHVV 6 )LJXHURD 6W WK )ORRU $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN FRP

*$//(5<

'HVFULSWLRQ

:$ $

5(675220

6T)W

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJLQHHU :KLWVRQ (JLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW &HQWXU\ %OYG 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6SHFLDOLVWV +HQGHUVRQ (QJLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW WK 6W 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#KHQGHUVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

6T)W

.,7&+(1

2)),&( 6T)W

6833/< 5220

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUDO (QJLQHHU (QJOHNLUN $GGUHVV 6 )LJXHURD 6W WK )ORRU $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN FRP

:$ $

'1 :$ $

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJLQHHU %D\ &LW\ *HRORJ\ $GGUHVV 6 %HYHUO\ *OHQ %OYG % $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOHU#ED\FLW\JHRORJ\ FRP

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6SHFLDOLVWV +HQGHUVRQ (QJLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW WK 6W 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#KHQGHUVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

:$ $

&RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFDSH 6SHFLDOLVW 6WXGLR 0/$ $GGUHVV 6 0\HUV 6W $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR POD FRP

:$ $

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJLQHHU %D\ &LW\ *HRORJ\ $GGUHVV 6 %HYHUO\ *OHQ %OYG % $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOHU#ED\FLW\JHRORJ\ FRP

635,1* B$6 &216758&7,21 '2&80(176

6T)W

&RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFDSH 6SHFLDOLVW 6WXGLR 0/$ $GGUHVV 6 0\HUV 6W $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR POD FRP

&21)(5(1&( 5220

6T)W

&21)(5(1&( 5220

/2%%< 6T)W

&: $

/2%%<

6&, $5&

&: $

)

'HVFULSWLRQ

:$// 7<3( $

:$// 7<3( &

:$// 7<3( (

:$// 7<3( )

6(&21' )/225 $

635,1* B$6 &216758&7,21 '2&80(176

:$// 7<3( $

:$// 7<3( &

:$// 7<3( )

225

),567 )/225 $

'DWH

4A Applied Studies

Construction Documents

; :' +($'(5

Pavel Getov-David Ross

; :' +($'(5

; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 &

*<3 %'

%$77( ,168/$7,21

,17(5,25

,17(5,25 ,17(5,25

,17(5,25

*<3 %'

%$77( ,168/$7,21

7+,&. &$67 ,1 3/$&( &21&5(7(

%$77( ,168/$7,21

7+,&. &$67 ,1 3/$&( &21&5(7(

,17(5,25

,17(5,25 ,17(5,25

,17(5,25

; :' +($'(5

5811(5 &+$11(/6

; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 &

*<3 %'

:$// 7<3( %

:$// 7<3( % :$// 7<3( $

%$77( ,168/$7,21

,17(5,25

*<3 :$// %2$5'

*<3 :$// %2$5' 678'

%$77( ,168/$7,21 ,168/$7,21 3/<:22' 6+($7+,1* ;

6721( )/225 ),1,6+

3/<:22' 6+($7+,1* ;

6721( )/225 ),1,6+

$,5 *$3

$,5 *$3 &21&5(7( '(&.,1*

&21&5(7( '(&.,1*

)53 %5$&.(7 :$7(53522) %$55,(5 6833257 )5$0(

0(7$/ /$7+

)53 ; 3$1(/6

$/80,1,80 6,// 08//,21 ,168/$7,21

,17(5,25

678'

5811(5 &+$11(/6

'28%/( */$=(' /2: ( */$66 )53 %5$&.(7

)53 ; 3$1(/6

(;7(5,25 6758&785$/ %($0 $1' &2/801

'HVFULSWLRQ

6758&785$/ %($0 $1' &2/801

:$// 7<3(6

5811(5 &+$11(/6

,17(5,25 (;7 :$// : )53 3$1(/

*<3 %' 678'

,17(5,25

:$// 7<3( '

(;7(5,25

(;7 :$// : )53 3$1(/

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJLQHHU :KLWVRQ (JLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW &HQWXU\ %OYG 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ ,17(5,25 (;7(5,25 3KRQH (;7(5,25 )D[ H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

(;7 :$// : )53 3$1(/

,168/$7,21 :$// 7<3( '

,17(5,25

5811(5 &+$11(/6

(;7(5,25

3/<:22' 6+($7+,1* ;

$,5 *$3

:$// 7<3( '

)53 %5$&.(7 :$7(53522) %$55,(5 6833257 )5$0( 0(7$/ /$7+

)53 ; 3$1(/6 9$325 %$55,(5

,17(5,25

(;7(5,25

&21&5(7( 3$9(5

%2/7

3$9(5 3('(67$/

&21&5(7( )281$7,21

'HVFULSWLRQ

'DWH

&$67 ,1 3/$&( &21&5(7( 6/$%

5,*,' ,168/$7,21 *5$9(/ /$<(5

; .(<:$<

:$// 7<3(6 5811(5 &+$11(/6

'HVFULSWLRQ

&RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFD $GGUHVV 6 0\H $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOH 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJ $GGUHVV 6 %H $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOH 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOH

:$// 7<3(6

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6S $GGUHVV :HVW $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOH 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUD $GGUHVV 6 )LJX $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOH 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJ $GGUHVV :HVW $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOH 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQ

(;7 :$// : )53 3$1(/

:$// 7<3( '

6R %

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJLQHHU :KLWVRQ (JLQH $GGUHVV :HVW &HQWXU\ %OYG 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

'DWH 1R

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUDO (QJLQHHU (QJOHNLUN $GGUHVV 6 )LJXHURD 6W WK )ORRU $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN FRP

5811(5 &+$11(/6

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6SHFLDOLVWV +HQGHUVRQ $GGUHVV :HVW WK 6W 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#KHQGHUVRQHQJLQHHUV

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUDO (QJLQHHU (QJOHNLUN $GGUHVV 6 )LJXHURD 6W WK )ORRU $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN FRP

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6SHFLDOLVWV +HQGHUVRQ (QJLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW WK 6W 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#KHQGHUVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

9$325 %$55,(5 :$// 7<3( &

,17(5,25

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJLQHHU %D\ &LW\ *HROR $GGUHVV 6 %HYHUO\ *OHQ %OYG % $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOHU#ED\FLW\JHRORJ\ FR

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJLQHHU %D\ &LW\ *HRORJ\ $GGUHVV 6 %HYHUO\ *OHQ %OYG % 7+,&. 3285(' &21&5(7( )281'$7,21 7+,&. 3285(' &21&5(7( )281'$7,21 $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOHU#ED\FLW\JHRORJ\ FRP :$7(5 $,5 ,1),/75$7,21 %$55,(5 :$7(5 $,5 ,1),/75$7,21 %$55,(5

0(7$/ /$7+

(;7(5,25

6RXWK 5REHUWVRQ %RXOHYDUG

&RQVXOWDQW &LYLO (QJLQHHU :KLWVRQ (JLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW &HQWXU\ %OYG 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH &RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFDSH 6SHFLDOLVW 6WXGLR 0/$ )D[ $GGUHVV 6 0\HUV 6W H PDLO LQIR#ZKLWVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR POD FRP

:$7(53522) %$55,(5 6833257 )5$0(

9$325 %$55,(5

:$// 7<3( %

(;7(5,25

&RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFDSH 6SHFLDOLVW 6WXGLR $GGUHVV 6 0\HUV 6W $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR POD FRP

&RQVXOWDQW 6WUXFWXUDO (QJLQHHU (QJOHNLUN $GGUHVV 6 )LJXHURD 6W WK )ORRU $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO OD#HQJOHNLUN FRP

3/<:22' 6+($7+,1* ;

*<3 %' 0(7$/ 678'

$/80,1,80 6,// 08//,21

)53 ; 3$1(/6

9$325 %$55,(5

%$77( ,168/$7,21

:$7(53522) 0(0%5$1(

0(7$/ 678'

'28%/( */$=(' /2: ( */$66

,17(5,25

&RQVXOWDQW 0(3 6SHFLDOLVWV +HQGHUVRQ (QJLQHHUV $GGUHVV :HVW WK 6W 6XLWH $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ :$// 7<3( & 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO $XVWLQ$OOHQ#KHQGHUVRQHQJLQHHUV FRP

*<3 %'

3/<:22' 6+($7+,1* ;

:$7(53522) %$55,(5 6833257 )5$0(

,17(5,25

$,5 *$3

5811(5 &+$11(/6 )53 %5$&.(7

,17(5,25

:$7(53522) 0(0%5$1(

678'

%$77( ,168/$7,21 ,168/$7,21

:$// 7<3( & :$// 7<3( %

,17(5,25

6&, $5&

3/<:22' 6+($7+,1* ;

*<3 %'

678'

:$// 7<3( $

7+,&. &$67 ,1 3/$&( &21&5(7(

,17(5,25

*<3 %'

:$// 7<3( &

6&, $5&

&RQVXOWDQW 6RLO (QJLQHHU %D\ &LW\ *HRORJ\ $GGUHVV 6 %HYHUO\ *OHQ %OYG % 5811(5 &+$11(/6 $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO MRQDWKDQPLOOHU#ED\FLW\JHRORJ\ FRP

5811(5 &+$11(/6

; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 &

:$// 7<3( $

6&, $5&

&RQVXOWDQW /DQGVFDSH 6SHFLDOLVW 6WXGLR 0/$ $GGUHVV 6 0\HUV 6W $GGUHVV /RV $QJHOHV &$ 3KRQH )D[ H PDLO RIILFH#VWXGLR POD FRP

5811(5 &+$11(/6

:$// 7<3( $

6RXWK 5REH %RXOHYDUG

; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 &

*<3 %'

7+,&. &$67 ,1 3/$&( &21&5(7(

,17(5,25

6RXWK 5REHUWVRQ %RXOHYDUG

; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 & ; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 &

635,1* B$6 &216758&7,21 '2&80(176 635,1* B$6 &216758&7,21 '2&80(176

,17(5,25

; :' 678' 63$&(' 2 &

:$// 7<3( (

:$// 7<3( )

226

Becerra, Carcamo, Manguy, Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

2% SLOPE 2% SLOPE

Wall Sections

STEEL DECKING 053100 STEEL DECKING 053100

2% slope 2% slope

7 A-5.3

7 Sim A-5.3

Sim

STRUCTURAL BEAM AND COLUMNBEAM CONNECTIONS STRUCTURAL AND COLUMN CONNECTIONS GYPSUM WALL BOARD GYPSUM WALL BOARD STUD STUD INSULATION INSULATION

GYPSUM WALL BOARD GYPSUM WALL092900 BOARD 092900 STUD STUD INSULATION INSULATION

5/8 " PLYWOOD SHEATHING (X2) 5/8 " PLYWOOD SHEATHING (X2) VAPOR BARRIER VAPOR BARRIER 5/8 " PLYWOOD SHEATHING (X2) 5/8 " PLYWOOD SHEATHING (X2) VAPOR BARRIER VAPOR BARRIER

GLASS CURTAIN 084426 GLASSWALLS CURTAIN WALLS 084426

6 A-5.3

6 Sim A-5.3

WATERPROOF MEMBRANE WATERPROOF MEMBRANE AIR GAP AIR GAP METAL LATH METAL LATH

Sim

STONE FLOOR FINISH STONE FLOOR FINISH CAST IN PLACE CONCRETE CAST IN PLACE 033000 CONCRETE 033000

C CHANNEL RUNNER FOR METAL STUDS C CHANNEL RUNNER FOR METAL STUDS

STEEL DECKING 053100 STEEL DECKING 053100

5 A-5.3

5 Sim A-5.3

Sim

SUPPORT FRAME SUPPORT FRAME BEAM AND COLUMN BEAM CONNECTIONS AND COLUMN CONNECTIONS

INTERIOR INTERIOR

EXTERIOR EXTERIOR

110 1101 S B

INTERIOR INTERIOR

3 Sim A-5.3

Sim

A-5.3 EXTERIOR EXTERIOR

FRP PANEL FRP PANEL

FRP BRACKET TIES FRP BRACKET TIES

4 A-5.3

4 Sim A-5.3

Consultant: Address: 18 Consultant: Landsc Address: Lo Address: 185 S My Phone: (213 Address: Los Ange 3 Phone:Fax: (213)(213) 384-3 e-mail: offic Fax: (213) 384-383 e-mail: office@stud Consultant: Address: 14 Consultant: Soil En Address: Address: 1423 S.LoB Phone: (310 Address: Los Ange 4 Phone:Fax: (310)(310) 429-6 e-mail: jona Fax: (310) 429-668 e-mail: jonathanmi

Consultant: Address: Consultant: MEP51 S Address: Lo Address: 510 Wes Phone: (213 Address: Los Ange 2 Phone:Fax: (213)(213) 254-4 e-mail: Aust Fax: (213) 254-475 e-mail: AustinAllen

Consultant Address: 88 Consultant Structu Address: Address: 888 S. Lo Fi Phone: (323 Address: Los Ange 7 Phone:Fax: (323)(323) 733-6 e-mail: la@ Fax: (323) 733-667 e-mail: la@engleki Consultant: Address: Consultant: Civil 52 E Address: Lo Address: 5200 We Phone: (31 Address: Los Ange Fax: (310) Phone: (310) 645-6 e-mail: info@ Fax: (310) 645-320 e-mail: info@whits

Sim

No.

W WAL

CAST IN PLACE CONC. FOUNDATION WALL 033000 CAST IN PLACE CONC. FOUNDATION WALL 033000 CONC. FOUNDATION TUBES CONC. FOUNDATION TUBES CONCRETE FOOTING CONCRETE FOOTING

227

4B Liberal Arts Elective Liberal Arts Elective: Mindwandering & Boredom in the Arts Instructor: Marjan Sharifi Term: Spring 2018 Course Description:This course explores how definitions of boredom change depending on the discipline through which this concept is studied exemplifying how emotions are not only related to cognition, but also culture (so nature and nurture). The main aim of this course is to elucidate boredom’s relevance to the artistic practice, with a particular focus on how boredom can be a catalyst of creativity. This bi-weekly seminar course accommodates individuals who have very minimal knowledge of the cognitive sciences. Through an interdisciplinary research methodology, engaging with material from art (film, visual art, music), cognitive science (social neuroscience, models of cognition, personality psychology), psychoanalysis, technology (automation, posthumanism, new media), and philosophy (phenomenology, existentialism), we examine the historical and discursive development of boredom, and its link to empirical research on mind-wandering.

4A Liberal Arts Elective

230

Mindwandering & Boredom in the Arts

Marjan Sharifi

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Mindwandering Space

A House for my Thoughts Throughout the process of discovering what mindwandering is how it can be beneficial to one I began to learn about myself. What types of spaces allow me to mind wander? This space would have to be designed by me as I only know what allows me to let my thoughts flow. A place where I can simply allow myself to think would consist of light colors. These colors aren’t overwhelmingly bright nor do they scream for attention. Instead these pastel colors are soothing to the eyes and relaxing. This space would also have texture, soft pillows, smooth walls, rought brick. In addition a variety of art would also be seen on the walls. Some more abstract and other with more “flowy” elements to project my own thoughts onto them. A small slit throughout the top would not only allow air circulation to ventilate the space, but it would also allow me to peak out and stare into the never static sky. Lastly two different heights within the space would let me decide what type of space I want to stand, sit, or lay down in to get bored and mindwander.

Works Cited/ Referenced Turrell, James. Skyspcace Turrell, James. Shallow Space Constuctions Turrell, James. Tall Glass/ Wide Glass Series

231

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Mindwandering & Boredom in the Arts

Marjan Sharifi

What is Boredom? What in your opinion is boredom? What role does boredom play in our society? The student may choose to expand on the conception of boredom discussed in class, or bring a new perspective from other readings. An attempt should be made to incorporate the psychological concepts discussed in class. Boredom is a state of mind with negative connotations; being bored in current society is often frowned upon since there is “always something to do.” The article “This is the hidden risk of automation that no one is talking about” goes as far as to say that boredom is, “halfway between misery and sleepiness.” Ever since the Industrial Revolution the term “boredom” became more and more prominent, automation of labor and the fast moving pace of everything around us contributed to boredom’s rising popularity. Growing up, boredom wasn’t something you wanted to experience, in fact you tried to avoid it at all costs. If you were ever to say the phrase “I’m bored” the response would be something along the lines of, “if you’re so bored, sweep the floor”. As a kid being bored wasn’t something that was necessarily encouraged but ironically enough doing the tasks we were handed out like cleaning the room, washing the dishes, mopping the floor, or other low-demanding tasks lead to some sort of creative output. After doing those tasks I found myself being able to “have fun” again. I would come back appreciating the choices I had in how to distract myself and keep myself busy. As a child I feel like I had a creative mind, I would often take out my box of “junk” and make things out of it; looking back now I think a big part of that had to do with the fact that my mom would always have me help her out, I would help her with the menial parts of cooking and cleaning. It was routinary and boring, but doing that as soon as I got home from school allowed me to then focus on my homework. A crucial thing I think I benefited from was the fact that back then I didn’t have a smartphone. Today’s generation of teenagers is much different, not only with the amount of visual stimulus we encounter throughout the day but mainly with the hand held device that holds all that stimuli in one place and is at our reach at all times; our smartphones. With constant information being uploaded to social media apps in particular, our phones demand attention and are distracting us from 1)getting bored and 2)getting work done. This recent problem doesn’t only target it’s main users; teenagers, it has also gotten a hold of toddlers and adults.

232

Consequently people are experiencing boredom but aren’t experiencing mind-wandering. In today’s everyday routine when we need a “break”, when we are bored or in an awkward situation our first instinct is to reach into our phones to prevent us from being bored, yet many times I find myself bored with my phone despite the frequent uplaods and endless possibilities of distraction. According to “The Other Side of Existence: Heidegger on Boredom” “In boredom, significance of world and self drain away, motivation ceases...Heidegger offers a remarkable existential interpretation of three varieties of boredom: ‘becoming bored by something’, ‘being bored with something’, and ‘profound boredom’ as expressed in the phrase it is boring for one.” As explained throughout the text, Heidegger understands boredom as the gateway to ourselves. The way I perceive boredom has changed, boredom doesn’t have such a negative connotation anymore, instead it is a neutral feeling, one which I can take advantage of and allow myself to mind-wander. By allowing and even encouraging boredom we are able to switch off the part of us that needs to always direct and devote our attention to the task we are doing or the surroundings we are living in. By understanding boredom and becoming aware of when we start to mindwander we are able to really understand further how our mind works and what our thoughts are directed to, that way revealing things about ourselves we weren’t aware of yet. The thoughts we have while mindwandering can be anywhere between a spectrum of future, past, positive, negative, self, or other related by allowing and becoming aware of when we are bored, which type of bored we are, and by noticing where are thoughts wander off to we can really benefit in not only learning more about ourselves, but also in becoming more creative and efficient when the time comes to get work done.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

What is Boredom?

Works Cited/ Referenced Littlejohn, Amanda. “Why Do We Get Bored?” Owlcation, Owlcation, 31 Dec. 2017, owlcation.com/social-sciences/Why-Do-We-Get-Bored. Slaby, Jan. The Other Side of Existence: Heidegger on Boredom. The Other Side of Existence: Heidegger on Boredom. Hewitt, James, et al. “This Is the Hidden Risk of Automation That No One Is Talking About.”World Economic Forum, www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/11/automation-automated-job-risk-robot-bored-boredom-effort-fourth-industrial-revolution/.

233

4B Liberal Arts Elective Liberal Arts Elective: Apocalyptic Film The End of the World Instructor: Michael Stock Term: Spring 2018 Course Description: The apocalyptic imagination has resonated in cinemas across the globe from 1916 to the present. Climate change, viruses, pandemics, nuclear war, political disintegration, aliens, and zombies have all been part of the history of cinema for almost as long as the cinema itself has existed. Spectacles of meteors, tidal waves, plagues, mushroom clouds, alien invaders, and zombies not only give form to moden anxieties, but also provide fantasy scenarios where the narrative’s survivors (and the spectator as survivor) are thrust into new worlds of possibilit, free of mundane and alienating consumer culture. Some fear the collapse of society, others can’t wait for it to happen. By the end of the course you will be able to articulate a better understanding of apocalyptic films by strengthening your viewing, listening, critical and analytical skills.

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Apocalyptic Film

Michael Stock

Morality and Post-apocalyptic Generations In a society where nothing other than surviving matters ethics and morality cease to exist, there are no consequences to your actions and being “good” can only get you so far, what will become the new rules people will live by? The end of the world as seen in; Dawn of the Dead and Le Dernier Combat happens when humans are forced against one another through the circumstances of the situation causing emotions and morality to become obsolete. In these scenarios where you must protect what is yours by hurting others and being alive means you have to fight people in the same circumstances as you, when your moral values disappear and surviving is the only concern, the world as we know it has ended. If morality becomes unimportant in the world what will the fundamental values of the post-apocalyptic generations be? The end of the world occurs when the rules of ethical behavior we are taught of since we are kids have to be ignored in order to survive; when humans are put against humans. Seems to be that in apocalyptic situations morality within humans is completely pushed aside and survival is the driving factor of all actions. Yet survival isn’t done through coming together instead it comes through attacking our own, usually those who are better off. In Dawn of the Dead the main characters; Francine, Peter, Stephan, and Roger all work together to find a place in which they can safely stay as do The Man and The Doctor in Le Dernier Combat this shows that there are certain values the characters still have, but these are only shown to people they either previously knew or find helpless. In Dawn of the Dead, as an outbreak over ownership we see the main characters unsympathetically kill other survivors, after their perfect mall home is rudely interrupted. Here morality becomes an issue similar to The Man and The Doctor’s from Le Dernier Combat, having had to fight and build a safe place for themselves an outsider doesn’t want to just be part of that place but wants to take over. In both Dawn of the Dead and Le Dernier Combat, the motorcycle clan and The Brute are presented to the viewer as the “enemy” or the “bad people”. In these instances all the characters have no sense of morality whatsoever, all they see is an opponent who threatens to disrupt their relatively calm life and others who have a better place than they do. In Dawn of the Dead we don’t only see humans fighting off zombies, we see humans fighting humans. In both films morality is completely obsolete and non-existing. When the motorcycle gang enters and starts to destroy their shelter neither group tries to “talk it out” or come to an agreement, instead they do everything by force and by surprise, the gang attacks the mall shelter and Stephan attacks the motorcyclists. Similarly The Doctor and The Man show just how secure their place is to The Brute making him even more determined to take over. Neither side tries to make a treaty that could benefit them both, The Doctor doesn’t even pity him, instead The Doctor and The Man keep living in their “secured” place. This scenario is intriguing because The Doctor’s safe place is keeping others out but there doesn’t seem to be a direct threat, there are no zombies waiting to destroy him, instead The Doctor is keeping others out in order to

236

his possessions, such as food, medical kits, and even a woman. The only reason as to why The Doctor doesn’t kick out The Man is because The Man is hurt and is already inside, in this case The Doctor seems to have a sense of compassion and is willing to share his things with The Man. Perhaps The Doctor sees The Man as a good person, as someone he is willing to share his belongings with, but what makes The Man different from The Brute. Why is it that The Man is immediately welcomed and taken in while The Brute is constantly shooed away? The question remains, what does it mean to be a good human being? Perhaps our current society defines being a good person as; respecting others, working for your own things, caring and helping those in disadvantage circumstances. In a post-apocalyptic world these rules mean nothing, largely because there is no overarching power that protects nor punishes your rights as a human being. Through the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, “Social Norms,” it is understood that social norms have a direct relationship to “attaining and maintaining social order… Norms of honesty, loyalty, reciprocity and promise keeping, to name but a few cooperative norms, are crucial to the smooth functioning of social groups.” In a post-apocalyptic world there is no such thing as a society anymore, no one is significantly more important than the other, there are no social classes, no currency, nothing that can really make you act a certain way besides you wanting to be that way. Among the groups that inevitably form there will be leaders and some sort of hierarchy and this will already mark the beginning of a new society. If the lack of morality and empathy is what marks the end of the world what happens when a new generation is brought into the “new” post apocalyptic world? No film so far shows the upbringing of a child in an empty world, but Dawn of the Dead, Le Dernier Combat, and Planet of the Apes all demonstrate potential in a new generation. Suppose Francine from Dawn of the Dead is able to deliver her baby and they’re able to survive years, how would the baby be brought up? What are the “fundamental values” that Francine and Peter deem as important for the child’s upbringing? The kid will obviously be taught to kill not only zombies but also other humans in order to survive and protect what is his. With every new generation these kids will start to build a world in which they’ll seek power, they’ll find new strategies to survive, and confront feelings we see as merciless. This generation’s way of living would revolve around forcefully taking what they need and want from others without feeling remorse. Dawn of the Dead, Planet of the Apes, and Le Dernier Combat influence the question of reproduction and possible upbringing of a new human generation in a post-apocalyptic world. In Le Dernier Combat ‘The Man’ is not only trying to survive but also wants human contact with a female. Perhaps the thought of reproduction isn’t his “goal” yet, but nonetheless the possibility is there. The Man now with more power than the others has the possibility of creating an offspring. Having gained some sort of power over the others already, The Man’s son or daughter would be taught how to maintain that power, his

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

family would have to enforce rules on the others and constantly be looking out for possible rebels that may want to “overthrow” him. Suppressing the other people around them and making them find resources enough for everyone to survive would be their main goal. In Planet of the Apes we see two different species in the same environment, though the humans are mute if George Taylor really wanted to he and the mute female, Nova, could make an offspring. Zira mentions George Taylor being the missing link to understanding the past but George is also the missing link to being able to create a new future for the humans living in the ‘present’. George Taylor would have to be the teacher and leader of these humans, and though it would be nearly impossible for him to do it all on his own while trying to assure and keep peace with the apes, his best bet to creating a future like the one he knew would be the upcoming human generations. If George Taylor and Nova conceived a child in the world they live in what would that child’s upbringing and future look like? For one the child would learn to defend himself from those wanting to oppress him. Its safe to assume that the ape society wouldn’t be welcoming nor at peace with a new human species on the rise therefore their laws and social dynamic with one another would drastically change. The humans would be looked down upon, newer generations would have to prove their capabilities without blatantly threatening the existing society and would also have to learn to coexist with the existing superior species, the apes. This new generation of children would be taught not only to survive by defending themselves but also to fight for the rights they feel entitled to. Due to the huge gap in technological advancements George can only trust that the newer generations once learning how to read, write, and speak will eventually rebuild the world that he once knew. There is a different alternative though, perhaps in all the previous examples the characters will make the choice of not reproducing. Maybe in Planet of the Apes George will take a different approach in which he understands the destruction his kind has brought to the world and simply lives the rest of his life the way humans in this Ape society live. In Dawn of the Dead maybe Francine is bit and turned into a zombie before she can give birth, and in Le Dernier Combat The Man or The Woman could choose not to have an offspring. If no new generations arose the end of the human species and civilization would reach its definitive end. Therefore it is important to at least have the possibility to a new generation of humans or what may be considered “post-apocalyptic humans”. This new generation will need to develop a society built around the idea of survival. Life for this generation will be extremely difficult; trying to not only find enough resources to survive but also to build and rebuild a system in which survivors can live by. The approach to an everyday life will be completely new, the way in which children are brought up will be drastically different to what was known. Leaders and followers will begin to fall into place and the only way to trulysucceed and “win” the battle that was already fought would be if the new generation is able incorporate some ethical and moral values into their society.

Post-Apocalyptic: Morality

Even then what they deem moral may be completely different to what people in the current world see as morally appropriate. New situations will arise and with that new approaches and solutions to those situations will too, this means that with a clean slate the new generation can build a new set of rules that is tailored specifically to their current world.

Works Cited/Referenced Besson, Luc, director. Le Dernier Combat. Crystal Films, 1983. Bicchieri, Cristina, and Ryan Muldoon. “Social Norms.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 1 Mar. 2011, plato.stanford.edu/entries/social-norms/. Burgess, Matt, and Berenice Baker. “Starting from Scratch: How to Reboot Society after an Apocalypse.” Factor, factor-tech.com/feature/starting-scratch-reboot-society-apocalypse/. Romero, George A., director. Dawn of the Dead. United Film Distribution Company, 1978. Schaffner, Franklin J, director. Planet of the Apes. 20th Century Fox, 1968.

237

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Apocalyptic Film

Michael Stock

Mothers, Family, and the End of the World When one thinks of the end of the world the usual thoughts that come to mind include those of anxiety, stress, and sadness. These feelings are supported and reasonable as the simple thought of losing those you love is unimaginable. The topic of the end of the world isn’t one usually discussed over the dinner table. Parents want to believe that they will be with their family when a disaster occurs. The film Testament portrays a typical suburban family, one in which the father (household leader) goes to work one morning and after the disaster occurs, never comes back. In Melancholia John, father of Leo and husband of Claire decides to take his own life and leaves Claire to support Justine and Leo. In both these films the concept of family is held together by the mother, as she is left with her kids to figure things out. In most cases willingly or unwillingly the idea of a family is kept alive through the female role. The film Testament being released in nineteen-eighty-three and given its time does an accurate job at replicating the typical family. The working father, the stay at home mom, a home in a Levittown-esqe neighborhood and three kids. The beginning of the film shows the viewer a more in depth view of what their everyday routine looks like, the father teaches his eldest boy to be “strong” while the mother back home starts the house cleanup and cooking. When the unimaginable happens and the cartoon channel on the TV is interrupted by an emergency message from the President, it is at this moment that the idea of family begins to change. Carol is left with her three kids making her the leader of their household in substituting her husband Tom’s role. In a neighborhood during this time like the one shown in the film it comes to no surprise that family and community go hand in hand. Throughout the film the concept of family isn’t limited to just Carol and her kids, instead the neighborhood and community becomes family to one another. Kids can no longer just be kids; playing and relying on their parents, kids are forced to become adults to take on roles usually held by their elders and fathers. This “ideal” suburban family neighborhood starts to crumble but doesn’t completely fall apart. While family is usually thought of as those who live under the same roof and are related by blood when chaos strikes, family also includes those in need of support. A more literal example would be that of the “adoption” of Hiroshi who finds himself an orphan after his father passes away and Larry whose parents never made it back home. But the idea of family is broken once again when they have to face the reality, the reality of losing a loved one. Family recaps as shown in Testament serve to see an insight into the thoughts of mother Carol. As she mourns the death of her youngest child, Scottie, the film shows us scenes of their family moments as being filmed through their personal home video camera. This short “film” within the film adds a layer of reminiscence and understanding of what it meant to be part of their family. Through these snippets the viewer is able to really acknowledge what family meant to Carol. It shows the beautiful moments they spent together;what was and will no longer be.

238

In Testament family and community seem to go hand in hand at times even becoming one, but in the film Melancholia community is never equivalent to family. Throughout the film we only see the guests to Justine and Michael’s wedding in a secluded venue away from other people. Melancholia shows a typical family coming together at Justine and Michael’s wedding, this family like all others has its strong and weak points. The film emphasizes and focuses on the relationship between sisters; Justine and Claire. Towards the end, similar to in Testament, mother Claire, is left to be the head of her family; Justine and her son Leo. Interestingly Claire’s husband John, though having previously assured Claire that everything would be alright, poisons himself leaving his family on their own. It is commonly known that women tend to be more nurturing and “family-oriented” and when having to choose between anything else or family, family is prioritized. John gives no clues in wanting to commit suicide, he doesn’t seem to worry or think about the effect his absence will cause on his family, to him staying alive to be with his family until the last moment isn’t an option. It is highly possible that the idea of family isn’t complete without a mother or mother-like figure whereas if the father is missing from the picture the idea of family is still present, perhaps even stronger than when there was a father figure. In both Testament and Melancholia without the father the families continue to fight for their survival and the idea of family is maintained alive. Carol takes care of all her children and Claire tries to maintain calm and sane to be strong in front of her son and sister. Both women hold their family together and are willing to stay together until the last moment possible. The Seventh Sign also depicts a stay at home wife and soon to be mom. Throughout the film Abby is the one desperately trying to figure out how and why David Bannon came to their house with intentions of harming their unborn baby. Russell seems to leave Abby on her own in finding the truth, despite the “target” being their baby, he thinks that all of Abby’s findings are pure coincidences and don’t impose a threat. Despite hearing and seeing Abby’s panic Russell stays out of her way while he deals with his work problems. Abby in comparison does everything possible even giving her life in order to save her child. The literal presence of “family” isn’t really seen throughout the film, during their dinners Abby and Russell bond but in general there is a lack of shared moments. Yet this idea of family is kept throughout the film as Abby relentlessly tries to find a solution to make things right, right being having her child and keeping her baby safe. In other films like The Last Wave David Burton husband and father of two, sends his wife and daughters off. He decides to find the truth on his own, whatever his motives are to want to move his family away, the concept of family is rarely present throughout the film. Despite being shown his family life in the beginning of the film, sending them away to protect them is the only action he takes on the matter. Instead the film focuses on him and his journey in finding out what is happening. Even in his last moments alive there are no flashbacks no memories or any indication of him thinking of him thinking of his wife and kids.

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

One would think that during the events leading to the end of the world you would want to be with your family and together face the upcoming events; Testament, Melancholia, and The Seventh Sign portray this type of scenario in which family is always the main concern and priority of the leading female character. Through these films one can come to the conclusion that the concept of family comes down to and depends on the mother/wife. The concept of family seems to really stay strong when the mother is present, though the directors or writers of these films may have not done so purposefully it says something about our society and the subconsciousness of always correlating mothers to strong family bonds. In no way is this a negative critique on the way females hold the role of strong mothers or the lack of importance given to family by the male figures in these films, instead it simply poses a new way of thinking if the roles were switched in many of these films how the storylines would evolve differently. How would the kids in Testament act upon knowing that their mother isn’t coming back, would the eldest son, Brad, take on the same roles he did in stepping up to become the “man” of the household? Would the father take on the role of being with his family or would he become more involved with the community tasks? In Melancholia, if Claire had been the one to poison herself would her husband John taken the same decision or would he have stayed with Justine and Leo until the very end? In The Seventh Sign how different would it have been if Russell were the one looking for answers on David’s motives? Or in The Last Wave, if the lead role wasn’t taken by David but instead by his wife, would she have sent her husband and daughters away to keep them safe or would she have tried to figure out the truth while maintaining a strong family presence. Not only would it be interesting to see this idea of family and how it distinguishes with the traditional gender; mother and father roles, but it would also be intriguing to see family and community as it relates to our current society and its overall evolving roles.

Gender in Technology

Works Cited/ Referenced “Designing Levittown from the Inside.” Levittown, Pa. | Building the Suburban Dream, statemuseumpa.org/levittown/one/d.html. Ebert, Roger. “Testament Movie Review & Film Summary (1983) | Roger Ebert.”RogerEbert.com, Jonathan Bernstein, 4 Nov. 1983, Houst, Lena. “Why ‘Testament’ Is The Scariest Movie Ever Made.” For Those Who Are Miserably Obsessed..., 31 Oct. 2013, Littman, Lynne, director. Testament. Paramount Pictures, 1983. Nam, Charles B. “The Concept of The Family: Demographic and Genealogical Perspectives.”Sociation Today, www.ncsociology.org/sociationtoday/v22/family.htm. Parker, Kim. “Women More than Men Adjust Their Careers for Family Life.” Pew Research Center, 1 Oct. 2015, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/10/01/womenmore-than-men-adjust-their-careers-for-family-life/. Schultz, Carl, director. The Seventh Sign. TriStar Pictures, 1988. “Stereotypes in Suburbia 1950s & Today.” ThirdSight History, social.rollins.edu/wpsites/thirdsight/2016/11/20/stereotypes-in-suburbia-1950s-and-today/. “Testament (1983 Film).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Apr. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testament_(1983_film). Trier, Lars von, et al. Melancholia. Nordisk Film, 2011. Weir, Peter, director. The Last Wave. World-Northal Corporation, 1977.

239

5A Vertical Studio Spring Vertical Studio Spring: Silicon Beach Instructor: Eric Owen Moss Term: Fall 2018 Course Description: WeWork Office space for Silicon Beach. Site challenges include steep hillside and differentiation between residential and commercial.

5A Vertical Studio

WeWork

Eric Owen Moss

WeWork Office & Retail in Silicon Beach, California Project Description: This project investigates the relationship between objects and grids. It further develops by allowing the objects; cubes and cones to become meeting spaces and offices. WeWork is becoming the model of office work and through its idea of open plans and interactive spaces, we begin to incorporate these ideas through shifts of the common office building. This project allows for objects and structure to serve more than just one purpose. The conical figures develop into stepping meeting rooms while the tilting cubes vary in program usage. The cubes become an office building, gallery spaces, restaurants, and even convention spaces. The structural grid serves as an intermediate between the residential hillside and the tech-commercial buildings sitting in the “bowl”. The grid becomes more than just structure, it details its space and bridges all the components of the site.

242

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan

243

5A Vertical Studio

WeWork

Eric Owen Moss

Ground Floor Plan 1/48”=1’

244

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan

2nd Floor Plan 1/48”=1’

245

5A Vertical Studio

246

WeWork

Eric Owen Moss

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan

247

5A Vertical Studio

248

WeWork

Eric Owen Moss

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan

249

5A Vertical Studio

250

WeWork

Eric Owen Moss

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan

251

Fiona Connor: Color Census

5A Liberal Arts Elective Liberal Arts Elective: Contemporary Sculptures Instructor: Kavior Moon Term: Fall 2018 Course Description: This course reflects on the trajectory of sculpture in relationship to art, politics, culture, and all it encompasses. This pieces shown throughout the course serve as a basis for further investigation and discussion.

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Apocalyptic Film

Michael Stock

Revealing the Suppressed Architecture has throughout time always been attached in one form or another to art and sculpture while maintaining a curated sensibility towards the subject. Some terms used specifically for each are interchangeable within their fields of work and study, terms such as scale, tones, moments, positions, and so on. Though many artists mainly work on concepts relating to or encompassing architecture as a spatial tool for their own work, it is those artists that make you think deeper about this architecture that provoke a new sense of appreciation. Artists like Rachel Whiteread and Fiona Connor explore similar ideas in architecture but approach them in dramatically different ways. Rachel Whiteread’s work emphasizes a lot on the volumes contained within a space and in showcasing these spaces the materiality and color become important. Fiona Connor in comparison reveals the spaces found within through a simpler process in bringing forth colors. Both Whiteread and Connor explore a sophisticated way of revealing suppressed elements, like stairs, color palettes, among other details found in architecture and in people’s homes. The New York Times article, Ghosts of the Past, Embalmed in White Plaster, written by Jason Farago says the following, “Rachel Whiteread has held firm to one of the clearest and most poetic techniques in contemporary art: taking an everyday item, an architectural volume, even an entire house, and casting the spaces they occupy rather than the objects themselves.1” With this casting technique that Whiteread has built her artistic career around and been able to explore her interests with she is able to give a void usually contained by its perimeter walls and actual materiality. In the book, House the author says, “An early and formative work by Whiteread was the cast of the interior of a wardrobe (Closet, 1988)... Whiteread utilizes this familiar technique but introduces an alarming twist, for what is the cast supplementary to: the original is a space, a nothingness or void.2” Whiteread has continuously produced and showcased the volumes of objects and reveals them as solid, this has been her working method for so long and has proven to be relevant to her interests. Analisa Violich Goodin describes her body of work as a “challenge” in our understanding of volume, she says, “The challenge to “resolve,” these visual inversions asks us to face our tendency to equate sight with understanding, to attribute a hierarchical value-system that deems invisibility negative and visibility positive. Whiteread’s casts complicate the equation that visual information breeds concrete understanding. Indeed, a negative space presented as positive challenges the notion that visual information alone is enough to solve the inverted puzzle that Whiteread proposes3” (Goodin 41). Throughout her work, she takes moments and parts of a whole that are neglected through indifference. She then forces you to look at it, to study it, and to address it. For example her work Untitled Bed series deals with compositions and textures. Throughout the years she’s shown strong interest in beds, these beds take on different mediums, color and positions. Her 1991 Amber Bed has a strong presence, it is made from rubber allowing it to bend along the wall. It is positioned right next to a

254

corner, this helps emphasize its negligence. The bed seems to have been put there temporary but due to its unimportance left there for a long period of time. The yellow-orangish color adds to this “forgetful” appearance, as its been forgotten and left there for so long that its color has even oxidized. Among Whiteread’s work is the solid of the volumes held within bookshelves, a closet, beds, stairs, and even a house. Fiona Connor too has explored architecture and how it is perceived by people every day. Her most recent work Direct Address consists of casting elements in architecture found around the city of Los Angeles and displaying them as duplicate pieces in a similar position as its precedent. Finding a significant part in the streets of Los Angeles that captures that moment in time Connor studies it and casts it in order to create a replica of the original piece. Her work in this exhibition deals with memory and the process of obscuring that memory. By casting this moment and then painting everything one color making it monochromatic she is able to blur this one to one replica. One of the works in this exhibition is Untitled #17 a bulletin board casted in resin and painted light blue. This particular piece captures the original materiality and details in the bulletin board, the details in the edges showing the wood peel around the screws that hold it up are remarkably picked up through the casting process. The light blue color also helps give the piece depth through the subtle shadows that are picked up from the uneven rough surface. Her other works included in this exhibition are quite similar. Though varying in scale, color, and texture they all relate to a different part of the city making them unique among each other. She has also showcased her work along with other artists in the Laurel Doody project in which an apartment is used as a studio and gallery space. in an interview with Thomas Lawson about the Laurel Doody Project Connor said, “Yeah. I started using my studio and then started having shows there. I removed the furniture and presented a group of real-estate signs from the neighborhood— a body of work called Signs that change buildings—and it became apparent that I needed to formalize the whole thing as a project space.4” Through this approach in architecture, her work evolved into something that reflects on architecture spaces but is much more careful in how it is presented and in how much of the interior is revealed, this can be seen in her later work done in 2017 through her Color Census series. Fiona Connor, I find to be expressing the interiors of spaces which are often overlooked in a unique way. Although she too, like Rachel Whiteread, works with the process of casting in her more recent work, Direct Address, it is the work done from August 2017 in her exhibition titled Color Census that focuses on the interior spaces of homes. In her Color Census project, she went knocking door by door to homes on Warner Drive in Los Angeles, California (1301 PE). With the permission of the resident’s Connor took a black and white image of the house front and color samples of the walls and spaces in the interior of the house. She then displayed this on printed photo paper5 framed on the wall; the black and white photograph and right below it the color swatches. Though

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

shows there. I removed the furniture and presented a group of real-estate signs from the neighborhood—a body of work called Signs that change buildings— and it became apparent that I needed to formalize the whole thing as a project space.4” Through this approach in architecture, her work evolved into something that reflects on architecture spaces but is much more careful in how it is presented and in how much of the interior is revealed, this can be seen in her later work done in 2017 through her Color Census series. Fiona Connor, I find to be expressing the interiors of spaces which are often overlooked in a unique way. Although she too, like Rachel Whiteread, works with the process of casting in her more recent work, Direct Address, it is the work done from August 2017 in her exhibition titled Color Census that focuses on the interior spaces of homes. In her Color Census project, she went knocking door by door to homes on Warner Drive in Los Angeles, California (1301 PE). With the permission of the resident’s Connor took a black and white image of the house front and color samples of the walls and spaces in the interior of the house. She then displayed this on printed photo paper5 framed on the wall; the black and white photograph and right below it the color swatches. Though the outcome itself seems straightforward and simple it is the collection of all these different houses that really captures the intention and admiration Connor has in revealing the house’s identity through the display of what makes it a home, its interior. The elegance in which the images are taken in elevation from the street and then turned into black and white as to obscure and give them a sense of mystery is intriguing and captivating. What follows is the small color samples right below giving you an idea of how the spaces within may look like and feel yet not revealing anything in particular. Those are then framed and hung up among the other houses as if they were each other’s neighbors which they are. By recording these houses and their interiors Connor creates a “census” of the homes on that block. She has captured them in that moment in time and has in a way recorded what that space is, looks, and feels like. Having learned to cast from her teacher, Richard Wilson6, at Brighton Rachel Whiteread has been exploring and perfecting different casting methods and materials. What she has been able to achieve through this method goes beyond what people see and more into what is left behind and neglected. Since early on in her career Whiteread has shown a strong attitude & interest in architecture. Her 1990 Ghost exhibition in Chisenhale Gallery in London has such a strong impact in how spaces are perceived and as she further explores architecture elements through her casting method her work proves to still evoke a sense of confusion followed by appreciation. The 2001 artwork, Untitled (Stairs), is among her most recognized and acknowledged work. This piece consists of solid blocks of reinforced plaster stacked and bolted together. It is a “free standing” cast of a staircase that includes the steps and landings and has been rotated ninety degrees7. A person’s experience of architecture and its interior spaces is usually addressed as follows; you enter a room or space, perhaps look around, sit down or walk,

Post-Apocalyptic: Morality

follows is the small color samples right below giving you an idea of how the spaces within may look like and feel yet not revealing anything in particular. Those are then framed and hung up among the other houses as if they were each other’s neighbors which they are. By recording these houses and their interiors Connor creates a “census” of the homes on that block. She has captured them in that moment in time and has in a way recorded what that space is, looks, and feels like. Having learned to cast from her teacher, Richard Wilson6, at Brighton Rachel Whiteread has been exploring and perfecting different casting methods and materials. What she has been able to achieve through this method goes beyond what people see and more into what is left behind and neglected. Since early on in her career Whiteread has shown a strong attitude & interest in architecture. Her 1990 Ghost exhibition in Chisenhale Gallery in London has such a strong impact in how spaces are perceived and as she further explores architecture elements through her casting method her work proves to still evoke a sense of confusion followed by appreciation. The 2001 artwork, Untitled (Stairs), is among her most recognized and acknowledged work. This piece consists of solid blocks of reinforced plaster stacked and bolted together. It is a “free standing” cast of a staircase that includes the steps and landings and has been rotated ninety degrees7. A person’s experience of architecture and its interior spaces is usually addressed as follows; you enter a room or space, perhaps look around, sit down or walk, and perform the activity that space is meant for. In a dining room, you have your dinner, in a bedroom you sleep, in the bathroom you shower, etc. What Rachel Whiteread does instead is she forces you to rethink the relationship you have with your surrounding space. Her work Untitled (Stairs), encompasses her interests and literally brings out elements never seen before. Seeing her work lets you experience the presence of a void. The article titled, “The Sight of Trauma: Loss, Memory, and Rachel Whiteread’s Reversals” describes her work as, “The inversion of negative space into positive form is appreciated as an art move within the gallery, an inverted form of minimalism that draws attention not to the object itself but to the space inside it8” (Goodin 45). Everyone who encounters Whiteread’s work is forced to rethink the relationship between solid and void with a space and within an object. In the Tate article on her work Untitled (Stairs) the author says, “Whiteread’s casting process has transformed the stairs into an abstracted geometric composition which combines physical familiarity with a mental conundrum – that of trying to envisage the original structure from which the new object has been derived.9” Many of Whiteread’s audience agrees that her work challenges the original piece from what she is casting. The material she chooses to finish the

255

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Apocalyptic Film

Architecture has throughout time always been attached in one form or another to art and sculpture while maintaining a curated sensibility towards the subject. Some terms used specifically for each are interchangeable within their fields of work and study, terms such as scale, tones, moments, positions, and so on. Though many artists mainly work on concepts relating to or encompassing architecture as a spatial tool for their own work, it is those artists that make you think deeper about this architecture that provoke a new sense of appreciation. Artists like Rachel Whiteread and Fiona Connor explore similar ideas in architecture but approach them in dramatically different ways. Rachel Whiteread’s work emphasizes a lot on the volumes contained within a space and in showcasing these spaces the materiality and color become important. Fiona Connor in comparison reveals the spaces found within through a simpler process in bringing forth colors. Both Whiteread and Connor explore a sophisticated way of revealing suppressed elements, like stairs, color palettes, among other details found in architecture and in people’s homes. The New York Times article, Ghosts of the Past, Embalmed in White Plaster, written by Jason Farago says the following, “Rachel Whiteread has held firm to one of the clearest and most poetic techniques in contemporary art: taking an everyday item, an architectural volume, even an entire house, and casting the spaces they occupy rather than the objects themselves.1” With this casting technique that Whiteread has built her artistic career around and been able to explore her interests with she is able to give a void usually contained by its perimeter walls and actual materiality. In the book, House the author says, “An early and formative work by Whiteread was the cast of the interior of a wardrobe (Closet, 1988)... Whiteread utilizes this familiar technique but introduces an alarming twist, for what is the cast supplementary to: the original is a space, a nothingness or void.2” Whiteread has continuously produced and showcased the volumes of objects and reveals them as solid, this has been her working method for so long and has proven to be relevant to her interests. Analisa Violich Goodin describes her body of work as a “challenge” in our understanding of volume, she says, “The challenge to “resolve,” these visual inversions asks us to face our tendency to equate sight with understanding, to attribute a hierarchical value-system that deems invisibility negative and visibility positive. Whiteread’s casts complicate the equation that visual information breeds concrete understanding. Indeed, a negative space presented as positive challenges the notion that visual information alone is enough to solve the inverted puzzle that Whiteread proposes3” (Goodin 41). Throughout her work, she takes moments and parts of a whole that are neglected through indifference. She then forces you to look at it, to study it, and to address it. For example her work Untitled Bed series deals with compositions and textures. Throughout the years she’s shown strong interest in beds, these beds take on different mediums, color and positions. Her 1991 Amber Bed has a strong presence, it is made from rubber allowing it to bend along the wall. It is positioned right next to a

256

Michael Stock

so on. And sometimes as a whole; the fireplace, the bookshelf, or even a house. Whether the element is at a large scale being the building itself or at a smaller scale being an object inside, she is able to capture their essence. She looks at architecture distinct to that of how people and even architects look at architecture and its spatial qualities. Her unique approach to architecture is further demonstrated in her work through the physical scale, the color, material and position of it inside the gallery space. With all these elements combined she is able to create a sculpture that encompasses and delivers her intentions. She captures what it is that makes them what they are by casting their voids and gives them a voice through which they speak louder than they ever could imagine. The process in which Fiona Connor and Rachel Whiteread approach revealing the “spaces found within” are completely different in the medium they use and the way they are approached by the viewer and audience. Yet, both artists are really taking something you see often and ignore and reveals it in such a way that you no longer take it for granted and instead you start to really think about what it means to see this void space as a volume and what it means to no longer see the outside color of a house only the colors laid out. It brings up questions such as is the color exclusive to that space or do multiple rooms share that color and if so does the same color deliver a different feeling in the different spaces? Through this presentation of her work one questions what this means to the viewer, to only see these colors and the outside of a house. Fiona Connor’s approach to revealing the “within” feels more personal. Her approach delivers a more family homey feel. It feels private and the viewer can at times feel like they are intruders in someone else’s house. The black and white photo of the house itself feels mysterious and the color palette below it allows the viewers to understand that these colors were picked out and chosen by the people who live there. This work allows you to reflect on your own home and notice your own color palette making it personal to you. Whiteread’s work is more universal; the elements she brings out can be seen wherever you go, they are easily identifiable. While Rachel Whiteread’s process of revealing the spaces inside can be seen much more literal than that of Connor’s subliminal use of extracting the house’s interior color, it is Whiteread’s work that provides the viewer with a three-dimensional object of the void allowing you to interact with a volume and forcing you to feel its presence. Both works are effective in leaving the viewer with a new appreciation for the “hidden” elements in architectural spaces. In an article about Rachel Whiteread and her work the overarching theme is, “Her work makes the invisible visible.10” Similarly, the gallery 1303 PE’s description of Fiona Connor’s work is, “Connor draws attention to the seen and the unseen, the public and private in Color Census.11” Both artists are successful in presenting us something we take for granted, they make us question the spaces we find ourselves inhabiting and even make us question what makes that space unique to us. Fiona Connor and Rachel Whiteread also seem

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

and chosen by the people who live there. This work allows you to reflect on your own home and notice your own color palette making it personal to you. Whiteread’s work is more universal; the elements she brings out can be seen wherever you go, they are easily identifiable. While Rachel Whiteread’s process of revealing the spaces inside can be seen much more literal than that of Connor’s subliminal use of extracting the house’s interior color, it is Whiteread’s work that provides the viewer with a three-dimensional object of the void allowing you to interact with a volume and forcing you to feel its presence. Both works are effective in leaving the viewer with a new appreciation for the “hidden” elements in architectural spaces. In an article about Rachel Whiteread and her work the overarching theme is, “Her work makes the invisible visible.10” Similarly, the gallery 1303 PE’s description of Fiona Connor’s work is, “Connor draws attention to the seen and the unseen, the public and private in Color Census.11” Both artists are successful in presenting us something we take for granted, they make us question the spaces we find ourselves inhabiting and even make us question what makes that space unique to us. Fiona Connor and Rachel Whiteread also seem to share an interest in the representation through the use of color, while Connor’s is faithful to its parent Whiteread experiments with her options in the dye for the resin or the material used for the cast. By doing this she is able to make the work more personal to how she experiences and encounters this particular element. Whiteread’s use of color and the materiality may not be faithful but it adds another element of questioning the piece. In her work Closet from 1988, the material covering the cast is mainly black felt. The Art Story Modern Art Insight says, “As her own description suggests, Whiteread’s approach is largely functional and process-driven, although also related to a childhood memory of hiding in a dark cupboard...Whiteread is less interested in telling personal narratives but allows her materials to speak for themselves and by association create a series of emotional and sometimes nostalgic references. Here, the generic nature of the wardrobe chosen and its suffocating black felt cover help conjure up a confined space, recalling scary moments in childhood games of hide and seek.12” Fiona Connor and Rachel Whiteread’s work can easily be generalized and overlooked but it is details like these; the choice in material or in both their cases the choice in staying true to their color that makes both Color Census and Closet extremely personal to those who’ve encountered similar spaces and to the artist’s relationship to the original space. Art and sculpture are meant to provoke a reaction or at the very least a questioning of the subject it relates to or that of what it fails to relate to. Artists are often in control of their work and how it is placed in a gallery but they are unable to control the emotions and thoughts their work will produce. This is what makes Rachel Whiteread’s and Fiona Connor’s work so effective; while they lay out the general idea of their interests through their preferred mode of representation, the thoughts that are embedded in thinking about architecture’s interior elements can become personal and intimate. Whiteread’s Closet is deeply personal

Post-Apocalyptic: Morality

the cast is mainly black felt. The Art Story Modern Art Insight says, “As her own description suggests, Whiteread’s approach is largely functional and process-driven, although also related to a childhood memory of hiding in a dark cupboard...Whiteread is less interested in telling personal narratives but allows her materials to speak for themselves and by association create a series of emotional and sometimes nostalgic references. Here, the generic nature of the wardrobe chosen and its suffocating black felt cover help conjure up a confined space, recalling scary moments in childhood games of hide and seek.12” Fiona Connor and Rachel Whiteread’s work can easily be generalized and overlooked but it is details like these; the choice in material or in both their cases the choice in staying true to their color that makes both Color Census and Closet extremely personal to those who’ve encountered similar spaces and to the artist’s relationship to the original space. Art and sculpture are meant to provoke a reaction or at the very least a questioning of the subject it relates to or that of what it fails to relate to. Artists are often in control of their work and how it is placed in a gallery but they are unable to control the emotions and thoughts their work will produce. This is what makes Rachel Whiteread’s and Fiona Connor’s work so effective; while they lay out the general idea of their interests through their preferred mode of representation, the thoughts that are embedded in thinking about architecture’s interior elements can become personal and intimate. Whiteread’s Closet is deeply personal to her and though many can simply relate to the piece as a type of closet they’ve encountered sometime in their life perhaps it opens up a conversation with our own experiences and memories. The audience is able to project their emotions onto her work and make it personal. Connor’s work also has this potential, in thinking about the colors of a house’s interior one can begin to think how we would describe our childhood home or a place we’ve often felt comfortable, as we close our eyes the colors of the tile on the kitchen counter or the color of the carpet come to mind. Along with these colors, we can begin to feel certain emotions, we can remember scents and textures. Connor’s work serves as a mediator to get us to think about these things. Through their unique way of approaching architecture Rachel Whiteread and Fiona Connor allow certain neglected elements to be revealed and to become more than what by definition they are.

257

4A Liberal Arts Elective

Connor: Color Census Fiona Fiona Connor: Color Census

258

Apocalyptic Film

Michael Stock

Rachel Whiteread: Ghost Rachel Whiteread: Ghost

a Connor: Color Census

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Rachel Whiteread: Closet

Fiona Connor: Color Census

Rachel Whiteread: Closet

Post-Apocalyptic: Morality

Works Cited & Referenced “Contemporary Art Daily.” Prospect New Orleans (Contemporary Art Daily), 28 Sept. 2018, www.contemporaryartdaily.com/2018/09/fiona-connor-at-1301pe/. Farago, Jason. “Ghosts of the Past, Embalmed in White Plaster.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 4 Oct. 2018 “Fiona Connor: Color Census.” 1301PE, www.1301pe.com/past-exhibitions-1/2017/10/10/fiona-connor-color-census. Goodin, Analisa Violich. “The Sight of Trauma: Loss, Memory, and Rachel Whiteread’s Reversals.” Viscrit.cc.edu, http://viscrit.cca.edu/wp-content/ uploads/2010/08/08goodin.pdf. “House: Rachel Whiteread.” House: Rachel Whiteread, by Rachel Whiteread et al., Phaidon Press in Association with Artangel, 1995, pp. 121. Lawson, Thomas. “Artists at Work: Fiona Connor.” East of Borneo, 18 July 2017, eastofborneo.org/articles/artists-at-work-fiona-connor/. Lehrer Graiwer, Sarah. “Interview with Fiona Connor.” Fiona Connor, pp. 97–111. Lowman, Justin. “Fiona Connor ‘Color Census’ @ 1301PE.” Robert Irwin: Way Out West: East Gallery @ L&M, Venice (Part 4), 19 Aug. 2017, dayoutlast.blogspot.com/2017/08/fiona-connor-color-census-1301pe.html. “Rachel Whiteread Most Important Art | TheArtStory.” The Art Story, www.theartstory.org/artist-whiteread-rachel-artworks.htm. Tate. “Five Things to Know: Rachel Whiteread – List.” Tate, Tate, www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/rachel-whiteread-2319/five-things-know-rachel-whiteread. Tate. (2018). ‘Untitled (Stairs)’, Rachel Whiteread, 2001 | Tate. [online] Available at: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/whiteread-untitled-stairs-t07939 [Accessed 15 Dec. 2018]. “The Web’s Largest Art Information Service.” MutualArt, MutualArt, www.mutualart.com/Exhibition/Fiona-Connor--Direct-Address/179ED6F979957D79. Wroe, N. (2018). Rachel Whiteread: A Life in Art. [online] The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/apr/06/rachel-whiteread-life-inart [Accessed 15 Dec. 2018] Rachel Whiteread: Untitled (Domestic) Untitled (Paperbacks) Untitled (Yellow Bath) Untitled (Double Amber Bed) Closet House Fiona Connor: Direct Address Untitled #17 Color Census Laurel Doody

259

5B Thesis Studio Vertical Studio Spring: Undergraduate Thesis Studio Instructor: Jenny Wu Term: Spring 2019 Course Description: The SCI-Arc Undergraduate Thesis is the culmination of the five year B.Arch curriculum. A focused thesis project for a highly resolved building design, both conceptually and technically, manifests the cumulative knowledge students have acquired throughout their education and acts as a point of trajectory from which to engage the discipline, field and profession at large. A focus is placed on presenting and defending positions and contributing to contemporary discourse through a project that advances the highest degree possible of design and technical expertise coupled with critical thinking. The position is tested through several modalities - written, spoken, designed, modeled, and visualized. Throughout the semester, a focus is placed on the role of the model in developing an architectural thesis and the translation of concepts into objects, models, and artifacts through the primary means of large scale model fabrication.

5B Thesis Studio

WeWork, WeLive, WePlay

Jenny Wu

WeWork Offices & WeLive Units in New York, New York Project Description: Our project is located in the lower east side of Manhattan and consists of both WeWork offices and WeLive communal housing. Our thesis explores the tension between the mundane monolith and the vibrant inefficiency of play. Our objective is to disrupt the mundane, repetitive nature of the tower typology and create a dialogue between the stable line and unstable figure. The thick inhabitable facade is composed of distinct worlds, each developing its own character and in return reflecting its own program. By pushing the communal activities to the exterior of the tower, we are building a visual connection between the activity occurring inside and contextual forces outside. This establishes an extroverted approach to combat the highly privatized New York realm. This extroverted presence takes the tenants and turns them into performers in an urban theater. Today, the sharing economy is thriving more than ever, the community-oriented systems are rapidly replacing privatization. Companies like Airbnb and Uber are sharing resources that otherwise would have been exclusive. In a similar fashion, the concept behind WeLive is to share experiences. Our objective is to incentivize interactions by blurring the line between what’s considered communal and private activities. In order to do this, the program is spread throughout the floors to encourage people to circulate beyond your neighborhood floor. Every living unit is supplied with only essential resources to push people out of isolation. By shuffling the program throughout the tower creates a variety of social conditions that cater to different lifestyles. As the tower rises, it undergoes an inverted formal shift. On the facade, the fragmented parts become a whole and exterior pieces become swallowed by the volume of the tower. Site Axon

Site Plan

Water Street

South Street FDR Drive

262

John Street

Maiden Lan

Wall Street Front Street

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Site Plan-Ground Plan

Level 11: WeLive- Living Units, Diving Pool, Skate Park, Rock Climbing Gym

Level 1: Lobby- Reception, Public Forum, Cafe, Gallery Space, Grocery Store

Plans 1/16” = 1’

263

5B Thesis Studio

WeWork, WeLive, WePlay

Jenny Wu

Level 16: WeLive & WeWork- Living Units, Working Spaces, Pool, Aerial Studio

Level 11: WeLive- Living Units, Diving Pool, Skate Park, Rock Climbing Gym

264

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans

Level 31: WeWork- Open Office Floor Plan, Conference Rooms, Auditorium

Level 16: WeLive & WeWork- Living Units, Working Spaces, Pool, Aerial Studio

265

5B Thesis Studio

WeWork, WeLive, WePlay

Jenny Wu

Level 33: WeLive- Living Units, Gym, Activity Room

Level 31: WeWork- Open Office Floor Plan, Conference Rooms, Auditorium

266

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Plans

Level 33: WeLive- Living Units, Gym, Activity Room

267

268 Nineteenth Floor +155’-0” ft

Twentieth Floor +170’-0” ft

Twenty-first Floor +185’-0” ft

Twenty-second Floor +200’-0” ft

WeWork, WeLive, WePlay

Twenty-third Floor +215’-0” ft

Twenty-fourth Floor +230’-0” ft

Twenty-fifth Floor +245’-0” ft

Twenty-sixth Floor +260’-0” ft

Twenty-seventh Floor +275’-0” ft

Twenty-eighth Floor +290’-0” ft

Twenty-ninth Floor +305’-0” ft

Thirtieth Floor +320’-0” ft

Thirty-first Floor +335’-0” ft

Thirty-second Floor +350’-0” ft

Thirty-third Floor +365’-0” ft

Thirty-fourth Floor +380’-0” ft

Thirty-fifth Floor +395’-0” ft

Thirty-sixth Floor +410’-0” ft

Rooftop +425’-0”

5B Thesis Studio Jenny Wu

Basement Floor 2 -20’-0”

Basement Floor 1 -10’-0”

Ground Floor +0’-0” ft

First Floor +15’-0” ft

Second Floor +30’-0” ft

Third Floor +45’-0” ft

Fourth Floor +60’-0” ft

Fifth Floor +75’-0” ft

Sixth Floor +90’-0” ft

Seventh Floor +105’-0” ft

Eighth Floor +105’-0” ft

Ninth Floor +120’-0” ft

Tenth Floor +135’-0” ft

Eleventh Floor +150’-0” ft

Twelfth Floor +165’-0” ft

Thirteenth Floor +165’-0” ft

Fourteenth Floor +180’-0” ft

Fifteenth Floor +195’-0” ft

Sixteenth Floor +110’-0” ft

Seventeenth Floor +125’-0” ft

Eighteenth Floor +140’-0” ft

Section 3/32”=1’

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra Portfolio 2014-2019 Plans

269

4 3

2 1

270

271

5B Thesis Studio

272

WeWork, WeLive, WePlay

Jenny Wu

Mariajose Meza-Christopher Becerra

Portfolio 2014-2019

Model Photos

273

274

275

276

277

5B Liberal Arts Elective Liberal Arts Elective: Time Travel Films Instructor: Michael Stock Term: Spring 2019 Course Description: This course explores the history of films involving time travel and the vital and complex intersections between these films and the past, present and future of our very own real world. The cinema itself is of course a form of time machine – as an apparatus that presents actual and imagined past events, experiences of duration and visions of the future (and how to get there). Each film we will be watching in class posits its own vision of time travel, and various visions of the past, future and alternate paths and paradoxes involved in each. Over the course of our semester together, we will examine the tropes, techniques, and preoccupations of time travel films and the philosophical questions that fuel them: Is time something that lives & perishes, or is it a static dimension of eternal existing? Could time have a beginning or an end? Does it flow in a loop or run in parallel streams? Is it possible to change the past? If I could travel into the past, could I erase my mistakes or even my own birth? If not, why not? What are the special and general theories of relativity? What do they imply about the nature of time? Are space and time things in their own right, as Isaac Newton believed? Do they have a tangibility, or are they merely constructions of the mind, as Immanuel Kant believed? As this list suggests, questions of time travel are inextricably linked to questions not only about the nature of time, but the nature of existence itself. As a result, this course will be as much about philosophy as the films we will be watching. By the end of the course you will a have a new perspective on the impact that time travel films have had on the shape of our own past, present and future and our philosophies about time itself.

5B Liberal Arts Elective

Time Travel Film

Michael Stock

Time Travel Technology Today In several time travel films, the journey the characters take seems long, tedious, stressful, and exciting. Advancements in technology have allowed directors and writers to envision their own theories and methods in which time travel would be possible and how that would play out. Physicists have studied and developed areas of study that focus on time and possibilities in traveling through it. Through Quantum Physics a large portion of focus is space and its relationship to the concept of time. By building upon these theories and ideas other professions have developed physical models to test and envision these ideas. Other areas of technological advancements have unintentionally tackled the concept of time travel as well. Social Media App developers, Virtual Game software engineers, and Animatronic engineers are perhaps the professions that unintentionally have really made certain aspects of time travel possible in our generation. Technology, in general, has revolutionized the way we experience time and how we relate to it. It helps define the era, it helps to keep a record of the years and also plays a huge role in any advancements of time travel machines for movies. Technology in time travel films plays a crucial role in terms of how the protagonist travels through time and space. The characters in these films rarely explain in detail the components in the time travel machine. This is obvious since this type of technology doesn’t yet exist, and the idea of time travel itself is so far beyond what we can comprehend. The article by Bryan J. Mendez Time Travel: There’s No Time Like Yesterday explains a series of theories by Physicists like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein in which time is placed as part of an equation among other factors like gravitational forces and speed. The article explains under which circumstances time travel would be possible and the effects this would cause on the traveler (the human) and on the Earth and universe itself. Through the article, a series of scenarios arise and many of them have serious consequences. For example, thinking about traveling in time to the future would have better outcomes than traveling to the past yet, “getting back to our own time…may not be possible at all.” In many of the scenarios, our human body as is would not be able to handle the pressure and speed of traveling through time. And in another scenario, wormholes and black holes would affect our Earth and potentially the entire solar system. Through the lack of probability, that time travel will be a reality within the next years it is quite remarkable that the type of time traveling we have witnessed in films to an extent is possible with the technology we have today. With the creation of the internet and smartphones, we are now able to view beyond our timelines and beyond our spaces. Augmented and virtual reality create and mimic alternate worlds. As human beings, we are constantly living in the nostalgia of the past and want to change and access it. We rely on the past to wonder and create for the future we envision. Ironically we have created technology that allows us to really stay in tune with our past. Social media apps such as Snapchat and Facebook encourage us to share our memories and post them once again. Even other apps like Spotify and Netflix have a wide variety of older music, TV shows, and films. The variety and ease of access in the timelines make us able to touch upon different eras. With the knowledge 280

and technology we have, we are creating devices and the possibility of doing things we would otherwise find impossible. Not only are we now able to “travel through time” and see things that we had only heard or read about but now we can even experience it. Through Run Lola Run, we saw an approach in time travel in which the protagonist is able to change certain decisions she made in order to get the best outcome. Second Life is a video game which launched in 2003 in which people create a character in a virtual world. This game creates an alternate universe in which you create a character, whether it is based on you or not doesn’t matter. You dictate what happens, you choose your career and way of living, you are basically in existence in another dimension. Similarly, in Run Lola Run, we see her go through three different scenarios with different outcomes. She is able to change certain decisions in order to redirect her life. What if the Lola we saw wasn’t the one making the decisions what if there was a Lola changing her decisions to change the path in her life. The film Run Lola Run can be interpreted as the Second Life game in which the player is the real Lola or someone completely different. That real person is the one behind the screen making the decisions for her and when the outcome isn’t the ideal “happy ending” the game is over and they decide to restart and make different decisions until they achieved the end they wanted. Yet another film in which this idea of “restarting life” can be seen is in the film Groundhog Day in which the main character wakes up in the same town, the same place, to the same music every single day. This too seems like a game in which each new day is a new opportunity to do anything you want with no consequences. Similar to the game Second Life we see how Phil was able to learn something new about anyone he wanted to. When he decides to woo and pursue Rita he made adjustments to the way he acted around her. He figured out her favorite drink, her likes, and dislikes and ultimately used these things to his advantage in order to have a better outcome. These actions can also be compared to our current relationship with social media apps. Today people tend to make multiple accounts which they use to their benefit by either being a “different” person or staying as anonymous as possible while gathering as much information about people as possible. In Groundhog Day Phil was able to start over every day and use what he learned the previous day to his advantage. In our society today this is made possible through social media apps by being able to “start over” in the form of creating new accounts. You are now able to gather the information you want from someone’s social media accounts and you’re able to display the information you want through your own social media accounts. With social websites and mobile applications, we have like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat we are essentially capable of living a new life every day. Another way in which our current technology mimics concepts seen in time travel films is through theme park attractions. Disneyland California Adventure has a ride called “Soarin’ Around the World,” (previously called “Soarin’ over California”) during the 5-minute long ride you are “traveling” to at least 10 different landmarks all around the world. The ride not only simulates

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

the flight but the widescreen displays beautiful scenery all around the world and to make it even more realistic scents and water effects are included. The motion of the flight, the scenery of the landmarks, and the effects of the places you are visiting combined really deliver a sensation of having been there and seen those places. If time travel is also about traveling through space to different places like it was depicted in Time After Time then Virtual Reality is achieving very similar outcomes. In Time After Time Herbert George Wells, the protagonist travels not only through time but also through space. He goes from being in London in 1893 to be in San Francisco in the year 1979. In another film The Time Machine, we witness H. George Wells traveling through thousands of years while staying in the same spot in space. Though it is the same “spot” the weather changes and the conditions vary every minute. This is a direct correlation with “Soarin’ Around The World” in which physically though you are moving as part of the flying simulation you are in the same spot in space, in the room the ride is in, in Disneyland California, yet you are experiencing different conditions every minute. Just like in The Time Machine, throughout a small amount of time you have experienced more than you physically possibly could. In this sense engineers and ride, creators have been able to deliver the experience of traveling through space and time. Animatronic engineers too have developed technology that allows us to live in a different era. The Jurassic Quest Exhibition is an event that uses animatronic robots to create the experience of living among dinosaurs. We have gotten to the point that through technology we are able to witness just about everything we want. Through animatronics, engineers have been able to create a whole experience around the idea of coexisting with the past. Being able to experience life like dinosaurs is something we could have only imagined, but with this type of robotic engineering, we are now capable of creating worlds within ours. With the variety of technology, we have now we are essentially capable of traveling through time, through space, and of creating another life for us. In many of the time travel films, we encounter plot holes and paradox that had they been real would ruin human existence. Through the Grandfather Paradox, we understand that if time travel was possible there would be a complicated change of events as depicted in David Deutch and Michael Lockwood’s “The Quantum Physics of Time Travel” in which the “time traveler prevents his or her own birth,” depending on how many people use the time travel mechanism and wherein time they decide to go this would alter not only their timeline but just about everyone’s. Though we are all individuals our actions have chain reactions and are capable of much more than we think through the Chaos Theory known as the Butterfly Effect. As seen in Run Lola Run a simple change in time or action of our encounter with someone can highly alter not only the following minutes but the events that lead to their happiest moments or their downfall. With the advances in technology we are developing by addressing the smaller picture we are opening opportunities to experience time travel without directly having to deal with the actual physics of time travel and the numerous amount of problems that could result from it. In approaching other ideas within the realm of technology and the future of it, engineers and media developers have taken over several other fields of

Gender in Technology

interest and opened doors to exploring new ideas. The concept of time travel has been in the interest of humankind since the universal limitation and idea of time existed. Technology made it possible for physicists to document their theories and it played a huge role in allowing these ideas to come to life for everyone to watch and experience through films. Now technology has allowed us to experience time travel at a personal scale, at a scale in which we don’t have to deal with scenarios beyond what we can imagine. Whether future technology advancements directly address the possibility of time travel or not the fact of the matter is that just by having advancements in our current points of focus professionals are allowing different fields to deliver time travel like experiences. Works Cited/Referenced Deutsch, David, and Michael Lockwood. “The Quantum Physics of Time Travel.” Science Fiction and Philosophy, 2016, pp. 370–383., doi:10.1002/9781118922590.ch27. “How Second Life Works.” HowStuffWorks, HowStuffWorks, 8 Nov. 2007, computer. howstuffworks.com/internet/social-networking/networks/second-life.htm. Kalning, Kristin. “If Second Life Isn’t a Game, What Is It?” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 12 Mar. 2007, www.nbcnews.com/id/17538999/ns/technology_and_science-games/t/if-second-life-isnt-game-what-it/#.XHcxDZNKghs. Mendez, Bryan J. “Time Travel: There’s No Time Like Yesterday.” Time Travel. Meyer, Nicholas, director. Time after Time. 1978. Pal, George, director. The Time Machine. 1960. Ramis, Harold, et al. Groundhog Day. Columbia Pictures, 1993. “Soarin’ Around the World Review.” Disney Tourist Blog, 28 June 2016, www.disneytouristblog.com/soarin-around-world-review/. “The Largest Exhibition of Lifesize, Moving, Museum-Quality Dinosaurs in North America!” About Jurassic Quest, www.jurassicquest.com/about-us. Tykwer, Tom, director. Lola Rennt. Columbia TriStar Home Video, 2000. “Who We Are.” | Linden Lab, www.lindenlab.com/about. “What Is Chaos Theory?” Fractal Foundation, fractalfoundation.org/resources/whatis-chaos-theory/.

281

5B Liberal Arts Elective

Time Travel Film

Michael Stock

The Familiar Stranger Through the Grandfather Paradox one can interpret that if time travel were possible you could potentially meet your younger or older self and even your past or future generations. Films like Timecrimes and Coherence demonstrate scenarios in which through the act of time traveling or a time warp respectively, one encounters another version of themselves. The overall feeling of finding out the other exists isn’t one of relief or excitement but the total opposite, it’s one of anger and desire to get rid of the “other”; as if only one should exist. I would imagine that in encountering your “double” or other self you would want to converse with that person to understand how this person of existence is you but at the same time isn’t you. It should be noted that today’s generation and technology allows us to in many ways duplicate ourselves. We can alter and tailor our social media accounts to create the person we desire to be. The main difference in this situation is that there is only one person controlling the many other versions. We think we understand who we are and what our motives are but in everyone’s mind we are a different version of that idea. Yet the idea of a double goes beyond that of our social media world. Our other self is always present; in our minds. Our only “real” self is manifested through our actions. Every day we encounter situations with millions and millions of possible outcomes, what makes the one situation reality is one decision. The decisions we make along the way create different outcomes therefore we can’t assume we would be the same person we were last week or even yesterday. In the movie Coherence we see this idea visually in which infinite amount of outcomes are reality in parallel universes. The reality we were introduced to as a viewer isn’t the only one that is simultaneously occurring. Throughout the film the “main” cast we see as the “originals” becomes afraid of their other selves. The idea that we are afraid of other versions of ourselves seems quite far reached but if we begin to think about how every choice we make affects the person we are today we can understand why this would be terrifying. Imagine a point in your life in which you had to choose between good and bad; most likely you chose good, but what if you had chosen bad. What if that bad decision had no immediate consequences therefore you began to choose bad more often and so on until the person you are is no longer remotely close to that of which you wished you were. Would you be afraid of yourself then? In Coherence Mike is the first one to be determined to kill off his other self. He really understands that the other Mikes that exist out there are different to him and are the “dark versions” of him. All of the choices Mike had and from all the possible outcomes there is a Mike out there that took that option. In this case there are infinite amount of “doubles” each becoming a different person from the previous, it goes on like the game telephone with each different decision made there is a different outcome therefore the “original” version of Mike possibly does not exist in any of them. Therefore the fact that someone out there is you physically and to some extent mentally but you don’t recognize that person or understand their intentions is quite daunting.

282

A different approach to the double is taken on by Timecrimes, in this scenario the “original” isn’t necessarily afraid of his double but instead wants to eliminate him to become the only one in existence. In this film the double and the double’s double (the triple?) is the same as the original. They all think alike and make the same decisions when encountering the same situations. The true fear comes from knowing that if two or more exist and all want the same things then there just isn’t enough for each one. In this scenario all the selves are the same therefore want the same things and are willing to do anything to achieve that. Hector 1 and Hector 2 want to help out the woman in the woods and later all Hectors want to get rid of the other two Hectors in order to be the only one. Yet the question remains if only one Hector can exist in the world, who deserves this place? The Hector that we knew all along, the original? The one that is willing to kill his other two selves and the innocent woman? At this point you aren’t just in constant battle with yourself mentally but also physical with the other two people of existence that are you with the same intentions and thought process. Which is worse? The double that you know extremely well or the double that is completely different from you? In Coherence the characters are afraid of the other versions of themselves because if every choice you made resulted in another path then you would be a completely different person. When Em goes outside and begins to wander around the neighborhood peaking through the windows she gets glimpses of her other lives. Watching them isn’t a problem its when Em from a different parallel world collides with the world Em wants to be hers. Here there is a sense of ownership, the original Em feels entitled over her other self to be there because that Em has the life she’s wanted. Is it possible that all the Ems’ are yearning for something different in their lives? It makes the viewer wonder whether every Em is unhappy with where they are that each one is willing to get out of their own reality and take on a new life. This can reflect upon our society today in which we feel as if we have so many options that commiting to one isn’t enough. It reflects on us that we are selfish human beings always looking out for the best in our lives at that moment that we forget to think ahead for the future of us and others. It proves the saying of “we always want what we can’t have,” this speaks to the nature of humans to how we perceive ourselves and what we feel we are entitled to. If we each knew in advance which decision to make in order to achieve the life we want would we ever be fully satisfied? In Timecrimes when Hector first realizes there is another Hector out there he makes attempts to entrap him in the time traveling machine, to his surprise he realizes there is an additional Hector making that a total of three Hectors that all want the life “they” have. This is because they share a life, the moment the first Hector time traveled marks the beginning of the existence of the other Hectors. In this film all Hectors have the same goal to be with their wife Clara and continue on with their lives but when three Hectors and one Clara exist it’s not an easy task. It begins to bring up certain morality questions; which Hector is deserving of Clara and the life they have? The original one?

Mariajose Meza

Portfolio 2014-2019

Why is it that the “original” person has a sort of moral immunity when it comes to being deceitful and evil towards his other two selves? Is fighting yourself even a fair fight, as you can but at the same time can’t outsmart your other self. As human beings we learn right from wrong, good from bad at an early stage. It is interesting to see how our morals would change if we encounter ourselves. Every person we have encountered has a certain perception, idea, and version of us.Within each situation we are a different version of ourselves, who we are at work, school, with friends, and with family is drastically different. All those different selves are in many ways still the same you because they take on your body and mind. Multiple versions of ourselves exist already within us, it is our actions that exhibit one of the many selves. Often we hear the saying of being afraid of ourselves; this often refers to the dark side that everyone has, the thoughts that run through your head that you tell no one and that you yourself don’t consider part of you. If even the smallest of those dark thoughts were to become part of your reality it would be no wonder that you could fear yourself. If we were ever to encounter ourselves we too would have a particular perception of us, but why is it that the immediate reaction is that of hatred and strong ownership over what we have. Seeing yourself changes the morals you believe in suddenly you don’t care for that person even though that person is you! Could this idea of ownership give us an insight to humans being naturally selfish even when it comes to the lives of our other “self”. It seems like being true to yourself can only be a result of negotiating with all your other selves and coming to an agreement of the “best” solution for the “best” outcome. Overall you would fear your other self in a parallel universe because it shows you who you aren’t and you would fear the self that is identical to you because it shows you who you are.

Gender in Technology

Works Cited/ Referenced Byrkit, James Ward, director. Coherence. Oscilloscope Laboratories, 2013. Naab, Lindsay. “How Many Versions Of One Person Exist?” The Odyssey Online, 28 Aug. 2017, www.theodysseyonline.com/how-many-versions-of-oneperson-exist. “The Grandfather Paradox.” A Time Travel Website, timetravelphilosophy. net/topics/grandfather/. “The Telephone Game.” Icebreaker Ideas, 6 Apr. 2019, icebreakerideas.com/ telephone-game/. Vigalondo, Nacho, director. Timecrimes. Karbo Vantas Entertainment, 2007.

283

284

SCI-Arc 2014-2019