Topics B: PLAYING WITH (= EXPLORING) DESIGN IDEAS MENGYANYU 732107
B1. CINEMA + ARCHITECTURE Lecture notes:
- Film making = architecture making, space making - Architecture: time, space, image - Cinema: certain building, certain places
I really like the comparison between those two images. The first one is the Cabinent of Dr.Caligari from Robert Weine, another one is the ramp view form Dutch House from Rem Koolhaas. The Koolhass (based on the angles) design a dynamic ramp which is really similar to the scene from the film. The Koolhass translates the scene to the design successfully. For me, I think this comparison tells me that the similarity between film and architecture. Architecture is
Montage Theory - different following images give people different feeling and information - Spatial montage= function, (new, different meanings to the building)
more about the view, the spatial experiences; and the film is exactly
Influence For film, Narration, at different point, different information For architecture, assemble different viewpoints, bring people different feelings experiences. Best way: continuous viewpoints not separate viewpoints
way: how can I create a certain interesting view at certain viewpoint?
Method Perspective view+ Plan/ Plan + story board - Movement Journey through spaces Spatial Articulation Depth/ Volume/ Masses/ Recessed VS Protruded Spaces Scale (Sub-human/ Human / Architectural (scale)) Peripheral Vision
about the view, the visual experience. Therefore, the storyboard is a good media to help (both the designer and audience) to understand the journey which happens in a building; in the other word, the storyboard is a film about a building. Or I can design a building in a new
Different functions of building can be indicated by the shapes of the space, furniture in the space, the colour of the celling, the material of the cladding, the opening of the space‌ Therefore, when I play with those elements, I can give a new meaning of the space.
Readings
Spatial dialectics: montage and spatially organized narrative in stories without human leads / Stavros Alifragkis & François Penz -City symphonies Montage—exploiting visual analogies of form or content between adjacent clips narrative structures, make the city itself as main character of the film - Sequences arranged thematically - Montage sequence‘Contrapuntal montage’ - Artifiial landscapes - Architectural space can assume a dialectic relationship with its various cinematic reconstructions. -Spatial layout of a story Montage and Architecture /Sergei M. Eisenstein - Cinematographic montage is, too, a means to ‘link’ in one point - the screen - various elements (fragments) of a phenomenon filmed in diverse dimensions, from diverse points of view and sides. -a pictogrammatic system, hence the picto-grammatic system is cinematographic, and, by extension the culture that produced it - Only the film camera has solved the problem of doing this on a flat surface, but its undoubted ancestor in this capability is - architecture.
Reflection Those readings tell me a story about montage and the architecture. For the film, the montage is a method of editing; while in the architecture, is a method of design. This design method is really similar to the film montage, that both of them have space, time. For the architecture, the spatial experience brings people strong visual impact (similar to the film) and the film needs architecture to define and organize space which mentioned in the reading “Perspective and Architecture through the Film “In the Mood for Love“”. In the film, the architecture likes clues that notify audiences the relationships between each scene. The montage, for architecture, means composition, assembly, which can apply new formation of the architecture.
For example, the MSD façade, the assembly new building façade and old building façade gives a historical meaning to the building. For me, I think this is a good way to stimulate people to think, to imagine. For example, the Dutch House from Rem Koolhaas, use different angles of walls, ramps, and layers of space, therefore, smaller space is divided, Reading Perspective and Architecture through the Film “In the Mood for Love“/Simone Shu-Yeng Chung The photographic camera reproduces the purely optical image and therefore shows the optically true distortions, deformations, foreshortenings, etc. , whereas the eye together with our intellectual experience, supplements perceived optical phenomena by means of association and formally and spatially creates a conceptual image.
like the film scenes. The montage gives me a feeling of “extension”. That the space in the architecture not only simple three dimensional, but also push me to explore, to find. At different viewpoints, also the transfer points, gives people different information. As the lectures mentioned before, in the film, the connections between each cut points are quiet crucial. Therefore, by playing different viewpoint, (how can I connect them?) Can gives the users different information and feelings of the space.
Homework:
1.Design a faรงade based on the spaces of film[s]/filmmakers you like.
Wong Kar-Wai is my favorite filmmaker I design a faรงade of building based on his films. For me, the Hong Kong street views in his films impress me a lot, so the faรงade contains lots of advertisement board with neon lamps. In his films, lots of scenes happen on the roof-deck. Additional, long ramps are also used as meeting points.
Homework: 2. Make a short film about an architectural element.(Try to convey the spatial experience of the architectural element by your film.)
3. Design an architectural element that provides an atmosphere similar to the experiences you depicted in your film. Do not copy its form and focus on spatial experience. Use the technique of storyboarding to communicate and try to utilise the same frames and compositions as the shots of your film.
Workshop: Exercise: design a building which contains a shared space living room, 2 toilets, a storage, kitchen, and 2 bedrooms. Step1.draw bubbles diagrams to show the relationships of each functional space.
Step2. Use paper to make a physical model to show how you design the building. Can draw storyboard to illustrate the inner space So our group chooses the no.2 bubble diagrams. The reason why we choose this bubble diagram causing we thought that NO.2 can create an interesting journey. So we finalized the bubble diagrams. Then we use physical paper to make the model.
Reflection: Through this process, lots of new ideas are generated. The main difference between the physical model and the 2D plans is that the physical model stimulates us much more. in other worlds, we our group try to discuss the space on the paper, it’s really hard to capture the ideas and always stuck; everyone has their own idea, and actually we are not sure how those plans works in 3D. By contrast, the physical model gives us a sense of space in 3D and we can observe, examine how those spaces work. Furthermore, the physical model is also easy to examine the opening. We can easy make an opening on the paper then we use light to test the effect. The view point of physical model is also easy to be exploded. For example, we do each functional space as a small, Independent element. Therefore, we can locate them at different positions; then we observed which combination of view point can provide us most wonderful spatial experiences. Then, I draw some storyboard to show the viewpoints. In conclusion, the use of sketch models explores more possibility of the architecture space at different viewpoints.
B1. B2 Design Decisions Design Lecture: - a moment you choose between options - Resolving a question inherent - Selection How? 1. Attack the context
2. Suspend the judgement
3. Complexity
Appraise the situation
Delay-give yourself more time to think
1. do no reduce scopes, complexity is a good thing, show the way you are thinking
Opportunity, many options, do not limit yourself
2. assumptions, discuss with others, maybe can extend more possibility
Perspectives - the first idea, maybe not be the one
3. stop assumption
Alter you thinking
5. Search for patterns
4. Expand and concentrate
1. Identify and explain patterns for yourself?
2. broaden you field of understanding (look at other people how to do, make more possibility)
6. Deepen the themes Develop the potentials -work at different scales -discuss - same aim/different options.
1. expand your knowledge 3. Speculate and reflection (help you make decision)
7, sharpens the frames. -communicate you understand more clearly -reflections
10. Follow through Integrate those in you design ( make sure you drawing, your design match to your ideal correctly)
8. be prepared - record you journey
9, create the moment -Get expert advice (tutors) -Discuss with peers (other people’s view, from other studios) -Ascertain your assumptions (it that logical?)
Design Patten -(when you design a project, do you always start with site analysis - find precedents - design conception… while looking at other artists design process, how other people design patterns? If I reverse my mind / explore in different ways? Are there any different results ?) - Do not always do the same thinking patterns Design thinking (thinking about you design thinking.) HOW DO I REPRESENT MY DESIGN THINKING? Use themes to evaluate your designs Then, find Commonalities. HOW DO I USE MY DESIGN JOURNAL? RECORD WORDS, DIAGRAMS, EVEN VIDEO Reflection On The Record What was successful?
Readings
The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action Schön, D. A., 1983 - For since beginning to occupy myself with philosophy again, sixteen years ago, I have been forced to recognize grave mistakes in what I wrote in that first book - Technical Rationality - The practitioner's role is limited to supplying problems to the researcher and testing the theories that the scientist develops. - He or she must first frame the problem before any technique can be applied at all; and this framing is not itself a technique. (pre-test, propose problems firstly) How? Frame situation, “ back-talk”- reframe - again and again-REFINE - "reflection-in-action." The experimentation of the reflective practitioner is both research and practice at the same time -STUDYING
Reflection on reading and lecture Personally, I think journal also has lots of meanings: the journal can help me review the project and check if I on the right track. The journal can structure my thoughts through different ways: the model, the feelings, the materiality, the atmosphere; design theories; what didn’t I do and would do now…
It can also inform me what I really want to achieve. In my point, sometimes, when we do a studio through an entire semester, it easy to forget the purpose of the project. Therefore, look back at the journal; it can remind me the purpose, the design conceptions. Additionally, the journal can stimulate my mind. For me, when I start a project, I always write lots of conceptions, draw lots of forms, shapes of the design, there are no limitations at the beginning which means I have lots of unstrained ideas. So if I stuck at some point, or other project, I always pick up one of my journals, to read my ideas. Otherwise, if I want rich my design further, I can refine those ideas and apply it. It likes a process “I was inspired by myself”. In lecture, action oriented biases are mentioned. Sometimes, I might be excessive optimism or overconfidence; sometimes I overestimate my skill level. I think I need to identify things more comprehensively. For example, if I have favored belief, I might consider the evidences which trend to that belief, therefore, it narrows my thinking ideas. I need sufficient adjustment and I cannot stick on one decisions. Sometimes, a stability bias also happens, which means I prefer do the same things, I don’t want to change. This is really bad, and this action actually kills lots of new, creative idea, and my mind become lazier. As mentioned in the reading, professionals always do a refined process. Therefore, refine is a good process, like a repetition, I can learn lots of knowledge through this process. For example, when I do some precedent research, I look at other masters’ work, look how they do site analyses, why they choose locations, what they what to achieve and what the differences between their thoughts’ ways and mine. I keep asking myself, “Can I apply those methods to my project? Why?”. I can learn lots through those processes.
Workshop Attempt to create a list of 20 questions to ask yourself when you are conducting reasoning, understanding, identifying and deciding when you take on a design project.
THE MOST IMPORTANT FUNCTIONS
experience
VEGETATION
circulation
EACH FUNCTIONAL SPACE
evaluation
PEOPLE EXCEPTION
LOCATION
music
CONTEXT
films
FUNCTIONS
BUDGET
Brief What is the require?
breif
simple design
symbolization
security (for worker)
noisy
human resources
phenomena
material
NATURE LIGHT
transportation
furniture
color
PEOPLE FLOW
typography
material
material
phenomena
form
symbolization
budget
symbolization
research
readings
phenomena
social context
VIEW
people flow
efficiency
form
area
site
precedent
style
site
NATURE LANDSCAPE
Accessibility
transportation
style
space
space
research
design agenda
Conception
adv. of the site
limitation of the site
Budget
Architecture language
arrangement
Constructibility
How to build the design economically?
what is the style and form of the design?
how can we what is you de- how to inHow can site How to imstar the de- sign purpose? tegrate you benefits the prove the site? sign? ideas? design?
How to con- Is the site connect each venient to functional construct? space?
security
(building performance)
Phenomena
arrange
space
shapes
material
material
weight
form
security (for worker)
original people flow
transportation
material
PVC
nature sources
shapes
facility
rainwater
recycled recourse
symbolization
budget
inner
space
arrangement
recycled water
efficiency
phenomena
form
technology
size
facade
color
space
Air condition
Sustainable Resources
form
symbolization
site
maintain
typography
color
light
site
ventilation
material
style
phenomena
space
material
structure
Material
Experience
circulation
Tecnology
Environmental Friendly
Culture
social context
Constructibility
Facility
How do people feel in the building?
how do people access the building?
how to improve the buidling performance?
How does the building effect natural environment?
Is there any relationships between the design and local history?
What are the The quality of supporting el- the building? ement?
what is the in- what is the in- how to keep fluence on the fulence the building society ? running perfectly?
studio water example
Precedent
sketch design. documentation
site analysis finalize process
Design making process is more like a circulation process; lots of interactions happens through the process. Personally, my design thinking patten always start with the brief, i take a close look at the requirement and the do the site analysis. After that, i will decide my conception which based on the features of the site. I really like utilize the site condition; i prefer the architecture become part of the nature environment. then i do research on the precedent image.at this moment i do lots of sketch model and design. Finally, i will choose 1 or 2 and discuss with my friends or tutors. then choose 1 and develop it i think the biggest prolem of this partten is too common, i mean, too common. sometimes, i can jump out of this frame, to refresh the pattern, therefore, more creative ideas might generated or not. (maybe the masters’ thinking pattern does not work for me).
B3 What to do when stuck Lecture notes:
Never try to do or to design the best or the most beautiful, the perfect Always, try to tease out what is possible (even if it looks very strange at first), then choose. Take a Break Changing Designer’s Frame of Reference Changing Medium of Working Changing When You Work Arbitrary Exercises Arbitrary Time periods Questions might to help me to shift, to explore: What happens if you turn your site plan around 90 or 180 degrees and work away for a while? What happens if you try out a roof architecture rather than a wall architecture, a point-supported rather than a line-supported one or vice versa? What happens if you switch from plans to isometric/axonometric/oblique drawings? What happens if you switch from drawings from above to drawings from below? What happens if you shift for a time to words or diagrams rather than drawings? What happens if you try out Thesaurus Transformations of key terms in your program? What happens if you shift to physical modelling from words, diagrams, or drawings or the other way around? (What happens with half hour limits?) SHIFTING MODE OF EXPLORATION ADAMS’ LIST OF KINDS OF BLOCKS Perceptual Emotional Environmental Intellectual Expressive
Reading notes: Questions attitudes Motivate conceptualization
Curious effort
Fluency and Flexibility of Thinking attacked consciously Thinking Aids use lists as thinking Check list for new ideas. Understanding the problem Devising a plan – related problem Carrying out the Plan- check each steps Examining the solution obtained
Unconscious blockbusting
Creativity in Education NOT STAGE SURRENDER0- OVERT HIKING LET IT GO. PSYCHOLOGICAL COMFORT RESISTANCE (AGAINST NATURE) - COME OUT NATURALLY REST FOR THE MIND.
29 Ways to stay Creative 1.make lists 2NOTE BOOK 3WRITE 4. GET AWAY FROM COMPUTERS 5. QUIT BEATING YOURSELF UP 6 TAKE BREAKERS 7. SING IN THE SHOWER 8 DRINK COFFEE 9.LISTEN TO NEW MUSIC 10 BE OPEN 11 CREATIVE PEOPLE 12 FEEDBACK 13 COOPERATE 14 DON’T GIVE UP 15 PRACTICE 16. ALLOW YOURSELF TO MAKE MISTAKES 17 GO SOMETHING NEW 18 COUNT YOU R BLESSINGS 19 REST 20 TAKE RISK 21 BREAK THE RULES 22 DON’T FORCE IT 23 DICTIONARY 24 FRAME WORK 25 NO PERFECT 26 GET IDEA AND WRITE IT DOWN 27 CLEAN YOU WORKSPACE 28 HAVE FUN 29 FINISH SOMETHING
SO WHEN WE STUCK, IN OTHER WORDS WE CANNOT DO SOMETHING CREATIVE. THERE ARE 29 WAYS TO STAY CREATIVE. Part of them is take a rest, that is, make our brain idling. Some of them are interesting. For example, be open, which means that i can have a welcome attitudes for others give me suggestions or i can have other perceptive. Take risk. This point was mentioned in A1, i really like this ideas, therefore, people will out of the comfortable area, to explore more, therefore, creativity! Don’t force it . as the reading mentioned before, the ideas comes out of brain naturally. so when i stuck, i just take a rest, and then , back to the project, the creativities jump out naturally .
WORKSHOP
Design activities that help to understand amenity, poetry and technology Activity (group Amenity): Outcome: partner work Maze 10*10 grid One person Put blocks into the grid,(which can move) Another one: Then please find the efficient, fastest way to get the destination. Do this in at least 10 times. Purpose: understand the importance of accessibility in Amenity. Skill: exploring different ways to access the center with different purposes such as “what is the most efficient way to access/ reach the destination” Poetry Outcome: use a liner space; apply different sizes of opening, length of space to create different journeys. Draw storyboard with the journey, apply different viewpoints and shadows. Purpose: to understand the relationships between atmosphere and space Technology: draw a freestyle drawing within 10s and then pick up one of this element to design furniture in physical model. Advice: connect those three activates as one, which can bring a tight feeling and more interesting. The review version Design a linear space which is used for a gallery. 1.Use grids to find the location, try different routines. Please find the most efficient ways to access the gallery. 2. Apply different size of opening, length of space to create different journey, use storyboard. 3. Design furniture for this gallery, which can best to fit the styles of the atmosphere you have designed in test 2.
Advice for friends’ designing activities. I think her activities is quite good and it contain all three groups: technology, amenity, and poetry. Which I think the activities can be more complex, that give some certain routines or requirement for the shapes, plans which will become more challenge such as the furniture designed in the technology part can be fitted to the Poetry part. For example, how the furniture you design to fit the atmosphere.
Find 3 examples of who you think are the Cutting Edge of design from your Team Emphasis point of view. Explain how they have overcome their blocks. Provide evidence. Cutting edge no.1 Hao has done the studio DDF which proposed to design a sleeping pod. During the design, she said their team has lots of ideas even get a little bit lose I thought the cutting edge for her design is to find the right precedent. When they have more open mind, and browse lots of precedent images; they always share their ideas with friends and tutor, discuss and got feedback of their ideas. Finally, they back to the right track and develop quite good result. Therefore, the open mind is quiet important.
Cutting edge No.2 Robert said that when he doing the studio water. He stuck at the expression, that is, he cannot use appropriate diagram or drawing to show his idea. Although he have done quite wonderful render drawing, but it did not match his idea. So he took a rest, had a good dinner, and changed the complexity of his drawing. Therefore, the cutting edge happens after the break. As mentioned in the “Creativity in Education�, the ideas come naturally. Therefore, when we stuck, I thought take rest is one of the best ways to improve.
Cutting edge No.3 when I design a project in the studio water, I always follow what the tutor said. However, the stuck happens. Personally, I think the most important thing of get out of block is independence. Which means let brain breadths! Take a good rest, listen music or watch a film, a good sleeping. Finally, when I back to the project, lots of solutions become clearly. So when I stuck , take a rest, is the best way to keep going.