The Artist's Chair

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT INSPIRED CHAIR

BRIEF. AUCKLAND ART GALLERY is running a competition called: The Artist’s Chair.

The gallery has invited school design students to choose an influential artist or designer from the 20th century and design a chair for him/her. The designs selected will be manufactured as one offs and will be displayed in the exhibition, along with the students’ design work.

Specifications for the chair: •Must be functional suitable for a person to sit in it (ergonomics).

•Must include a drawer for storage.

•Must have aesthetic features showing you have been influenced by what you learned from your research into a selected artist/designer. Some functional features may also reflect this - it depends on which artist or designer you chose.

CHAIR.

WHO CAN SAY NO TO AN AMERICAN? FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT created over 1,400 designs during his life and over 500 were completed. Wright took architecture to a new level, which some still question today, have we caught up to Wright yet?

I have taken Wright’s popular & inspirational works to design, develop & present chairs that reflect his style.

Following the design processes that are scheduled to follow the NCEA assessments, I present how my designs became to be the way they are –and thus completing the third section of this assessment: The Artist’s Chair.

Noel Zheng.

BIOGRAPHY.

“

have we caught up to Wright yet?

”

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT was born in Wisconsin on June 6, 1867. Wright spent days on his uncle’s farm and years in Madison High School during the early years of his life.

However, he never graduated. At the age of 15, he began to study engineering at University of Wisconsin. It is said he was influenced by his father's playing of Bach and Beethoven and his mother giving him geometric blocks to play. Wright left Wisconsin when he was 20 to work as a draftsman in Chicago.

Wright worked for many architectural offices and experienced quarrels with other draftsmen before working directly under Louis Sullivan’s wing. Sullivan was also a major influence to the styles presented by Wright later in his life. In Chicago, he met Catherine Tobin, which soon they would move to Oak Park, Illinois and build a home for a family of 7.

After ending business with Sullivan, Wright started his own firm where he worked for five years before moving to Oak Park. He designed

and constructed a young design of a lively home –now known as Prairie House- and stayed in Oak Park for eighteen years. In 1909 he left to Germany with a woman called Mamah Borthwick Cheney.

Returning after two years in Germany to Spring Green, Wisconsin where his mother had given a portion of farmland for him –the very one he spent time on when he was young. Wright constructed Taliesin in Spring Green, and they lived there for many years.

However, in 1914, disaster struck as an insane servant murdered Cheney and six other people. The servant then burnt down Taliesin.

Many thought Wright’s career was over. But Wright proved them otherwise by reconstructing Taliesin.

today. In 1932, Wright opened up Taliesin as a ‘school’ for young architects to work alongside Wright. It was then where he designed his famous building “Falling Water”.

In the few decades after, Wright increased in knowledge and inspiration.

He drew environmental and cultural factors into his architecture and claimed that natural/ organic shapes should be the foundation of American architecture. In this time period, he designed many structures which are still infamous

Wright died on April 9, 1959 at the age of 92. He left us with his influential style and modern, contemporary thinking. He created over 1,400 designs during his life and over 500 were completed. Wright took architecture to a new level, which some still question today, have we caught up to Wright yet?

After wedding Olivanna Milanoff, they raised a child in Taliesin. However, as the climate in Wisconsin peaked and descended, it became too much for the two, now aging couple, to handle. The family moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he built Taliesin West. The comfortable climate allowed Wright to expand on his own designs to translucent ceilings, large doors and many other features that allowed home and environment to merge. He continued to construct for the last 20 years of his life.

WORK.

VISUAL REFERENCE OF ARTIST’S WORK. Wright has created over 1,400 designs, so I decided to focus only on the more well-known, unique and stylized ones.

These include: SC. JOHNSON PRAIRIE HOUSE GUGGENHEIM IMPERIAL HOTEL TALIESIN FALLING WATER

RESEARCH: VISUAL REFERENCE OF ARTIST’S WORKDRAWN BY NOEL ZHENG.

“

JAPANESE ART HAD A GREAT INFLUENCE ON MY FEELING AND THINKING.

”

-FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT.

RESEARCH: IDENTIFICATION OF THE KEY AESTHETICS AND (IF RELEVANT) FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OF THE ARTIST’S WORK. DRAWN BY NOEL ZHENG.

WORK.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE KEY AESTHETICS AND (IF RELEVANT) FUNCTIONAL FEATURES OF THE ARTIST’S WORK: UNITARIAN STYLED- due to Wright’s Unitarian up bringing, most of his buildings are furnished in this fashion. The exterior is also symmetrical.

FROEBEL BLOCKS- When Wright was young, his mother presented him the gift of blocks. This is reflected in the design of “Falling Water” and no doubt many other works.

JAPANESE STYLEDWright took an interest in

the orient styled art which became famous in 1876. He took it as inspiration to his works.

SULLIVAN- Imprinted on Wright’s perspective of architecture at a young age. He showed that architecture was a social manifestation as it was an art.

PROCESS.*

RAPID VISUALISATION –CONCEPTS FOR THE ‘ARTIST’S CHAIR’ THAT WERE INFLUENCED/ INSPIRED BY THE ARTIST’S DESIGNS.

DEVELOPMENT SKETCHES –EXPLORES MORE OPTIONS, AESTHETIC AND FUNTIONAL WISE, TO CONCLUDE IN A SUITABLE SOLUTION THAT MEETS THE BRIEF.

ORTHOGRAPHIC DRAWING –(TECHNICAL) OF FINAL SOLUTION.

PLANOMETRIC DRAWING

–(TECHNICAL)

OF FINAL SOLUTION.

PRESENTATION DRAWING

–OF PARALINE

DRAWING.

* FULL DESIGN PROCESS WILL NOT BE SHOWN IN THIS PRESENTATION/ THE DESIGN PROCESS HAS BEEN ‘EDITED’

VISUALISATION.

WHAT IS THIS? THIS SHEET OF rapid visualisations involves concepts for ‘the artist’s chair’. These show how my ideas have been influenced by what I have found out about the artist’s work.

RAPID VISUALISATION CONCEPTS OF THE ‘ARTIST’S CHAIR; DRAWN

BY NOEL ZHENG.

Development sketches explore the aesthetic, functional features and develop a suitable solution that meets the brief. This should include measurements for all parts of the chair, and components required for joints‌etc.

SKETCHES.

DEVELOPMENT SKETCH OF GUGGENHEIM INSPIRED CHAIR; DRAWN BY NOEL ZHENG.

PROJECTION.

THIRD ANGLE ORTHOGRAPHIC with sectional view of Guggenheim inspired chair. Drawing of the final solution, to a suitable scale.

All standards and conventions must be correctly applied in this drawing. Scale 1:10. Drawn by Noel Zheng.

DRAWING.

PLANOMETRIC DRAWING & RENDERING. A planometric drawing of the final solution, to a scale of 1:10 or 1:20.

I drew my design to a scale of 1:10, rendering with coloured pencils of a photocopied version.

FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT. NOEL ZHENG.