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Arch 20 Learning Portfolio Spring 2016 Peter Lin
CONTENTS
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Week 1 - Dog House I
04
Week 2 - Dog House II
06
Week 2 - Cubes in Arrays
08
Week 3 - Interior Spatial Studies
10
Week 4 - Intersect & Follow Me 12 Week 5 - Piazza del Campidoglio 14 Week 6 - Malevich Construction 16 Week 9 - Folding
20
Week 13 - Home Remodeling
24
Week 15 - PhotoMatching
28
Week 17 - Final Project 30
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Dog House I
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Dog House I was my first project working with Sketchup. It's my first experience working with a 3D modeling software so there was a lot that I needed to learn about the tools available and how to think three dimensionally. The main focus for this project was about developing my basic intial ideas for a dog house and then translating it into Sketchup model using the tools we learned in class. I leveraged the intial dog house design we did in class and then did further research on other possible dog house designs before arriving at my final design. My final design is one that blends in with the natural surroundings through the neutral color theme choice and wooden materials. The house also offers a large open space environment Strengths: Utilized 3D warehouse and paintbucket to make the design more realistic and appealing Weakness: Too much time on building the model due to inefficiency with Sketchup tools -Scale of the design could better properly address the need (for dogs vs humans) Opportunities: Increase the amount of tools known and proficiency with known tools Threats: Being too conservative with the design
Dog House II
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For Dog House II, I wanted to create a new design using the new Sketchup techniques that I had learned. My design is inspired by a combination of Mission and Contemporary house styles. I also wanted to better tailor my design towards a dog. To give the feeling of modern and contemporary, I chose white colors for majority of the house with the except of the brown hip roof. The house design is dominated by mostly horizontal and vertical lines which gives it a more clean look and allowed me practice a lot with the line tool. I also extended a long walkway from the front door to add to the feeling of grandeur. Strength: House design is more three dimensional and realistic than previous iteration with the addition of more housing details and the usage of additional tools such as push/pull. Weakness: Still spending too much time on drawing the model in Sketchup due to inefficiency with tools. In addition, while designing the front house balcony pillars, I realized I need to be more careful in calculating the measurements before drawing it in Sketchup as it took my couple iterations before getting the number of pillars correct. Opportunities: Continue to improve efficiency of sketchup tools particularly leverage move and copy more effectly which will save a lot of time from having to draw the same structures repeatedly. Threats: Having an idea for a more advance design in mind but unable to create in Sketchup due to unfamiliarity with functions.
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Cubes in Arrays
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In the Cubes in Arrays study, I learned how to create arrays of the same object using move and copy and also how to properly draw objects in perspective views through foreshortening. I had previously learned how things in one and two point perspective before so I was familiar with the concept of vanishing point and foreshortening. However, it was very helpful for me to know that you can duplicate objects in Sketchup by certain intervals. I can see how this feature will be very helpful in multiple aspects of building design where repetition is required. Strength: Mastered how to use the move and copy tool to duplicate objects by intervals. Weakness: Develop a more complex form and space through duplication. Opportunities: Apply the move and copy tool whenever possible in the future to save time. Threats: Using the right calculation to know the proper intervals for duplication.
Interior Spatial Studies
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The interior spatial studies was an interesting study for me because it was a session where we focused primarily on the effect of different floor design and how to present the differences to a potential client using animation. I expanded on the floor studies that we did in class by furthering exploring the effect of different colors and patterns. For one, most the design we did in class was using straight lines so I tried exploring the effect using a curved pattern. I also wanted to see the effect if the floor was a more assymetrical design or if there was only a central design in the middle. I also learned how to use groups and components to design multiple objects at once with the same design and how to select only objects you need. Strength: Being able to generate a diverse amount of floor designs in a small amount of time. Weakness: Additional experimentation can be done through manipulation of window size, shadow, and different placements of objects. Opportunities: Need more practice with animation to know what views would communicate what message to the client. Threats: Knowning when to apply the group and components function in the future to increase efficiency.
Intersect and Follow Me
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Intersect and follow me was a very challenging study for me as it took me a while to master the tool in Sketchup. I struggled to properly set the path for the follow me function to work properly. However, after the many exercises we did in class with the staircase handrails and practicing on my own, I was able to get the tool to work better. In class we also learned about the style tool which I find it extremely useful for being able to change the background colors as well as softing the contour lines of objects. With the style tool, my model is able to look a lot more realistic and I have more control in terms of what I want to express. In terms of this week's design, I wanted to simulate a building on Mars. I achieved this by using the style tool and using 3-D warehouse to bring in a spaceship. Strength: Improved skills in intersect and follow me. Also practiced with component which is a critical skill at design on a large scale. Weakness: Can expand more on the design done in class. Opportunities: Still more practice can be done with intersect and follow me to truely be able to use it actively. Threats: Knowning when to use these new learned tools and to not avoid it when it's necessary.
Piazza del Campidoglio
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The Piazza Del Capidoglio project was my favorite project so far because of how realistic and sophisticated the final design looks. However, even though it looks complicated, the detailed instructions to building the structure made it doable. In following the instructions to create the Piazza, I realized the importance of being precise with your drawings. During the intial process of drawing the Piazza patterns, I accidently made a mistake on one of the angles involved in duplicating/rotating the petal pattern which caused my latter design to not line up properly. I also realized that there are many different ways to creating the Piazza as I had to come up with my own methods of achieving the result when I wasn't able to follow the directions. I also enjoyed importing the statue and humans from the 3-D warehouse as I was amazed at how it was able to make the model a lot more realistic. Strength: Following the instructions to creating the Piazza and coming up with alternative methods when couldn't understand the instructions. Weakness: Not spending enough time to read and understand the directions. Opportunities: Could have added more additional features to the Piazza to make it more realistic such as people performing activities, benches, etc. Threats: Resulting to more simpler and familiar tools such as line tool instead of follow me and offset which would make the process more efficient.
Malevich Construction
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The Malevich Construction study was a very unqiue project for me because I really like the Russian constructivist emphasis on the verticality. I have always been fond of skyscrapers and tall immense buildings. The project was also really interesting to me because we basically built the entire building from a 2D picture that we imported. I am fascinated by the numerous possibilities that are possible. I definitely learned a lot about all the possibilities of importing files into Sketchup to make the model more realistic. I also had a lot of practice with groups and layers. I was able to really see the benefit of these two tools in being able to select just the parts you want as well as helping you organize when you are working with numerous different parts. In terms of the design, I focused on making everything as tall and dramatic as possible. I used the original red and yellow colors while making everything else a neutral shade of gray or black. Strength: Being able to design according to the Constructivist language through the proper articulation of forms and color. Weakness: Paying more attention to proportions. When I first imported the base image, I expanded it too big so when I applied the height that was done in class, the building looked more wide than it did tall. I had to fix this by increasing the height significicantly to create the feeling of a tall vertical building. Opportunities: Further exploration of the Constructivist language to make the design more unique and realistic. Threats: Developing a design thats unified instead of looking like different parts that are thrown together. Also need to pay attention to the small details that make a building realistic such as doors and windows.
Wall Studies
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The Wall Studies project was very beneficial to me because we were doing it at the same time as the wall project in Arch 101. I was able to use rapid visualization and Sketchup modeling to see the effects of different design expressions. A lot of times the feelings that I expect my design to form isn't always what others feel about it. Being able to model it out in Sketchup helps to verify if my assumptions are true. The project also taught me how to generate ideas fast and not be persistent on any ideas. For example, there are so many possibilities one can form with each design language of puncturing, bending, extrusion, etc. This is a skill I know I must master well if I am to be successful in the design field. Strength: Generation of multiple different design concepts in a short time span. Sketchup skills are at a level where most designs can be translated in the program. Weakness: Develop better understanding of the feelings that archicture forms and expressions have on individuals. Opportunities: Continue to practice with fast idea generation and not holding on to any ideas for too long. Threats: Expand creative mindset and not be afraid to create things that may be too abstract or may be perceived negatively by others.
Folding - Paper Airplane
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I really enjoyed working on the paper airplane project because we began the project with the folding of an actual paper airplane. It's amazing to see that you can replicate what you fold in real life in Sketchup using the rotate and protractor tools even with a complicated folding pattern. The folding technique also opens up new possibilities for creating different spatial designs. In class, I also learned for the first time how to use the sandbox tool to create different terrains. This was also another eye opening learning experience because until now the terrarain that we have been working work have all been completely flat. The ability to create hills, mountains, rivers, etc add a whole new element of realism to my Sketchup models. In this project, I utilized the newly learned folding and sandbox tools to create a rugged mountain environment that surrounds the armada of paper airplanes flying through. I imported an image of the sky to use as the backdrop for the setting. The river at the base of the mountain was also created using an imported image. Strength - Using folding, sandbox, and 2D image together to create a strong setting environment. Weakness - Take more risks with the model design Opportunity - Still have a lot to learn about the full potentials of Sandbox such as color and texture to create a more realistic environment.
Folding - Lattice Pavilion
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The Lattice Pavilion was an interesting exercise to see what interesting spatial experiences can be created through repetition of simple architectural elements. In this case, I leveraged an open square shaped piece and repeated it systematically horizontally and vertically at different interval and repetitions. The result was a space that have many different interesting sections to explore and appears to be completely random but is constructured from very structured components. The open square shapes also created interesting shadows throughout the structure and invoke a sense of mystery and curiosity to the entire structure.
Folding - Lattice Pavilion 2
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On the Lattice Pavilion 2, I experimented with a folded canopy design and wanted to see the effects of having a space that had different aspects of light and dark. The openings between the canopies allow light to penerate into the space below and forms interesting shadow patterns. It's interesting to see the different spatial experiences that are formed under the canopies vs the one on the outside.
Home - Existing Condition
First Floor
Second Floor
Bedroom Perspective & Section
Living Room Perspective & Section
Living Room Perspective & Section
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Home - Proposed Layout The home remodeling project was a tedious but a very valuable experience for me. For one, measuring out all the different rooms and heights of doors, and windows helped me understand the standard measurements of these common house structures. Also, by putting my entire house in Sketchup, I could see how it makes furniture planning and housing layout a lot easier.
First Floor
Second Floor
In thinking about how to best rearrange my furniture and setup, I learned about the sun axis at my house and how I should best position my furniture to take advantage of it. For example, in my room on the second floor, I originally had my desk at the inner corner of the room which didn't receive much natural light. Moving my desk to being next to the window helped bring more natural light to my desk and saved me the need to turn on the light all the time. Understanding the sun path also made me rearrange the TV and couches in the living room to take advantaage of natural light. Also, the new position of the sofas allowed one to easily see anyone that enters the house through the stairs vs previously where the back of the couch was facing the stairs. I also learned a bit about the circulation path of my house and how to rearrange things to potentially make the place seem bigger than it actually is. For one, I discovered that there were pieces of furniture in the house that weren't frequently used such as the extra dining table in the kitchen. Taking out the extra table increases the circulation space in the dining room and kitchen.
Living Room Perspective - Proposed Layout
Kitchen & Bedroom Perspective - Proposed Layout
Photo Matching - Rin’s Galler y
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In Tadao Ando's Rin's Gallery project, I learned how to form a model in Sketchup by piecing together multiple pictures together. Photomatching allows one to bridge the gap between 2D to 3D. For the Rin's Gallery, there was enough photos of the courtyard to be able to piece the structure together fairly easily. For the portions of the structure that was not revealed in the photographs, I guessed what the structure would look like given it's surrounding structures and what the standard measurements were such as the stairs. Rin's Gallery design language using just straight lines made it easier to draw up the model in Sketchup. In turning photographs into 3D model, I was able to see how perception and distance played a role in how space is perceived to one's eye. For me, photomatching is a very valuable skill for me to learn because I have always been astonished by the photos of interesting places and architecture. Now I can create 3D models of these places and learn more about their structure and design through Sketchup's photomatching ability. The process of photomatching also helps me understand the design language behind the structure because it makes one pay attention to the length, proportions, and spacing in the structure that one would typically ignore when simply looking at the photos.
Final Project - Cabin with Loft
Exterior Perspective
Exterior Elevation
Interior Perspective
Exterior Elevation
Interior Perspective
Final Project - Cabin with Loft
Interior Perspective
Site Plan
Section
Building Plan
Section
For the final project, I wanted to bring together everything that I've learned from the semester. The house itself is inspired by Tom Kundic's Sol Duc cabin. In terms of the house details, I liked how the original structure was designed to be a low maintainenance house. The neutral metal color of the original structure really brings out the timeless feel of the building and really contrasts well with the interior warm wood color scheme. Additionally, the black color accentuates certain structural components and gives the house a modern kinda of feeling. For the environment, I used sandbox and 3D warehouse to create a dessert like paradise terrain with a lake. Human models were added to give a sense of scale to the design. I made sure the screenshot would be able to capture the relaxing feel of the place. The section cuts highlight the main structure framework of the building as well as the furniture/ appliances. In this class, I have learned a great deal about modeling and how to use a software to thinking and test different design ideas. I also learned how to use modeling software to present ideas to clients and portray things in the way that I want other people to see. The class has also taught me a lot about how to think 3 dimensionally and how to quickly generate many ideas in a short amount of time. These are all skills that will be very valuable to me as I continue my design education and pursue my career in architecture.