By Steven Peralta ARCH 101 – FALL 2012 MIDTERM
Objective: •
Design and construct an artifact that represents the most significant aspects and qualities of you and abstractly communicates this to others
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Find objects or images of inspiration that portray your qualities, then identify the aspects that convey those qualities
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“Architecture is Sculptural Biography.”
Requirements: •
Visually and abstractly communicate significant qualities and aspects of you
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Creation must fit inside a shoebox
Beginning: Brainstorming •
Central Qualities: Musical, warm, natural, and organized
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Inspiration: Wood knots, curvature of stringed instruments,
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Guide Question: “When is symmetry vs. asymmetry appropriate?”
Result: Primitive structural
ideas and concepts Central Theme: Wood knot with parallel lines to simulate strings of an instrument
Iteration # 1 Insights Issues: Closed, has a base, no
clear message, lack of a clear design language, refine the craftsmanship Positive Results: Portrays
wooden knots and some of the central qualities The lines and shapes were intended to portray a guitar with the lines representing strings while at the same time the slope imitated that of a piano thus signifying musicality.
Comments:
Design language: Repetition of four
parallel lines, two curvilinear shapes portraying the curves of stringed instruments, hole in one form to create a sense of unity with inside and outside Qualities Intended: Musical,
organized, warm, and natural
Calculations and Blueprints •
Exaggeration of elements to create clear contrast
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More precise intervals to improve craftsmanship and clear pattern
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Exploration of ways to further exaggerate the unification of inside with outside
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Beginning the use of the concept of assembly of many individual pieces
Iteration # 2 Insights Issues: Still not open, no clear message Positive Results: Exaggeration
emphasizes the difference between each element, achieved more unity between inside and outside, retained central theme and concepts Design Language: Sloped surfaces,
linear movement and direction, five parallel lines, hole in both top and bottom surfaces with extruded shapes penetrating through holes
Comments: The addition of one more
line represents the five lines in a staff of music and the central curvilinear shape represents both a note on the staff paper while also again portraying a musical instrument passing along the organized lines of the music. The alterations in the design resulted in a reduction of the central qualities from five to three. Qualities Intended: Musical, warm,
natural
Exploration to Create an Open Form • Inventory taken of each individual
element • Playing and adjusting original shape to
produce a similar yet more open piece
Left, second inventory of new
shapes and comparing edges of each linear shape
Iteration # 3 Insights
Issues: Lost original pattern of parallel repetition, more artistic than architectural design due to lack of a discernible language and/or patterns
Positive Results: Achieved goal of creating a more open construction, introduced a new type of conversation between elements (slotting and overlap)
Design Language: Linear elements slotted around the central curvilinear form combining the two in intimate conversations
Comments: The design strayed away from the predictable pattern but resulted in a creation that did not have enough predictability to tell a message.
Qualities Intended: Musical, warm, natural
Challenge: Incorporate the best of both the last iteration and this current one
Further Exploration With Inventory of Elements •
Effort to attempt a combination of the parallel line pattern with organic and curvilinear shape
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Separated individual elements of the best qualities from the previous iterations
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Combined the two with overlaying technique to form the image on the right
The sketch above displays the successful attempt to both combine the two elements and create a new concept.
Iteration # 4 Insights
Issues: Not three-dimensional in overall design and direction, less skill of craft
Positive Results: Achieved the objective to create a combination of the best ideas of past iterations, simulated movement with extruded lines, slotted connections to create conversations between elements
Design Language: Slotting of the linear pieces creates conversations with the central curvilinear piece maintaining the original concept of musicality
Comments: When combining ideas of the curvilinear and linear elements, to create variation and cut down the predictability, the linear pattern was tilted to eliminate the symmetry and create more mystery. Qualities Intended: Musical, organized, natural
Iteration # 5 Insights
Issues: More artistic than architectural, edges appear to have been neglected, most shapes are the same size thus deleting the hierarchy and order
Positive Results: Achieved a more open design,
elements to add variation to the pattern created by
explored a different way to assemble elements together, explored the concept of voids rather
the repetition of voids
than solids
Comments: The initial objective in this iteration
was to create a more open design. That objective
Design Language: Each large piece is repeated
was achieved by eliminating the concept of a “core”. However, it neglected to retain enough
four times and interlocked to show the unity and is constructed using the Golden Section, the
pattern and familiarity thus resulting in a more artistic, rather than architectural, design.
smaller curvilinear object is at half-scale in
relation to the repeated larger
Qualities Intended: Musical, warm
Iteration # 6 Snapshot and overlay variant •
Issues: Less clear on dimensions and perceptions, lack of orthographic projections
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Positive Results: Quicker and more efficient design process, easier to play with ideas before committing to the construction of the new edition
Design Language: repetition involving the Golden Section, pattern of voidspace-void-space with the other end varying into a combination of the two Comments: This assignment was to take a snapshot and create a new iteration as a drawing. It provided both ease and difficulty by being more time efficient while lacking clarity due to my lack of orthographic projections.
Orthographic Exploration •
Utilization of orthographic projections to make up for the last iteration that only used perspective drawings
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Established patters of midpoint intersections and a series of oblique to right angle and back to oblique
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Below, further separation of key element to explore new possibilities from old concepts
Continued use of the Golden Section to provide a measure of scale and proportion to the patterns and concepts Multi-colored diagramming of the design with center lines showing the precisely measured midpoint intersections of each plane
Critical Question: Does the design of my connections impact the range of discoveries outside of what are initially envisioned?
Iteration # 7 Insights Issues: Sacrificed order for the sense of
being more open, message is unclear, craftsmanship is lower quality than the
last iteration Positive Results: Orthographic
projections made it easier to create multiple layers and complexities with patterns and shapes Design Language: Constant angle change,
series of planes with voids in center
ending with a solid plane creating variation
Comments: The separation of the central
curvilinear form provided a great opportunity to derive more elements from pre-existing ones. The angular pattern
(obtuse-right-obtuse) created a greater complexity giving order to an artistic design without resulting in arbitrarily constructed designs. Quality Intended: Musical
Introduction to Frame and Sectioning •
Explored the musical quality further by examining patterns within music resulting in the sound wave frequency
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Combined both the transverse and longitudinal sound wave qualities to create repetition and thus sectioning
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Added a central line to provide a rib-like structure combining the frame with sectioning
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Critical Question: When does a line become a plane?
Iteration # 8 Insights
Issues: Two-dimensional, predictable, does not fully portray a frame, poor craftsmanship
Positive Results: Portrayed the sound wave with sectioning patterns on all four sides, well thought out scale to use the same shape with different sides to achieve a higher complexity
Design Language: each rectangular element is attached to the “backbone” of the design creating a mother figure the many pieces are branching from, refinement to just one quality
Comments: The focus on sectioning and the representation of the sound wave neglected the frame portion of the design and resulted in a rather bland and boring piece yet still retaining some value and complexity. Quality Intended: Musical
Iteration # 9 Insights
Issues: Predictable, too simple, too symmetrical
Comments: This iteration was another
Positive Results: Refined sectioning
exploration experiment to see what can
approach, deleted the problem of sides
be achieved with sectioning. It also proved to be a great learning experience to utilize both the negative and positive
space created by cutting one shape out
Design Language: Backbone supports
of a surface, as understood in the next
each circular plane using the property of
iteration.
sectioning creating an implied surface
Quality Intended: Musical
Brainstorming Results in New Form •
Attempted to combine the curvilinear form of the first iterations with the new sectioning approach
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Focused on a triangular shape derived from the lid of a piano
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Experimentation with lighting effects by making spacers of incomplete circles to separate the planes creating multiple entryways of light
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Critical Question: What are the transformation options related to torqueing/ rotation?
Iteration # 10 Insights
Issues: Unclear changes in size of inner spacers, not fully accurate intervals of sectioning,
Positive Results: Established greater complexity with design personalities and “body parts”
Design Language: Torqueing of the outer shell creates a sense of tension, holes in each plane relates to the spacer between the current and next plane in the series, backbone is transformed into another part of the design
Comments: This idea was derived from the negative cut out from the previous iteration and used to create a whole new effect. Also the transformation of the spacers, from simply a spacer to another character in this story, multiplies the complexity of the whole design, making it more interesting and mysterious. Here the focus quality is portrayed with a melody being represented in the center and the outside edges being harmonizing chords of the song.
Quality Intended: Musical
Iteration # 11 Insights
core spacers are exaggerated in their Issues: Outer rectangular form is proportional size to each other thus too predictable suggesting the cyclone-like shape in the center (bottom right-hand corner Positive Results: Achieved the sketch) exaggerated internal form portrayed by the sketch at bottom right-hand corner, expanded complexity of previous iteration by having only part of the pattern rotate while the other half essentially stays still
Design Language: Outer rectangular form creates a noticeable contrast between it and the interior backbone design, inner
Comments: This iteration was a great success in addressing all the previous issues and exaggerating the important concepts. However, the great attention to prior issues neglected the rather boring shell.
Intersecting and Rotating Patterns • Exploration with intersecting
pathways and morphing sections • Used a simpler design to focus
more on the technicalities of how to intersect and how to possibly rotate or bend the axis
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Critical Question: How can I morph the original shape to create a transformation effect?
Iteration # 12 Insights
other, bend in axis creates a sense of Issues: Predictable design, awe and mystery as it goes from getting close to being familiar boring stagnant section to taking a objects, morph was not as “dive” significant as it could have been
Positive Results: Achieved the challenge of bending the central axis to create the variation, also achieved the challenge of morphing from one shape to another
Design Language: The two spines create the sense of strength and support by connecting the sectioned pieces at two points relative to each
Comments: The design process is taking a productive turn in the complexity department by adding the twist at the end, the “dive”. This creates tension and possibly a climax if exaggerated more. This iteration strayed from the central focus quality yet still stayed under the umbrella by using modulation to represent the rhythm or the beat of the song, changing in the “bridge”.
Combination of Previous Designs •
Combined the previous rectangular form with the newer “climax” concept
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Experimentation with new variations in the interior spacing as well
Critical Question: What
are the transformation options related to adding and subtraction?
Iteration # 13 Insights Issues: Climax does not resolve Comments: This iteration took
creating tension
the idea of a song much further creating more obvious
Positive Results: Explored
differences between the central
while constructing this
“melody” inside the
iteration resulted in greater
harmonizing
and greater complexity as the
edges and
design evolved, none of the
corners, or the
planes are the same but they
“chords” of the
are all related and similar to
song, again
one another, retention of the
resulting in the
climax (“dive”)
bridge.
Iteration # 13 Insights (continued)
Design Language:
Used subtractive method to make biased cuts along each suggested corner creating a constant morphing on each edge from line to surface
At the more rectilinear end, the first set of five planes only one corner is biased cut changing to the next set of six planes which consists of two corners cut biased rotating and parallel to each other relative to the center point of each plane
Final set of five planes transforms the theme entirely by rotating on one corner instead of an edge, “diving” and bending the central axis, and morphing the rectilinear shape into a curvilinear semicircle producing a climax
Expansion on All Past Work •
Exploration with combining all work including the first few iterations to the last design prior to this
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Used morph concept to transform the shell of the latest iteration with the form of the
previous one (iteration #3-7) •
Introduced a new complexity to the design by turning it into a story experience
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Achieved this feat by making one end with two holes instead of one measured precisely with the distance between a human’s two eyes then tapering to the axial interior creating the
illusion that there is only one path when there is actually two combining into one
Final Iteration (#14) Insights Results:
suggest the beginning of a story or Multiplied the complexity a lot experience, then uses a constant more with the addition of the algorithmic change in the planes as morph at the end of the path or they rotate creating a dynamic and “story” exciting movement leading into the climax of the transformation and successfully achieved the unity resolving in the curvilinear form at of all significant points from all the end iterations leading to this one
Created a guided experience by constructing eye pieces to gaze into (showed on next page)
Fixed unresolved “bridge”
Design Language: Uses the illusion of the natural phenomenon of human eyes creating a central focus point to
Comments: This last iteration combined the ideas behind the “song” and the new challenge to turn it into a story. This is suggested by the guidance the viewer experiences by the “light at the end of the tunnel” which is also represented in songs. The unification of all the iterations also provided for a nice resolve.
Final Iteration (#14) (Continued) •
When the viewer gazes into the eye pieces
depicted left, they see the image at the bottom right •
Eye pieces precisely measured to effectively taper at the same rate at the human eyes
The journey is created by the progression of each circular interval and the lighting provides the sense of a “light-at-the-endof-the-tunnel” thus guiding and suggesting the viewer to travel or look in that direction leaving them to wonder “what is at that end?”
At the beginning of the semester, I started out thinking this class be challenging due to feedback from my peers. However, I never thought of it being this arduous and rigorous to the extent of diving me into the unknown and knocking me off balance. To roll with the challenges, I took it upon myself to hold a friendly competition with myself, trying to top my last iteration with something more substantial and complex. I absorbed as much information and inspirations possible from my classmates’ iterations, vocabulary uttered by the professor, and especially my surroundings, always honing on the focus qualities. I eventually worked out an algorithmic science to my creations, constantly evolving and responding to critiques and my own ambitions. As the semester flew by, I started looking forward to critiques and building excitement at the thought of seeing the plethora of new creations migrating into the classroom. I examined qualities of other work, taking the time to identify the elementary factors that fascinate me and then seeing how I can transform those ideas to inspire facets of my next iterations. This friendly competition with myself morphed into a competitive drive to seek out more ways to improve and expand the limitations of both my creativity and my creations. I developed a more clear design language as well as a method to these abstract concepts and their assembly. All in all, after a long and rigorous attempt at refinement, the result was a success in both clarity of my design language as well as creating a narrative with each part of each iteration and a greater inventory of tools and methods to multiply complexity and proficiency. I believe this process proved that quality is not always greater than quality but quantity always leads to quality.