INTENSIVE DESIGN STUDIO This studio is all about exploring the unknown... It is all about creating something unexpected... This intensive design process forced us to constantly make things using a lot of different mediums in a very short amount of time. It forced us to create without thinking too much. It is about undoing what we have learnt and learning to do things a different way. This allows us to create something different...something unexpected. By using randomisation techniques, our creations become unpredicted and surprisingly interesting. Can architecture be built by chance? This is the real question. This book will show you my result... You are free to draw your own conclusion...
DOODLE
We were asked to draw a doodle on an A1 sheet of paper. Mixed media: pen, watercolour, collage.
DOODLE COMPOSITION 1 We had to create a series of compositions inspired by the first doodle. Tranforming, changing, manipulating, in order to produce different imaginary worlds. The idea was to allow our creativity to flow freely... There was no right or wrong... It was about, spontaneity, discovery, exploration, but most of all, it was about having fun and enjoying the journey!
COMPOSITION 2 I EXPERIMENTED WITH PAINT SPLATTERS ON A PLASTIC SHEET. THIS WAS MY SECOND DOODLE COMPOSITION. IT WAS A RAPIDLY MADE PIECE OF WORK. IT TOOK ABOUT THIRTY MINUTES TO CREATE. I EMBRACED THE UNKNOWN AND DOING THINGS WITHOUT EXPECTING ANY PARTICULAR RESULTS.
COMPOSITION 3
COMPOSITION
4
I CHING We were told to use I Ching, the book of change, to make decisions. The exercise was to make six different ‘things’. They were not supposed to be drawings of anything in particular. They had to become whatever they turned out to be. The reason for using I Ching was to make sure everything and every decision was made randomly. When we wondered something such as what medium will I be using or what type of paper will I choose... then we asked I Ching and listened carefully to the answer before interpreting it our way. It was again about doing things without making any conscious decisions. It is about enjoying it, being bored by it, understanding it, not understanding it, loving it and hating it all at the same time.
THE CLINGING, FIRE:
Cling to the power of higher truth.
This hexagram signals THE CREATIVE: power of the universe
a time when the is available to you if you are alert to the creative.
COLORFUL, VIBRANT, ALIVE, BOLD....
YOUTHFUL FOLLY:
Even the foolish can attain wisdom by modestly following the Sage.
PROGRESS
THERE WILL BE GREAT GAINS NOW
T H E H I G H
YOU PROGRESS LIKE THE RISING SUN. THE BRIGHTER YOUR VIRTUE R Y O U R I S E
THE IMAGE OF THIS HEXAGRAM IS THAT OF THE SUN RISING OVER THE EARTH
T H
THE FURTHER IT MOVES AWAY FROM DARKNESS H I G H E R T H E S U N R I S E S
Good approaches the superior person
A P P R O A C H
T H E J O Y O U S L A K E True joy is experienced by those who are strong within and gentle without
AND A SURPRISE HAPPENED...
P E A C E
THE CREATION OF A GRID The previous 2D composition was the most significant one. I was inspired by the grid and the regular pattern of white spots of paint which reminded me holes of some sort. This drawing reminded me a plan, and those holes could have be columns. Then I decided to create a 3D object representing this drawing. I asked my friend I Ching for what material to use and after interpreting his answer, I decided plaster was the medium of choice. So to represent this “plan�, I made a square mould for the plaster in which I embedded plastic straws. This piece became the beginning of a very unexpected and interesting journey... ... with many surprises to come...
I was INSPIRED by my last composition, and I started having LOTS OF IDEAS about making PLASTER PIECES...
I did not know what I was creating, but what I knew, is that I WANTED TO KEEP MAKING those “things”...
PROCESS... I decided to create a series of plaster “blocks” made to a certain size so those blocks would fit next to each other. I could pile them, I could “build” something with them... I did not know exactly where I was going with this but I knew I had to make lots of them. So I started a production line. I made moulds and I started pouring lotsof plaster, one after the other, until I had a collection of colorful plaster bricks.
SECTION 1:1
PLASTIC BOTTLES
PLASTIC BAGS
POLYSTYRENE
PAINT
PING-PONG BALLS
CHOPSTICKS Many different types of materials were used in the making of those bricks. I tried to find materials from the most unusual places. Everywhere I went, I tried to collect random objects that I could put into my plaster...
CLAY
CREATING ARCHITECTURE
MAKING OF A CITY What if those bricks are becoming 1:500 model of a city scape.
VIEW FROM ABOVE Those plaster blocks are becoming much more. They are part of the lanscape, they are shaping the city. They are creating a very rich urban fabric...
MAKING OF A BUILDING What if those bricks are becoming 1:200 model of a multi-storey building.
ARCHITECTURAL FORM Also they can be used at different scale, creating different shapes, and architectural forms. They can be use in the initial phase of design, when developing concept ideas.
USING THE BRICKS AS BUILDING MATERIAL What if they are used as 1:1 objects in building constructions.
ROOFING MATERIAL
This brick become a 1:200 model of a ceiling treatment for this commercial building.
CAN ARCHITECTURE BE BUILT BY CHANCE? YES, IT CAN.