‘trial and error’ studio that architecture can be the idea is to operate in in order to generate di those expected of a ty the I Ching “Book of C Chinese divination text, for ritual and insight 1 in the modern day the standardised “good advice” i . I Ching was used in the unfamiliar - the media placement of works, tim
o is based on the belief be designed by chance . n ways that are unfamiliar different outcomes than typical design studio . Changes� is an ancient xt, originally a manual 1000-750 years BC . he text is looked to for e� in approaching a situation in the studio to create dia, processes/techniques , timeframes and so on
A0 doodle in black pen
whilst the I Ching is a usef its “good advice” requires to generate a wide range safety of drawing was at weeks for the control I had [even if my eyes wer trust for the proces became more exciting . of passages proved quickly either boring or too sm parts of a process equal works being produced in result of ‘letting go’ is some
seful tool in randomisation, es a wide range of inputs ge of possible output . the attractive in the first two ad over what I would create were closed] . as the cess grew, the work g . taking a literal reading kly to create pieces that were small to become decent ually as important as the in the final weeks . the me truly chance-driven work
week one + two drawings/ small models polystyrene flowers corrugated iron
14 28 40
palm tree
64
exhibition
78
CON
NTENTS
I Ching suggests drawing eyes closed for 13 minutes
and this time for 37 minutes
the yellow paint was an attempt to create a section with positive and negative spaces
a craft knife etching on painted ply board for 25 minutes - the beginnings of a floral theme
this sphere turned attempt at a foot took 25 hours to make, longer than anything else in this book opposite page: steps to make
1. Blow up balloons
2. Pack them tightly together in the shape you want
3. Tape/tie them all together
4. Cut small pieces of paper and dip them in a bowl of PVA glue
5. Start covering the balloons with the glued paper
6. 25 hours later you might have something that looks like this
I think it looks better cut in half
a model in five minutes with three mediums
i Ching recommended using colour in abundance in this work ‘15 minutes listening to Katy Perry’
FLOWERS
polystyrene ‘flowers’ cut with a hot wire
the next medium had to be sourced from a hardware store in less than two minutes
and the I Ching says it will be pink and yellow
CORR
RUGATED IRON
a vector image of the hanging flowers it didn’t really work but it “looks cool”
1.
1500 x 640mm corrugated iron sheet 1.
2.
1500 x 640mm corrugated iron sheet
Beat with hammer, stomp with feet 2.
3.
Beat with hammer, stomp with feet
Cut long pieces toward centre, shown here in dashed lines 3.
Cut long pieces toward centre, shown here in dashed lines
five steps to create flowers from corrugated iron .
five steps to create flowers from c
d
ward e in
4.
Pull the cut pieces outwards 4.
Pull the cut pieces outwards
from corrugated iron . scale 1:20
ers from corrugated iron . scale 1:20
5.
Continue steps 3 and 4 until desired amount of ‘petals’ achieved 5.
Continue steps 3 and 4 until desired amount of ‘petals’ achieved
the planned method of installation in the studio is that fencing wire will be looped around the unistruts that hold the building services. the wire is tied around a strong point in the flower for it to be able to hang
the hanging ‘flowers’ installed
the hanging ‘flowers’ installed
a failed vector image of the hanging flowers duplicated 20 times
ceiling
uni-strut
services duct
fencing wire
corrugated iron flowers *see instruction page
floor
Corrugated Iron ‘Flowers’ .
Flowers’ . Scale 1:20
???
collage of initial concept for a large high heel boot in the studio
the first attempt at creating a foot shape to attach to the iron ‘tower’/leg
a computer line drawing of the planned boot, sketched over beginning the idea to change it into a tree
could it be a
the initial tree idea involved creating the top from many small pieces of metal. this quickly changed to using the cutting techniques from the hanging flowers
PALM TREE
bucket concrete corrugated iron
The corrugated iron palm tree self-supports itself because the coiled panel is set into the bucket with concrete, shown in the plan view above
picture taken from above- showing the way the ‘petals’ are cut and pulled away from the centre to create the palm shape
ceiling
‘petals’
stair to mezanine
corrugated Iron panels, bashed into a circle shape
sink
bucket plaster base
‘Palm Trees’ Elevational Section . Scale 1:40
the next step would be to create colourful ‘beach loungers’ in corrugated iron, bending the material across its width rather than length
EXHIBITION
the course output was a fi the semester’s work and t determine the placement the studio . hexagrams as were duct-taped to th format and the group ha as close as possible tall / big pieces and wo sometimes had to go it was a real architectu site; installing the incorporating structure and as a team whilst letting of the space go abou
a final group exhibition of d the I Ching was used to ent of works throughout assigned from one to 64 the floor in a grid had to place their pieces e to their number . work that needed sunlight where they had to . ctural project on a real e chance-driven work nd working collaboratively ing the other 100 users bout their own work .
sketched studio plan showing location of each persons chance-allocated space
planning placement around non-moveable
of studio
pieces items
group planning placement of pieces
excerpts of the two wooden boards presented in the exhibtion
exhibition
doodle presented in the exhibition laid over a pool chair under the palm trees
“Architects can no longer afford to b moral language of orthodox Modern a are hybrid rather than ‘pure,’ compro ed rather than ‘straightforward,’ am perverse as well as impersonal, borin tional rather than ‘designed,’ accomm dundant rather than simple, vestigia ent and equivocal rather than direct over obvious unity. ..I prefer ‘both-an and sometimes gray, to black or w many levels of meaning and combin elements become readable and wo But an architecture of complexity cial obligation toward the whole: its its implications of totality. It must clusion rather than the easy unity ROBERT VENTURI
Complexity and Contradiction in A
o be intimidated by the puritanically rn architecture. I like elements which promising rather than ‘clean,’ distortambiguous rather than ‘articulated,’ oring as well as ‘interesting,’ convenommodating rather than excluding, reigial as well as innovating, inconsistect and clear. I am for messy vitality h-and’ to ‘either-or,’ black and white, r white. A valid architecture evokes mbinations of focus: its space and its workable in several ways at once. xity and contradiction has a spe: its truth must be in its totality or ust embody the difficult unity of innity of exclusion. More is not less.”
n in Architecture (The Museum of Modern Art, 1977)