Learning Portfolio Youhua Jin by Youhua Giana Jin

ARCH 101

LEARNING PORTFOLIO Spring 2015 • Instructor: Jerry Lum Youhua Giana Jin

What I Have Done

＃1

＃6

＃3

＃2

＃7

＃5

＃9

＃10

Summary: These are all the iteraOons of my model. They show my learning process and

improvement from the ﬁrst model to the last. We based a Malevich inspired construcOon to design our models from 2D to 3D. We idenOﬁed forms and developed models using abstract concepts and narraOves to show and describe a visitor’s experience moving through our design.

Week 1-

ArOst: Kazimir Malevich’s Lithograph

Assessment Criteria: •  Our project for this ﬁrst week is an “Icebreaker exercise” to reinterpret Malevich’s “Supremacist ComposiOon #2” into a tectonic form. •  Finding the elements to be interpreted from 2-‐D transformed to 3-‐D form as abstracOon. •  DemonstraOng and exploring the potenOals of form and space relaOonships. •  FabricaOng a constructed design •  Maintaining structural integrity •  Maintaining an abstract and conceptual quality in construct •  Showing the demonstrated beauty.

Week 1-‐

#1 Iteration - 6 hours

SelecOng the “T” shape elements of the Malevich’s lithograph. Finding the elements to be interpreted from 2-‐D transformed to 3-‐D form as abstracOon. Maintaining abstract structural integrity and conceptual quality in construcOon. Recognizing the elements of design language. Expanding abstract systems and organizaOon. DecoraOng the frame with no real design sense. Avoiding decoraOon of the surface. Upgrading the design abstracOon. NoOng the framing design.

Week 2 -‐

Comprehension According to the textbook: There are that architecture is •  A b u i l d i n g c a n i n c o r p o r a t e o t h e r representa4onal arts like pain4ng or sculpture. •  A building can be a representa4on of an earlier

Photograph by Giana

building or a version of itself. •  Buildings or parts of buildings can represent other important objects like human beings. •  Common characteris4cs of architecture, like regularity and symmetry, represent aspects of human experience. For example, leA-‐right hands or the rhythm of breathing. •  Architecture can reﬂect the primary condi4ons

Photograph by Giana

of existence on planet Earth.

Week 2 -‐

Comprehension •  Without representaOon we find no meaning in the world. •  The ability to find meaning in the world is so natural to us. •  We are constantly interpreOng our surroundings and comparing things. We should find meaning in experience and project meaning onto experience. •  Our ability to represent, interpret, and find meaning is something we have to learn how to do like speaking a language and then we need to use this language for thinking about architecture. •  Modern architecture is equally symbolic and representaOonal of ancient buildings.

Le Centre Pompidou, Pairs. Photograph by Giana

Week 2 -‐

Drawing pracOce I used charcoal sOcks to draw the model on newsprint. These are just fast sketches. I drew several different views to compared these views with the same views in photographs to see the differences angles. This helped me to see how to form 3-‐D from 2-‐D . Also we pinned these on the wall for criOque and show the differences from the others. This is a very important part of pracOce. We shouldn’t be afraid to show our ugly ways to improve our design.

Week 2 -‐

＃2 IteraOon – 8 Hours

Draw and photograph with purpose. Improving design based on iteraOon #1. The second iteraOon should adhere to the same limitaOons and requirements of the ﬁrst.

DecoraOng the boxes on the surface. Thinking about design in an abstract vision.

Materializing a fragment of an idea and using imaginaOon to promote new acOons to unify a set of fragments.

Week 2 -‐

My assessment:

＃2 IteraOon – 8 Hours

•  Lack of imaginaOon and creaOvity and ideas conﬁned to the real building. •  IteraOon #2 doesn’t have clear design ideas to improve and form an abstract, complex, and asymmetrical concept. •  Forgegng that this was supposed to be an abstract concept. Learning from mistakes to know my weaknesses. Grasping the true intenOon of the exercise.

Week 3 –

Learning process •  Discovering Maya Lin’s narraOve of the Viet Nam Memorial to demonstrate how to write a narraOve. •  Reading this narraOve for many Omes and watching Maya Lin’s online interview, I felt that I sOll have a limited imaginaOon about how to write my narraOve. •  FrustraOon can not reduce stress. Finding inspiraOon on line or reading the magazine to promote insight. •  Worrying about not understanding everything in class. •  DigesOon takes Ome. Trying to resolve my fears and gegng rid of my negaOve emoOons. •  Talking to family and professors to reduce pressure. •  Building the conﬁdence to do a bejer job in this class. Studying very seriously.

The Viet Nam Memorial design by Maya Lin

Week 3 –

＃3 IteraOon – 8 Hours

WriOng narraOves and creaOng 3 diﬀerent spaOal places. Making a story for a wonderful journey. No meaning for my design in this model. Using tension and release to design a pajern and ajempOng to break it. Finding openings and paths to make the design interesOng. Paying ajenOon to the natural and constructed environment to give visitors a wonderful journey.

Week 4 – THE APPROACH : I have visited the De Young

museum many Omes. I never paid ajenOon to the museum’s construcOon and design before I took architecture classes. Today I brought these intenOons to a new visit. What do I think now? How did I see the museum diﬀerently than before? What about the design, did I like it or not? How does the design support the museum’s funcOon? I was so excited to saOsfy my curiosity. First, I came from the underground garage to walk to the front plaza of the De Young museum. It is a great place for people to walk around and sit down to meet friends and family. There are many trees without branches and leaves. They look like old men and are very strong because you can see their wrinkles and rough skin as they stand in the center of the plaza. It made me feel cold. When I came to the side of the plaza and faced the museum. I could see the view of the whole museum. One axis divided two parts of the plaza from the center and crossed to the museum’s entrance.

Week 4 –

APPROACH EXPERIENCE:

The main part of

structure is horizontal with a lijle bit of a curved shape and a few small windows on the top and three big glass curtain walls on the bojom. On the top to the right, the “Y” shape was twisted around by about thirty degrees. It dominates the architecture and ajracts the vision of visitors. I think this highlights the design.

Instructor Jerry’s comment: “THE LANDMARK IS TO BE SEEN FROM AFAR & IS PART OF THE APPROACH EXPERIENCE: Yes, the tower twisOng as it soars high above the museum and park is now a landmark that can be seen from afar and marks the locaOon of the de Young. It begs one to ﬁnd it, enter the museum, and ride the elevator to its observaOon plamorm. There, the curious visitor is rewarded with panoramic views of The City. Before entering the elevator, visitors are greeted by Ruth Ozawa’s beauOful wire sculptures that are lit to project even more beauOfully shadowed pajerns on the adjacent walls. Here, lighOng, forms that cast shadows, and surfaces that receive the shadows are carefully considered and placed”.

Week 4 –

THE ENTRY STATEMENT : To the len

of the entrance there are two large glass windows and there is one large glass window on the right. It shows balance and symmetry. Then, I came to the entrance that is a rectangle opening and over the top entrance is a triangle. This gives a very interesOng look.

THE ENTRY EXPERIENCE: Aner that, I

entered the courtyard past the front gate that has several sculpture stones signg on the ground. It has a small opening skylight to give a bright interior during the day that is very signiﬁcant and important with the transparency of a curtain wall form contrasOng and opening the space. It is a brainy design to lure visitors to stop and sit. The sculpture of stones design by Andy Goldsworthy

Week 4 –

The ﬁrst ﬂoor entrance

The ﬁrst ﬂoor steps

Outdoor plants

Outside plants SiNng area

THE CENTRAL LOBBY SPACE: On the first floor is a Ocket office. On the sides of the first

floor are steep and wide steps. Next to the steps is the high curtain glass wall connecOng inside and outside. It shows natural beauty on the outside. I felt that the green trees and natural stones brought new life to the design. I walked through the first floor lobby which has a very spacious, open, and high celling. Huge wood benches in the middle allow visitors to sit. From the second floor balcony you can look down and see the people are like very small cartoon toys. Two long rectangles of ceiling lights light the lobby. It feels very warm to sit down or walk around. There are also design exits in the corners that are safety.

Week 4 –

I enjoyed the painOngs and sculptures. Aner a

long walk, I came to the De Young café to sit outside to drink some coﬀee. It was a wonderful experience to enjoy the beauOful garden view and architectural design. The asymmetric shape of crossbeams are connected to each building on top of the ceiling. When visitors sit down to enjoy their drinks they meanwhile enjoy amazing and remarkable architecture and sculptures. I am sure that this ajracted my eyes. Signg and watching the peaceful garden was enjoyable. Several sculptures are spread around the garden. This reinforced my energy，

Week 4 –

discovered a mysterious Skyspace that has an incredible design. I love that place. The Skyspace is very secluded so you have to cross a path in front of the garden to ﬁnd the direcOon to get into a circular shape with a circular opening skylight. The outside of the circular space was built with a high circular wall and painted a beauOful Tuscan color. When I walked there I felt very calm. It was like I had gone to the moon. In the modern society, we need to ﬁnd some places like the Skyspace to appease our mental anxiety and stress.

Week 4 –

# 5 IteraOon – 6 Hours

Developing the narraOve to design. UOlizing design principles, methods and techniques to develop a complete design process. I can not grasp the purpose of the design, I do not have a completed narraOve process to support my design. Extending the design space, the direcOon of rotaOon can be considered to change the volume of the shape. Deﬁnite increase in the level and creaOon of three spaces. Thinking out of a small space.

Week 4 –

#1 Narra>ve: The main construcOon of

my model has a front entrance that faces south. The front of the entrance shape is rectangular and three Omes higher than human scale. Both of the sidewalls of the entrance are transparent curtain walls with columns supporOng them. Aner entering the front gate there is a lobby signg area. Perhaps I would place one big wood sculpture in the center to encourage visitors to take a break. The first floor is open with no interior walls. It has a very high ceiling to show spaciousness and magnificence in the space.

The main construcOon is connected to the secondary construcOon. The wide and steep steps of the main construcOon lead to the second floor, and a horizontal bridge connects the second floor of the main construcOon and separates the spaces. But the walls are also transparent to give a modern look and communicate with the outside view. The first floor of the secondary construcOon has a coffee shop. Signg areas are outside on either side. There are many visitors enjoying the outdoor seaOng. Indoors and outdoors interact with each other. Daylight coming through the main construcOon is reflected by the north side. The back on the north side has two exits that give safety and funcOonality.

Week 5 –

#6 IteraOon – 10 Hours

8 7 Showing #6 Itera4on from diﬀerent angles

Week 5 –

#6 IteraOon – 10 Hours

Reﬂec>on： When I designed IteraOon 6, I really didn’t like my design for IteraOon 5. So on

the basis of the "T” and to complete changing structure, I created a more complex structure, extending the verOcal height and create diﬀerent spaces. This is a step forward. But I sOll did not create the convergence point in space, where to go in and where to go out. The problem is that I need to improve the focus of the next step. I also considered the use of asymmetric design which results in a diﬀerent hierarchy.

Week 5 –

：

# 7 Itera4on – 5 Hours

The storyboard of climac4c

•  Our discussion focused on the climacOc place for the storyboard. •  Using a path to draw, Sketchup, or collage each transiOon, we should write notes to explain the design, and give visitors a ﬁve sense feeling. This is important for students thinking about design. •  My presentaOon was not clear about the “path” and “place” to show my storyboard of the climacOc place. •  I made mistakes because I mixed up the design and the visitors together.

Week 6 –

＃8 IteraOon – 8Hours

This week we focused on “Site” design to idenOfy at least three signiﬁcant spaces. We have to pass paths and nodes when considering our design. How do I achieve my design intenOon? So to idenOfy three sets of diverse spaOal experiences is very important. These three places should connect to each other to make our journey successful and give visitors a desire to want to come back again. During my design process, I have been used to thinking very lijle and then only aner making my model. When I do this the wrong way, my design has no heart, no meaning, and is not uniﬁed. How to connect one place to another place or walk through a room to pass to the next room? “Thinking” is a key of design. Making is based on thinking how we produce our models.

Week 7 -‐

# 9 IteraOon -‐10 Hours

Challenge: What is the skeleton of

an object, whether it is the anchor or holding capacity? Each connecOon point is criOcal. What is the logical structure of the object?

Weakness: Not being certain of the anchor or holding capacity, or the logical structure.

Improvement:

Skeletal objects have a clear framework. Made the connecOon points the object of logical thinking. Knew exactly what consOtutes skeleton. Paid more ajenOon to the details of the handmade model.

Week 7 -‐ Reﬂec>on: In class the teacher

demonstrated the architecture of the skeleton structure. He introduced the skeleton structure a n d t h e p r i n c i p l e s o f architecture. When I saw so many famous buildings using diﬀerent structures, pajerns and incredible design, it made me feel successful in my architecture and design charm. I really liked this part of the exercise. It is like a human anatomy class -‐ we n e e d t o u n d e r s t a n d t h e construcOon of our human body ﬁrst, then think about buildings.

Week 7 –

＃10 Itera4on -‐12 Hours

Challenge:

Choosing the right materials and construcOon of the frame all pasted together to solve each spaOal channel series. Making the analyOcal framework inherent in the relaOonship with the surface.

Weakness：

Arranging a Ome to improve the eﬀecOveness of the work; imagining some kind of conversion relaOonship.

Improvement:

Selected the appropriate materials to improve the visual eﬀect of the frame. Three spaces and channels created at diﬀerent levels to improve the internal details of the design. AjenOon to detail coupled with the treatment.

Week 7 – Tectonic Strength: This is the

last model I built. I solved the most diﬃcult problems to create three diﬀerent spaces. From the ground upwards, the expression of an orthogonal relaOonship of horizontal and verOcals transforms at the second level structure to build a 45 degree rotaOon which completes the base organizaOon. The expression of both the exposed frame and the addiOon of surfaces promotes this transformaOon.

＃10 Itera4on -‐12 Hours

From the beginning of this class, I felt

enormous pressure and thought about giving up. But I like architecture and design, so I chose to challenge myself and conOnue. This class presented a new conceptual way of thinking for me and a chance to explore my creaOvity. I'm a pracOcal person who is not used to focusing on imaginaOon. So I limit my creaOvity. This has been a painful process. I need to change my old way of thinking in order to complete my professional development and that is a very challenging task. I found in this class that the most important part of design is

criOque. Preparing for the class, making the models, and thinking through the design process are all related to each other. If you do not parOcipate in the discussion in class, you do not know where your weaknesses are or how to improve your design. Finding the potenOal to solve the problems, and develop design skills from experience and criOque is important. We need to use a combinaOon of art and pracOce to create bejer designs and promote our aestheOc vision.