Week 4- Take #3 Process

Brainstorm of Topic

We received the topic ‘The meeting of ocean and land’, and first went about brainstorming how we could represent this using space.

We couldn’t think of anything, so instead created a mindmap of exactly what meanings we connote between ‘land’ and ‘ocean’. By creating a more abstract notion of this meeting through their connotations, we were able to come up with a lot more in terms of ideas.

We decided to take the route of showing the meeting of ‘land’ and ‘ocean’ as a metaphor for the meeting of the known and the unknown. This led us to wanting to represent the mystery between that meeting, and the transition between the two themes.

Initial Sketches of Ideas

We initially wanted to take the route of displaying geometrical shapes around the site reminiscent of fish tanks, showing silhouettes of creatures within them that were unidentifiable.

We thought this may be too ambitious for the time frame within which to submit – we were a group made of people who missed the first class of the week. Instead, we decided to work with these designs drawn by Gwyn Jones, based on original designs by Blair George:

Research

Seeing as we had already come up with the design to be translated into sketch up, it made most sense to research into the structure of the whale bones leading into the sea. This research could then be implemented into texturing the model, or in creating an accurate shape of the arches.

Blue whale skeleton in Antarctica, on the shore at Port Lockroy, Antarctica. This skeleton is composed primarily of blue whale bones, but there are believed to be bones of other baleen whales included in the skeleton as well.

DCF 1.0

Final Images of Take #2: Plan/Section/Elevation

The following are some images from the Sketchup model, rendered using Indigo, then Photoshopped to situate them in an environment.

For a change, here are some perspective images of the site take from Twinmotion.

Twinmotion Tests

We didn’t create quite as many as required, mostly due to the lifetime it takes to export shots from twinmotion onto a USB.

Please excuse the quality, we pay $35 monthly at the cube for internet for our downloads to look like this.

Week 6- Final Take #4 Images

Class Review of Take #4 Early Images

I presented these images to a group of peers to receive feedback and suggestions on how it could be improved for final presentation.

I made note of the suggestions and feedback to apply for further improvement.

Pre-Photoshop Take #4 Rendered Images

Take #4 Absolute Final Plan/Section/Elevation/Perspective

Using the suggestions given in the feedback sessions, I Photoshopped the rendered images to situate them in an environment. I also put in some silhouettes of people using the space to indicate scale, and show that the area is designed to be an additional park setting by the gelato shop. I wanted the images to have a warmer tone to appear less lighting, so I added warmer ambient lighting. I also attempted to keep better consistency across the images to indicate that they are all the same space.

Take #4 Additional ‘Drawing’ (Trial)

I had planned to make a short twinmotion video exhibiting the rain falling on the glass roof, which was a main feature linking the design to the concept of ‘meeting between tears and the cheek.’ I didn’t like it, twinmotion didn’t register the surfaces, and I couldn’t get rid of the shutter effect on the water surface in video.

Take #4 Additional ‘Drawing’ (Final)

So I did this instead.

 

Week 5- Take #4 Process

Brainstorm of Topic

My topic of choice from the post-it notes on the window was ‘the meeting between tears and the cheek.’ I wanted to move away from what I believed to be the obvious route – making a structure based off the emotional connotation of tears, and the kind of site that would be associated with it. Instead, I tried to think of the physical meeting between tears and the cheek, considering the curving and organic shapes, the transition between creation and destruction, the movement involved, and so forth.

Research

I remember once reading about how each tear contains a unique crystalline structure which changes depending on the emotion that produced it – I believe this to be due to a reaction with the hormones which alter the structure of the tear. A photography project by Rose-Lynn Fisher entitled ‘The Topography of Tears’ shows photographs of different types of tears, which I wanted to adopt for my structure on the site.

I want to incorporate the crystalline structures of the different types of tears into sculptural shelters of sorts made from glass around the site. I found it fascinating to think how the violent, explosive nature of tears photographed in this manner emulate the forcefulness of the emotions that produce them. As such, I wanted to use similar shapes for my sculptural elements, reminiscent of a wave breaking to continue the metaphor.

References:

• Fisher, Rose-Lynn. The Topography of Tears. Museum Ostwald, Dortmund, Germany. Photograph. <http://www.rose-lynnfisher.com/tears.html&gt;.

Sketches of Ideas

Expanding on my conclusions drawn from research and the thoughts considered in my brainstorm, I experimented with ideas and sketches to consolidate my ideas.

Sketchup Modeling of Take #4

I was glad that this time I was able to make the final model so similar to the plan drawings. My confidence with SketchUp has really improved over the past few weeks, which has enabled me to realise more complex designs. It was still monstrously irritating to try and create geometry which didn’t follow axes though.

Anyhoo, I’m happy with this, although a little worried that the monochromatic colour scheme and glass is too reminiscent of ice, which wasn’t quite what I was going for. I wanted to put some warmer mood lighting in my rendered images, and possible more ambient setting and colours through Photoshopping the renders.

Rendered Images of Take #4

These are the images I’ll be printing off for peer review on Tuesday.

Week 4- Class Work and Notes

Practice Sketches of Site

This isn’t too effective as a section drawing because it lacks much impression of the interior of the building – it mostly portrays the exterior. This is in part because of the inclusion of the door which covers most of the interior, but also because I wasn’t too sure what the interior included aside from wall thickness. The scale is also a little off with the character in the foreground – He is shown as lower than ground level which implies perspective, which shouldn’t be in a section drawing. I’ll fix these aspects next time I do a section sketch, now that I have identified the mistakes.

Spatial Design Videos

‘Walking to the Pit’ shows a section-like sketch of the pathway walked down the stairs to reach the Pit lecture hall. The little figure shows the motion of walking downwards.

While at the Pit, we analysed videos of spatial designs. This involved understanding the features that made some videos better than others in giving an impression of how the space would actually be experienced: features such as keeping the view at a human eye level, not necessarily including panning or zooming of the camera, or walking through the space in a feasible path (not walking through existing objects).

The above sketches were of the different scenes within the video of the site entitled ‘Faultlines.’ I found it interesting how natural it feels to pare the drawings down to their basic composition features when you are only given 10 seconds to capture the scene.

The above sketch was a similar exercise in relation to the video of the space entitled ‘The Lonely Hall.’ The video included many pans and shots in motion, so the style I needed to use to capture it took a more fluid approach. It’s far messier and harder to interpret, but I appreciate that it gave me the ability to keep up with the video and understand my own notes later on.

TwinMotion Notes

I spent most of class playing with TwinMotion, and found it a very easy software to utilise with a simple interface – I made a video of a SketchUp scene where it was snowing underwater within 20 minutes, so I feel very confident with it. I didn’t take too many notes on how to use TwinMotion because I didn’t feel I needed it.

Week 3- Take #2 Process

Brainstorm of Topic

My topic was the meeting of thoughts and the brain. I wanted to take a more emotive approach to the work rather than a scientific one, since my group’s take #1 drew inspiration from the double helix structure of DNA. My brainstorm reflects the process of inspiration, and how I could structurally represent the connections of thoughts in space.

Initial Sketches of Ideas

These sketches were generated with more of a sculptural consideration than an architectural one. The structure is impossible in that it wouldn’t be able to practically support itself in the way I have designed it, although I didn’t want feasibility to limit what I would be able to design seeing as it’s not required. I aimed for the space to be experienced in a similar way to visiting an art gallery, only the space is the main feature of the work as opposed to what it houses. This will allow me to explore the theme of light manipulation within the space freely.

The theme surrounding my work on take #2 is the idea of thoughts building on one another, translated into  structures of different shape, materials and context connected by varying distances. The distances and methods of connecting these structures reflect how some ideas feel distantly or weakly connected – represented by structures such as a ladder – or merge into one form.

I worry about how I will be able to create this using sketchup, but again, I didn’t want that to be a limitation in my thought process. Being confident in Photoshop means I’m not all too worried about it.

Research

My research in the Massey Library led me to find 2 books looking into architecture and the mind:

The first book, Chambers for a Memory Palace by Donlyn Lyndon and Charles W. Moore, was a particularly good resource for challenging the limits of architecture in order to create a space which represents the possibilities within the thought process. The many sketches of real and imagined spaces was interesting in showing the conception process for their creation.

The below images were less useful for my research specifically for take #2, I just really appreciated the simplicity of the sketching style in capturing the sense of the depicted spaces. The sketches follow a very similar en plein air approach to our outing to Te Papa, and I was extremely taken with how very few lines and low precision can so brilliantly convey atmosphere.

Developmental Sketches of Take #2

Considering the design ideas presented in my research, I did some sketches to develop my ideas further and work out fine points of elements I wanted to include.

Sketchup Modeling of Take #2

I attempted to create a model based on the sketch I did in my developmental stages of design. I quickly realised that the design was far too ambitious, was taking me far longer than it needed to, and looked messy when visualised in 3D.

Final Images of Take #2

I decided to simplify what I was working with, and focus on rearranging the elements that I liked within the model. The tree and its positioning within the building was an element I decided to focus on within the model, which was then rendered using Indigo. I then put them through Photoshop to situate them in an environment, add people for scale, and add some contrast to the images. The following exhibits elevation, 3 perspectives, plan and section drawings of my work, respectively:

Week 3- Class Work and Notes

Straight Line Drawing Practice

I feel like I’m slowly improving on this front – particularly looking back at my drawing practice from Week 1.

Class Sketches

I could have sown more layering of the different textures and materials in the ground and water separation. I feel that would have made the drawing look more like a section study and less like perspective.

Indigo Software Notes

Week 2- Class Work

Line Drawing Practice & Warm-up Sketches

Notes on Plans, Sections, Perspective and Elevation

I feel I have really grasped the differences between plan, section, perspective and elevation drawings. It still feels unnatural putting shadows in the place of perspective in the majority of my sketches to indicate depth, although I’m sure I’ll become used to it soon enough. In order to compensate for the lack of the perspective, I recognise that I need to become more bold with my use of shadow and the differences between lines to indicate depth instead.

Sketch-Up Software Notes

The following shows my notes on hotkeys and things to remember while using software, based on the 30 minute video on the Spatial Design blog, and from the in-class presentation.