So Inspired

 So I was researching dining spaces and got a bit off track...

                                                           


These are some examples of Patrick Dougherty's works. Living spaces, that is so unbelievably awesome. This takes "tree house" to a whole new level.

And then... get a hold of your future and surroundings with this glass doorknob that gives you a glimpse of the room you are about to enter. It is designed by Hideyuki Nakayama, and I found it at design milk

Food for thought

The class watched a Danish movie, Babette’s Feast,  the other day about two sisters and their story, which is intertwined with food. In this community the people lived relatively simple lives. The portrayal of them was of their value of religion and family, and they emphasized the unimportance of earthly things, like romantic partners, extravagant materials and commodities. The sisters lived with their father until his death and both narrowly avoided romance. One overlooked her love, talent and chance for fame and glory in order to stay with her family. Their meals reflected this simple life. They had the same fish and ale bread and soup daily, a routine, like their lives. They care for their community members by providing meals for them. However, when Babette, a French refugee who lives with them, wins the lottery, and decides to provide some earthly pleasure for the women she's grown to love. They worry that this surrender to temptation will taint their purity, but decide they need to accept this act of love from Babette. She makes them an extravagant feast, giving them perhaps the most pleasurable experience either sister has experienced in life.The good food helped the church members put aside their problems with each other, enjoy life, and remember the good pastor who taught them praise. The food is a gift, an experience, a gathering and a nurturing substance. 

I miss the Spring

            

I found this at Design Milk. It's called Bike Love and I thought I'd share it with you!

Reading Response: Roman Temple

The Roman Theater at Aspendos


The Roman's first theaters were intended to be temporary, and were constructed using mainly wood. The Romans were skeptical of theaters because of religious reasons and it was later when they began to build permanent theaters, hollowed out of the land's natural curves.    

       

I find it intriguing that, despite the the distrust between the the church and the theater, both share a similar structure formation. The church employs the circle because of its reference to a holy space, but how did it come to be used in a space like this? It is probably due to the functional aspects of the set-up, like the abundant seating, good acoustics, and central focus point. I think it's am interesting link between the two different realms. 

                                                            
                                                  
Something I wasn't aware of is that the Romans could provide coverage 
to their theaters with awnings, called velaria, held in place be poles, to shield the audience from rain and harsh sunlight.

commodity, firmness, and delight in the music building

We explored circular structures at UNCG and how elements from ancient Roman architecture are apparent here today. These elements are those of commodity (function), firmness (structure and stability), and delight (aesthetics, form and surface). We roamed the campus on our Friday field trip, making stops at the MHRA building, the EUC, the library and the music building. In each was an echo of a circle that originated in the library's design. The location that continued to circulate in my mind like a song was the music building. Now let's break it down:


                                            


 Elements of Commodity:
This building is used mainly by those students studying music. The straight path and bridge lead the observer directly to the main entrance. The Inside has an inner area that leads to classrooms, practice rooms and offices. Benches outside encourage studying and the number of practice rooms pushes students to find a place here. The way that it is isolated from the rest of campus, and how one must cross a bridge to get there, insists that this is a place to get lost in and appreciate. The circles emphasize this importance, and add to the strong
sense of purpose and function.


                                                          

Elements  of Firmness:
The building's construction too is very strong. The brick is a continuity throughout campus, and with the concrete vertical stripes, the building looks almost fortified. However, the back of glass allows the light through without compromising the sturdiness of the structure.  The rings that "ripple out" of the building (as Patrick said of the rings inside the building) burrow into the ground, securing its place here.

            
                                                                                       

Elements of Delight: There are quite a few elements of delight present here, and the majority of them are incorporated into the design as circles. The entrance itself declares itself after a circle-lined bridge, with a circular structure that also dips to the ground in cement circlets. The cement circlets are continued on the ground of the music building. To the right of the entrance is a pond that is not only circular, but surrounded be stacks of stones shaped into half circles. The circles remind me of the music that is made here, the tunes looping through my mid and the somewhat circular melodies. The pond splashes melodically alongside, and seems to ripple through the entire structure. 

Natural and Artificial Intelligence in Design

The majority of this article explored the concept of natural design. According to the article, everyone can design, and I believe that to be true. However, just like other talents, like singing for example, some designers are better than others. This is either an innate ability or through training in the elements of design. The author wrote of how the design should persuade the client to love it, and go beyond the requirements and expectations the client specified. He stated that "design is exploratory" and that it is a designer job to strive to discover something new and innovative. A designer should look at a problem and find solutions from new points of view, altering their ideas as "the solution and the problem develop together." The author claims that "design is opportunistic" and delights in the evolution from function to form. They take the intellectual development of ideas and actually produce a physical reflection of it. However, design is not just one bright idea. "Design is ambiguous" and therefore designers must keep an open mind and let ideas change and evolve. Because of this uncertainty in designing, the author explicitly states that "design is risky," and never has a tangible or correct answer. Trusting one's instincts is important in design. Like a detective using his gut, a designer must weigh his possible solutions and select the one he thinks most aptly solves the problem. To help sort out these possible solutions, designers use sketching. Sketching works similar to writing in that it helps the designer sort through their thoughts and find new ways of thinking. The visual representation translates the designer's ideas for the client and builders, clarifies their ideas, and helps with the discovery process. When designing, one must consider everything from the overall concept to small details of the space. A designer must have the ability to "recall relevant knowledge" and consider both limitations and possibilities. A machine can be programmed to do a lot of things, but can it find new innovative solutions and sift through those possibilities? While programs are now available to help designers create visual representation of their ideas, I do not believe the machines will have the capability to discover these ideas on their own.

A current computer design program

Will natural design have to compete with artificial intelligence in design?

A sketch of Frank Lloyd Wright's Falling Water design

COLOR me experienced

It was color week! We learned (with crazy-expensive, silk-screened paper) about mixing colors and finding the "glow." It was like an acid trip plus the intense-ness of studio, plus kindergarten fun. Here's the result:

my color palette for the rest of the semester!

my interpretation of the seasons using only colors from my palette

my first stab at finding the "glow"

my full composition (without the palette)

I really enjoyed color week, and decided to go all out, despite a growing sickness. I wore the rainbow all week and fiended after rainbow colored foods (skittles, starburts, giant lolipops) I'll post outfit pictures later!