Jordan Cho ARCH 101 Learning Portfolio Spring 2013
1st week – Ice Breaker Iterations
Super Saturated Solution: Fully immersing yourself into architecture and all it has to offer. This one phrase was the inspiration for me to fully divulge into architecture and how it relates to my every day life and It really amplified the quality of my work.
Adverb Algorithm: I am deceptively complex, simply wholesome, and creatively entertaining.
Basic design elements: space, form, order, etc. we examined each and how we could apply it to our 1st iterations.
1st iteration ď ľ
My first iteration for my algorithm project was just a simple paper cube built out of just paper and tape, and Inside I drew pictures that described me and my interests. I then constructed the cube so that there are openings for the viewer to look through and discover these drawings, it described me in a nutshell. I am simple on the outside just like a cube, however when you divulge into who I really am im a plethora of different emotions and experiences.
2nd iteration ď ľ
My second iteration I realized the importance of materials, balance, complexity, rhythm, organization, and construction techniques.
ď ľ
I incorporated all of these into my second iteration and constructed it with a more rigid cardboard material and then covered it with paper to hide the constructed edges and glue marks. I also added a light well to represent the creatively entertaining aspect of my personality, and instead of drawings on the inside I created these wooden pegs that differ in increasing size to add rhythm, organization, and complexity to my iteration.
3rd iteration
With my 3rd and final iteration I learned how to conceptualize and really hone in on what I wanted this project to look like. I learned about hierarchys, complexity, how to transform my form and space contextually and expressively through metaphors that I related to the four tiers of my piece, I also learned how to smoothly transition my spaces within my iteration and how to take the viewer on a journey.
With my 3rd and final iteration, I took out two of the walls and constructed them with repeating vertical sticks, then I cut out the roof into 4 different rectangles, one with and L bend, and attached them through the sticks that made up the wall to allow each of the 4 spaces different depth and hierarchy, and I also kept the light well. With each of my iterations I'm even more inspired to play with light and shadow, I think that’s one of the main elements with my design process is how I can incorporate those precious values and I think with my iterations I was successful in doing so.
2nd Week – Kit of Parts
With this assignment I felt really confused on what to do which exemplified the importance of carefully reading the problem and understanding it. The confusion lied in wether or not we were supposed to build a new iteration or wether to do the kit of parts on sketchup or physically through drawings and a new iteration piece which I ended up doing.
My kit of parts was a hand drawn piece that had each part of my last iteration drawn. This taught me the importance of organization and labeling because if I didn’t label each part, I would’ve gotten confused on which piece is which. This information and design process I learned was critical in examining different elements of my piece and reconstructing them into a whole new iteration.
3rd week - Narrative ď ľ
The narrative really confused me because I thought I was describing my work and what ive learned, when what we were supposed to do was examine our work and create a metaphor that told a story and guided our viewers through our design processes. The narrative taught me how to really examine the expressive qualities of my work and to discover what about these qualities that really intrigue me. With the narrative I also realized how important metaphors are in forming a design hypothesis, and really giving the piece its own story so that its easier read for the viewers what my intentions were. For example I used a music metaphor to justify my organizational hierarchy.
Week 4 – Proportional Studies
Studying proportions really enhanced my design attitude and philosophy. It added breadth to my design knowledge and stepped up my design game, it taught me the use of a-symmetry and how I could apply it to make my design even more interesting, curvilinear vs. linear, and how to correctly proportion my spaces so that they’re aesthetically pleasing. With the proportional studies I discovered that these proportions and design concepts are all related and found in everyday life and my environment. I was able to connect architecture with the outside world and with my past life experiences.
Week 5 & 6 - Space ď ľ
With weeks 5 & 6 we really explored the spatial possibilities by examining base planes, vertical planes, horizontal planes, elevated and depressed planes, overhead planes, parallel and u planes, open and full closure, and lshaped linear planes. All of these spatial possibilities were explored by creating matrix tables which I learned is one of the most useful design tools there is. With the matrix table you can explore all possibilities of design. The reason I think we had to learn this was to apply it to our design iterations and also our design processes. I think what I gained from this exercise is the greater ability to pick out possibilities that I favored and use it for my projects.
Week 7 – Truth, Nature, and Surfaces
For this week we examined the truthfulness found within architecture, wether or not to design to resemble nature, or to design with nature. I believe this is an important quality to study because with our coming generation, green architecture and construction is more important than ever. Studying this also is important because it can increase your understanding of environment and how you can incorporate that into your design and project.
Knowing your site and the building environment is crucial because it help defines your project. You wouldn’t build and open and spacious building with a lot of windows and skylights in an environment below freezing, nor would you build a cozy warm space in the desert. Knowing your land forms can also shape your project as well, wether or not your project is on a cliff, mountain, or next to a river, it can change the aspect of your project.
We also studied frames and frame expression. The concept of “bare bones” being able to construct a building just with frame expression to highlight the projects expressive qualities without worrying about surfaces. Bare bones allows us to examine our structures down to their essence. Constructing with the bare bones technique also taught me the importance of craft, construction techniques, and time and management. All these were important because when your building with just sticks, you need a lot of patience, time management, and construction techniques to make sure your project is sturdy and well built. These construction techniques play an important role full scaled because if it cant be literally built, then how would you build it in real life? You cant build a bulding that defies gravity for instance, it needs to be physically possible.
Conclusion ď ľ
Within the span of 8 weeks, my knowledge of architecture has tripled. Before I knew only of basic design principles and within this short amount of time, im able to think of an idea, design it, build it, and do it all over again. With each new project that we did I learned more and more. I learned the value of constructive development, how through trial and error and testing new ideas, I can make my work even better. And through critiques, kit of parts, and matrixes, I can really break down the project and examine the expressive qualities that I like and why I like them so much. Within 8 weeks I was able to find my design attitude and philosophy, I was able to satisfy my design curiosity and explore my ideas in a constructed form, and was really able to hone in my design process.