ARC 182: Representation portfolio

portfolio.

by haley schragger.

arc 182: representation ii spring 2024 - professor joel kerner.

table of contents.

exercise 1.

figures and fields 1.

in our initial project, we delve into the realm of figures, field conditions, and the art of manipulating 2D elements within a 3D space using rhino. this assignment serves as an exploration of diverse techniques to create intricately layered “graphic field” drawings. the intent of this process was to enhance our digital proficiency while nurturing our distinctive graphic styles. these drawings prioritize qualitative aesthetics over legibility or communicative function, inviting appreciation solely for their visual allure.

programs used

techniques learned vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“planarsrf”, “make2d”, “hatch”, “expand”, “sticker effect”

primitives, typography, unrolled objects, graphic fields, figures, field conditions

figures and fields 2.

this project was an interesting way to start this semester. i enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with the new and old techniques. my first drawing tired to emulate a black and white, or “inky”, landscape, layered upon with shifting hatches to create overlayed conditions, while my second used varying interwoven shapes to create a visually striking compostion that reminds the viewer of a black and white bauhaus image perhaps. i explore the relationships between each individual object versus the composition as a whole.

positive and negative forms.

for the second assignment, we expanded upon the skills developed in ex 1a by employing illustrator to generate various interpretations of solid and void. our focus was on using lines to delineate thresholds or transitions, creating opportunities for nuanced readings. these lines, simple in form, possess the potential for ambiguity, symbolizing shifts in geometry, material, or the relationship between adjacent

volumes. through abstraction, we’ll explore how lines can represent walls, intricate networks resembling webs or skeletons, or the boundaries defining distinct volumetric masses, such as urban streets separating buildings. beginning with a foundational line work, we’ll engage in speculative exercises to reimagine spatial organization techniques.

using the techniques showed during lecture, i was able to create a very strange, but compelling compostion. i was interested in creating a piece that provided contrast between abstract shapes and recti-linear geometries. i used image trace to achieve the abstract lines, overlayed rectangles of varying sizes, and expanded the objects to create a endless maze-like “colony”, similar to an ant hill.

programs used

techniques learned vocabulary

adobe Illustrator

“expand”, “image trace”, “pathfinder”, “compound path”

positive and negative spaces, spatial qualities, inversion, volumetric masses

2D geometric logic.

the third assignment advanced beyond the groundwork of ex 1a and ex 1b, delving into the realm of geometric precision. following our experimentation with 2d forms, we explored the intricacies of geometric reasoning and meticulous documentation. in design, irrespective of its apparent fluidity or abstraction, every composition had to be underpinned by a discernible and defensible

geometric structure. this principle held true not only in architecture but also across diverse design fields like typography and product design. our task was to employ basic shapes and alphabet characters as foundational geometric elements, refining our understanding and use of various techniques.

i was drawn to the contrast between diagonal, recti-linear shapes and rounder shapes. in my first compostions, i focused on the interaction between each shapes; how each shape created geometric relationships and connections. when i finished experiementing with the placements of each shape, i chose the one that was more compelling to be, in a sense where i felt i could create a believeable proto-architecture.

programs used

techniques learned

vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“gumball”, “planar surface”, “sticker effect”, “make2d”, “expand”, “pathfinder”, “hatch”

primitive shapes, rationalization, vertical and horizontal gridlines

exercise 2.

object taxonomies.

exercise 2a introduced us to fundamental 3d geometry creation in rhino. in rhino, most geometry is crafted using precise 2d input data, such as lines and curves. after mastering 2d workflows in part 1 of the course, we progressed to leveraging these skills for 3d geometry generation. we focused on techniques like extruding, lofting, sweeping, revolving, and employing boolean operations to generate diverse taxonomies of objects. our goal in creating these taxonomies was to explore and maximize the variety and permutations achievable in 3d forms.

programs used

techniques learned

vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“boolean split”, “boolean union”, “loft”, “sweep”, “revolve”, “boolean intersection”, “3D geometries”

taxonomy, permutation, planometric, isometric view

i attempted to truly created abstract objects for this project, by building several miscellaneous shapes, performing boolean operations, revolving, sweeping, lofting and using the gumball tools to rotate in all directions. it was freeing to experiment with these brand new techniques and building entirely unique objects.

3d geometric logic.

after experimenting with creating 3d objects in ex 2a, we shifted our focus to discussing 3d geometric logic and documentation. just as ex 1c introduced geometric logic for describing 2d shapes, this exercise introduced geometric logic for describing 3d objects. we were not only interested in describing the geometry of the final object but also its sequential construction logic. we aimed to detail the steps taken sequentially to produce the resulting object. could another designer recreate our object from studying our procedural drawings? think of it as creating an ikea-style or lego-style instruction guide for the creation of your objects in rhino. our goal was to dissect the creation of one object from the object taxonomies produced last week. we described the steps and techniques used to create the object, while visually representing these steps in plan view, elevation view, and axon view.

programs used

techniques learned

vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“render underlay”, “boolean operations”

plan, elevation, axonometric, sequential steps

for this exercise, i chose an object that i built for the last assignment that i was most interested in. this object used loft and revolve techniques, and created a 3D geometric compostion that was very compelling. it provided an interesting canvas to work on detailing the sequential steps to creating it.

analytical drawings.

expanding on the geometric logic explored in ex 2b, ex 2c took us deeper into the realm of analytical drawings. for this exercise, we were tasked with creating three types of drawings: a developable surface drawing, a serial sectioning drawing, and a kit of parts drawing—just a few examples of potential analytical draw -

ing types. similar to ex 2b, the purpose of these drawings was to convey the three-dimensional constructive logic of an object or building. using three objects from ex 2a, we had the freedom to choose which drawing technique to apply to each object.

this exercise was very valuable for my representation skills. several of the techniques i learned during this assignment, i used in my studio projects, like the “kit-ofparts” axonometric drawing which i used for an diagram of my design’s enclosure and structural system. i enjoyed this assignment because i would say that i am more a practically minded person, and this assignment began to show how one can represent even the most abstract of objects as something straightforward, almost like a simple direction booklet.

programs used

techniques learned vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“unrollsrf”, “contour”, “divide”, “boolean split”, “offsetsrf”

developable surfaces, serial sectioning, and kitof-parts drawings,

exercise 3.

porous forms.

ex 3a challenged us to blend a variety of techniques explored in part 2 of the course to create “porous form” models. these models embodied greater complexity than the objects investigated in part 2, yet they maintained a sense of simplicity and rawness—they were “proto-architectures.” the term “proto” suggests that these objects weren’t quite buildings yet, but they possessed spatial,

for this assignment, i wanted to create a composition that was both striking geometrically, but also in its visual complexity. i achieved this by building a form that was a combination of extruded complex shapes, and removing chunks from within to create the porosity required for the assignment. furthermore, with the addition of color, i was able to create distinctive contrast with colors on opposite sides of the color spectrum.

proportional, or scalar qualities reminiscent of architectural elements. we could envision the objects produced in part 2 as bricks or building blocks that could be assembled to form larger porous models. in addition to the techniques from part 2, ex 3a introduced shadows, projection, patterning, and color.

programs used

techniques learned vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“color ambient occlusion underlay”, “vector shadows”, “project”

porosity, proportionality, proto-architecture, spatial and scalar qualities

partial building chunks.

ex 3b expanded on the 3d techniques from part 2 and the 2d techniques for complexity from part 1. we focused on studying a “slice of cake” or a chunk of our porous form model from ex 3a, refining it as if it were part of a real building design. our challenge was to rationalize this idiosyncratic form into a building enclosure. we explored tectonic and stereotomic relationships within our ex 3a

design and considered utilizing projected patterns as material seams or textures. special attention was given to material transitions, gaps, reveals, tectonic frames, glass frames, and textures. building upon projection and shadowing techniques from ex 3a, 3b introduced concepts of thicknesses, surface materiality, glass, and color.

i certainly struggled with this assignment. my form from the previous assignment left me with limited options for rationalizing it into a “occupiable space”, so it forced me to extract a small chunk, transform, and scale the object until i could find some semblance of rationalization. admittedly, this was not my best assignment, despite trying my best to achieve what i did with the previous one.

programs used

techniques learned

vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

“material textures”, “transparency”

sectional axonometric, idiosyncratic form, aperture, surface materiality, material transitions, tectonic and stereotomic relationships

structural matrices 1.

every building incorporates some form of structural system, often derived from a framework of tectonic elements. beginning with the porous form geometry created in ex 3a, we tasked ourselves with generating spatial matrices of thickened line work. these thickened matrices could be conceptualized as primitive structural or enclosure systems. instead of focusing on the surfaces of 3d geometry, as we had done up to this point, we aimed to produce skeletal “wire frames” of the 3d objects.

programs used techniques learned vocabulary rhino, adobe Illustrator

“extractwireframe”, “mesh”, “pipe”, “extrudesrf”, “pipe”, “meshtonurbs”

beams, piping, structural frame, enclosure systems, thickened matrices

structural matrices 2.

this exercise was another very valuable one for my representation skills. i used the techniques i learned during this assignment, to build the structural system for my studio project. not only were the rhino commands helpful for the building process, but it helped me visualize a structural frame, making the process of designing the structure for my project much easier. the techniques i used for the final composition were: wireframe, contour, and project. i then used pipe, extrudecrv and extrudesrf to create thickness and shape.

exercise 4.

topographic fields.

this exercise served as a thematic continuation of ex 1a: graphic fields. we explored various techniques to create height variation on a surface, essentially crafting artificial topography. contouring played a pivotal role, enabling us to represent three-dimensional topographic variations through line work. instead of merely depicting the empirical qualities of “landscape” such as contours and boundaries, we pondered the possibility of speculating on sensorial or atmospheric qualities like light, mist, clouds, cold, or heat. we

utilized the graphic techniques acquired thus far in the course, including color, gradients, varying line types, shading, and shadows, to delve into these speculative dimensions, frames, and textures.

with this assignment, i wanted to achieve a sort of mystical or bizarre landscape, like one one might imagine exisiting in a universe like starwars or dune. i wanted my landscape to be almost desert like, with sporadic pools of liquid for oasis’. i underlayed a texture to my landscape, and chose an almost unreal color for the water to achieve this fantastical effect. these details juxtaposed my extremely monumental “buildings”, in rectilinear clusters.

programs used

techniques learned vocabulary rhino, adobe Illustrator “heightfield”, “patch”, “rebuild”

topography fields, sensorial or atmospheric qualities, speculative landscape drawings

entourage 1.

this week, we delved into the realm of entourage. in architecture, entourage encompasses elements like people, vegetation, interior furniture, street furniture, and lighting - essentially everything that surrounds and inhabits a project. it focuses on the softer aspects of a context rather than the hard elements like buildings and infrastructure. in architectural representation, entourage plays a crucial role in bringing images to life and providing observers with insights into function, demographics, climate, and activity. sometimes, we become so engrossed in the building itself that we overlook the significance of entourage in representing a project. however, entourage helps to narrate the project’s story, set the mood, and clearly convey design intent. in this exercise, we were challenged to create our styles of entourage within an illustrated perspective image. the focus wasn’t on buildings or form but rather on crafting atmosphere and storytelling through the use of entourage.

entourage 2.

for this exercise, i wanted to emphasize real human activity; how people would interact with a space organically and how spaces change over time. i chose to show a resturaunt, and its transition from day to night. since i wasn’t focusing on the architectural form, i spent most of my time looking for the exact kind of entourage i wanted for my composition, especially since i needed varied positioning and active movement portrayed within the stagnant image. i benefitted greatly from this project, because i used every technique for the model collages i made for my studio project. programs used techniques learned vocabulary rhino, adobe Illustrator

“image trace”, ”dwg elements”, “2d elements in 3d space”, “import”

entourage storytelling, scale figures, vegatation, furniture, infrastructure, vehicles, perspective compositions

final illustration.

ex 4c, the final exercise of the semester, challenged us to combine the knowledge gained throughout the course to compose an illustrative axon image. the illustrated image was expected to embody qualities of figures, graphic fields, complex objects, color, entourage, and atmosphere. we had the freedom to utilize any content or techniques from our previous exercises to help construct the illustration. throughout the entire semester, we had been building a catalog of skills and compositional fodder to produce this final illustration. part 1 of the course helped us think about the underlying graphic field of our composition. part 2 helped us consider the three-dimensionalization of important objects. part 3 guided us in “architecturalizing” abstract formal objects, while part 4 focused on groundscape, entourage, and atmosphere. the intent of this final illustration was to showcase all of the knowledge and literal work gained throughout the course.

programs used techniques learned

vocabulary

rhino, adobe Illustrator

all

graphic fields (scattered forms, extruded walls, floor patterns, rhythmic vegetation), - 3d objects (building-scale objects from 3d taxonomies, porous forms), entourage (people, vegetation, infrastructure, vehicles)

during the lecture, professor kerner showed us several images, but two stuck out to me: one by pezo von ellrichshausen, and the other by adam simpson. these pieces stood out to me and i wanted to use those as inspiration for a large composition. truly, i wanted to create what could be considered something like a “where’s waldo?” drawing, where the viewer is overwhelmed with the amount of detail, and every chunk of the drawing has small details that evoke a frozen moment of time, full of emotion and movement. i highly recommend zooming in on small pieces of the drawing, because one will find strange, funny, or interesting scenes to study and enjoy.