dai

You heard me singing and you told me to stop....

2010-11-05T11:13:00.004-04:00

I was wrong to think that things would change when I got to architecture school (though I was warned about what I was getting into, I still have the sketch in my wallet). The experience has made me realize how free my mind was in undergrad at UNCG in the Interior Architecture program.

This blog has been sitting un-used for over a year now. It helped back then to write, type, draw and record my thoughts so thats what I'm going to start doing. There will probably be a lot of catch up posts to reflect on some of my experiences thus far.

This should be fun.

Dear Scott Walker

2009-05-15T00:42:00.002-04:00

Dear Scott Walker,

Thank you for not only giving Aaron Ward a black eye on May 10th 2009 but also the entire Boston Bruins team in overtime of game 7 in Beantown May 14th 2009. If I was half the man you were, I'd be God. Please continue to hand out black eyes.

Sincerely,

Jimmy Leonard

Project Reflectance: Part 2: Boxitexture

2009-05-07T15:32:00.007-04:00

The next part is a problem I have with the broader picture of things regarding....

"boxitecture."

This portion has to do with design communication. Thomas, the architecture professor from UNCC, made a comment that I would like to address. Our group made an attempt at arguing the architecture of the building, for it to be something other than a box. His response was something along the lines of:

"Its not about whether or not I like the building, and I don't, its about you convincing me, making an argument for your ideas and decisions."

I agree with him (I don't like our building either). What I have a problem with is that a box doesn't have to explain its form because it exists as 99% of the buildings we come into contact with. You throw a column grid in there and the envelope is automatically assumed as resolved. It is an architectural standard for the human race. I know there are reasons for standards, but a standard is not perfect, nor is it the best possible response to anything. Modernism, to me, is about "simplified and efficient" boxes (a striking similarity to McMansion developments, no?).

This next part gets a little bit more personal but it still has relevance.

There was a comment that a peer made about our building design. She said it appeared as if we designed from the outside, in (this comment was particular to our group). It was puzzling to me that she said this to us and not anyone else. After some thought, her comment actually proves the point I'm making about people's perception about building forms and boxes. If you look at the other projects in the class, they are more or less boxes (one taller, wider, and fatter & one shorter, longer, and skinner). There is nothing wrong with that. It is what they chose to do for reasons unbeknownst to me. They didn't have to explain their choice of form, nor was there any question that they designed from the outside in, because it was assumed they designed from the inside out (which they didn't, as much as they might try to say they did if I were to have this conversation with them).

It bothers the hell out of me that my peer, bright and intelligent as she is, automatically assumed that since the building wasn't a box that it meant we created a shell without the interior spaces in mind. Unfortunately, she is then making the horrible and horrendous assumption that all interior space should also exist in some form of a box. One could take this even further and say that all products and furnishings are meant for box like rooms, in box like buildings. I felt insulted (after the fact). If anything, I must say that we are the only group that developed and designed the inside space and exterior envelope cohesively which is part of the reason why our project was as unresolved as it was. It was a challenge we wanted to take on because that is what you are supposed to do in an academic environment, regardless of whether or not it is successfully met. We didn't a create box and arrange program inside of it (like so many architecture firms and students have done before us). I'd also like to point out that our building was the only building that successfully engaged the automobile, train, and pedestrian. They were a success because of the investigation and response via the synergy of our program, form, and site. Did I mention I'm proud of a lot of things we did do as a group? If creating a box and arranging program inside of it is designing from the inside-out, then I must be psychotic in the way that I think about things.

On to another tangent!

Perhaps a lesson learned would be that we should have placed the emphasis on our individual projects in the presentation as opposed to generally talking about the process of the group project, which, honestly now that I think about it, served no real purpose of conveying an argument for the design or form, which is apparently what people wanted the most. I also feel we missed the opportunity for genuine feedback on our individual projects which fell to the way side and got lost in the walkaround aftermath.

The experience as a whole begs the question, how much of this has to do with boxitecture's influence over the minds of students, professionals, and the general public?

Lessons learned indeed.

Project Reflectance: Part1: 6th Body

2009-05-06T15:57:00.007-04:00

The latter half of studio in March and the month of April were rough, not so much with work load but with group dynamic. There are probably a lot of reasons why the decline happened the way it did but I suppose I just need to take what I can from the experience and move forward. Needless to say, I'm relieved the presentation is over but now that it is, I've been having obsessive thoughts about the experience since then. Before I start, I'd like to say I'm proud of the work we did accomplish as a group. Everyone worked hard to get to the point we were at, there is no denying that. On to my thoughts....

Its a weird feeling, a bittersweet one, not resolving a project to a level of satisfaction one might be comfortable with but meeting a deadline nonetheless. I find this has happened to me to some extent in every studio project. Those unresolved parts always made me uneasy in presentations and crits because I knew they were easy targets for people to bring up. Knowing where I have fallen short has always helped because I've known what to expect, up until this experience. I feel like for the first time since my Flying Anvil project as a 1st semester 2nd year, my mind drew blanks on questions. Its not that I didn't have answers for the questions asked, I just didn't want to sound like I was making excuses, which in my mind, was all I could come up with standing there at the time of the presentation (at least they sounded like excuses in my head).

I knew where we fell short as a group and there was nothing we could do about it. I can't help but think that a 6th body would have filled in the areas that needed help. That is an excuse but it is a luxury our group did not have and there is no denying an extra 36 hours (9 class hours, 27 expected work hours outside of studio, at least) a week of work would have made a tremendous impact on the group portion of the project. See, this is an excuse. You just don't talk about stuff like this during a presentation nor do you use a group's declining dynamic as an excuse either. The internet is the perfect place to reflectively rant though, so I'll continue with that...on to my next point.

Again, before I start this, let me make it clear my opinion is not directly aimed at anyone in particular because that would be unprofessional (I learned something!). Professors always say that we need to work in groups so that we get that valuable experience before we enter the real world. Unfortunately, there is a huge difference between academia and the real world as far as group work is concerned. The difference lies in the model of how everything works in the two, very different environments. The projects we work on as students are not real and the boss, *cough* professor, is there to teach us, help us, hold our hands, and evaluate our performances through the producibles (presentations, drawings, models, etc). Whether or not someone shows up for meetings, holds their weight, or acts professionally in group situations usually doesn't have any bearing on the measure of the final product, their grade. To be short, students don't have any power over other students when it comes to group situations. How does a student handle a problem situation with another student when you've exhausted all professional avenues? It is unprofessional to call them out on the areas they are lacking in a public forum, a blog for example, but what if they aren't listening in the private 1 on 1 forum?

Ok, I'm done with the studio part.

Material, Acoustical, Structural Discussion

2009-05-03T05:09:00.004-04:00

Materials...I suppose the seat is important since there are so many of them....
Seat Frame: Steel

Chair Arms: Wood/Upholstered
Chair Backs: Wood/Upholstered
Chair Seats: Wood/Upholstered

(Apparently upholstered seats go a long way acoustically)

Typical Flooring (Audience): Carpet, joy.
Typical Flooring (Stage): This one is tricky, the stage is both inside and out. Perhaps it could be changed based on the type of performance. Durable wood surfaces, potentially weather proof.

Walls, Ceiling, and other Acoustical surfaces: Combination of fixed acoustical panels and the hyposurface for adjustability during performances. I don't know how it would work but if the hyposurfaces could respond to sound in an appropriate way to improve the acoustics of the "auditorium" it would be pretty amazing (see the video).

The books I've read have recommended that the auditorium's structural envelope be of concrete masonry construction due to the fact that it performs much better with vibration and sound (as opposed to open web steel joists). I think I need to use both since the span and height of the auditorium are fairly ridiculous (75' total height, 200' at its longest span) the upper portion of 15'-20' being devoted to structure, catwalks, mechanical, electrical, lighting, etc).
Its still not as crazy as the first one I designed as a 2nd year, I like to think I've come a long way since then.

Unfortunately I'm not quite sure what to say here. I'm no architect or engineer. I'd like to be both some day. I find that someone always asks the question or says something along the lines of "I'm not sure if you can do that." Really? I didn't know you were a professional engineer [insert name of guilty party, usually a student or professor trying to give you a hard time]. I'm tired of people telling me the buildings I design are impossible to build. Some day...some day....

A nod to Eric Owen Moss and Bryan Healy

2009-05-03T04:08:00.006-04:00

After comparing seating arrangement types, the type of stage I have and running square footage calculations, the potential capacity stands between 2200-2500 people max, on the inside (15,000 square feet @ 41 seats per 256 square feet, comfortably). The outside is much smaller and similar to the traditional amphitheater used by the Greeks. It still runs about 6,500 square feet but for the sake of calculations, if it were to use the same seating style as inside, the capacity would be around 1040. Clearly there aren't seats, only terraced concrete seats/steps. The ends of the amphitheater meet with the grass and the grade falls down towards the edges of the site. Every part of the auditorium, both inside and out, is completely handicap accessible.

Did I mention it opens up?

Holla Auditorium.

As you can see, I still have to model the inside if I want to use this perspective. I suppose I could photomontage everything...so many decisions to make, so little time....

****UPDATE****2009.05.03*****

I wasn't sure if the calculations I used above included circulation. After actually adding egress and aisle circulation I took another look at the available space for seating. The capacity came out to 1,582 people. If the calculations take into an average amount of space for circulation then the capacity of 2200-2500 is correct. If they don't, then 1,582 is the magic number (780 on the main floor, 468 on the 2nd level, 334 on the 3rd level).

Review Flyer Suggestion

2009-05-01T18:55:00.003-04:00

This is for Doug.

Photomontage

2009-04-28T03:44:00.006-04:00

A stage!

2009-04-27T22:59:00.005-04:00

Of course Zaha Hadid has already done the crazy moving stage circa 2002.

This is an example of what the lifts look like underneath a stage.
Aircraft carrier elevator and bay door? Perfect precedent research.

Hadid Performing Arts Center

2009-04-27T22:48:00.002-04:00

I don't know what else to say again. Her work just speaks to me more than the boxes that most humans create.

Dynamic Architecture

2009-04-27T22:22:00.003-04:00

This one isn't so new to us, we've seen and heard of it before: the tower in Dubai that moves, as demonstrated in the video below.

Mechanical Elephant!

2009-04-27T21:44:00.004-04:00

Freakin' awesome!

http://www.lesmachines-nantes.fr/english/index.html

Hyposurface wall!

2009-04-27T21:22:00.005-04:00

http://www.hyposurface.org/

Not exactly what I had in mind but the fact that electronically controlled pistons can manipulate the surface of this wall is pertinent to my precedent research. I think theater and auditorium designers would love to have the ability to manipulate the surfaces along the ceiling, floors, and walls to accommodate for a specific type of performance. Maybe one could even use the technology to create openings in the envelope in the building, synergy-zing the interior and exterior environments, creating a whole new space for performances and lectures.

St. David's Hall, Cardiff

2009-04-27T20:54:00.004-04:00

St. David's Hall is another example of the overlapping, odd angled audience seating. As shown in the plans, the stage and audience areas are the center mass while circulation via stairs and elevators are aplenty on the edge of this mass, both for audience members, stage hands and staff, and performers.

Plan at stage level

Plan at balcony level
Longitudinal Section (acoustic boundary of the hall is the roof, below that is an acoustically transparent ceiling)

Pocket Laptop and projector!

2009-04-27T15:44:00.003-04:00

Pocket laptops and projectors for those days when you feel like spontaneously presenting something digitally (movies, power points, etc) in odd places with the help of a power strip and extension cord of course...

This is a pretty cool set up...

NC State Engineering Students Build a Pedestrian Bridge

2009-04-25T16:01:00.003-04:00

Looking at potential classes to take in the Fall, I came across a pedestrian bridge that some NC State engineering students designed and built. Perhaps I chose the wrong major...

Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington, UK

2009-04-24T04:16:00.004-04:00

As with the Symphony Garden example I posted a while back, this hall is smaller than most of the ones I've come across in the books I checked out of the library. If anything, I've been able to find precedents of smaller performance halls in gigantic "Performing Arts Centers" that have several stages varying in seating capacity, type of stage, and primary use (drama, opera, orchestral, etc). After chatting with T-RAV a bit, I feel a bit better about my approach to the design of the "auditorium" building. The main program areas I need to consider are: stage, audience, circulation (public/private), performance service both above the audience seating and below the stage. I'm contemplating a single stage, arena style, that will be at the center of the building. Buffer areas will serve their purpose while also providing access to the various seating tiers from surrounding circulation paths. There will also be a secondary, smaller outdoor amphitheater. This will involve part of the building actually moving. Whether or not the outdoor performance theater becomes an extension of the indoor theater has yet to be determined. It should be an exciting project....

Christchurch Town Hall, Wellington, UK

2009-04-24T04:06:00.005-04:00

While initially chosen for its acoustical response above the seating areas, the baffles actually serve as a visual wall for the service catwalks above.

Ground Level

Gallery Level
Cross Section
Longitudinal Section

Orange County Performing Arts Center Theater, Costa Mesa, California

2009-04-24T03:24:00.008-04:00

This theater was chosen particularly as a precedent for tiered seating. The angles and height differentials speak to the "architecture" (ha) of the building.

Arena Theater, International Garden Festival, Liverpool, UK

2009-04-24T01:13:00.005-04:00

I think everyone knows I'm a fan of architectural membranes and pavilions so it is no surprise I liked what was done with this traditional amphitheater...

Plan

Section

Elevations

2009-04-21T17:30:00.003-04:00

Lee Street Elevation

Oakland Avenue Elevation

McCormick Street Elevation

Army Surplus Elevation

3-D Modeling Extravaganza

2009-04-20T12:24:00.006-04:00

I'd thought I'd try my hand at modeling the whole building in one night. It isn't perfect, but it is definately something that can be used for CAD as far as plans and sections are concerned. The auditorium and train overpass connector are more developed in this model then the rest of the building (its my job).

Roof Plan

Ground Level
Front

Front again

Back

Back

Back

Revisit the concept, anyone?

2009-04-19T22:41:00.005-04:00

After perusing Ms. Nestvogel's most recent blog post, I've done some thinking about my own group's concept, transmetamorph[an evolving transition]. Originally, our concepts from the beginning housed the idea of bridging/connecting various items: Community <-> Campus, UNCG <-> Other Colleges/Universities, Greensboro <-> Other cities, Everyone <-> Views. Within the past few weeks, we've gone through the "perfect storm" (perhaps we're still in it) with the overall building design. I feel the concept has not evolved with the changes we have made and it needs to be addressed ASAP. Reading through some of the words on Debbie's post, it occurred to me that the ideas they are trying to convey are not unlike our own.

"Showing constantly changing moments" is not so different from the "evolving transitions" we've alluded to in our designs. At any rate, it made me think of 35 mm film and 8mm film (35mm being the film used by photographers and 8mm being the video reel film).

With the 35mm, the photographer can choose to take different pictures. There doesn't have to be a visual connection from one negative to the next. He is in complete control of light, shadow, framing, mood, and content of each picture taken. With the 8mm video film, the camera man is recording a series of images that are connected, one negative being the past tense of the next. It is what it is because of the relationship of each negative to the next. Of course the camera man has control of light, shadow, framing, mood, and content as well but instead of just singular moments being captured, the moments can be viewed in such a way that conveys a narrative. Photography can do this too but not to the smooth and streamlined extent that video recording does.

Below are some images of 8mm film and the change from negative to negative that occurs.

Honors Society Scam

2009-04-19T13:38:00.005-04:00

This is an email I received from the North American Scholars Consortium a few days ago (NASC). Its a scam. Why, you ask? How would I be invited to an honors society based on academic success at a university I have yet to attend? They ask for your information in the application and after the application is "approved" they ask for your credit card information to pay the one time membership fee of $68. I searched around the internet and found other people had investigated the suspicious email and website associated with the message. Misspelled words, no address, etc.

This guy has an example of a personal story with several other people posting similar comments.

************************************************************************************
Dear (my name),
As a result of your dedication to scholarly success in [university I'm attending in the fall], North America Scholar Consortium extends to you an invitation to apply for membership in the NASC Honor Society. Membership application is by invitation only; therefore, membership is a special honor afforded to a small group of outstanding students. Membership applications are available at http://www.naschonor.org/member/inv/*******/.

Please use your assigned invitation code when you apply. Invitation Code: *******

To learn more about the opportunities that accompany NASC Honor Society membership, please visit http://www.naschonor.org/ for more information. I encourage you to seize this valuable and rewarding opportunity and look forward to seeing your name among the next list of new NASC Honor Society members!

Sincerely, Louis Birch
President 2009-2010
NASC Honor Society
************************************************************************************
I also got a card in the mail from http://www.magnacumlaude.org/. This one also leads to the same site: http://www.collegehonors.org/. I looked into some of the names of the officers that are mentioned, which check out at least in the sense that these people exist and are who they say they are. There is also mention of wanting to offer change in the current honor society system. The statements below are from the website:

"The National Scholars Honor Society is an independent academic honors organization. Respectfully declining all affiliations with institutions, associations or other organizations eliminates bureaucracy, and allows us to be directed by our mission."

"An innovative group of University of Illinois medical and health professions students, unhappy with the corporate-machine style national honor societies available to most college students, dedicated themselves to reforming the standards and creating this honor society. Philosophy and vision came together with a common sense approach, and ignited what would become The National Scholars Honor Society in 1997, growing from 100 members in 1998, to over 98,000 members today."
************************************************************************************
I must admit though, its probably a scam that has caught the "A students" off guard. Thankfully, I'm not one of them.

Precedent Studies, is it a little late in the game?...haha

2009-04-18T21:19:00.003-04:00

Symphony Garden
Location: Sakaiminato-City, Tottori
Building Area: 24,000 square feet
Main Use: concert
Capacity: 400
Audience/stage format: arena type

Imagine that

2009-04-16T03:16:00.002-04:00

Peter Zumthor wins the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

This is a blog I follow where I first came upon this information. I don't know what to say, I'm speechless...

Finally, a final plan diagram and associated model pictures

2009-04-16T03:06:00.005-04:00

Agreed upon and signed on 2009.04.16. Finally. Declaration of Independence style.

More Auditorium Sketches

2009-04-16T02:57:00.003-04:00

Study Model

2009-04-16T02:22:00.006-04:00

Lee Street Elevation

Tate Street Elevation
Oakland Avenue Elevation
McCormick Street Elevation
Originally, the model was built as a study of physically joining the auditorium and the area that the trains would pass through. The study has progressed from the first model, which started with separate forms representing program areas. The connector between the train and auditorium areas has several functions: exterior "bridge" circulation, specific experiences/views associated, and it is also the seam that connects the auditorium and atrium. Below, the upper form is the auditorium shell, the lower form is the roof cover over where the trains pass underneath (also where people enter the building from the Oakland Avenue side to get over the tracks safely), and the connector is the walkway.

Oh Rly?

2009-04-12T18:17:00.006-04:00

Searching for the opposite color of our group name for use in the presentation slides as a change , using what we thought to be IArc orange's pantone number, only one website came up on the search on google. My blog. Harty har har.

Vision Quest

2009-04-11T12:15:00.006-04:00

Usually I'm mucking around in the swamp lands of low level inspiration and/or motivation in the latter part of the semester, stuck on a project. Then, granted I get enough sleep for a few days straight, I have vision quest(copyright Matt Jones). Dreams (subconscious) have a way of working problems out for you when you get enough sleep to actually have them, but usually you have to experience stress beforehand in order for it to actually work.

So far, I've been thinking of how I can design an auditorium/theater building with either multiple types of stages (varying uses, sizes) or a volume that could serve multiple uses.

Among other things, the melded images of the coliseum and Calatrava's Milwaukee art museum stood out in my dreams. The coliseum had an underground labyrinth with trap doors to the surface "stage" area. This is not uncommon to a smaller extent in some theater's and auditoriums today. The art museum's wing like "brise soleil" (ugh, I hate that phrase) moves and controls sun light and temperature. These are two completely different buildings but the mixture created an emotional feeling of tremendous movement and transition in my mind, the original form of the building seamlessly changing into another (without having any catastrophic affect on its occupants).

While a building that implies movement goes along with our ideas with the train passing through our building, I don't think implication is strong enough. It needs to actually happen. Sketches and models to follow soon.

Building Diagram and Auditorium Sketches

2009-04-07T11:13:00.004-04:00

Old Path, New Direction.

2009-04-03T18:50:00.002-04:00

This is a parts construction method we used previously in the semester except now we know where the program lies within the form of the building. We (Jessica, Susan, and myself) managed to agree on this, plans, entrances, etc. I will be modeling this in sketchup tonight and on Sunday, finishing in time to produce slightly worthy plans, sections, and elevations for Tuesday (our scheduled date to have those items finished for the group project). The form is not as complex and we will be using the same Sendai inspired steel columns to hold it all up.

Auditorium McSketching Bananza

2009-04-02T03:37:00.004-04:00

Auditorium: graphic standard recommendations

2009-03-31T17:28:00.002-04:00

The interior graphic standards book provided some initial stage designs and adjacency diagrams. I searched on the web for some more helpful, detailed books but everything costs $60+. I can't spend that money right now(I still owe Eric money for the hotel in Atlanta).

The good news is the UNCG library had a fantastical stash of auditorium and theater design books. Floor plans, sections, elevations, details, acoustics, adjacencies, lighting, program elements, the list goes on, its all there in my 100 pound stack of books. If anyone else is designing an auditorium let me know and I might let you look at my stash. Maybe. There are plenty of others that I didn't pick up, basically because I had reached the weight capacity of my arms with the 4 I had acquired.

This is going to be pretty exciting...

I finished it, for now. Deserving of its own post:

2009-03-31T01:12:00.002-04:00

Black equates to near flatness.
The truest blackness in urbanity
counts fewer stars at night,
replaced by the headlights of cars,
and the ambience of street lamps.

The truest blackness in urbanity counts
cracks swimming through asphalt
roads, on concrete sidewalks, up
brick building facades, inside rotten
burned out complexes devoid of life.

The organic has survived! An Evolution!
The cityscape of growth and decay both
glow with great spontaneity, indiscrete
autonomous destruction warranted by
gluttonous expansion dictating weary.

The search for intense stimulation,
an armature for simultaneous
anesthetization hellbent on a death
march to satisfy man's curiosity
equating to blackness and humanity...

Becomes the darkness.

Sketch a Section

2009-03-30T22:53:00.003-04:00

The tubes are starting to take on a life of their own! The horizontals can serve as the cross bracing between the verticals and as the transition areas which are quite the focus of our concept...

These people are relentless

2009-03-30T22:00:00.004-04:00

I just thought I would share with everyone this email that has been sent to me 6 times by 6 different people. It is a dire emergency that I know this information and that I am presented with it everyday I check my email until I graduate (even after the dates have passed). UNCG does a good job spamming its students, maybe the web advertisers should hire whoever's in charge of sending these emails out. Holy crap, seriously, its' annoying as hell. I'm pretty sure the admininstrative staff is tired of getting responses from me, usually along the lines of "you might actually kill the Earth if you send the same email again to every student on campus. Maybe you should test my hypothesis." These people have a serious communication problem.

"Just a reminder of the 3 events this week especially for those who will be graduating in 2009.
Smooth Transitions from College to Career:UNCG Recent Alumni PanelRecent alumni share true stories about life after UNCG and succeeding in the work worldTues., March 31, 2009, 4:00-6:00 pm, Alexander Room/EUC
Insurance: What You Need to KnowInsurance now that you're on your own - what is necessary and what to watch out forWed., April 1, 2009, 4:00-5:00 pm, Kirkland Room/EUC
Basics of $$$: Managing Your Personal FinancesHow to get ahead while avoiding financial pitfallsThurs., April 2, 2009, 4pm-5pm, Alexander Room/EUC
Refreshments provided
RSVP encouraged - respond through SpartanCareers at www.uncg.edu/cscQuestions? Call 334-5454"

Ugh. Please stop.

Quotes I've recored from folks I've been listening too...

2009-03-30T15:35:00.004-04:00

Recently I've found people making references to architecture in their comments, whether through direct communication to me or to a broader audience I was a part of...lecturing for example. This is one of those stories...

I ran into a music major when I was at University Graphics getting my concept poster printed a while back. He initiated the conversation by commenting on the weather, "Its hot outside" he said. Yeah, it was amazing, one of the few nice days we had in between ridiculously gloomy days of rain and cold weather. Apparently the fellow found it uncomfortable, and felt compelled to share that he had a genetic disorder where his body did not sweat and cool itself properly. Suddenly his choice of attire made sense (long sleeve shirt and pants, black none the less).

Anyway, this lead to talking about what we were in school for, what we were getting printed, what we wanted to do when we got out of academia, etc. He was nice guy, odd but I suppose I'm pretty odd too. As I was walking out he said he would like to some day put 12 percussionists into a room and record the music they would make together. He said it was the closest marriage architecture and music would ever have. Oh really? I thought.

I laughed, it was the fake laugh I do when I'm trying to act normal. I told him good luck with that. Contrary to stereotypes and popular belief, we[I suppose I can't speak for everyone] are all not a bunch of chiefs trying to get our own battle plan across with the ferociousness of an entire high school marching band trapped in a 10 x 10 room. Nothing would ever get built (in case you haven't noticed, we are surrounded by buildings).

In an ideal case, I like to think of the process more as a symphony orchestra, the architect(s) conducting, making sure the strings, brass, woodwinds, and percussion fall into place nicely...

Modeled Structure

2009-03-29T22:46:00.003-04:00

Here's an example of a the tensile tube structure we intend to use throughout our building to hold the weight of the skin (to some extent) and floor plates (for the most part). The tube will continue upwards and outward at the top becoming the grid shell, terminating into the ground (in some parts). Jessica was nice enough to model this in 3-D AutoCAD, thanks!

Within these tubes the core of the building will be located: mechanical, electrical, elevators, stairs, bathrooms, etc. They won't always be designed with that stuff in mind so wait to see what we come up with next...

Humble Opinion Disintegration...

2009-03-29T17:30:00.003-04:00

So for a while now, I've been excited for the opportunity of designing the [main] atrium space for our building as the individual part of my project. Unbeknownst to me, a group mate also wanted to focus on this area. My approach was from the sustainable stand point where as she is focused on the environmental psychology. There was a possibility of collaborating but I'm being honest when I say its been a slow, difficult process making decisions as a group and I didn't want to forfeit the part of the project where I could be [me]. Does that "me" in brackets bring back any memories from 3rd year studio? Anyway, we flipped a coin 3 times and I lost in a game of chance.

The atrium, a sacred entrance, the intersection on the axis of community and education, a nexus of transitions on UNCG's campus connecting all of the other local colleges and universities and to cities around the country, a landmark within a landmark...my baby, the heart and soul of the building...

I suppose there is still yet opportunity...the 20k square foot auditorium, an opposite end to the atrium. Now I can honestly say that I am approaching 2nd year's Northridge project. I designed the auditorium and roof that extended out from the top, hovering over the entire building.

It was pretty paramount...

Perhaps this is a chance to improve on what I've done in the past, to see how far I've come since my 2nd semester in this program.

I found an article on shipping container usage:Shipping Container Projects!

Shipping container auditorium? Could be sweet...

Kunsthal Museum designed by the Office of Metropolitan Architecture (Rem Koolhaas)

How about that, a road that passes through the building...

The other 3 images are shots from what appears to be an auditorium or presentation/lecture hall. Others soon to follow...

A little help from the prof...

2009-03-28T21:21:00.003-04:00

With the development of a potential concept, transmetamorph, our group made a matrix of major program areas to give us a graphic standard for labeling the many different transitions that were possible. While we will not be developing all 49 types, it was a good exercise for the group to start talking about the human experiences that we wanted to help guide us in not only our overall design of the building and site but also in the individual part of the assignment as well.
Our professor, Travis, was nice enough to sit down with our group and talk us through some of the problems we were having. We have our program organized diagrammatically and along the site but we'd had trouble translating that into floor plans since we didn't really have a formal building design (shell) yet. He advised us to start of placing the core elements in the plan: toilet rooms, elevators, stair shafts, mechanical, etc. Grouping these together he sketched out a few example schemes in relation to users being able to see out and direction of potential day light exposure.
The next problem was figuring out the structure of the building. [In the image above] top most: column grid structure, middle: grid shell structure with the floor plates hung from above, bottom: gridshell with separate column structure underneath. The middle example, was highly advised against as it brought on the most design complications.
We were then directed to the Sendai Mediateque project in Japan. The structure in the building existed as a series of seemingly random placed vertical steel lattice columns which rise from the ground floor to the roof. The tubes exist not only as structural elements but places where core pieces (stairs, elevators, mechanical, etc) could be organized, among other things (ex. shaft of light). We immediately jumped at the opportunity to take this structure and combine it with the grid shell structure. The bottom sketch on the image above portrays these structural tubes connecting, transitioning, and becoming the structural skin of the envelope. The floor plates can now be supported by both the tubes and the skin, allowing for more refined design opportunities occurring through section.

Post architecture school...?

2009-03-28T17:47:00.004-04:00

I think I found where I want to go after architecture school...

Master of Design Research (specialization in media or City Design, Planning and Policy) SciArc!

[Design] research has become increasingly more interesting to me...

Perhaps I finally found the real life equivalent to the strange joy my mind gets out of playing football games (I think I'm more interested in the accumulation of statistics then actually playing).

Weird.

What has Jimmy been up to besides studio?

2009-03-28T17:35:00.003-04:00

Response part 2: Zumthor, the hypocrite (and maybe a communist)

2009-03-25T20:30:00.010-04:00

Zumthor sound's like a romantic and his tone is reinforced by his background as a cabinet maker, a craftsman with an affinity for the joinery of materials (unmatched according to himself one might conclude from reading). It was enjoyable to hear him talk about the importance of materials and how they come together in a building. Its certainly an area I would like to know more about as everyone knows I'm lacking severely in the reality department there. A building at peace with itself has no other message then what it is, its genuine truth, a synergy of materiality and human experience...

He speaks of architecture through human memories and perception via the senses. He also goes to great lengths to compare his favorite music and poetry to what his architecture represents through similes and metaphors. For all this talk about "signs and information", these artistic vehicles, this architectural rhetoric, it seems kind of odd he would criticize it and those who use this "medium" to talk about their own work considering thats about all he has been successful at in his book. Contradictory? Just a bit. Are not memories and the senses also "mediums" for experiencing architecture? Contradictions, Mr. Zumthor, indeed exist

What of man's monuments? Are they clouded in this useless information and signage as well? The Statue of Liberty, the Washington monument, the Great Wall of China (not the fast food), the Eiffel Tower, the Pyramids, the Berlin Wall? Architecture involves the human experience but it is by no means limited to that which the human body can experience in the physical presence of such great wonders. My god, the Twin Towers!!! The substance of their architecture, the details and human experience as put by Mr. Zumthor, was far outweighed by what it represented to the citizens of the United States and to the Western World. I find it rather ironic that I watched those monumental titans crumble to the ground live on television, a medium that was perhaps throwing up "smoke and mirrors."

I watched information in the form of a plane crash into information in the form of a building. I was a witness to information in the form of murder, pain, confusion, anger, and a million other things all happening at once. I felt them, we all felt them. That one singular experience evoked more in me then any architecture I've ever physically experienced in my entire life. Was that not all real?

(our most recent president to exit the oval office might suggest that Mr. Zumthor's statements put into question his patriotism to this country)

real:
a) being or occurring in fact or actuality; having verified existence; not illusory
b) being or reflecting the essential or genuine character of something
c) substantial: having substance or capable of being treated as fact; not imaginary
d) veridical (true, pertaining to experience, perception, or interpretation that accurately represents reality as opposed to unsubstantiated, illusory, or delusory

vehicle:
a) medium for the expression or achievement of something
b) specific channel or publication displaying the advertising message to a target audience
c) a conveyance that transports people or objects
d) medium for expression of talent or views

medium:
a) means or instrumentality for storing or communicating information
b) surrounding environment
c) an intervening substance through which signals can travel as a means for communication
d) (biology) a substance in which specimens are preserved or displayed

perceive:
a) to become aware of through the senses
b) become conscious of
c) In psychology, philosophy, and the cognitive sciences, perception is the process of attaining awareness or understanding of sensory information

awareness:
a) having or showing knowledge or understanding or realization or perception
b) In biological psychology, awareness comprises a human's or an animal's perception and cognitive reaction to a condition or event. Awareness does not necessarily imply understanding, just an ability to be conscious of, feel or perceive
c) state or level of consciousness where sense data can be confirmed by an observer

Official Building Envelope Structure and Materials

2009-03-25T18:56:00.007-04:00

Ladies and gentlemen, these are the official materials and forms of our building exterior (and part of the interior).

Savil Garden

Zaha Hadid project below (a)
Hadid (b)
Greatest concrete bus stop ever
Architectural membrane
Structural steel skin example

Zumthor Reading response among other thoughts

2009-03-24T23:02:00.008-04:00

Excerpt (pg. 16-17):

"Everything merges into everything else, and mass communication creates an artificial world of signs. Arbitrariness prevails. Postmodern life could be described as a state in which everything beyond our own personal biography seems vague, blurred, and somehow unreal. The world is full of signs and information, which stand for things that no one fully understands because they, too, turn out to be mere signs for other things. The real thing remains hidden. No one ever gets to see it."

He goes on to say that the "real" things are earth, water, light, landscapes, vegetation and man made objects such as machines, tools, or musical instruments, existing as they are (not "vehicles for an artistic message"). These things are at peace with themselves, apparently.

I disagree with Zumthor's implied statement that the "signs and information" are unreal. If I'm not mistaken, we seem to be living in the Digital Age (Information Age). We are surrounded by, engulfed, bombarded, and absorb these "signs and information" almost every second of the day. Cell phones, email, blogs, texting, instant messaging, video phones, tv and radio (and their internet counterparts), wikipedia, advertisements, news from everywhere in the world you could possibly think of, social networking and online dating sites, pornography, higher education even!...the list goes on for quite a while. The access to an almost unlimited amount of information that the industrialized world has is unprecedented in the history of man. It would be impossible to absorb even a fraction of a percentage of this information in an entire human life time. And, it all seems very real to me. I could spend hours on the internet, checking my email, going from random site to random site, absorbing and learning things I'd never known before.

If architecture is inclusive of a greater idea, a contextual response to the day and age in which it is executed and performed, what would buildings be like if they responded to this? A multitaneous experience that could be different and the same, stimulating and anesthetizing, grotesque and beautiful...can architecture, through the built and unbuilt environment, do what the internet and information age has done? An architecture that expresses things beyond human experience and architectural detailing, a black hole perhaps?

The real things are percieved in the same exact manner as the signs and information (neurons and synapses firing in the brain). And honestly, there is nothing at peace in the world that we live in, whether it be humanity, nature, or the universe: it is all pure chaos. Nothing is at peace with itself, even Zumthor's preciously detailed, perfectly jointed boxes are always experiencing some level of chaos.

Building Development

2009-03-23T16:02:00.001-04:00

Random thoughts while running

2009-03-22T02:18:00.006-04:00

These are images from the design firm Cooper Cary related to a competition for the Center of Civil and Human Rights. While I believe the diagrams are successful in conveying information I'm not really enthused about some of the perspectives shown.
As you can see in the above image, there are tons of people. The whole exterior gathering area is filled with people. It looks absolutely ridiculous. Am I going out on a limb when I say they didn't develop that exterior gathering space and instead of doing so, they filled it with "entourage"? Are they trying to visually convey that people are physically a part of the building's architecture? Honestly, I think it looks like a holding pen for livestock. It also seems odd that they chose that particular graphic to cover the facade of the building. I'm not sure of the mood the firm is trying to convey but it doesn't strike me as an empowering image which is what should be there.

Anyway, I've never been a big fan of the ghostly apparitions that pass for people in perspectives. If you're going to put people in a perspective make sure they look like they are really there. I mean holy crap, this is a big design firm. Is there no one who can do this properly?

On another note I'd like to get my thesis project published if it turns out the way I see it in my mind's eye. As a matter of fact, I think I have a secret passion for design related research and conveying that information through a medium (blog, design project, book, etc). After reading some of the publications of OMA/AMO, this has become yet another item of high interest. I was thinking about concentrations today while running: populations, household sizes, the density of cities. What about barrier architecture (U.S. border with Mexico, North/South Korea no man's land)? What about invisible architecture (metamaterial on a building's scale)?

Thesis Proposal – Refueling Station of the Future

2009-03-22T02:14:00.001-04:00

1) What is the project?

Quoted from the competition flyer
"Gas stations have always been part of American car culture by providing fuel, maintenance, service, directions for lost drivers, restrooms, food, and convenience store items. This relationship between the automobile and the gas station is about to change as new fuel options including electricity, hydrogen, and biofuels come to market. These new fuel options will transform the gas station into a "refueling station." These refueling stations have the opportunity to look and operate in a way that is vastly different from the current gas stations, both on the outside at the pumps as well as inside the convenience store. RDI invites you to develop a new concept that will address these changes and create a new store concept that will provide a better experience for the customers, be friendlier to the environment, and redefine how we view the gas station."

2) Who does it affect?
The gas guzzling citizens of the United States are the primary audience but perhaps we can extend the scope to everyone on the planet. More specifically, the site(s) will be strategically picked in Greensboro, North Carolina (my hometown!). The stratagem will be created through a program analysis.

3) Why is it necessary? What is the significance of this project?
We've made our mistakes as a country. We've allowed corporations and similar entities (U.S. government, American car industry) to control our appetites for oil for too long. We certainly can't place all of the blame on them either, we have to accept responsibility for our daily lives and actions as well. We must change, evolve our way of life in order to survive. With a new president that believes the U.S. can be petroleum free, whom has taken the initiative to fund various projects and give incentives to those who want to make the U.S. a greener, more sustainable country, it will be necessary to provide the infrastructure for this tsunami that cannot and will not be stopped. This refueling station will be a huge part of this infrastructure, just as gas stations today are vital to our ability to travel.

4) What will your design response entail? What do you intend to do?
I will be addressing the criteria listed in the answer to question #1. I will also attempt to simultaneously develop a business model for the refueling station through the design process. Before I am able to start the design process though, a rigorous programming analysis will have to be conducted in order to achieve optimal design. This analysis is still yet to be finalized but it will involve researching the following information:

*note* each major area will include statistical data in the form of graphs and diagrams associated with the research in order to facilitate the scientific part of the design process

*gas station's historical context and development
*oil crisis in the 1970's and its effects on the public
*development of alternative fuel (ethanol, algae, etc)
*development of alternative vehicular travel (hybrids, hydrogen fuel cells, electric, etc)
*existing alternative fuel infrastructure (what around that is similar or can be incorporated?)
*existing gas stations through the acquisition of plans from the city of Greensboro (this will help to establish a traditional program that can be manipulated into the refueling station of the future)
*potential use of GIS software to aid in spatial analysis

If someone killed the electric car, then its rising from the dead and so are some of its buddies...

Load off my mind

2009-03-20T14:36:00.004-04:00

I got accepted into graduate school at North Carolina State University today. Unfortunately I don't have the vocabulary to describe how I feel. The closest thing I could find that would be most appropriate and analogous to this was a motivational poster I'm familiar with from my ridiculous travels on the internet.

Concept Poster?

2009-03-19T05:58:00.001-04:00

Thesis Rant, open to the public

2009-03-19T00:33:00.001-04:00

An excerpt from my letter to Anna:

"...I still, unfortunately, stand by what I said earlier. I feel the professors I have had stressed thinking and designing outside the "box" or the interior. After you left, I made a list of the major projects I've worked on since transferring in as a second year. Of about 10 projects I consider to be of medium or high importance (duration, detail), 4 of them were strictly interiors projects. The rest either were not related to interiors or an interior was only a portion of the project. I also feel like the projects that I have thoroughly enjoyed have included disciplinary areas besides interior design, where we have studied and designed on larger scales then zeroed in and focused on an interior involved in that scheme.

What I'm saying is I don't want to be limited to a shell or a box where I fill it with program and spec out materials and furniture. I would feel ill served as a student of design to be limited to this type of thesis project, a project where one should be allowed to focus on something they are interested in as a designer. Certainly the long list of design professions which the faculty seem to think we can work in once we graduate should apply here too (I'll attach the copy handed out to us in professional practices).

Another item I would like to point out is the mention of us not being architects or architectural students. Interesting questions came to mind after some thought.

1) Is it safe to assume that the faculty assumes the students have an insufficient amount of knowledge of structure, how buildings are built, or how the envelope of a building comes together?

2) What is the purpose of the two materials and methods courses?

3) What does this approach to thesis projects say about the potential lack of technical knowledge the Interior Architecture department is failing to impart on its graduates?

I did not take the above mentioned courses here at UNCG. I have an associates in applied sciences in Architectural Technology from GTCC. We had design projects but they lasted the entire semester and were heavily oriented towards the technical side of building. In my two years of study, I completed several houses and two commercial buildings. Part of the curriculum included studying types of construction and calculating/sizing structural members. Several of my peers went on to get jobs as CAD operators and designers for local architects and engineers (including myself).

The International Building Code with North Carolina amendments, which I became familiar with at my previous school, practically sizes members for you with charts and graphs for wood framed construction. I'd also like to mention that you don't have to be a licensed architect to build a house in North Carolina (under a certain price or size, I can't remember). With that said, if an unlicensed, informally educated North Carolinian can draw up plans for a house with the aid of International Building Code lawfully, we can do it too AND we can do it better.

The only reason I can see for thesis projects being restricted to a shell is that the faculty feel there isn't enough time to complete a project that includes the site, the building, and interior design (along with the programming and analysis).

Would it be too much to ask to let those who wish to pursue other areas, (besides interiors) do so and to create their own sites and shells to a greater extent (more then minor additions for example) then is currently allowed? I'm not talking a a full set of construction documents with the whole shebang (A,M,E,P,S,C) but perhaps at least as much attention to these areas as we've payed in previous studio projects. Does the pursuit of the other areas even have to require technical drawing? Can they be pure design, conceptual manifestations, places we use to catapult into "real" interiors? That situation would be no different then most of the studio projects we've completed thus far.

My final defense of my belief: we were not taught to design in a shell. We were taught to design everything cohesively. The thesis project restriction is at a paradoxical conflict with the pedagogy of the department. Considering this is our capstone experience as seniors, its rather ridiculous to start giving us rules now since we've been able to break and tear them asunder in every other opportunity we've been given.

I don't expect to change anyone's mind. I just wanted to share my perspective on the subject. I am only student among great thinkers and designers, faculty and peers alike. I don't feel as restricted as I did before because I've got ideas that I think can work with the current rules. I'd like to talk about them at some point after I gather my some more information...."

Wordle conceptualization machine

2009-03-18T17:54:00.004-04:00

There are several key words important to our project: education, community, culture, transition, and rapid transit. After compiling 500-2000 words of definitions and meanings for each key word, I submitted each "mass" to the Wordle machine as a pathway for "finding the key words within the key words."

Rapid Transit

Culture
Transition
Education
Community

21 soul

2009-03-18T13:45:00.000-04:00

The sonorously iniquity of silence

Among anonymous minds; speckled

Fundamentalists darken through decay and

Hastened by the catatonia, reversing

The embarkment of progress, they are lured

By the grandeur of salvation, through

Righteous vengeances and embellished promise.

This is a condemnation of ways past, an anti-eulogy

For faces elapsed, destructive voids of a never

Ending cycle of violence and pain, anti-creation

For anti-planetary gain, though knowledge prevails

Through the proclamation and cry of original transgression

A reckoning of truth begotten in solstice sails

And stars’ gone supernovae, showered by the collisions of energy flares.

And through this seizure of vivacity, a black hole

In humanity, it radiates hate and erupts ever so silently

But the non-tolerance befits uncertainty, and its loyalty scathes

The conscious of so many who believe the nightmare and vision

Of millions who would conceive such a travesty in the name of man

The imagination of the unimaginable figure, an advancement posturing

His given name, like fools to the meat grinder, it is all the same.

Material Study

2009-03-17T18:42:00.008-04:00

Rested and Recharged

2009-03-12T23:11:00.005-04:00

View of the sun setting from on top of Breezy Point (beach house!).

Picture of the water tower at Holden Beach with the sun setting.

The water tower, visible from 2 miles away.

Kaylin, my girlfriend, being stalked by a giant bird.

Sunset from the bridge (inner coastal water way).

Turkey vultures grubbing on a baby shark.

Family of sandpipers.

Sandpipers grubbing on crustacean goodness.

A giant hornet attacking my cranberry juice.

Feedback and possibilities

2009-03-05T20:00:00.006-05:00

The presentation went as I expected, disastrous. No, haha, I'm kidding. The context plans and diagrams we paraded were strong, at least I thought. It was obvious where we fell short (better site plan) and the last minute addition of the perspectives. A stronger site diagram would have solidified our ideas further, giving the guest crits more of a perspective on where everything was happening. The feedback on the scale and ridiculousness of the gesture in perspective was expected. It was massive, practically engulfing Lee street, the site, Oakland avenue, and part of campus. I think we went too far showing those perspectives even if the purpose was to exaggerate the gesture visually while having something to compare it to (sorry physical plant and Curry education, your time is over!). It reminded me of a godzilla sized armadillo-esque snake. I'll leave you with that description, the actual drawing is even more ludicrous.

The words "celebration" came out of my mouth during the presentation and as soon as I said them I instantly regretted it. How can you celebrate the railroad, the beginning of Greensboro as a city, by placing them underground and erecting a gargantuan monstrosity in its place that has no relationship with the context surrounding it? The guest crits were quick to point this out. I knew right then and there that we should bring those tracks out of the ground, raise them up high, and put their prominence on display for all to see. That is a path I hope to pursue when we continue this project after spring break. Another helpful note mentioned was the series of experiences that we should think about that might occur for a person approaching or entering the building.

Here are two train station projects I found perusing the Perkins & Will website [ 1 2 ]

After reading the book, What is OMA?, I came across a project they did in Lille (Euralille). It was a good read for anyone interested in Rem Koolhaas, OMA, and AMO.

Atlanta

2009-03-04T13:45:00.012-05:00

First off, I want to thank everyone: peers, professors, and design professionals. It was quite an experience, one that changed my perspective on the city of Atlanta. Originally, I'd had no interest or desire in ever working or living in the area. After seeing what some of the firms have to offer and the types of projects they work on, I feel myself gravitating a bit more toward a positive view of the area, with a little help from the night life downtown (midtown? I don't know) has to offer (we went to Opera first night).

Urban design and development was one of many studios in several of the firms we visited, which is a tremendous draw for me. Unfortunately, I feel I would be hard pressed to get a job in that type of studio considering my current background and the way the economy is. I've tried in Greensboro, at the city planning department, to no avail. I couldn't even get an unpaid position as a volunteer and this was before the economy took a nose dive. Maybe I'll try HUD next. Or perhaps I'll get more respect and attention with a professional graduate degree...

Anyway, back to Atlanta. The "downtown" that our hotel was in (hilton) was made up of parking decks and hotels. there was a single strip of restaurants and a mall hidden inside an office building. The MARTA, was a few blocks away as were the aquarium and coca-cola museum. On a search for high priced coffee we found two Starbucks locations nearby, one being inside the Marriot hotel across from us which had recently been renovated by TVSA (I think we should have shelled out the extra cash to stay at that place, it was pretty amazing). Eric Kaguyatan took the two hotel photos.

The first thing I noticed from my hotel window on the 22nd floor of the Hilton was that there were what seemed to be multiple CBD's (central business district, you know, the place where all the high rises are) in Atlanta. We seemed to be inside one and then there were others off in the distance.
This was further enforced by our itinerary which had us travel to other parts of the city several miles away from each other, by car. I didn't like this at all. It seemed we were miles away from concentrated public activity with no reasonable public transportation access to these areas [Downtown, Midtown, and Buckhead from the map handed to me by the concierge]...ie. we had to drive everywhere. We took the MARTA to Buckhead the last night we were there, making several stops along the way to investigate what was out there. The city was dead, no one was walking around, and there were few (closed) if any concentrated areas of activity (restaurants, night life, etc). Even when we got to Buckhead, it reminded me of a series of suburban strip malls to some extent.

We did eat at the Rockbottom Brewery that night, which was a blast as anyone could tell from the pictures taken.

I don't think I've ever been caught on camera laughing so hard before.

Food.

Drinks.

I went to Philadelphia in early January this year for the first time. The place was vibrant with life and activity, during all times of the day. The contrasting experiences prompted me to look up population statistics on Atlanta and Philadelphia for comparison. I found that Atlanta had a city population of a little over 500,000 while Philadelphia had a population over 1.5 million. Looking at the metro areas that were included with these cities the population numbers are nearly identical: ATL at 5.29 million (9th largest in the country) and Philly at 5.82 million (5th largest). For comparative purposes, the Piedmont Triad (Greensboro-Winston Salem-High Point) is 30th on the list at 1.5 million.

It appears as if the two cities developed in completely different ways: Atlanta being much more spread out where as Philadelphia was much more concentrated. I can even attest to this with my own personal experiences. You can walk to most places in Philadelphia (New York and Boston even, but not from personal experience) if you live in the city. Atlanta seems built around the automobile, as do the city's of Charlotte (NC) and Raleigh (NC). While writing this I've noticed that there is a clear distinction between the six cities mentioned. The three cities where you can walk and have access to good public transportation are in the Northeast United States while the three based on driving a car are in the Southeast United States. Funny how that goes.

Its probably unfair to compare these cities but it has raised some questions in my mind.

DF7A26 - thoughts, process, dynamic

2009-03-04T13:37:00.011-05:00

A difficult task, we have been assigned.

Our preliminary goals have been established after several discussions involving the [10x10] week long exercise in which we were all required to submit 10 "big ideas" in both two dimensional and three dimensional forms. Our group, DF7A26, coalesced in light of the fact that we all were interested in some form of bridge mechanism, a formal design that would connect lee street and the community with UNCG's campus with our Lee street site and the rail road tracks harboring the focal point of transition.

The goals grew out of a diagramming charette initiated early on in assignment 2.1. A time limit of about an hour was given to complete as many context and goal oriented diagrams as possible. Afterwards we each discussed our ideas, sometimes sketching over each other's diagrams. There were three that stood out in my mind.

1) The context of Greensboro's existing rail roads

2) The bridge/transition between community and education

3) The bridge/transition from ground level experiences to higher levels offering specific views

After achieving these and several others, we moved on to a conceptual sketching charette. As a group we each spent 5 minutes sketching out what we thought the building should look/feel like. After that time period we passed our drawings to the person on our right for another 15 minute sketching exercise. This continued until everyone had sketched on everyone else's initial idea. The results were fruitful. It was an enjoyable experience, as the previous goal charette had been. After the deliberation and discussion of what everyone thought the drawings represented, a decision was made on one that everyone could agree on. I feel this drawing's ability to be flexible visually was perhaps the strongest pull for most of the group. The sketch could be interpreted in plan, section, elevation, and maybe even in perspective to some extent.

Afterwards, we turned to the charette process again, this time in model form. Inspired by the above mentioned concept sketch, as a group we spent an hour constructing parts that could be interchanged. The process was similar to the drawing exercise. Everyone had a chance to construct a model of the building out of the group of parts, taking pictures of things that sparked our minds and satisfied ideas in varying degrees. Several areas were discussed: exterior formal design, general floor plate design and placement, and the massing of programmatic areas. The creations were complex, at least in the sense that it would be difficult to translate them as a group in the limited amount of time available for this part of the project. Unfortunately, this continually challenged us throughout the rest of the project.

Moving on from the physical world and into the virtual, DF7A26 initiated another charette. Each of the group members chose a picture from the model charette and continued the modeling process in sketch-up. The collaboration process was amazing. Proving to be effective once again, we mixed and matched our 3-D models in the virtual world, establishing a gestural form we felt represented our goals.
Around this gesture we were able to complete several more diagrams including views and multiple iterations of general program placement in plan and section. With the Atlanta trip looming over us, we still have to complete a site diagram and model. Not much we can do except get done what we can in the time we have.

[10x10]

2009-02-20T17:03:00.007-05:00

Campus Building Analysis: Building Heights & Footprints

2009-02-11T23:48:00.002-05:00

There is much deliberation in the studio about how to approach building height and footprint size regarding the design opportunity we have ahead of ourselves. UNCG has its own guidelines for new buildings as well as the city of Greensboro but perhaps its not a question of how big or how tall we can go in our designs.

The library is the tallest building on campus, standing at 11 stories tall located in the center of campus. Connected to the EUC, it also has the largest footprint. It is easy to infer from these numbers and the relative location that this is the heart of UNCG’s campus. Not to mention, the services, activities, and knowledge this “heart” has to offer further enforce its character as a landmark. One must ask the question: What can our designs offer to deserve such honor and visibility as another potential landmark on campus? This information will be helpful to the design teams in comparing the tallest (and largest) buildings on campus along with what they have to offer and their locations within the context of UNCG’s campus.

Campus Building Analysis: Parking Decks

2009-02-11T23:46:00.006-05:00

Sufficient parking capacity is an important factor and necessary evil in the campus master plan. Surface lots don’t have much to offer other than a place to park a car. Parking decks offer a higher density but they are expensive and most are probably considered a visual and physical obstruction to pedestrians. UNCG has over 3000 deck spaces with plans to expand that number by 1700 spaces in the future through two separate expansion projects. The parking decks are included on the list of tallest/largest buildings on UNCG’s campus. Note that the Oakland deck expansion will include a pedestrian bridge across the NC train tracks, an apparent attempt to cross the boundaries of the southern part of campus.

The location of a future deck seems to be a difficult decision to make. If you’re building over an existing surface lot, where do all of those people who used to park there, park now? In this case, it seems UNCG has partially developed our Lee street site into an overflow parking lot for that exact reason (as far as the design phase is concerned, everything on the site is open to our decision). Integrating parking as a mixed-use option in the program makes for interesting design opportunities since it has the potential to serve the university and the city. Perhaps taking that one step further and integrating a transportation hub into the program could be an even more complex design experience. The hub could include light rail, a bus station, or just serve as major node (or district if it became concentrated enough) for high density parking on campus.

Campus Building Analysis: Residential

2009-02-11T23:07:00.008-05:00

Much of UNC Greensboro’s residential halls are located in North Central campus with the exception of both the Spring Garden Apartments and Tower Village. The concentration of residential halls has been classified as a residential district due to their relative proximity to each other (some of them are quite secluded). According to the current UNCG master plan, there are future plans for two residential halls on the parcel of land currently used for freshman parking, adjacent to Tower Village and across from a student recreation field. The proposed residential hall closest to Spring Garden is planned to have approximately 96,000 square feet with 1 occupant for every 325 gross square feet (about 295 students). The second is much larger at 130,000 square feet with the same occupant per gross square footage mentioned above (400 students).

With the possible addition of these residential halls, UNCG increases the potential for a secondary residential district on the southern edge of campus. Unfortunately this opportunity for increased density also creates a problem for parking. In adding these halls, UNCG loses a substantial number of surface parking spaces. If the new building designs follow a similar, seemingly successful, solution to that of the Spring Garden Apartments (mixed use with sub-level parking) then there should be minimal impact on commuters.

It should also be mentioned that the Spring Garden/Aycock intersection is a major gateway into campus. With increased student housing, there is opportunity for increased student activity and economic development around that newly developed district. Should one of the design teams choose the part of our studio’s Lee Street site adjacent to this gateway (Lee/Aycock intersection and corner parcel), integrating student activities or housing into the optional mixed-use part of the program would be something to consider for this location.
The residential halls on campus come in a variety of shapes and sizes. The older halls average about 200 net square feet per student occupant. While opinions vary on the subject of whether to live on campus or not from student to student, a majority of upperclassmen (and women) choose to live off campus because of the desire for more personal space. It is UNCG’s goal to attract more students to live on campus, regardless of their year classification. With that in mind, UNCG has recently taken the intiative in that realm by redeveloping the Spring Garden Street Apartments, offering over twice the average net square footage per student occupant (457) as well as offering sub-level parking. With larger housing options available, upperclassmen will be more likely to reconsider on campus living as opposed to comperable off-campus options.

Apologies for not posting earlier...my intro for the studio program document

2009-02-11T23:02:00.002-05:00

On a narrow parcel of land, bordered on the North and South by the NCRR tracks/Oakland avenue and Lee street, and on the East and West by South Aycock street and Tate street, exists our opportunity. It is here that our 4th year studio has focused its attention, investigating and analyzing the context of the site through the study and understanding of the master plans proposed by both the City of Greensboro and the University of North Carolina – Greensboro. We see the railroad tracks and Lee street, not as social, physical, or economic boundaries, but as a immeasurable prospects for design and for improving the quality of life in the area beyond what it is and what it represents to citizens today. While working inward from the urban scale, we’ve also been working out-word by programming a mixed-use architectural building to be placed strategically as the face of UNCG on the southern entrance to campus. Our simultaneous studies draw inspiration for each other and for our eventual proposals for the new architecture building.

This document is a culmination of several areas of focus. As mentioned before, this book is first and foremost a programming document to aid our design teams challenge the status quo of an institutional architecture building. The Gatewood Studio Arts building, our current building, was the first item investigated. Having experienced the building ourselves, we were able to identify both the positive and negative aspects regarding offices, classrooms, studios, etc. Using this information in conjunction with construction drawings and the program document compiled for the building as an example to work from, we were able to set our own guidelines (listed further in this book) for the design team proposals.

The Gatewood building was not the only building we studied. To help the studio understand what other architecture schools had or hadn’t done before us, we performed several precedent studies. These studies served as real comparisons to our own building and to what we think an architecture building should be. From the adjacency of program spaces and the general aesthetic of the building in relation to the campus in which it exists, to the size of the student body served by the building, the information gathered not only helped us add and subtract program spaces, but also made the studio look into the varying ways in which previous architects had approached the design of. These studies will also fortify the foundation of this book for which the design teams plan to use to formulate their own solutions for a new architecture building on campus.

Our site serves as crossroad for several governing entities, more specifically the city of Greensboro and UNC Greensboro, among others. After disseminating the city’s Lee Street corridor plan and the University’s master campus plan, the studio was able to draw it’s own conclusions about land usage for our purposes with regards to the new architecture building proposals. The site will be a part of both the city and the university, serving the community on many different levels and layers. The site analysis included in this book will aid design teams in not only meeting the minimum expectations set forth in the plans laid out by the city and university, but also potentially exceeding them.

We are excited with the challenge presented before us and are looking forward to soaring into the design process. Perhaps we might be able to turn a few heads with our ideas….

texture, tactile experience with artifacts

2009-02-02T23:09:00.006-05:00

How could I forget my toys? Wonderful objects they are...some structurally fragile, others cold to the touch. All of them have one thing in common: a unique tactile and textural opportunity. Even the artifacts made of the same material or are of the same "type" all hold a special experience by themselves, almost like a personal genetic code. The two items shown here were once very important to a train car but were discarded and forgotten about, much like everything else we found on our adventure.
If I had to take a guess, I'd say this device once connected and held two train cars together (not by itself of course). The iron latch, aside from its rusting outer layer, is in better shape relative to the rest of the other artifact material types. It carries a heavy appearance, a solid mass that weighs just as much as it looks.
Moving the latches on the end is still fairly easy as they surprisingly haven't rusted tight. One can only imagine the immense tension occurring within this locking device between two train cars. Running my fingers across several areas, it reminded me of sand paper although there was a substantial difference between the different mechanisms.
The sides have a finer feel then the center faces, perhaps because of a combination of the object's center of gravity (central mechanism) and inability to stay upright. The joints are distinctly rougher then the various surface areas.
Tiny craters seem to be in high concentration in that area but are also scattered about the entire artifact, like there is some sort of organism that can eat through the metal and carve out a home. The serial number is still visible and offers its own identity to my finger tips, subtle depressions in the iron skin allowing me to read without my eyes....

The second artifact, the train car wheel break...another device of action. How many breaks are there on a single train car? On a whole train (cars included)? The amount of force required to stop an object with such tremendous momentum is unbelievable...not so much when there are a couple hundred breaks to help out I suppose.
It seems to be a composition of iron and type of ceramic (break surface). While the iron side has a similar sand paper texture to our first artifact, some of the skin is flaky and easily chipped off when brushed up against. There also appears to be a decal of some sort although I can't tell what it is anymore because of the deterioration caused by the hostile environment it was in.
The cylindrical negative space has the same ceramic surface as the pad on the underside of the break. Both are severely cracked and fractured, worn down by the numerous times it was responsible for applying pressure to the wheels of the train car.
The smaller perpendicular cross opening in the cylindrical form might have been where another mechanical piece was connected to another form within the negative space.
This was my favorite part about the break...it actually looks like it might be a map. No X marks the spot for buried treasure.

Maybe next time.

Running the line with a Sagebrush Philosopher

2009-01-26T01:01:00.010-05:00

I give credit to Matt Jones for finding the hobo terminology.
Friday afternoon after our meal at Beef Burger, Matt and I took a stroll down the tracks between Oakland avenue and Lee street. We came across countless "artifacts" ranging from rail road spikes and various metal parts to items that hobos had left behind on their journeys on the track. We couldn't carry all of the stuff we found so we piled it up on the Oakland side next to the fence so we could come back and drag it under afterwards. I'm not quite sure what we'll do with this stuff but I'm sure something will come to mind. The three tallest landmarks on this edge of campus are visible from Lee street: the stack from the physical plant, the telecommunications tower, and the water tower.

We found what appeared to be an abandoned rail road track on the Lee street side. Trees and bushes had grown up around the rails, hiding it from view unless you got within close proximity. The rails also appear to be a different style then the ones currently used.
We were passed by a few trains during our field trip and I must say that they can be pretty quiet. I always thought they were loud but one time I didn't even know a train was coming until I looked up from inspecting a rail road spike. It was still a couple hundred yards away and there was plenty of time to move but the thought of being killed by a train passed through my mind a few times on this trip (how embarrassing would that be). The first train was traveling much slower but sounded louder (the conductor blew his horn and waved at us). The second was traveling much faster (30-40 mph?) but seemed to sneak up on us. I wonder why that is...

I've always been a fan of train car graffiti. I think its a wonderful form of communication (artists getting an audience in other cities and states) and art. The tags vary in size and detail. Some of the tags I've photographed seem like they would have taken hours to create. Although the thought of breaking into a train yard at night (or day I guess) and tagging a car seems pretty exciting, I don't really like it enough to chance having a felony on my record. Maybe if I say its a studio project they will let me off the hook. Until then I'll leave it to the professionals.

We came across a lot of airplane bottles, bum wine bottles, interesting pieces of wood, and animal bones. We've got samples up in the studio of everything we came across.

We crossed paths with a traveler (man in the yellow jacket). He had some rather friendly words for us but I'm not sure they are appropriate in this forum. Ask if you want to know, it was funny.

The artifacts we acquired represent this "no man's land" in between Oakland avenue and Lee street. Everything there seems discarded and forgotten.

Lee Street Studio

2009-01-26T00:04:00.011-05:00

(1950's signage and aesthetic, inside and out. The UNCG physical plant is in the background along with train passing by.)

On Friday afternoon around lunch time, Matt (site), Eric (precedent), and myself (programming) went to the Beef Burger on Lee street to refresh our memories (and taste buds) of the fine cuisine they have to offer. I made the mistake of thinking they took debit cards, which they don't. Eric made the mistake of believing me. Matt was the only one with cash so he payed for all of us. We all got the special which was a hamburger, fries and a drink for $3.99 (add 25 cents for cheese or 65 cents for bacon). There were other exciting fried items on the menu but the funds were limited so we went with what was cheap. The place is almost a half century old (if not older) and still running strong. We got there around 1 pm right before a rush of about 15-20 people from all walks of life got in line behind us.

The Beef Burger is part of a strip of land our studio is focusing on this semester between the Tate street and Aycock street intersections on Lee street. While most other places along the strip are for sale and/or are abandoned, the Beef Burger and a few other sites still maintain business (specialty rims, recycled batteries, gas station/auto body shop, army/navy surplus and various other strip stores).

I've always been aware of UNC Greensboro's master plans to acquire parcels to expand the university since there is no more space to build new buildings. This strip is included in that plan and they've already been successful in demolishing a lot and developing it into an overflow parking lot for the park & ride near the coliseum (fenced and gated of course). I've only recently become more aware of the city of Greensboro's Lee Street/High Point Road corridor plan through our initial studio meetings (first heard about it in an urban planning class last semester). I haven't thoroughly read into the information but I wonder how the two separate entities, the city and the university, are going to work with each other on this project.

And what will happen to the Beef Burger? Yum Yum's has been a staple in many students' daily meal rituals (you can only survive for so long off of $1 pink hotdogs). It is my hope that the university develops around Beef Burger so that it becomes part of campus life as Yum Yum's has. It stays open later which makes it a perfect match for a nearby architecture building with students working long days and nights.

If anything, we have a strong case to include Beef Burger in our program for the new studio.

Design Communication

2008-11-21T08:40:00.005-05:00

Floorplan, check. Sections, check. Elevations, check. Sound familiar? I've always wondered why professors made these requirements for projects, at least in the traditional format of construction drawings. Do professors really investigate every line of every drawing for every student in the class? Probably not. I question their necessity in our education where it seems to me that the most important part of any studio project is the [process involved and the ideas being presented]. I guess what I'm saying is we as students don't question traditional practices and what we have to gain in our education from doing these types of drawings enough.

You don't need a 5 year professional degree to do CAD drawings (I got a job pretty easily with an associates degree). Honestly, I don't even think you need a high school diploma as long as you know how to use CAD, since most new employees learn on the job anyway. You would be cheaper to hire and I'm sure they [architects and engineers] prefer that.

I'm not saying this skill is unimportant. Its very important, its our way of communicating how something gets built but for design education is it ultimately necessary to have students spend time checking off these requirements? Are they learning about new ways of thinking or becoming more creative by doing these drawings?

Most importantly, are they the best way of communicating a designer's ideas to an audience of people?

A perfect example that comes to mind is what is currently happening with the second year studio I assist in teaching with. They only see requirements on a piece of paper for scaled drawings, models, etc. They wonder why we can't see their conceptual ideas and I say it is because of the limitations of the medium they think they have to work in.

How is it that so many of us have turned a blind eye to the arts and other avenues of conveying information? These areas have so much influence to offer on our process work and presentations.

I read a lot about Cubism last year in Stoel's furniture studio. Picasso and Duchamp were making paintings about how paintings work. They were showing what the mind knows rather than what the eye sees. Since I am a cubist fan its not a surprise that I am also a huge fan of Zaha Hadid's work. Her paintings and ways of conveying architecture, not only as eye candy, but as true conceptual ideas and physical concepts [her models are just as spectacular] are a breath of fresh air. She is only one but I'm sure there are many that push and pull in different ways to get their ideas across to the masses.

In time I hope to develop my own signature style and poor attempts at recreating someone else's will do for now as a learning experience. I suppose it helps to know there is a place for that in the world.

(The first two images are my own but the other three are Zaha Hadid's)

Have you ever been branded?

2008-11-19T19:06:00.004-05:00

After having messed around with the pixels I've been thinking of a way to abbreviate Corolla Borealis [not permanently] for design purposes [signs, labels, bags, posters, etc]. The brand will eventually speak the same language as the store with references to the material change in the solid/translucent relationship combinations. This is just something for you to chew on for now.

What goes on a ceiling besides paint....

2008-11-19T16:09:00.003-05:00

Addressing the lighting and landscape of the ceiling actually turned out to be an extension of the manipulations of the pixels. Some were better suited for structural members (beams and columns) while others appeared to fit the light fixture category. There are even cases where the beams and columns have lights built into them (ha, like everything else in this project). The lighting fixtures were designed and placed in response to what is happening on the floor below them [game terminals, displays, etc].

(ceiling starting to breath a little)

(no walls!)

(example fixture section)

Beta Section & the pixels of the apocalypse [Building blocks - Kit of Parts - Retail it Yourself!]

2008-11-18T13:10:00.004-05:00

The first one on the right is the guy that started it all (not the guy, the form). If you've been following along, you'll remember how I manipulated that form to fit within uses in a diagrammatical 3-D model. Within the past few days I split the original into parts and changed the parts into their own basic "pixel" form. As previously mentioned and shown, the parts have been used to create walls, fixtures, floors, structural elements, and soon to be ceiling elements. The idea I'm leaning towards is that each particular area will carry a different combination of visually solid [concrete, plastic, metal] and translucent [plastic, glass] materials. The surfaces all seem to have a perceived texture in that their appears to be level change on the varying planes when in fact (in some cases, not all) the change is only visual. Where a visually solid material ends and appears to drop off, a translucent material begins. Stay tuned, more to come today...

Weird...

2008-11-18T00:15:00.005-05:00

On a break from studio work I was looking at a blog tonight and I came across a post referring to theoretical architecture shipping container communities. The story and futuristic aspect of that kind of environment (hell even the images) are almost an exact replica of the minimum project I did as a 2nd year student under Patrick and Robert.

Similar images.

Great minds think alike?

Its not the future I would prefer but who knows where we'll end up....

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Machine

2008-11-17T18:37:00.005-05:00

MST3000M just keeps popping things out like a factory. Right now I don't think there is any limit to the number of fixtures I can come up with having made 5 main base "pixels" to manipulate and work from. These have not only translated into display fixtures for consoles and games but have also translated into the cash wrap (sp?) shown in perspective, divisional partitioning constructs (or walls), the floor, the ceiling, the shell, seating, and gaming terminals. The pixels are a constructive combination of various types of recycled glass, bio-degradable plastics (both translucent and non-translucent), and steel. How all of them will be built individually is perhaps beyond the scope of the project (and my own abilities) but a detailed construction & material example will be in order to help people understand how everything generally goes together.

Example Presentation Slides

2008-11-17T10:59:00.003-05:00

After meeting with Suzanne for a brief moment and speaking a bit about the name of the store I don't feel so weird about it anymore. After explaining where I got the name from I realized, with a little encouragement, that the name is yet another part of this project born from my process and examination, which can come off as a little strange (and highly confusing) to most people. The disadvantage to having such a perplexing style (?) is that people might not follow the path I've laid out for them visually and audibly initially, with regards to a presentation. It is my hope that people see things that excite them in my project (and not just this one particular) and in combination with the above mentioned confusion, they feel more encouraged to have a dialog or ask investigative questions about my design decisions. I think this presentation strategy works well for me because I am just as excited to talk about my ideas and to talk with people about what they think I'm thinking. Hell, if you can't talk about the most important parts of your project at length you should ask yourself what you've been doing the past 4-5 weeks.

"Do you expect me to talk?" "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die."

2008-11-15T18:20:00.004-05:00

(conceptual plan)

Just wanted to throw that quote in because we [Kaylin, brother and his girlfriend] went and saw the new James Bond movie, Quantum of Solace. And because I enjoyed the movie (Daniel Craig plays a better Bond then Brosnan. He should have stopped with Goldeneye) so much I've decided to name the fixture that is potentially breathing new life into my project after the movie. I present the 3 scales of the "Quantum of Solace Display System 3000." I was originally going to name it the "Mystery Science Theater 3000 Display" but not many folks these days know about that show.

(3 scales)

(two investors)

"Yeah this place is pretty awesome. We should invest in the company and hire this Jimmy guy to do design work for us."

"Yeah, I agree. I actually don't know if I'm experiencing visual ecstasy or this is my brain telling me I'm about to have a seizure...oh, watch out for that pitfall."

(conceptual perspective)

After today's adventures I've been thinking about constructing my store in a different way. As you can see I've got a [building block, pixel, etc] and I have manipulated the scale of the pixel to fit the varying parts of my 3 dimensional diagrammatical usage model. The plans and perspectives shown are the outcome and again I feel rather [pleased & surprised] my process keeps taking me to places that I hadn't thought of before, mainly the idea behind taking this one unit/fixture and stretching/contracting its volume in a way that starts dialog with the varying areas within the store's volume. I feel I've finally started to tie my physical models into the 3 dimensional model of the store and how everything fits together.

Conceptually, I'm still with "the refracted pixel" which is what I've deemed a [designed] concept.

[The Refracted Pixel]

"A point of information that changed passing through a medium."

Pixel: [essentially any building block described by the criteria below, not limited to one type]

Descriptive Information Category: [direction, form, texture, color, light, material]

Medium Category: [floor, ceiling, wall, special area]

Considering the 3 major areas [service, entertainment, circulation] perhaps they each are made up of their own type of "pixel." I think this fits well with the change through the different mediums.

Fixtures

2008-11-14T11:31:00.004-05:00

Section Perspectives...

2008-11-12T20:56:00.003-05:00

Corolla Borealis?

2008-11-11T21:59:00.004-05:00

(important diagrams!)

I think the name is a bit of a stretch on relating to a concept but light is what got me thinking of it in the first place so consider this a bit of a shout out. I'm sure you noticed the northern lights reference but "corolla" refers to the collective petals of a flower. Petals fall into the category of a type of pixel and their repetitive nature helps the decision. I didn't want to use aurora but I wanted to keep the way it in which the phrase rolled of a person's tongue. I'm at a loss for words and honestly it just sounded good but potentially lame the more I think of or say it. It can change and it probably will but for now I've got other things to work on.

Working Model Status

2008-11-11T19:56:00.005-05:00

The steel rods have added another dimension to the working model. With this additional option the pieces are no longer limited to connecting at such a close proximity with each other. With varying rod lengths and insert placements I've even started to manipulate the directions in which the pieces can connect by slightly turning/twisting them. On to the perspectives...more to come.

Design in Section

2008-11-10T12:38:00.006-05:00

Design in section. A wonderful rule to go by from 101 Things I in Architecture School. With a preliminary understanding that there would be multiple split level areas with different materials, lighting, color, and architectural forms, I sketched out a section. There is no hierarchy and I think its even possible for someone to have a seizure if they stared at it long enough. Instead of perspectives, I plan on doing section perspectives (Edgar!). I've become fascinated with the cut through the store as this will be an excellent way to convey my conceptual ideas and to help me design. Enjoy the fire works....

Saturday's mixed media olympic trials...

2008-11-09T14:27:00.004-05:00

These are the results in my attempts to recreate what happened earlier this week. I think, conceptually and process wise, these are highly successful drawings. I'm satisfied with what was produced and I have some new tricks up my sleeve graphically. Unfortunately, the drawings just didn't move me as much as the first one did emotionally. Looking at the new drawings they seem more complicated and erratic in comparison to the first one. The original had spatial qualities that are not represented here. I should have known this would happen, I was trying to cram everything I could into one piece of paper. I don't know why I did that...hm. Regardless, between these, my on going model study, precedents and store studies I've got a titanic's worth of information, both programmatic and conceptual, to start translating these ideas into spatial relationships in the volume of the store.

Should have posted this a few weeks ago

2008-11-09T09:54:00.006-05:00

These sketches were my initial thoughts on some of the ways in which people would interact with the gaming terminals [single person, group, public, private, etc] and what that experience might look like. As of late, cubism has also been a reoccurring idea brought to my attention by some of the work I've done so far. I'd like my plans and sections to be first and foremost legible, but I am leaning towards a cubist style of portrayal with a touch of Hadid. Sections and plans can be so boring. Why not make them works of art at the same time? I also did some experimenting yesterday with mixed media [markers, colored pencils, oil pastels, water color, pen ink] in an attempt to replicate the process that was successful in a previous perspective. I've got "it" on paper and whatever "it" is, "it" looks crazy. Now I just need to scan it and see what it looks like after I touch it up in photoshop. That will be on the next post.The sketches were also what got me started on the models I've built so far. I must say its really helped to think about the volume of the store with something that most people would consider a toy (myyyy blocks!). The blocks have grooves on the sides and on the top, holes in the sides and top for steel rods, and today I'm going to start cutting 1/2 planes of plywood at varying lengths to act as connectors between the blocks as well. I think that puts the number of types of connections at a possible 6 (if you use the planes vertically and horizontally). I will probably focus more on the details of the store and less on the model now that I feel I've reached a good point of study.

We have lift off!

2008-11-07T15:13:00.005-05:00

So my perspectives were not much to look at (2 two of them anyway). They were more representative of conceptual perspective diagrams which is what I was shooting for. My third perspective haphazardly occurred in the background as a product of my rendering the first two perspectives. The marker bled through the paper into the sheet underneath and after noticing this I quickly (right before our group meeting) began to draw over the random forms that were created as a biproduct of my previous renderings, creating what I like to call a "Zaha Hadid Style" perspective. I scanned the drawings after class and brought them into photoshop for a little touch up. I didn't expect the first two to excite me but the third was a different story. The manipulated image that I saw sent my mind and eyes into ecstasy. I'm quite proud of having found a new way of mixing media and it amazes me that this whole process has coincided with my concept. The change of medium changed the life of the work. Is it bad that I want to frame it?

The Goods.

2008-11-06T19:13:00.006-05:00

The experiment turned out quite spectacular although unfortunately it did have its set backs. The jig I used was not completely perpendicular to the blocks when I was cutting the grooves which resulted in things not lining up exactly. Regardless, I am pleased with the output and that I still have my digits attached (there was a bit of a scare for a moment). I will probably go back and attempt to fix the problems tomorrow during class (charette permitting). As you can see I've started to drill holes for the rods I plan to use. The strength of the plywood is suprising, especially in the 2nd and 3rd pictures. The striations both represented by the grooves and the grain of the plywood are definately singing conceptually.
And theres more where that came from.

Leaning tower of pixels...[Refractive Pixels in Metastasis]

2008-11-05T12:29:00.012-05:00

I am working more with models in this project to see if incorporating them into my usual black hole of a process nets any interesting results. Model building is not a strong skill of mine and if I need to show my ideas physically and conceptually, it needs to improve. So, the only way you get better is if you practice, right? What better opportunity is there to practice then with a studio project? I'm enjoying myself so far but I think it has more to do with the tools (shop), materials (plywood) and scale I'm working at. In the past I've noticed that there is a severe decline in the dexterity of my hands once I get working with fairly small objects. For example, I can't shuffle cards, play the guitar or any other instrument for that matter. My fingers just don't get it. Perhaps there is some disconnect between the nerves in my fingers and the synapses firing in my brain. This disadvantage always translates itself into poorly made models for projects. I think a time for change is appropriate. I laminated scraps of plywood together, smoothed out the faces, and cut grooves on 4 sides of the piece with a 1/2" dado pack on the radial arm saw.
The "pixel" is a two dimensional or three dimensional manifestation of information. In this model study I've chosen to use the square and cube as a starting form for that manifestation. It is not pictured here but the entire mass is cut into varying lengths, all of which can be interlocked on any of the 4 sides with grooves. The parts can be manipulated to create different "pixel" masses. I see this as the first stage in what is to be the abstraction of the form and how the new forms speak to the possibility of new types of connections that might occur between those masses. Stay tuned, the process continues...

Vision Quests: Reality and the Mind

2008-11-03T11:55:00.007-05:00

Reflection in fall. It was a beautiful weekend.

Brother, mother, girlfriend and Blue, our dog (hidden in front of my brother)...on our way to the bark park (country park).

I suppose I hadn't noticed the leaves changing outside until this weekend.

I believe this little outing falls into the category of a vision quest although I didn't realize at the time what I was actually experiencing it. [fresh air, nature, and family] Even though these having nothing to do with my project, I find getting away from the work to reflect on other aspects of my life just as helpful and refreshing.

The leaves did get me thinking about the "pixel" again. They certainly qualify under my previous interpretation...the leaves as a whole having the duty of soaking up the sun's energy and the carbon dioxide in the tree's process of photosynthesis. To go further a tree could be a larger pixel (or construct of smaller pixels to create the larger one) in the greater context of the environment...examples perhaps of the assignment of tasks to pixels at different scales?

Sketch model in the making! To be continue...

Free your mind: Refractive [geometries] in Metastasis....or "I can haz cheeseburger?"?

2008-10-31T09:42:00.003-04:00

I've been thinking about light since a lot of the precedent study I've been doing. Bars and clubs use it to highlight areas (dancing, drinking, lounging, etc) for people while retail stores use it to emphasize the products and merchandise. One of the terms I remembered from Tina's class was "refraction" which refers to the change in direction or bending of a wave(s). "Refractory" is having a quality of resistance to treatment or to heat. Strangely enough, the search pointed me in the direction of cancer. Cancer is the abnormally aggressive and invasive growth and division of cells, sometimes to the host's detriment. In cancer "metastasize", "metastatic", and "metastasis" all refer to the the spread and propagation of the affected cells. So lets put that together:

Refractive Metastasis: aggressive, invasive, uncontrolled bending and changes in direction, proliferating throughout a body.

I think I might have something.

Case Study Three | Precedent and the like

2008-10-28T19:35:00.018-04:00

What do bars, libraries, office systems, movie theaters and video game stores have in common? My project. Having spent the past few days deliberating with myself what it is I'm selling (merchandise and services), the picture of this retail store in my mind's eye is becoming more clear. I'll mention the books (and other sources) from my personal library that I used to get the rat headed in the right direction in this maze.

Plastic Design (Daab)
Bar Design (Daab)
Offices (Braun)
Transmaterial (Blaine Brownell)
Young Graphic Designers (Daab)
Tribes Scribes (Alessandro Manfredini)
Google was used for the "faces of gaming", advertisements, merchandise, and typical stores.

I used a bit of a different format than suggested by the hand-out. Instead of studying 6 retail stores, 6 places (or things) that portray something about my design have been chosen instead. I find this appropriate since there is a high probability that my specific type of store does not exist. The store type closest to mine is one that sells video games but I've found through my perusing the internet and books that those places lack the design influence that I am looking for. We'll start with a diagram...

The 5 areas scheduled for group metamorphosis: bar, video game store, library, office system, and movie theater. I listed types of services, areas, and items in each category that I felt would apply to my particular project. A preliminary list of similar items was made for the new store and then cross breeding with the other lists to see where there were similarities....

Before I go on...with the shell volume available for design (26' wide x 42' deep x 30' tall), the chance for multiple levels within is a major possibility. For now there are three major areas: admin/service, consumer/gaming, and display/circulation. The admin/service refers to any area that the employees operate from (cash rap for example), consumer/gaming includes any area where people actively play games or watch movies, and display/circulation would be pathways and entrances (horizontal and vertical) that connect the the above mentioned areas. On to the results of the cross breeding....

[Service] - bar - game store - library
cash rap
food/beverage
tech support
merchandise
Wifi

[Entertainment] - office systems - game terminals - bar seating areas
Game Terminal Classifications: Console, PC, Video
Terminal Types: Group, Personal*private and public for both*
Accommodation Types: Lounge seating, Bar seating, Normal table height
Atmosphere/Experience[bar - video games - movies]

[Circulation] - library - game store - movie theater
entrances - store front display
merchandise display - strategically scattered throughout
horizontal - delineation through floor/ceiling changes (material, light, texture, form)
vertical - stairs/elevators - same as above

[1][video game stores]

These are examples of video game stores (except for the library). There has not been much in advancement in the way games are displayed since they started to hit shelves 2 decades ago. There has actually been a slight movement towards offering games online in a way similar to netflix offers movies instead of normally renting or buying at game store. I personally prefer to go to a store to look around. I think it comes from this nostalgic feeling of when I was in 5th grade and I bought Super Mario Brothers 3 ($55 at the time, crazy I know) for the regular Nintendo. I still get the same excitement and happiness when I walk into a store ready to buy something I've been anticipating after doing research (then it was nintendo power magazines, now its the internet). I usually spend 30mins to an hour in the store browsing depending on if my girlfriend is with me or not. She can't stand the stores and I can understand why. They are cramped and packed with as much merchandise possible. The only comfortable looking place is behind the cashrap but you can't go back there (employees only!). I honestly don't like being in any sort of crowded place (unless its public transportation) because people tend to not be concerned with others around them and this is especially true in game stores around the holidays. The parents are just as insane as the little kids.
[2][game terminals]
The "gaming terminal/station" has been a staple in the video game store since consoles got on the market. It has always been a way for people to test out new games or new consoles before actually shelling out cash you saved up mowing lawns all summer. Right now the focal point of the total design is based on the types of gaming/video terminals and the interaction between them and the customer. I strongly believe these varying experiences and how they are developed to meet different needs will simultaneously help to develop the rest of the store around them. There are eight(8) possible scenarios so far:

Public: group [console, computer], single [console, computer] These would be in open areas much like internet cafes. In addition to the terminals the store would also offer wifi for those who choose to bring their laptops or other portable devices with wireless internet capability (charge a fee to connect to play games with users within the store). That type of user doesn't necessarily fall into either public or private because they can go anywhere.

Private: group [console, computer], single [console, computer] Private terminals would be any enclosed or encapsulated environment providing gaming services. These would be reserved and/or rented out much like the public stations.
[3][seating accommodation]
The seating accommodations are heavily influenced by the types of gaming terminals and the proposed atmosphere of an area. Again, it all goes back to the gaming terminal scenarios and what each one has to offer. I see the 1st and 2nd images with the "myvue" and wireless users in both public and private situations. The 3rd and 4th images make me think of types of clusters of gaming stations, sitting at bar height or normal table top height. There is also the possibility proposed by the 5th image with the use of office systems furniture (some computer gamers at home already use similar systems).
[4][Lighting]
Clubs and bars have also been a source of inspiration for lighting scenarios. Floor, wall, and ceiling fixtures will help to delineate the different areas [service][entertainment][circulation] as well as the terminal scenarios. I forsee the lighting atmosphere changing with separate day (merchandise driven) and night situations (bar/club night life).
[5] [Form]

The "pixel" keeps popping up in my head[The information stored for a single grid point in the image, a complete image is a rectangular array of pixels]. With the recent formation of a starter concept[refractive geometries in metastasis], I think pixel starts to fit even more into the conceptual realm of my store in that it provides fruitfull information about possible forms. I took color theory a few semesters ago and one of the projects was a "pixel" project. Pixel is loosely defined outside of the digital world. It doesn't have to be a square and in this case the watercolor painting we were doing at the time could have multiple types of "pixels." I intend to use the "pixel" to define diffent areas talked about previously through repetition, varying scales, volumes, and types.
[6][Texture]

Something definitely missing from video game store experiences is the tactile one. I don't forsee every surface having an actual physical texture but rather most appearing as if they do either through lighting, form, or finish.

I must be obsessed with bridges

2008-10-26T21:38:00.007-04:00

I came across this bridge on one of the blogs I follow (or try to when I have the time). Ever since becoming interested in urban planning and urban design a few years ago, I've been trying to think of ways to mold that into a thesis project for my final studio in Interior Architecture at UNC-Greensboro. My obsession with pedestrian footbridges this semester has gotten the hamster turning in my head! I believe a bridge is a possible pathway because of the scale and its relationship to people, among other things.

I suppose the potential argument is not what Interior Architecture is but what it is not. Does a pedestrian footbridge fall into Interior Architecture? I feel there has been a push, perhaps by some of my professors, for the inclusion of outdoor environments in Interior Architecture. I believe they have a place there, as does almost every other area of design but when it comes to my thesis project I am not the one who decides what "is or is not." The words "Interior" and "Architecture" have a wide range of meaning. This undoubtedly spells trouble for those who try to narrowly define the phrase "Interior Architecture" unless they choose to use and/or display their power, the equivalent of "eminent domain", of which case they are only discouraging the creativity of the student to further a most unnecessary and unrelated cause or policy.

We know that the pedestrian footbridge falls into the category of outdoor environments, more specifically urban environments or [pathways] that people use to traverse potential obstacles or get to important [nodes, districts, landmarks]. I have a tendency to do this, to fortify my base before venturing out. In gaming they call it "turtling" and I realized its found its way into my personality, ha! It is safe within the walls but thats what this is about....

I want to get outside of the prescribed box.

I do have things to post for the retail case study, I'm just trying to narrow the scope. Enjoy the pictures...

VOTE BOB-OMB! | Challenge Four | Soup to Nuts

2008-10-22T10:06:00.008-04:00

I decided to go with video games although the types of service provided are still in the air and need to be researched. The first two stores that come to mind are Dave & Busters (Chucky Cheese for adults!) and Gamestop. D&B has food & beer and more of an arcade style setting emphasizing consumer interaction at the store. Gamestop is a traditional vendor of computer & video games with less emphasis on people coming in to play and more on people coming to buy (to then go home and play). I also hope to investigate using AutoCAD 3-D or Sketchup's "podium" plugin for 3-D renderings. I'd like to blow people's socks off with this one, big time.

On another note...

Many people are misinformed about video games. It always bugs me when groups of people (moms, politicians, etc) try to get behind a common flag of pointing the finger at something whenever some kid goes ape-crazy killing people with guns at a school. They are so quick to blame video games and exposure to violence in society. I grew up playing violent video games and watching violent movies but you don't see me running around trying to kill people (just like millions of others). True, I might be desensitized to that material but I also know that kind of behavior is unacceptable in our society (just like millions of others). Don't blame the games, blame the parents or the circumstances of a person's situation.

The following facts are provided by the Entertainment Software Association. They more than support my reasoning for placing this type of store in the Shops at Buffalo Bridge considering there isn't one already there. I'd also like to look into the demographics of the immediate 1-2 mile radius around revolution mills. I'm confident that that information will be supportive of the statisitics found by the Entertainment Software Association.

1. U.S. computer and video game software sales grew six percent in 2007 to $9.5 billion - more than tripling industry software sales since 1996.

2. Sixty-five percent of American households play computer or video games.

3. Thirty-eight percent of homes in America have a video game console.

4. The average game player is 35 years old and has been playing games for 13 year.

5. The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is 40 years old.

6. Forty percent of all game players are women. Women over the age of 18 represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33 percent) than boys 17 or younger (18 percent).

7. Fifty-six percent of online game players are male and 44 percent are female.

8. In 2007 the industry sold 267.8 million units equating to $9.5 billion in revenue: 153.9 million game console software units @ $6.6 billion, 36.4 million computer game units @ $910.7 million, and 77.5 million portable software units @ $2 billion.

9. On average, 9 games were sold every second of every day of 2007.

10. Halo 3, the best selling title of 2007, took in more revenue in its first day of sales than the biggest opening weekend ever for a movie (Spider-Man 3) and the final Harry Potter book's first day sales.

11. The entertainment industry also sold over 13.4 million portable game units in 2007, as compared to Apple's Iphone which only sold 4 million units that year.

12. Ninety-four percent of the time, parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.

Some examples of the products:

Exterior Perspectives

2008-10-02T09:49:00.004-04:00

Revolution Mills: Farnsworth Addition

2008-10-01T10:36:00.003-04:00

For your viewing pleasure....

Concept Statement

2008-09-30T10:12:00.005-04:00

Revival: bringing to activity and prominence

(restoration and adaptive re-use of Revolution mills)

Living: animation, still in active use, surviving

(human presence and influence)

Biomechanical: application of mechanics and machinery knowledge to the structure of living things

(relationship of cotton/railroad machinery tasks worked in conjunction with human beings)

System: instrumentality that combines interrelated interacting artifacts designed to work as a coherent entity

(the entirety of Revolution Mills)

"Revival of a Living Biomechanical System"

Do "living" and "biomechanical" repeat the same information?

To be developed further.

Obama/Biden Rally

2008-09-27T16:07:00.003-04:00

My girlfriend found out Obama and Biden were having a rally in Greensboro a few days in advance to the official printing in the newspapers. We both had a lot of work to do for school but she made plans and drove from Durham (Duke) after class on Friday. We said to ourselves, this is our chance to go to our first political rally (presidential)...why not? We had originally planned to wake up at 6am but instead of setting my alarm for weekends, I had it set for weekdays (cellphone) and we slept until about 7:15. I think if we hadn't gotten there so early we wouldn't have had such a close spot next to the stage, which was about 20 feet away (give or take).

At first we didn't think we were going to get in but after I saw all of the people pile up behind us in line I wasn't worried anymore. One woman in the senior citizens line passed out on the sidewalk and had to be taken away on a stretcher by emts'. It was amazing to see people were willing to sacrifice their bodies to be a part of this rally. Everyone was out there, all ages and all races. Everyone was willing to stand for hours to see these men speak about their beliefs and goals for the future of our country.

I ran into my friend Susie who was by herself. Susie had brought a book to read while she stood in line. I had my camera and my girlfriend to converse with but made a mental note to bring a book or sketchbook the next time if I was ever by myself for one of these.. She was actually one of two friends that I know of that came by themselves. It made me proud to have friends like this, people who care about whats going on in this country. I wonder how many other people came by themselves...
The rally itself was pretty exciting. Both Barack and Biden showed a fierceness that energized the crowd at some points. It reminded me of the quote "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!" After watching the debate the night before I imagined they would talk about much of what was already said but there was new material with an added mix of humor. The crowd responded well to the Democratic candidates. I believe the news put the total number of people at the rally around 20,000. I'd say thats a suprisingly substantial showing for Greensboro and brought hope in my heart for what was to come on November 4th.
"....We are fast approaching the time when we will have to think even further outside the box, remove our ideological blinders, and look directly at the problems of this century--and fashion our solutions so that they address the problems, not confirm our beliefs...."

Come up with solutions to address the problems, not confirm our beliefs...sounds like change to me.

Vertical Review

2008-09-26T10:37:00.003-04:00

After meeting with Christina and Kelsey to have conversations about the process we've achieved so far, I noticed similarities between all of our projects. The use of the basement as either food or vendor space, Buffalo Creek as a major element of the design, and multiple floor levels open to each other were all major ideas in our projects. It was nice to see my peers' process before a final review for once. Not that this interaction doesn't happen between some of us but we all have our friends and clicks of people that we normally go for advice and feedback from. Maybe this atmosphere will pop up by itself a little more often without Suzanne having to tell us to do it! The blogs definitely make accessing other people's process easier but not everyone constantly updates their site so occasions like this should more than offset that problem (meeting in person is probably better). On to business...

So...I had a vision quest last night. I don't remember what it was but for some odd reason I knew the direction I wanted to head in when I woke up this morning. I didn't have much to show besides a page of sketches, diagrams, and the graphics I posted earlier. Looking at the looms, I started thinking of the cotton that went through to weave whatever product was being made. Suspension, connection, inanima: three words I've been thinking of. The graphics got me ideating about how to make things float or suspend in mid-air (sounds familiar to another project I did last year...Noah's Arc).

I've decided to split the project area into 3 major areas: stores, creek/courtyard, and food (building across the creek/courtyard). I see the floating/suspended structure as serving a similar purpose to the diagonal shaft that already exists between the buildings, as a purposeful connection. Whether this entity becomes an actual restaurant, store, gathering area, or strictly circulation on a different level remains to be sought out and processed. Only good things can come of it. The creek/courtyard area will act as the spatial connection between the store and food buildings. There are also many opportunities for using the creek as a visual element from inside at the basement level and perhaps other levels as well. I should also say that I am one of those people that plans on cutting the building up but not just the basement. I want to cut through the floors above our "space" to open each level to a yet to be determined "skylight." The quotations are there because it will serve more purpose than just providing natural light.

I'll continue this later, when I have my stuff scanned in.

Roll with the changes...

2008-09-26T00:17:00.003-04:00

After much deliberation and processing, it seems I will be putting off graduate school for another year. There is no big reason, just many small reasons that have weighed heavily upon my head.

#1. 5th year summer studio lasts the entire summer, overlapping with 3 year graduate architectural programs which start in the summer.
#2. I only need 5 more Geography classes to attain a double major. By finishing this, I increase my chances of acceptance to a graduate Planning program. This also means I am not limited to design jobs (graphics, interiors, engineering, architectural, etc) and it opens up the government job option (planning, consulting, etc). Taxpayer money is the best kind of money...just ask the banks and lenders the government is bailing out...haha.
#3. I have not had time to study for the GRE this semester and at the going rate, I don't plan on ever having time. I've only got 12 credit hours and my tuesday/thursday schedule is open but I find myself either reading for Geo 502 Urban Planning or processing work for studio during what were planned to be my GRE study times.
#4. I've always dreamed of getting my graduate education outside of the home state but my search for schools elsewhere has also made me more aware of how wonderful North Carolina's school system is in comparison to others. In state tuition would save me tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars (depending on where I go). NC State and Charlotte have Architecture, UNC-Chapel Hill has Planning. The education I'm striving to get is available in my own state and its cheap in comparison to other options.
#5. Kaylin. I'd like to be close to my girlfriend. Shes in Durham going to school at Duke. Its hard to admit but there is a high possibility I might be miserable being hundreds of miles away from her. She says I shouldn't base my decision on her and as I already stated in the beginning of this post that each of these by themselves wouldn't be reason enough to stop my rampage to graduate school...but as a whole, they present a very tight case.

Yeah, I think I've made my decison.

Nothing like a little apophysis with a mix of inspirational quotes from folks who are no longer living...

2008-09-25T16:42:00.009-04:00

I'm really scraping the bottom of the barrel/trash heap to find anything that will get me slightly enthused. I credit my lack of mental functioning to the stress I've been feeling from all the crap thats been going on. So, today after making some "motivation" posters with a tool I haven't touched in a while I picked up the charcoal and began drawing. I find that whenever I feel a lack of creativity, a change in media has a tendency to jump start the process. The image below was part of the search on google for technical drawings of looms and locomotives although the quote is mine. As for the others, I created the images and swiped the quotes from some random website. How uninspiring...I'm so uninspired my eyes won't even stay open and my brain wants to shut itself completely off. I need food. I need caffeine. I need to leave school.