7th Reading Response

Circles and Squares: The Ideal Design

        The circle fits perfectly in the Square, and vice versa. These two geometric shapes compliment each other, which makes sense why both the East (Shwezigon Pagoda) and the West (Castle del Monte and Palmanuova City) decided to incorporate the basic shapes in their architecture, but in very different ways. Each part of the world wanted to capture the sensibility and simplicity of the shapes, but make them into very elaborate buildings and ideas, like Leonardo de Vinci did. Even today, architects wants the circle and the square in their every day lives. For instance, the United States Capitol Building: 

Color Week

        I was pretty excited about color week when we started it because it was a nice break from everything drafting and using my brain for project ideas, but I did think Tommy was a little insane when he tried to explain to us how we would see "lines of colors" in the middle color. 

        Our first assignment was to make a 3"x3" square by picking two colors, and then finding the middle color. The next one was to make a cross, by once again, choosing two colors and picking the middle color. If you got a close middle color then it would look like the pieces of colored paper, the ones we picked, were overlapping. The third assignment was to make the five squares (four on the corners and one in the middle). We chose four colors, and then a separate one, and found the median with each of the four colors to the one in the middle, making the corners look as if they overlapped. Since my four corners were all blue, it made it difficult trying to find which shade of blue went with which color. We next were instructed to make a color pallet in which we would use throughout the semester. I tried my best to not have any purples or greens in my pallet because they are my least favorite colors and I didn't want to be stuck using them, so I tried all different color combinations but no matter what, I had a color I didn't like. We had to first choose two colors and a median to be in the middle. Then we had to pick a light color and a dark color that we compliments of each other to be at the top and the bottom. Then find each color that went in between each color. Although half of my pallet is purple, I am still satisfied with the way it turned out. The last project with color was to, using our color pallet, make an abstract representation of how we view the four seasons. For spring I curled strips of paper to make "grass" and used bright colors. For summer is used all warm colors and cute shapes our to make it look like they were melting, like of like a lava lamp. For fall, I wanted to show wind by cutting strips and making them stand up in a wavy style, while using dark, neutral colors. Finally, for winter I used stark blues and purples, cool colors, in a jagged fashion, as if ice were breaking. 

Dining Precedence

        For my three precedences, I chose, for my eating style, the way of Delhi, India. I wanted to capture, in my dining space, the humbleness of sitting on the floor and eating like commoners, where everyone is equal. I also wanted to not have utensils because in India, they believe that eating should be an all sensory experience, and I think that silverware is just a way of distancing, just like buying prepackaged animal meat, the person eating from their food. I wanted everything to be intimate. 

        The second one is my table. I wanted to bring back the idea of people and animals gather around the water circle as a community. It seems that in this age, people don't seem to gather like they should to have quality time with each other, so I wanted a circle table, just like the eating style, to bring everyone together and to make them all on the same level. 

        The final precedent is about the table as well. Showing, again, how animals gather around water and how circular tables make for equality, just like  the knights at the round table. 

Material Value Study

        I am very proud of my material value study. This was, I think, the first check plus I got on an assignment this semester. Starting from the left and moving to the right,  chose to do bamboo for my wood flooring, then looped carpet, then a type of granite tile, and last a textured textile. We used both pen and pencil, which I decided the group the value studies by material, rather than medium. 

        At this point, I was already very comfortable with shading with pencil, but not to much with pen. Ink usually makes me nervous because I know that you can't erase it once you mess up, so I knew I had to practice. The zoomed out pen was actually a happy accident, I didn't know when I was doing it on my final that it would turn out so nice and so much like bamboo. With carpet, I knew that all I had to do was the dreaded stippling that takes so long and is so tedious, but I knew I had to do it to accurately depict how the carpet reacted to different lights. The zoomed out tile was also a unintended. I didn't think that what I was making was a grout line with the tile until someone mentioned it. But the textile was a little harder to make accurate and believable because it has such defined stitch lines. 

Value Study

        From the left moving right, the first three rows are with pencil, then the next three are pen, and then marker. I was used to using pencils because that is all we sketched in last semester. But, this was one of my first times using the pens that we bought, although I came to love them because of the way the ink isn't always consistent and creates value. Even though I had used the pens once or twice, I had never used the markers because, and they were my worst fear. I wasn't sure as to how they would bleed, blend, overlap, get lighter, get darker, and just do what markers do. 

        For each medium (pencil, pen, and marker), we practiced three different ways of coloring. The first was regular shading, then the next was hatching, then stippling. The shading was easy because it was what I was used to. It was easy to go back and make darker if need be. Hatching was very intimidating, in fact, it was pretty revolutional in my mind, that shade could be made just by a matter of pencil thin lines. On the other hand, stippling was the technique I was dreading the most. It seemed to tedious, and it was. To just sit there poking at the paper, baring having any immediate gratification. But, I knew that just listening to a song while doing it would ease the pain. I also knew that the marker stippling wouldn't be my worst enemy since markers bleed, I would only have to do about half the work to get the same effect. 

Dining Space Sketch Models

        For my sketch models, I wanted to focus on the room, rather than the object inside of it. The top picture is of the ceiling, and how I would want the flow in the room to go. I wanted Japanese umbrellas to mark the door, leading to the sideboard, where it gets a little lower, and then from the sideboard to the table, where it gets a few feet lower. 

        The bottom picture is a representation of how the walls will look. I want the walls to be curved at the top, to mirror the circular table and to enclose the room to make it more intimate. I was unable, at this point, to figure out how to show my table in a model, and still had troubles all the way until the day before the project way due.

Social Networking Parti/ Models

        For my social networking device I wanted to bring people together, not set them apart like computers do. I chose to create "transitional windows", which would allow people to change the view outside, making their time together more enjoyable. 

        Although the concept for my design would be fairly easy with technology, making it from wood, paper, and paint was difficult. First, I cut the wood into two equal parts to make the sections that rotate. Then I carved, using an exact-o-knife because my cutter broke, I carved out the size of the small wooded sticks, so that I can glue the two bigger pieces together with the smaller piece in the middle. 

        Secondly, I created the the two side panels to hold the sections that rotate. I then preceded to cover the rotating sections in white copy paper, holding it together with rubber cement. After, I put the pieces together and started to paint each side. One side was a rainy day, another was a beach scene, the next was a spring field, and the last was a fall hillside. Once I put the pieces together, I noticed that the model was wobbly and unstable, so I added the top and bottom pieces of wood to hold all of the pieces together  and for stability. 

Dining Parti

        For my parti, I wanted to show the eating style, the table, and the chairs (along with how I would incorporate each country). 

        I wanted the eating style to reflect India. I have pictures showing people eating on the floor, in a very humble manner. But, after talking to Stoel and measuring classmates' preference on table heights, I knew that I had to have chairs. Stoel wanted to have something to lean up against and support his back, so I knew I wanted something low to the ground and comfortable, but I wasn't sure what type of seating I wanted, like whether I wanted it to be a couch that wraps all the way around the table, or a seating for a couple so people could get out easier, or individual. It was obvious that I needed to think more about the chair.

        Since I wanted people sitting on the floor, or on a low chair, I knew that my table had to be pretty low. But I also knew that I wanted it to be circular, like the Knights at the round table, showing equality and also a place whether people aren't only going to talk to the person they are sitting with. The shape of the table I wanted is a water hole because since the beginning of time, people and animals have been gathering around water.

        For the sideboard, I originally wanted it to represent Japan, but I decided to have it represent Egypt and the pyramids. Japan was represented by disc type things on the ceiling that mirror how a Japanese umbrella could look. The united states would be in the technology on the walls, which would be my transitional windows all the way around. As I mention before, India is the eating style, and China is the seating. 

6th Blog Post

Church's Power VS. Heaven

          The Cathedral in Cologne, Germany, is known for having two towers; what these towers do is mark where the entrance to the cathedral is, showing its importance. The smaller tower in in the axis of the church shows the way to heaven. But, comparing the height and girth of these two "wu-wus", it is obvious in which the emphasis is on, the church. They believe that entering and being a part of the church comes first, and then through the church, you then go on to Heaven.

          The second picture shows the size of the cathedral when it was still in construction in 1856 in comparison to the town surrounding it. Even in plan, the cathedral was supposed to be viewed from all over the region, to remind the people of the church and then Heaven. 

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The Trinity

          The cathedral in Salisbury, England, was constructed with the thought of the Holy Trinity. From the moment that people see the church, they are consumed with the essence of three. The cathedral focused on the path to Heaven in the sense that once you recognize that the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are there to  help you in your faith, then your path to Heaven will be clear, as marked by the tallest tower in the center on the axis.

6th Reading Response

            This semester we have talked a lot about circles, groves, stacks, axes, etc.... but I have a new theory. Architecture is based off of squares. The show equality, knowledge, and there are so many things that one recognizes when they see one; they have 90 degree angles, that each side is the same, all the sides are parallel, and more! I hope to prove that my theory has some weight to it.

        

5th Blog Post

The water Prometheus,

 he stole the waves for humanity.

              His feelings filled with vanity.

                        Their ambiguous style,

                               And curving form, all the while.

                                      Their constant repetition,

                                            Total captivation.

                                                  Balancing on their toes, just as he,

                                                        Stealing them, one two, three.

                                                   But he got caught by an upbeat tempo,

                                                    All the lighting bolts going to and fro,

                                                 Froze him and drug him back to his stone and eagle,

                                                “the waves are meant for the rich and regal”.

                                        But all the while the waves were in motion,

                                Fleeing free from such a notion.

                        They landed on the rugged Earth,

                Soon to circum to a sudden rebirth.

         A lighting bolt hit them as they seat,

Turning them into frozen concrete.

Dining Project

Beckie Yohn

Dining Area

I have decided for my dining event, I want the whole world, essentially, to unite and come together in person to share a meal, to end world hunger. I want to invite 6 countries, the United States of America, Japan, China, Mexico, Egypt, and India. Having such diverse countries gather in an unfamiliar place may be unsettling for them, so I wanted to incorporate a little bit of each country into the dining area.

For the United States, that is where the dining is to be held, and the transitioning windows that will be around all four of the walls will be a reflection of our country.

 On the ceiling will be a series of Japanese umbrellas hanging, varying in color and height, to create a more intimate and lower ceiling. They will transition the guests to from the door, to the table.

China will be represented by the lighting in the room. Above the circular dining table, there will be a circular lighting fixture, the same size as the hole in the middle of the table. The fixture will be made of a dragon, a symbolic creature, biting its tale. The lighting will change with the mood, from playful and inviting to close and intimate.

When thinking of Mexico, I immediately think about El Dia De Los Muertos, the Day of the Dead. I wanted to incorporate marigolds, the flower of the celebration, in the flooring by having a marigold Maroleum of some sort. Maroleum is sophisticated, solid, and yet comfortable.

Egypt will be shown in the sideboard. I want to use pyramids in the way that the sideboard stands on the ground. I am not quite sure exactly how, but I have a few ideas.

Finally, India will be represented not only in the fabric choices of the chairs, which will be custom designed, but also in the eating style. The fabric will be a bright purple color with gold accents, which will go well with the marigold flooring. The eating style will be an all-sensory experience. There will be no utensils, and the eating will be done while sitting on the floor, similar to the Japanese.

Having each of the countries integrated into the room they will all be sharing and will enhance their feeling of comfort and home. 

U.S.A.:

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India:

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Mexico: 

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China: 

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Japan:

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Egypt: