Reading Response # 5 - Masada

Sources are the Ching Book pg 167
and all the images are from Google image results for the Masada temple

Blog Post # 5 Design & Poetry

Music and Design are so closely related that one is reflective of the other.  For this assigment we had to create a  poem which had to be a couplet, free verse, haiku, limerick, or quatrain.  For this image i chose to write two diffirent haiku's to show the fealing of the photo. 

Colors on a value layer

i sense it moves in all tones

creating structures in repetition harmony

The motion of this composition

creates unity through its continous color repetition

My eye sences wonderful momentum

 Sculpture of Paper-clad Wire Clothes Hangers

Theory Reading #2

 On Friday we watched the movie Babette's Feast, about a family that lived in Jubland, Denmark and had a french lady by the name of babette live with them. The family had a simple way of life and were very religious which made their dining not a luxurious experience like Babette was use to.  The two sisters later found out that Babette was famous chef from Paris', France "Cafe Anglais" where she cooked exquisite dinners to enhance the dining experience.  It was at then the two sisters decide to hold a dinner to commemorate the 100th anniversary of their fathers birth.  Knowing this dinner was of importance to the family Babette begged the sisters to allow her to cook the dinner, however they were quite hesitant since they had never experienced anything different than their culture.  The sisters culture was one of simple traditions and simple meals where they sang hymns and prayed.  They were afraid by allowing this new culture and way of thinking into their homes they would be allowing sin to enter their way of life.

Babbette preparing the dinner

table scape of the dinner

 

After watching this movie i began to think about how culture influences design in both positive and negative ways. Some positive ways of culture and design are the fact that both influence us in a personal way from the way we feel about experiences to the way we experience them.  Without culture and religion all of our day to day activities would be meaningless and unnecessary since there was no reason for why we were doing them. This also has a negative aspect to it because sometimes like in ,Babette Feast, people get so caught up in their own culture they become afraid of other ways of doing things and tend to live in their safe little world not experiencing anything new.  Therefor we must create a happy medium between design and culture so we do not allow ourselves to live in a sheltered little box hiding from the world around us.

  

Blog Post # 4 - Form, Materials, Axis

"The end is to build well. Well building hath 3 conditions: Firmness, Commodity, and Delight"                                                                 
- Sir Henry Wooton (1568-1639)
The Elements of Architecture 1684

Acording to this quote the Moore Humanity and Reasearch Administration building (MHRA) is a well built building on our campus this building blends the old and new styles of buildings on our campus in order to show the diversity of UNCG.

[Firmness] - performance, stability, structure
The MHRA building has a high performance level in that it is divided into 2 sides one used for classes and research and the other used for administration. This layout shows the structure of the building by creating diffirent wings so the spaces do not overflow. Also in the space the materials divide it between the 2 focuses.  The administration is split from the rest of the building useing collums and frosted glass that allows light to filter thru the walls but not to compleatly seperate the space. This structure also uses many materials that show a sense of strength and long lasting potential in that the designer chose to use metal, stone, wood, and tile. These materials are found all around campus and not only match the existing buildings but compliment the function of the space. 

[Commodity] - useful arangement, positive function , and interrelationship of spaces
The Designer choose to inset stone tiles into the floor to act as ripples in order to direct people in the right direction and to show the sacred spot created by the 3D projection of the circle to the intire entrance which allows light to be projeccted through the space and shows a central way to travel through the building from one entrance to the back entrance to the two diffrent wings of the building.

[Delight] - sence of space, positive effect, delight
The MHRA buildings exterior has a positive effect on the campus by marking the corner of Spring Garden and Forest St. in placing the collum entrance facing this intersection the building and the street corners importance have been elevatec creating a sacred spot agin marked by the 3D prejection of the circle. Also the way the collums placed near the doors change form two collums on the outside to one on the inner portion helps create a porch and transitions us into the interior of the building making that inner space right after the door hold power and importance.

The MHRA Building marks a space of significance and value on the campus and show who we are as a university.

Reading Response # 4

Sources:

Ching book

http://www.lib.unc.edu/rbc/Mayaexhibit/collection.html

Design Manifesto- Theory Reading 1

Design can be anything you want it to be from something you dream up in your head to something you create as a tangible object. It honestly does not matter what the design even is or if it's realistic because in all design there is something you can take from a idea and use it to create something spectacular. It may not be your first idea that works and is perfect but by the time you think about it and rework it you will have a design that inspires you as well as others.  Design is as much about the process and the re-dos than the original idea which means you cant just stop when you get stuck you have to go out and search for more ideas and work those into your design process.  This is what it takes to make a good idea turn into a great design.

You can gain inspiration from anything and everything and use that to add new twist to old things as well as design completely new objects and spaces. Your inspiration can be anything from a stick on the floor of a building to the building itself.  to design great spaces and things you have to think about what you inspiration meant to the person who designed it. You need to be able to create a story about your inspiration then translate those ideas into a working idea that forces others to wonder what you were thinking about when you designed it.

Personally I am inspired by nature and I choose to combine that with more man made elements like combining a tree stump with white Plexiglas glass to create a juxtaposition of the two elements which separately are beautiful but together create a design that is thought provoking and playful. In my designs I try to get people to wonder why I chose the products I did or why the scale is how it is. This wondering forces others to attempt to interpret my work and in doing so they come up with ideas and inspiration for there own work.




Picture source: http://www.behance.net/gallery/Good-Design-MANIFESTO/268013

Color Week

This week in class we learned how to look at color in a diffrent way than how we were normaly do. We learned how to find the middle mix of colors and created compositions with colors we choose from our pack of color aid paper. Which we had to race the class to southern photo to get one of the 4 boxes of paper we needed.



At first we learned how to mix two colors seen in the 3 x 3 square then we worked with mixing three colors with the triangle. When mixing three colors i learned that the closer the colors in tone the harder it is to find the middle mix partly because we had a limited amount of colors to chose from.



The last day of color week we had to have a color pallet and useing that pallet we had to create a composition representing the four seasons with in a abstract way.