Learning Portfolio

Arch 101- Spring 2012Aaron Savage

Professor Jerry Lum

Inspiration

• When starting my “Bare Bones” activity, I got my initial inspiration from a small bulbous ceramic fish; which is actual a salt and pepper shaker.

• My love of the ocean and its creatures inspired my selection of this object.

• Although my iteration was based upon this fish, they slowly morphed into more abstract forms that were tied upon feelings and emotions.

• My first iteration of my fish was very literal in the sense that it was a “bare bones” of a fish, other than the fact that it was made out of toothpicks and glue.

• I chose to create my simple design by cutting the toothpicks in half and gluing them in hexagonal pattern composed of triangles. I chose triangles due to the fact of their strength and simplicity, while all being symmetrical and having dynamic edges.

Week 1

Week 1

• While critiquing my new model in class, I realized my model was literally just a fish skeleton and I came to the conclusion that I needed to start thinking a little out of the box.

• I needed to start articulating when speaking about my object and learn how to express my ideas and innovations. Like my other classmates during this time, I too was extremely vague when presenting my iteration and needed to become more descriptive with my language. This would only progress and improve through time and experience.

• My new model was going to have more details, personality and a little more attitude than my first.

• This was my first iteration and honestly I was pretty proud of it, thought it was simple it had an attractive symmetrical form that drew me to it, just like the ceramic fish did.

Week 1

• During this week we started our first charcoal drawings. I was a little apprehensive at first because I had no clue what I was doing but once charcoal hit paper I had an image in my head of what I wanted my next object to look like.

• What I created was a simplified example of my skeletal fish, basically a robust sphere with two darkened endpoints, where energy would be contained.

• My drawing looked like a cycle of energy, going in a harmonious flow over and over again.

• This would be my inspiration for my next iteration and would also be the start of my use of tectonic language through my model; which at that time I had no idea.

Week 2

• By seeing my previous iteration in an abstract manner I feel I deconstructed the obvious and opened my possibilities for iterations to come.

• I chose a new material, wire, which changed my life! Wire was the material for me after that...

• Wire was flexible, manageable, interesting, shiny and very cost effective...music to my ears.

Week 2• I wanted to create a

streamline form that conveyed movement and energy.

• The curvilinear lines of the sphere convey a sense of movement and force.

• The two endpoints expressed energy sources that cycle around, organized in a radial direction.

• My iteration was a spherical shape; a ball put simply. It consisted of only lead wire wrapped around each other, then tied together at each end point.

Week 2

• Although my piece was very simple I feel it portrayed an excellent starting point to my abstract view of my original model.

• I feel I achieved a lot my making something so straight forward and raw, my craft was clear and neat and I got to the point of what I wanted to convey.

• Even though this model was symmetrical ,which we were supposed to shy away from, it was innovative in organization and order.

• This would be the launchpad for the rest of my models and use of wire; which would prove to be not be an easy path!

Week 2

• When my literal mindset flipped to abstract, a whole new door of possibilities opened for me and my iterations to come.

• I started to express my ideas on paper which helped tremendously in eliminating wasteful time building models that wouldn’t suffice.

• I started thinking about fluidity more and focused on the outcome instead of the object as much.

Week 2

• My next iteration was composed out of the ideas of harmony and fluidity with an open concept.

• I felt the circle enclosed my options and I wanted to enhance the possibilities of its growth.

• I opened the sphere of my last model to create more possibilities for movement which was expressed as linear elements and parallels.

Week 2

• I used the same gage wire again but in a more wave like motion with one side of the wire going up and one down.

• Three parallel lines grouped together magnified the sense of depth and energy but it was still very simple.

• I feel this iteration lacked use of pattern and complexity which should be a progression with my work.

• This model was almost equivalent to the sphere when comparing on craft and use of material.

• I needed to introduce a new material, much more complexity and incorporate a new group of organization.

Week 2 • While my iteration was

harmonious and had a sense of motion, it was obviously way too simple, and lacked many fundamental elements.

• The next week I yearned to create something a little more complex and out of my comfort zone, meaning something asymmetrical.

• I wanted to also convey movement, repetition, while being harmonious and tranquil.

• I chose the moods of the piece because they remind me of the ocean itself as I see it; which were based upon my inspirational object.

Week 3• I ended up creating a

scale- inspired piece using the same wire, in an arbitrary pattern. Scales were something that first came to mind when relating my fish to pattern.

• I attempted to make a more complex piece than last time with more pattern and sense of movement in a grid organization.

Week 3

• I wasn’t necessary excited about this iteration because I felt like it lacked a lot of emotion and depth; as it was just a flat surface.

• This iteration was a starting point for me to include more repetition that created a pattern.

• For my next model I would need to contain the scales to a three- dimensional shape that encompassed more of a sense of harmony and tranquility.

• My craft could definitely improve, as I was just getting the feel for wire. I needed to tighten my joints and connecting areas, making them more intentional.

Week 3• I decided to go along with

the same “scale” theme as my previous iteration but this time making them go in random directions, rather than being in static motion.

• I felt the previous static grid organization lacked interest.

• I also chose a new material to incorporate, metal mesh, which I felt unified my piece more so than the wire alone.

• The mesh provided my model with a second set of grids that I thought added to the complexity and depth of my design.

Week 3

• My new work kept in the same theme of movement with the use of scales in an asymmetrical pattern.

• I elevated my design ,from last time, by making it a three-dimensional form.

• I did so by curving all the scales in an “S” like pattern which also allowed it to stand up.

Week 3

• I enhanced the aspect of verticality which evoked a more dynamic sense.

• The random movement of scales going up and down created a harmonious flow of energy.

• This week I was also trying to focus more on improving my language when speaking about my iteration and make my changes to it more intentional.

• This idea was easier said than done because I had ideas on paper but when I got up in front of the class to present my mind totally blanked out.

• Regardless to my presentation I feel I achieved a lot on this iteration with my concepts. I obviously still needed to work on my intentions and design language.

Week 4

• My new iteration was to be more in-unison than my random scales.

• I needed to find some shape or configuration that gave my piece some sense of closure without killing the movement.

• My solution to this problem (or what I thought was my solution) was going back a few steps to my sphere.

Week 4

• I decided to introduce a couple new materials in addition to the metal wire.

• I included a thiner gage wire to provide some dimension and interest. I also included small mirrored tiles to enhance the movement of the sphere and depth in addition to the thinner wire.

• I placed the thin wire and mirrors inside the core of the sphere to emphasis the movement I wanted to achieve.

Week 4

• The movement was a little chaotic but in order to control it, I used the mesh wire all around the sphere’s “bones” to enclose and balance the energy going on in the core.

• While this iteration had many design elements and organizations such as grid, linear and radial; I feel they all got lost on top of each other and came off rather confusing.

• What I eventually ended up with was a ball, put simply, the same idea I had a few iterations back. This time my ball had a lot more going on.

• I wasn’t satisfied and felt the ball idea needed to go because it allowed for no growth, which to me wasn’t dynamic or harmonious.

Week 5

• I started by looking back on my previous ideas that worked and didn’t work from previous iterations.

• My positive feedback and inspiration came from my first barebones iteration; the simplicity of the toothpicks and use of triangles.

• Triangles! This is where my obsession was resurrected; how dynamic they were yet equilateral, and all together had a very strong linear organization.

• I wanted to once again unleash the energy that was enclosed by this sphere, releasing the tension that was inside the chaotic ball.

Week 5

• So it was settled, I was using triangles in my next iteration but this time in a larger scale and something that was much more dynamic than previously. I used wooden skewers this time instead of toothpicks.

• My next dilemma was the arrangement of the triangles. So I haphazardly constructed the triangles, incorporated my wire in an arbitrary manner around the triangles, then placed mirrored tiles, carefully on every intersection of each triangle point.

Week 5• Although my placement of

each triangle was quite unintentional, I feel that it turned out to be one of my most interesting iteration so far!

• Patterns were forming and depth was increasing, all keeping in an open and dynamic form; a lot was going on.

• There was linear elements and grid patterns forming in a cleaner and organized manner, which I lacked in the sphere.

Week 5

• The only thing missing was intention, again, I was focusing on the form and forgot about the small details.

• My form could have used a little more work also, it was looking more like a jumble of triangles in a static and a rather boring arrangement; when I wanted it to be leaping into every which direction possible.

• With my ideas in order to branch out my triangle arrangement, I decided to start my eliminating the mirrored connections; which I felt where very distracting. I wanted your eye to focus more on the potential for growth rather than looking at what had already grown.

• I felt like I was improving much more on craft and the overall complexity of my design, at this point very proud of my work also.

Week 6• I started with the idea of

using two different sized triangles to portray growth and irregularity commonly found in nature.

• My next process was the arrangement of wire, which I was still a little stuck on, I knew I needed it to create patterns and to show energy in my triangles but I wasn’t sure how I wanted it to look.

• I ended up arranging it the same way around every triangle, overlapping in an arbitrary pattern.

Week 6 • The placement of the triangles

started off with the rule of every large triangle must go through a small triangle, or at least touch.

• The outcome slightly morphed as it started to gain height and I decided to intersect a lot more triangles than originally planned.

• I was mainly going off how I felt it should look through and emotional sense.

• Overall I feel I made another large step! My craft had definitely improved and my intentions were starting to become a lot clearer.

Week 6

• Everything dramatically changed when it was announced that we could no longer use glue! I was fairly confident at this time that me and my new love for wire would be all I needed to attach wooden skewers together effectively. I was so wrong!

• It was to prove after many, many attempts that wire wasn’t as effective as glue...

• My new attempts partially held the skewers together but were very distracting to my overall form.

• For my next iteration I wasn’t going to drastically change my form because I felt it was very successful but I wanted to mainly focus on emphasizing connections within the triangles and making them seem more intentional.

Week 6

• The only way my new structure would sustain and support a similar design to my previous was to wrap the wire over and over, which started taking over my skewers.

• This is exactly what I planned for but the wire eventually took over.

• All you would focus on was the wire, not the structure, not the form, not the dynamic and harmonious flow of the triangles.

Week 6• I had a major problem but still

managed to produce a “messy” version of my last clean iteration with more intentions on my connecting parts.

• I felt this was a large setback for me and I was a little embarrassed of this work compared to previous.

• I needed a way to produce the same quality of work, as my previous, without glue and improve my craft with wire.

• My solution, I thought, was simple, a thicker wire gage.

Week 6

• While attempting to start a new iteration with my new and improved wire gage, not to thick not too thin, I stumbled with my new design ideas.

• I knew that I wanted my piece to be dynamic and convey a sense of potential for growth but how would I do so?

• I wanted to stop thinking emotionally on what I wanted it to look like and wanted to think more logically; this was extremely hard for me because I normally don’t think that way.

Week 7

• I overcame that gap by turning to nature again. I had the idea of a plant, with the start if the energy in the roots and branching out into open space as the leaves.

• My new design ideas sounded very nice and refreshing but I still didn’t know how to convey this in a complex manner, basically trying my best to not make it look like a child-made model of a plant.

Week 7

• I started the same way I did with my past three iterations with the small and large triangles then other triangles branching out above them.

• This time I experimented with random sized triangles sprouting from the large and small triangle, then open triangles branching off of them. This was a direct reference to nature: root to stem to leaf/flower.

Week 7

• As I did with previous iterations I included a thinner gage wire in the core of the triangles to symbolize the trail of energy. I placed the wire starting from each connecting point to the other triangle to emphasis their relationships with each other.

• I also included color tiles, one in the heart of the parent root triangles to symbolize their energy, spreading to the stem triangles in a different color.

Week 7

• While my new ideas sounded perfect in my head, I feel like it didn’t express truly to my iteration.

• My craft still lacked the cleanliness that my work with glue had and I don’t feel the breakthrough ideas I thought I had in my head were conveyed in this piece at all.

• My issues seemed to keep coming back to haunt me and I felt VERY lost.

Week 7

• Again back to the drawing board for me; I was a little frustrated at myself for not being able to express my ideas into something amazing.

• Feeling lost again I started to look for new ideas and concepts.

• My main focus was my craft and connections with wire and wood.

• Through all my frustrations I looked back at all my models while making this and realized I have come so far from day one.

• I felt proud of what I have accomplished and will carry on my second half of the semester with a higher sense of knowledge and confidence then when I started in January.

Midterm Conclusion• There were many up and downs this semester in ARCH 101, most of

the time they were downs but honestly I feel this has become to be one of my most rewarding classes.

• When there were “ups” they were monumental ups, like when I had clear design principles incorporated in my models which made the “downs” seem minuscule.

• Although I am still a little lost in terms of what I am achieving so far in this class, I have faith it will all pay off at the end of this semester and will all make sense to me.

• My iterations have been a slow progression of my new knowledge that each class has brought forth to me.

• None of this knowledge would be possible without Jerry’s inspirational talks and impactful feedback.

• I look forward to see how this journey will guide me through my

Week 8

• With the start of the second half of my spring semester I had a greater knowledge and a focused perspective of what I needed to achieve.

• I was to start thinking in terms of a life size space instead of just a model. This space needed to have clear design intentions and make an occupier feel a certain way while near/inside/outside of it.

• The mental pressure of the deadline quickly approaching drove me even harder to successfully discover a new design and experiment with multiple ideas.

Week 8

• With my new drive I began to think logically and practically.

• I knew my design was going to need to be straight forward and to the point because I wasn’t going to have time to embellish it with arbitrary items.

• I then focused on a simple design very similar to my last iteration but more so the bare bones.

Week 8• My bare bones iteration for the

new half was very skeletal.

• It had a clear pathway and sense of direction.

• I wanted to try something new in my craft by grouping up my skewers to create more interest and pattern.

• The “entrance” had single skewers, the middle had double skewers and the end had triple skewers.

• The rhythmic pattern helps unify the composition and signifies a purpose, ruling out the arbitrary.

Week 8

• The purpose being that I wanted the end to be the most “stable” area just like a foundation, then getting lighter as you reach the surface which would be the entrance.

• The light entrance is also less intimidating for a curious visitor and is more welcoming than a heavy mass.

• The next iteration had a little more defined space than the previous.

• I feel this one was a little more messy than my last but still very interesting to look at.

• The intersecting lines gave it a visual appeal which my last iteration lacked and also gave it more complexity.

Week 8

Week 8

• The plan of this tube like model, reminded me of a fish skeleton reminiscent of my initial inspiration.

• The tube also acts as a tunnel/shelter for someone to go inside.

Week 9

• A simplistic curve in a spiraling curve ending with skin, or a place for shelter; which would be a reward for the occupier or my object.

• My mindset was finally focused on a real life scenario which helped me a lot in my designing process.

• I created an apparent entrance and pathway towards a reward that would drive someone to walk through.

Week 9

• The next week we were instructed to create three iterations per class meeting!

• I was definitely overwhelmed by this change but still managed to create three different ideas that incorporated skin.

• This particular iteration also was tunnel like and I decided to use a triangle as a clear entrance.

• The skin around would provide shelter for someone inside.

Week 9

• The iteration for this particular day was probably my most favorite because it was very apparent about where the path was and the entrance.

• This model also expressed a sense of movement by having the triangles appear at different angles and directions.

• The skin provided for a surface and shading to both sides of the model, no matter if the occupier be inside or outside.

Week 9

• This last iteration was something I was stuck on for a while while experimenting with different sized triangles to create some sort of shelter.

• This structure didn’t have skin or a clear entrance/path.

• I was not very confident when presenting this in class because it lacked any sense of ideas or order.

• We would soon be moving to our outdoor site and I needed a more solid idea.

Week 10

• Bringing my models to real life was a really strange yet exciting feeling.

• Looking at the country site we were given was very intimidating due to all the space we were allocated.

• My immediate attention first went to the three large pine trees on the slope.

• I felt the drama of the slope and the majestic quality of the trees was heightened even more the with great view they framed.

Week 10

• The three trees also created a space by themselves, a space that was shaded, cool and very inviting. I wanted to feed off the energy and enhance the feeling the trees evoked in a monumental way.

• The question was, how would I do so? I immediately looked back at all my iterations which all had something in common, the triangle.

• Three sides just like the three trees, the triangle would be the perfect plan to base my design on. I would have one of the end points jutting out to create the drama I wanted, almost like the bow of a ship.

Week 10

• My model continued with the triangle theme with using triangles on every side.

• The plan was an elevated equilateral triangle then the sides framed the vies of the hillside with obtuse angled triangles.

• The skin also applied to the sides would help the occupier focus on the view and the trees above.

• Another obtuse triangle would be used as a latter from the ground to the elevated platform.

Week 10

• With my ideas pretty set in stone of what I wanted to create, I started thinking of other inventive ideas to create another space inside my space.

• I thought about using the space below the platform as a covered shelter for an occupier.

• I also tilted the triangle plan outward to enhance its visual appeal and imply movement, which added a little more drama and sense of awe.

Week 10

• While my ideas took shape as models, I started thinking logistically how I would create a life sized space such as this with no previous construction knowledge.

• I knew there would be added danger of creating a space under my platform that people would occupy and I wasn’t sure how to overcome that problem.

• I did some research and I knew I would not have the time or experience to create something exactly like this in three weeks.

• I had to think of a practical and honest solution in which I wouldn’t lose my fundamental design concepts.

Week 10

• I dramatically streamlined my design to this arrow-like model.

• It was definitely an appealing model but it did lack a lot of complexity and interest just because it was so simple.

• I took too much out of my original concept and I needed to add skin then elevate the floor to maintain the sense of awe and drama.

Week 11

• My final iteration!! I was completely satisfied with what I produced and felt I expressed all my ideas in a simple yet effective model.

• I elevated the platform to differentiate the ground from the surface of the space and added to skin to define the view as well as adding to the drama of the jutting sides.

Week 11

Week 11

• It was also decided we would be using PVC pipe as our building material, which again posed a new problem of structural integrity.

• The big question now was, how was I going to create an elevated space that people would walk on out of thin PVC pipe?

• I thought my solution for this problem was easy enough, a thicker gage of pipe. When I finally got down to building with the pipe I realized it was still way too flexible for someone to walk on.

• I then focused on a way to create the look of a platform that was cost effective and easy to build. My final decision and solution was as simple as a FREE wooden pallet!

• I would then frame the pallet in the PVC to convey a unified look to my whole space.

Week 11

Construction

Construction

• Around 30 hours of work on the site and renting a car to then go buy supplies, traveling back and forth from Home Depot.

• This may not sound like something rewarding or enjoyable but it surprisingly was for me.

• The hours flew as the arctic freezing wind from the west threatened to blow me and my space off the side of the ledge.

Construction

Construction

Construction

• Problems were bound to arise while constructing and many decisions were about to be made.

• I had a few issues leveling my pallet platform which was solved thanks to leftover wood pieces from another group.

• I was also waiting until the last minute to decide what my skin was going to consist of. After about an hour rummaging through Home Depot I decided on window screen due to its durability and breathable qualities.

• I was concerned about how the wind would react to the screen especially since my space was on a side of the ledge.

• Window screen was proven to be great for the wind but it was almost completely transparent, which took away from my idea of completely framing the view ahead.

Constrcution

Conclusion

• Finishing was a great achievement and relief for me, I succeeded in creating a space that evoked clear design principles and I was extremely happy with my outcome.

• When the guest jurors came and examined my work they both noted exactly what I wanted them to feel as they entered the space. They both liked the drama of the site and having my space so close to the edge as well as the framed view gained from being on the platform.

• Some negative comments were that my space was too simple and I could have added more to branch out the drama even more by extending the triangles out over the ledge of the hill. All in all I feel I expressed my ideas to their fullest potential in the amount of time I had, working alone.

• This project and class has been a tremendous learning experience for me as a student and my life in general and I will use the new found knowledge to better me in my future.