cabinet of curiosity

 

my cabinet was built to house a triangular necklace holder, a box to hold hair ties, and a rectilinear pencil holder. with all of these hard, straight lines i wanted to contrast them with a circular form for my cabinet. i wanted each artifact to have its own moment of display so i made the cabinet a series of circles that could be mounted to the wall. doors can be added or removed for versatility. the light, smooth acrylic contrasts the wood of the objects as well, making them really stand out. 

halloweeeeeen!

i made my own costume this year. i have a white fitted dress and i went to the store and got some felt. i cut circles out, sewed em on and....

twister!
easiest costume ever. yay halloween! (:

hospitality design mag!

yesterday i met with my adviser to start to figure out what classes i should be taking to specialize. he gave me some resources as far as a direction to go in to see what i want to do future-wise. when i told him that i wanted to do hotel design he referred me to hospitality design magazine. who knew there were so many firms that specialized in hospitality! it was awesome. the magazine is way too expensive to subscribe to but thank goodness they have a newsletter!

blog that assignment 004

How will natural and artificial lighting improve your space?   



i think that by controlling the natural light (there's a LOT that comes into the space at the moment) it'll be an instant improvement. we've thought about incorporating light shelves into the space to help with that. as far as artificial lighting we've talked about utilizing it on our glass floating wall that we're going to bring into the space.
Will you use focal lighting to direct people?
by bringing focused lighting onto the glass wall we'll draw people's focus to the wall and consequently the desk for sign-in and information.
How will you create moments of interest within your space using light?
besides the wall and its created lighting interest we'll have moments of interest at the stairs where there's natural light as well as directed natural light in the space to the left of the wall where there is seating and teaser exhibit space. 

blog assignment 004

the ghm project.....currently.

principles:
RHYTHM: our design for the museum is history, history, history. from the railroads to the war history to the textiles industry everything will be cohesive with the exhibits and reflect the fact that its a history museum.
BALANCE: the entire space will be used whether its for storage, exhibit space.
EMPHASIS: the walls will be the emphasis as well as signage and color use.
UNITY: by bringing the history into the lobby we'll give the museum an identity and create unity.
PROPORTION: i think that by addressing the height of the ceiling we'll keep the proportion right.




elements:
LINE: most of our lines are going to be curved to keep with the curvature of the original space.
COLOR: we're still working on color. our first ideas were not so great (booooring). we're thinking of some sort of pop of color/fresh space!
SHAPE: circles. lots of them. well, curves. but that hints at circles. the huge curved wall in the space is responsible for that.
TEXTURE: for this i would say it can be seen in the way we bring in the textiles industry (like maybe some literal textiles?). the textiles industry is a big part of greensboro so bringing it in would be an awesome opportunity to bring in texture!
FORM: all of the curvature and breaking up of the space will totally change the form.
SPACE: by breaking up the space we'll be able to make it not so overwhelming when you first walk in. we want to utilize the entire space and do it effectively.

blog assignment 003

so when we had the two presentations from the speaking center i was a little skeptical. i'm taking a 100-level communications course to complete my gen ed this semester and i related it to that class. which was weird...because i was sitting in the gatewood building. anyways, besides the fact that both presentations started at 9am i think they were successful attempts by the speaking center. i liked the first lady better because she was more exciting and, let's be honest, that's needed for that type of presentation. the packet from the second presentation was helpful when outlining my speech, though.

as far as my speech i think i did pretty well. i covered the points i wanted to cover and i wasn't really nervous. i think that i'm comfortable enough with the group that i really have no problem giving a speech or speaking publicly. after watching a few uncomfortable presentations (no offense to anyone) i made sure i tried to be as comfortable up there as possible and make it more like i was just sharing thoughts rather than giving a formal speech. my powerpoint slide wasn't the greatest but it got the point across. i actually revised it and made it better here in a former blog post.

overall d.c. was amazing and i'm glad i got to share some thoughts on it with my classmates. and i'm glad we got the formal speaking-intensive part out of the way.

welcome to photoshop, blog assignment 002

can i just say that when i first opened photoshop and tried to start using it i had NO idea what i was doing. this is my exploration of fun buttons and effects and a mixing of three images...enjoy!

i took a photo i snapped of the national museum of the american indian...

added a beach

and a starry sky...

and VIOLA!

henrique oliveira

so one of the museums i was assigned to check out in dc was the smithsonian national museum of african art. i expected bright textiles and cool pottery. i definitely wasn't ready for what i walked in to when i saw the artists in dialogue 2 exhibit featuring sandile zulu and henrique oliveira.

credit for these comes from here


there's no way i couldn't notice and be blown away by that. right?! it's just coming out of the wall and winding and twisting around all over the place. this piece, called Bololo, meaning "entangled" in portuguese uses weathered wood shipped to the museum from brazil specifically for this exhibit.

spinal diagnosis-a regenerate case no. 2... source!

the informational booklet from the exhibit says not only that but it also says that this work is a direct response to the surrounding architecture and artwork like zulu's spinal diagnosis-a regenerate case no. 2.  oliveira also does insane paintings like mercurio, lapsos lazulis, and sem titulo.

credit!





simply amazing.

ohmygosh, CHAIRS.

so last year amidst all of the chair card madness i bought a book called 500 Chairs. of course it didn't have the historical ones i needed it to but it did have some seriously cool chairs in it! i recently picked it back up and flipped through it. here are a few of my faves!

PAIR OF CHAIR by david upfill-brown

FOREST FURNITURE by tom loeser

 this just cracks me up.

and my absolute favorite...

CURLY STYX LADDERBACK CHAIRS by jon brooks

(i think it's because they remind me of giraffes and i LOVE those things...)

all of the chairs in that book are awesome and definitely art pieces as well. i recommend checking out if you're in need of inspiration!

ghm meeting #1

so wednesday our group met with a group of people associated with the greensboro historical museum. of the people present there were a couple of architects, curator of the exhibits, some board members, a maintenance man, and more. the meeting was a very successful one! we got their thoughts and opinions as to what they saw needed change and they were very responsive and had a lot to say. the problems they listed were much like the ones that we listed (yes, including the 80's green). my email as well as patrick's were made available for any further concerns they may have. now we'll have to collaborate amongst ourselves and gather the information from wednesday in hopes to move forward with this exciting and much needed project!

blog assignment 001

on friday, september second our class traveled over to the industries of the blind building. it was a little intimidating at first...this building is right across the train tracks yet none of us knew what went on inside of it. walking up there wasn't much to the building. there were few windows, a tree, a flagpole, and some shrubs. this building did not look exciting but i kept my hopes up because patrick spoke so highly of it. we entered through a vestibule (something i had never noticed until patrick pointed it out one day and now i notice them everywhere) and waited for naari to lead us further. the space was sort of like the outside...plain. i noticed a small little meditation garden of some sort under the staircase as we went up the stairs. we went into a conference room to hear from mr. lopresti after that. the room had a giant table and lots of chairs. mr. lopresti spoke about the history of the company and the work he's done there since he started there. since he's been there worker morale and productivity have shot through the roof and later we saw why. after we talked he gave us a tour through the factory. we started in a storage room and learned about the process of what they do there. we then got to check out the factory and see the workers in action. i was so enthralled with his tour that i barely even thought to take pictures! they were sewing, cutting, folding, and more. the thing that was the most amazing to myself-and i know the rest of us- was that mr. lopresti could walk right up to any of those employees, know them by  name, and make some sort of inside joke with them. and he proceeded to do so with many of them. we continued to walk through and see all of the amazing things that the workers were doing. it was strange to look at them and think that they were blind because they knew exactly what they were doing and were doing it well. they were making t-shirts, pens, parachutes, and neck-protectors for battle helmets. a few of them got to give us a run-down of what they were doing. again, it was easy to forget that they were unable to see because they were talking to us just like anyone else would. these workers were all so happy and cheerful it was inspiring. we ended the tour with a look at their productivity board. they were way over their goal, and we could all see why.

these people are so proud of what they do. when we asked one worker what his job was he happily responded with. "we save lives!". making these things for the soldiers really inspires these folks and it really got to all of us. if i was unable to see i'd probably be in a corner crying right now. not these people, they'll talk to whoever wants to listen and you'll never see them frown. i'm so glad that we're able to help them out and re-vamp their space because these people truly, truly deserve it.

brrreeeeatheee.

i, as many do i'm sure, have a folder on my computer that i like to look through for inspiration. these photos are just a collection of pictures that i like, spaces i like, quotes and things like that that i can go to when i'm feeling uninspired or down. amid the stress of second year i went to it recently and this picture...well...quote? really stood out this time like it hasn't before.
i wish i knew who i got it from so i could give it the credit it deserves-i probably got it from tumblr somewhere...

 

with all of the new stress levels and amounts of work we're all encountering it's easy to be overwhelmed, grumpy, or just down. i like to refer back to this (even though there are definitely some suggestions on there that aren't possible!) to just sort of put things in perspective. this is not the end of the world, we're all going through this together. we all need to BREATHE, RELAX, and SMILE more. my favorite is the very last line, "RELAX, TAKE EACH DAY AT A TIME...YOU HAVE THE REST OF YOUR LIFE TO LIVE".

gotta love it (:

yeah, i've got skills.

as crazy inspired i was at the industries of the blind, i really feel that my skills would best be put to use at the greensboro historical museum. i think that everything they do at the iob is amazing and the story mr. lopresti wants to share is incredible. i think, however, that there are some really cool things that can be done at the greensboro historical museum. there are small details to fix and some small treasures to bring out.  i'm very organized and can help the group stay on track. i'm also a "balancer" as we discovered in class so i'm pretty good in group situations. i'm a hard worker and i'm all about staying on track so our group wouldn't fall behind. i'm really motivated to update this building and make it a place that brings the community in and teaches them about the city they call home.

holy header

what's the deal with the header change? well, besides the fact that it's a new semester and i'm no longer taking the classes i had listed, i was ready for something new. i decided to leave out the class list-that's what tags are for. i'm still not 100% sure i'm loving the header so it might actually change. but lately i'm loving feathers. i just had to use a feather as a concept for a project i just did for visual communications (see earlier blog post) and they're just cool (can i still use that word?). they have so many different colors and patterns and lines. the possibilities are endless!


photo cred goes to thingsorganizedneatly.tumblr.com, a website i adore. "things organized neatly" couldn't describe me and my style better. while you won't find that in my apartment, the things i like and the spaces that inspire me are clean and neat. chaos can come in patterns and artwork. here are a few of my favorite photos from thingsorganizedneatly...

had to give a shout out to the eams' (;

sequence: diagramming a building

INDUSTRIES OF THE BLIND



narrative: as i walked up to the building i wondered what i'd see inside; this building sits on a street i drive down on a daily basis yet i've had no idea what's been going on in there until i finally got the chance to go for class. i walked into the building, through a vestibule-a concept i never noticed until this semester when we've talked about them- and into a waiting space. i could see a staircase and below it was a sort of meditation garden. our group was led up the stairs by the friendly naari to another sort of waiting space. this time there was a couch. from there we went into the board room to sit and hear from mr. lopresti. after talking with him we received a tour of the extensive and impressive factory. watching all of the workers work with smiles on their faces was truly inspiring for us all. i couldn't be happier to be a part of this studio and this project!



occasions: work, meetings, deliveries, presentations
players: factory workers, management, delivery people, staff
resources: stairs, rooms, machines, staff, time
surroundings: factory, lobby, office, basement, storage, restrooms




thumbnails:

when we entered the space it was strictly business and i got right to taking pictures. once we gathered as a group and began our tour i was so excited to see everything and learn about the place that i didn't take many productive pictures. i diagrammed the main space that we'll be working with-i just wish i would've had the chance to document more of the more amazing and inspiring factory space and its workers!



diagram:

since we went up and down so many stairs i thought it would be appropriate to diagram the building similarly. the factory, the main part where most of the action is, is on the bottom floor and the most people are down there. the main entrance and, basically everything else is upstairs. i made the office areas on the top stair because a smaller number of people enter there on a regular basis as compared to the factory, main entrance, and lobby space.