a writer's retreat

For our final project we renovated St. Mary's House, a chapel on College Hill, and made it into a place for a visiting writer to live/write/give public readings. The space had to incorporate things like a place to eat, sleep, bathe, park a car, hold public readings, meet with students, etc. These are my drawings and my ideas for the space.

parti

longitudinal and transverse sections

key plan and floor plans

a pattern language

A Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander, Sara Ishikawa, and Murray Silverstein is a really helpful little book to have on hand. It lays out basic features of any house or space and tells you what the space is, helpful, commonsense things about the space, and some aspects that should be included in the space. It breaks things down into different categories and many of them can be used in this as well as future projects. Here are a few that can be incorporated into St. Mary's.




1. THE INTIMACY GRADIENT
"Unless the spaces in a building are arranged in a sequence which corresponds to their degrees of privateness, the visits made by strangers, friends, guests, clients, family, will always be a little awkward."


This section suggests that the private bedroom shouldn't necessarily be in the front of the house and so on. The level of privacy should start off open to the general public and should narrow down to public, semi-public, and then to private. 





2. COMMON AREAS AT THE HEART
"No social group-whether a family, a work group, or a school group-can survive without constant informal contact among its members."


This section talks about how access to common areas should not be at one end of the space or through the middle of the space but should be tangent to the space to be most successful. Common areas should not be hard to get to or to locate and should always be open and available for groups to gather.




3. THE FLOW THROUGH ROOMS
"The movement between rooms is as important as the rooms themselves; and its arrangement has as much effect on social interaction in the rooms, as the interiors of the rooms."


Here, the size of circulation space is discussed. If passageways are too small it makes people feel unhappy and uncomfortable. Generous passageways are favored and can sometimes include furniture and such. Also, "A hall or passage that is generously lit by the sun is almost always pleasant." 

dining space

In 2015 the UN instated an International Eradicating Hunger Day for all nations. On this day a meal is shared, through the use of social media, with people elsewhere in the world. This event is biannual and coincides with the winter and summer solstice. 

     The event is set up by the UN and families can sign up to share meals via Skype with other families around the world on this day.  My family signs up and has a fundraiser for this event every year. We raise money for fighting world hunger and invite our neighbors over for the meal. This year we've been matched up with a family in Peru. Luckily we're on the same time zone so we'll both have our meal at 4:28. A few weeks before the meal we chat with the family via Skype and get to know each other a little. We then exchange our favorite traditional meals. We'll make theirs and they'll make ours.
The table for the space is 5x5 but another identical one can be connected to make more seating for guests. The chairs are big and comfy a couple of them are small sofas. The main idea of this space is comfort. We'll Skype with the other family on our mirror tv above the fireplace. This way, we share a meal and expand our cultural horizons...all while raising money to eradicate hunger.

These are my final drawings:

axonometric drawing and elevations

When you first walk into the room to the left you see the sideboard which contains cut-outs in the wall. These cut-outs provide shelving and storage for dishes, glasses, etc. To the right you see the fireplace and the mirror/tv above it. Looking forward, you see the large, extended table and past that the glass doors that open to the covered patio.

plan view

The 5x5 tables can be joined or disconnected and moved around. A table and extra chairs can be used out on the covered patio or chairs can be turned and placed in front of the fireplace as well.

top, front, side of table and section view/elevation of sideboard

The table is a solid wooden 5x5x2.5 table. The chairs are comfy and upholstered. There's a variation of chairs and sofas to promote comfort and lasting conversation at the dinner table.

model

Although I think that my project turned out pretty successfully, I really wish that I would've been more efficient with my time and spent more time perfecting and completing it.

design manifesto

i believe that design is a process. while for most people, it's somewhat intuitive and comes naturally, that's only part of the process. you also have to consider the objective, the situation, the utilities at hand, etc. you can't just jump in, do a little, and call it quits every time-you have to experiment, make models, re-make those models, and keep editing until you have an end product. becoming a designer isn't easy either. you've got to learn a lot first but having all of this background knowledge in your head is very helpful when approaching a task or situation.
i also believe that good design is contagious. it should make you want to see more. when i see something that is well designed i automatically look for more by the designer. this also shows that good design is exciting and inspiring. we look to fellow designers for inspiration in our own designs. no one design is 100% original. design is also functional, thoughtful, and purposeful. everything that is made has a purpose and much thought should go into the design of a space, object, etc

dining room precedents

To me a dining space should be comfortable and exciting. Colors in the room should echo the excitement of the gathering of people and they should be able to sit comfortably and enjoy their meal and their time together. Here are a few spaces that I found inspiring...


[social space]

palazzo lobby

Having grown up in Las Vegas I know a little bit about "exciting". The crazy colors and patterns (and sounds...hello slot machines everywhere!) provided a nice contrast from the dry brown landscape of the Nevada desert. The pictures are ones that I actually took the last time I was there. The whimsical umbrellas are located above a central, social space and definitely give people something to talk about.



[dining space]

Bringing color and interest to the floors, walls, or chairs makes the room more exciting and lively and that has an effect on the people in it.



[ritual space]

The Church of San Leolino in Panzano, Italy was inspiring to me because although it's got grandeur and an element of seriousness it still has color and life to it without covering the walls in stained glass.

narrative...the story behind the space

In 2015 the UN instated an International Eradicating Hunger Day for all nations. On this day a meal is shared, through the use of social media, with people elsewhere in the world. This event is biannual and coincides with the winter and summer solstice. 

     The event is set up by the UN and families can sign up to share meals via Skype with other families around the world on this day.  My family signs up and has a fundraiser for this event every year. We raise money for fighting world hunger and invite our neighbors over for the meal. This year we've been matched up with a family in Peru. Luckily we're on the same time zone so we'll both have our meal at 4:28. A few weeks before the meal we chat with the family via Skype and get to know each other a little. We then exchange our favorite traditional meals. We'll make theirs and they'll make ours.
The table for the space is 5x5 but another identical one can be connected to make more seating for guests. The chairs are big and comfy a couple of them are small sofas. The main idea of this space is comfort. We'll Skype with the other family on our mirror tv above the fireplace. This way, we share a meal and expand our cultural horizons...all while raising money to eradicate hunger.

A LOOK AT DINING CULTURES AND "BABETTE'S FEAST"

Last Friday we watched the 1987 film Babette's Feast. The story is set in Denmark during the 19th century and stars two sisters whose father, the priest of their church, passes away. Years later a French refugee foreigner named Babette shows up at their door and they take her in. She becomes their housekeeper/cook and they teach her how to cook their meals. Babette comes into fortune via lottery ticket sent to her by a friend and she decides that she wants to make a traditional French meal for the memorial dinner to the priest. Cautiously the sisters agree, Babette works her butt off, and it's the most amazing (and memorable) meal anyone's ever had.


The movie got me thinking about how far dining has come. Back then people spent hours cooking and enjoying a meal at home. They all sat around together and talked for hours! Today we hit up the drive thru on our way out or home from somewhere, usually by ourselves, and take a whole 10 minutes tops to devour it. As a college kid, I know. I think we're experts at fast food eating.
It also highlighted the difference between French and Scandinavian eating. The sisters were used to ale-soaked bread and water for their meals. Babette brought in quail, caviar, and wine for them to have. Her wine-filled feast definitely gave the silent, modest church goers something to talk about.

SOCIAL NETWORKING PROJECT

In our studio class we've been talking a lot about social networking. We researched how other countries do it and last week we were told to come up with an "interior product" that would support social networking. My idea was for a mirror that turned into a computer screen (and vice versa).
It could be put in a public place and used specifically for facebook, twitter, etc. It could also be in a person's home and easily hid when not in use. It would be touch screen but keyboards, mouses, etc. could be included.  It would also have motion sensors so that when idle it would switch back to mirror state and when one walks up to it the screen appears.

SOCIAL NETWORKING IN TAIWAN

The most popular social networking site used in Taiwan is PPT, a BBS (bulletin board system) site. Users can log in, read news updates, post pictures, and chat with each other. Facebook isn't the most popular (surprisingly to us Americans) and is only used by 6.2 out of 15.6 million Internet users in the country. It is on the rise, however, and Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou just recently joined!

Social networks in Taiwan help people reconnect/stay in touch with friends, post/review resumes and interests of potential employees, raise funds for disasters, and even market and advertise products. In such a technologically advanced country, it's no surprise that social networking is prevalent and on the rise.




http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-bbs.htm

http://www.insidefacebook.com/2010/04/12/does-taiwans-explosive-facebook-growth-mean-more-to-come-in-east-asia/

http://www.bangkokpost.com/tech/computer/218789/taiwan-president-goes-on-facebook

http://www.money-made.net/2010/06/social-networks-in-taiwan-gaining-importance-in-present-times-18.html

LIGHT BOX

Our first studio project of the semester was to make a white 12 x 12 x 18 box. We then had to cut holes in it to where when a light was shone through it four spaces were defined. It took serious thought and creativity (and a little rule-bending) for everyone but the results were pretty amazing.

I cut a 2 x 2 square out of one of the sides of the box. Then i cut the square in half. I cut a slit in one half of the box and attached it perpendicular to the other side to make a cross form. Then i placed the square back into the cutout. My light source was a small flashlight. 

 

 

This was the original light effect I got.

After we did that part we were told to use bristol paper and bamboo skewers and expand on our box. We had to take the light effect somewhere. We also had to include a scale figure to put a spatial perspective on it. 

I had the idea to make little tiers out of the paper and sticks to attempt to give each of the 4 squares of light its own space...to essentially separate them and get them out of their original window-looking state.

 

I think it turned out pretty successfully.