IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES.
just kidding. but it was the revolutionary war. i'm talking about the battle at the guilford county courthouse in 1781.
after two years of cornwallis (british army) hot on his trail, nathaniel greene (us) stopped and gave him a battle at the courthouse. basically the americans attacked the oncoming british, the british fought back, many lives were lost. although greene was the one to retreat, the british lost 300 more men than the americans. this left his army tired and weak when they made their way up to virginia and their final battle where cornwallis eventually surrendered and the americans won their independence from britain.
and they all lived happily ever after.
just kidding again.
i think that it's a pretty important piece of history for greensboro and it can definitely be incorporated into the museum somehow. i'll be doing more research as to how to go about that.
source:http://www.britishbattles.com/battle-guilford.htm
Showing posts with label iar 201. Show all posts
Showing posts with label iar 201. Show all posts
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
ghm meeting #2
today we presented four conceptual boards to the folks at the ghm. alex and i presented the TAILORED SUIT board which featured her desk idea and my kiosk idea. i think that it went pretty well. we got a lot of good feedback from the tables. the majority if not everyone liked the floating wall idea alex brought in behind her desk. it not only covers the gaping open space that no one really wants to look at but it also provides versatility in regards to the information presented on it. the majority also liked my kiosk idea in that it brought people into the left side of the space and connected the shop to the exhibits. i decided that the kiosk, if chosen as our final one, should be made round to keep with the space. we also discussed making the back half straight and the front curved so that it could still be pushed up against the wall for events and such.
as far as the way we collected our information i think it was fairly successful. splitting up designers/architects and committee members was an excellent idea. i do wonder how it would be if the architects could have worked off of each others ideas to help but then the ideas wouldn't be evenly distributed. i feel like the smaller the groups, the more feedback we're able to get because no one has to fight to get their two cents in.
i think the blog will be a huge help in keeping them all clued in and up-to-date. we still have a LOT of work ahead of us.
as far as the way we collected our information i think it was fairly successful. splitting up designers/architects and committee members was an excellent idea. i do wonder how it would be if the architects could have worked off of each others ideas to help but then the ideas wouldn't be evenly distributed. i feel like the smaller the groups, the more feedback we're able to get because no one has to fight to get their two cents in.
i think the blog will be a huge help in keeping them all clued in and up-to-date. we still have a LOT of work ahead of us.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
museum precedents
we're beginning to talk about color schemes and materials in our group [greensboro historical museum renovation]. what better time to check out some precedents? here are a few museums that i think have a successful identity and look to them.
information is posted and there is a central focus...not to mention tons of light.
because the space is so light, the dark stairs stand out as a form of wayfinding, leading visitors to what lies beyond the lobby space. the white walls, as in the queens museum, let the artwork and the wayfinding do the talking.
the vaulted ceiling guides visitors up the stairs and beyond. like the others, the space is white with tons of natural light coming in.
so basically what i want to bring to this space is the open, airy, museum-like feeling these have. i think if we strip away the "80s green" as patrick calls it the space will instantly open up. by using well thought-out methods of wayfinding and guiding people through the space it will have more flow to it. more ideas to come!
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| queens museum of art |
 | |
| denver art museum |
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| denver art museum |
because the space is so light, the dark stairs stand out as a form of wayfinding, leading visitors to what lies beyond the lobby space. the white walls, as in the queens museum, let the artwork and the wayfinding do the talking.
 | |
| seattle art museum |
so basically what i want to bring to this space is the open, airy, museum-like feeling these have. i think if we strip away the "80s green" as patrick calls it the space will instantly open up. by using well thought-out methods of wayfinding and guiding people through the space it will have more flow to it. more ideas to come!
dc presentation
so for my dc presentation i talked about both the east and west wings of the national gallery of art. while i think that my speech was pretty successful, my visual wasn't. it didn't look well put-together. below are both my first attempt and my revision.
i think by de-clustering the images and adding text it helps clean the slide up and make it more successful.
i think by de-clustering the images and adding text it helps clean the slide up and make it more successful.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
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!
Friday, September 9, 2011
GREENSBORO'S GOT HISTORY...who knew?
DOWN HOME:
to the left of the lobby of the greensboro historical museum lies the DOWN HOME exhibit. it doesn't have its own room like the other exhibits but informational banners form an implied room. the exhibit highlights the history of jewish life in greensboro. there is a large timeline on the wall behind the exhibit featuring important moments like the first jewish school, library, textile mill, mayor, festival in greensboro, and so on. the banners around the outside discuss creating communities, keeping jewish faith, and putting family first. there's also a television with some sort of informational message on display in the space. the t.v. isn't the biggest and with the small size of the speakers and acoustics of the lobby space it's hard to hear the message. there were also some items in display cases such as a synagogue and an interactive kitchen that many found helpful however the help was short-lived. it was easy to move quickly through the space and there weren't many bright colors or any major attention-grabbing features there. the audio from the video caught my attention but only temporarily. i think that for the space to be more successful there would have to be more of an enclosure, sectioning the display off from the rest of the busy and sometimes loud lobby. the entire space-all the way up the stairs is open and the sounds travel far. it's understood that this exhibit is a traveling one, i just think there's a better way to make use of the space.
VOICES:
this was the main exhibit and, therefore, was the largest. i wondered if it would ever end but not in a bad way. honestly, i had no idea that greensboro's history was so interesting. walking in, i immediately noticed the wall of quotes. the following room was full of pictures of people in greensboro's history as well as some major points in greensboro's history. following that was a series of rooms that went from more guided and maze-like to more open and exploration-oriented. displays ranged from townlife to roads and railroads to farming, slaves, mining, factories, churches, hobbies, military, drafts, and so so much more. there was endless amounts of memorabilia and historical artifacts. much of the displays were interactive in some way. also noteworthy were the colors that led a viewer from one space to the next. it made the exhibit flow well. at the very end there was a map that had audio of different people speaking different languages. all were saying "hello, my name is ____ and greensboro is my home" in their native language. the map featured blocks that you could turn to see that quote written in the native language as well. it really brought the display from all of the history to the present and showed that greensboro is a huge mix of people and there is so much more history to be made.
POTTERY DISPLAY + PERIOD ROOMS:
the pottery displays were instantly eye-catching. this is mostly because their bright and earthy colors were housed in stark white-painted display cases. there were four total with a column in the center with an informational television in it-probably so that people would stop and spend time in the space instead of walking right through. most of the pottery was from the years 1923 through 1959. i thought this was crazy because they looked brand new! the t.v. program called them JUGTOWN ceramics and said that most were marked on the bottom with the symbol and the artist's initials. obviously i couldn't pick up a bowl to verify but i feel like that would've been pretty cool. there was information on the paint-glaze-kiln process which i found helpful for spectators to understand how these beauties were made.
the period rooms to me were captivating. i really felt like i stepped back in history and wasn't just looking at something in a glass case. i began to stick my head into the belle meade parlor when i noticed the sign that said i couldn't reach past the railing or an alarm would go off. back to reality. all of the period rooms featured dark woods and heavy prints. there were prints on the floor rugs, the wallpapers, the pillows, and so on. also all of the furniture upholstery looked so luxurious and comfortable. almost worth setting off an alarm to touch. but not quite.
GATE CITY:
alright, i'm not going to lie, this one creeped me out. i've gotta be honest about that. as i entered the exhibit i was taken back in time to the hotel clegg, the main hotel in old gate city. it was full of information on what was going on at the time from theater shows to train schedules. there was also a telephone exchange room. i can't imagine working with all of those wires. no thank you. walking through the doors and out of hotel clegg i immediately felt like i was in the city...there was audio of people talking, the railroad, birds chirping, someone building something, and so on. there was a huge fake tree in the center of the city which may have had significance but i didn't pay much attention to. there was a pharmacy, a school, a steam fire engine place, a theater, and a hotel. each place was interactive and had lots of information. there were fliers and announcements from the time period posted up everywhere. but i've got to be honest...once i walked through the hotel and saw all of the cardboard cutouts and then realized that some places started TALKING TO YOU when you walked in i was instantly glad that i didn't go alone. regardless of my scaredy-cat paranoia, i definitely felt like i was in gate city (or a creepy haunted version of it) and so the museum did a good job of setting up what it was like back then. i'm sure it wasn't as bad as i just probably made it sound.
GIFT SHOP:
i definitely think that the gift shop reflected the museum and its displays. there were some old-fashioned games, dolls, etc that mirrored the HISTORICAL aspect of the museum. there was also pottery that matched the pottery on display. there was all kinds of north carolina memorabilia like books on birds and plants in NC as well as cookbooks from NC. there was plenty of information at hand about greensboro and north carolina and that definitely parallels the museum's goal.
to the left of the lobby of the greensboro historical museum lies the DOWN HOME exhibit. it doesn't have its own room like the other exhibits but informational banners form an implied room. the exhibit highlights the history of jewish life in greensboro. there is a large timeline on the wall behind the exhibit featuring important moments like the first jewish school, library, textile mill, mayor, festival in greensboro, and so on. the banners around the outside discuss creating communities, keeping jewish faith, and putting family first. there's also a television with some sort of informational message on display in the space. the t.v. isn't the biggest and with the small size of the speakers and acoustics of the lobby space it's hard to hear the message. there were also some items in display cases such as a synagogue and an interactive kitchen that many found helpful however the help was short-lived. it was easy to move quickly through the space and there weren't many bright colors or any major attention-grabbing features there. the audio from the video caught my attention but only temporarily. i think that for the space to be more successful there would have to be more of an enclosure, sectioning the display off from the rest of the busy and sometimes loud lobby. the entire space-all the way up the stairs is open and the sounds travel far. it's understood that this exhibit is a traveling one, i just think there's a better way to make use of the space.
VOICES:
this was the main exhibit and, therefore, was the largest. i wondered if it would ever end but not in a bad way. honestly, i had no idea that greensboro's history was so interesting. walking in, i immediately noticed the wall of quotes. the following room was full of pictures of people in greensboro's history as well as some major points in greensboro's history. following that was a series of rooms that went from more guided and maze-like to more open and exploration-oriented. displays ranged from townlife to roads and railroads to farming, slaves, mining, factories, churches, hobbies, military, drafts, and so so much more. there was endless amounts of memorabilia and historical artifacts. much of the displays were interactive in some way. also noteworthy were the colors that led a viewer from one space to the next. it made the exhibit flow well. at the very end there was a map that had audio of different people speaking different languages. all were saying "hello, my name is ____ and greensboro is my home" in their native language. the map featured blocks that you could turn to see that quote written in the native language as well. it really brought the display from all of the history to the present and showed that greensboro is a huge mix of people and there is so much more history to be made.
POTTERY DISPLAY + PERIOD ROOMS:
the pottery displays were instantly eye-catching. this is mostly because their bright and earthy colors were housed in stark white-painted display cases. there were four total with a column in the center with an informational television in it-probably so that people would stop and spend time in the space instead of walking right through. most of the pottery was from the years 1923 through 1959. i thought this was crazy because they looked brand new! the t.v. program called them JUGTOWN ceramics and said that most were marked on the bottom with the symbol and the artist's initials. obviously i couldn't pick up a bowl to verify but i feel like that would've been pretty cool. there was information on the paint-glaze-kiln process which i found helpful for spectators to understand how these beauties were made.
the period rooms to me were captivating. i really felt like i stepped back in history and wasn't just looking at something in a glass case. i began to stick my head into the belle meade parlor when i noticed the sign that said i couldn't reach past the railing or an alarm would go off. back to reality. all of the period rooms featured dark woods and heavy prints. there were prints on the floor rugs, the wallpapers, the pillows, and so on. also all of the furniture upholstery looked so luxurious and comfortable. almost worth setting off an alarm to touch. but not quite.
GATE CITY:
alright, i'm not going to lie, this one creeped me out. i've gotta be honest about that. as i entered the exhibit i was taken back in time to the hotel clegg, the main hotel in old gate city. it was full of information on what was going on at the time from theater shows to train schedules. there was also a telephone exchange room. i can't imagine working with all of those wires. no thank you. walking through the doors and out of hotel clegg i immediately felt like i was in the city...there was audio of people talking, the railroad, birds chirping, someone building something, and so on. there was a huge fake tree in the center of the city which may have had significance but i didn't pay much attention to. there was a pharmacy, a school, a steam fire engine place, a theater, and a hotel. each place was interactive and had lots of information. there were fliers and announcements from the time period posted up everywhere. but i've got to be honest...once i walked through the hotel and saw all of the cardboard cutouts and then realized that some places started TALKING TO YOU when you walked in i was instantly glad that i didn't go alone. regardless of my scaredy-cat paranoia, i definitely felt like i was in gate city (or a creepy haunted version of it) and so the museum did a good job of setting up what it was like back then. i'm sure it wasn't as bad as i just probably made it sound.
GIFT SHOP:
i definitely think that the gift shop reflected the museum and its displays. there were some old-fashioned games, dolls, etc that mirrored the HISTORICAL aspect of the museum. there was also pottery that matched the pottery on display. there was all kinds of north carolina memorabilia like books on birds and plants in NC as well as cookbooks from NC. there was plenty of information at hand about greensboro and north carolina and that definitely parallels the museum's goal.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
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.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
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.
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:
Friday, September 2, 2011
sequence: diagramming a building
GREENSBORO HISTORICAL MUSEUM
narrative:
After reading an article in the local paper about the Greensboro historical museum I decided to make a trip there and check it out. It must have been a busy day, and maybe due to the article, because there was no parking. I had to park at a meter in front of the library. I made my way around the corner back to the museum. Looking at the outside, the front entrance space seemed to be a place for groups to gather. I walked in through the small vestibule and came upon the lobby space. In front of me sat a desk on an area rug which I took to be the “front desk”. I signed in and continued to look around. To the left was a display space that visitors could walk through. Further back was some sort of corner booth. There were two entrances to the auditorium and between them was a display case of some sort. I looked toward the large spiral staircase and decided to make my way up. The second floor was small and cramped, especially with the number of people there that day. I continued up the stairs to the third floor. This floor had all kinds of displays. From galleries to informative posters to talking books this was definitely the learning floor. After making my way around I went back downstairs and made a side trip to the restroom. I signed out at the front desk and went back to my car at the meter feeling very glad I read the paper this morning.
OCCASIONS: field trips, spectating, learning, working, deliveries, presentations, exhibits, research
PLAYERS: students, teachers, locals, spectators, delivery people, workers, historians, security
RESOURCES: space, displays/exhibits, galleries, elevator, stairs, time
SURROUNDINGS: galleries, stairs, elevator, storage, auditorium, restrooms
Sunday, August 28, 2011
sequence: diagramming a building
this semester we're being introduced to diagramming buildings. last week we made a trip over to the weatherspoon art museum and were told to write a narrative about visiting the museum. using our narrative (or doing it separately) we drew thumbnails of the sequence of events/ different spaces in the building. from that we were told to make our thumbnails into one big diagram that somehow clearly expressed the building and the space.
for my narrative i wrote from the point of view of an art student who had sculpture class in the gatewood studio arts building and then art history in the WAM. my trip took me from the studio to the weatherspoon and i had a few sidetrips along the way. in my diagram i expressed the trip step by step and emphasized the more important steps in different ways. The bigger squares are the main objectives and the main places i needed to go on my trip to class. the smaller ones are side trips and distractions. the more i drew my diagram over and over the better it got.
i definitely think that next time i'll focus less on the step-by-step details and think "bigger picture". its all about learning, right?
for my narrative i wrote from the point of view of an art student who had sculpture class in the gatewood studio arts building and then art history in the WAM. my trip took me from the studio to the weatherspoon and i had a few sidetrips along the way. in my diagram i expressed the trip step by step and emphasized the more important steps in different ways. The bigger squares are the main objectives and the main places i needed to go on my trip to class. the smaller ones are side trips and distractions. the more i drew my diagram over and over the better it got.
i definitely think that next time i'll focus less on the step-by-step details and think "bigger picture". its all about learning, right?
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