BP 3:10 KEY WORDS/IDEAS AND UNC GREENSBORO CAMPUS

Last Wednesday in class we discussed ten joint ideas to help us explore the Xianyang Palace. They were: space, power, experience, principles, precedence, size, order, scale, technology, and surface. These same terms can be applied anywhere...even to the UNC Greensboro campus.

SPACE:
When you look at UNCG's campus you'll notice that there are different parts that make up the whole campus. There are buildings for class and learning, dorms for living and resting, and even the cafeteria for eating and socializing. On a larger and simpler scale one can think about space in terms of location. UNCG is in the city of Greensboro in the state of North Carolina.


POWER:
All around campus you can see symbols of power. There are the important buildings like the library and the alumni house. There are tall trees that soar over you when you walk down Spring Garden street. There are even campus policemen that represent power. What I first thought of when I thought of power on the UNCG campus was all of the columns on the buildings. The columns, and especially the repetition of them on all of the buildings, symbolize strength and power and they can be seen all over campus.

EXPERIENCE:
Large brick buildings and towering trees are part of the experience you have as you walk around the UNCG campus. The brick and stone give a very collegiate feel to the campus and make you feel like you're here to learn.


PRINCIPLES:
"Inspire. Change. " This is the university's tagline and I definitely think it has something to do with its principles. Minerva is also a big part of our campus. She's the Roman goddess of wisdom. There's a statue of her outside of the Jackson Library. She looks and points ahead as if leading us forward on our educational pursuits.

PRECEDENCE:
UNC Greensboro is a university. That alone gives it precedence. It also has walls at the entrance defining the entrance and setting the location apart from the rest of the city.

SITE:
UNC Greensboro is located at 1400 Spring Garden Street. Spring Garden is one of the many major roads around the campus. It actually runs right through campus. The campus itself is filled with trees and plants of all kinds. This makes it warmer and more inviting to experience. A campus full of nothing but brick buildings would feel colder and wouldn't be appealing to visit.

ORDER:
The main aspect of order that comes to mind when thinking about the UNCG campus is the roads and sidewalks that run through it. They tell us where to go. The symmetrical stones and concrete blocks of the sidewalks and walkways also have a sense of order. This is paralleled in the bricks of all the buildings. This sense of order helps UNCG to feel like a University campus...an institution for learning.


SCALE:
UNCG's campus is around 200 acres. Although it's not the biggest campus out there it still takes a little time to walk across. There are plenty of parking lots and decks as well as bike racks around campus. Driving or riding a bike can make navigating the campus a little quicker.


TECHNOLOGY:
There are plenty of computer labs and resources around campus for all of its students. There's also a wireless network that students can access anywhere on campus.


SURFACE:
The UNCG campus is beautiful with its large brick buildings and great foliage. The campus is well-maintained and clean. The brick buildings and Classical style add to the collegiate feel.

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.

BP 2:CIRCLES GROUPS and STACKS

This past week we've been learning about three design elements that go way back, even to ancient times...circles groups and stacks. They can be found in all sorts of objects, places, people, and spaces...no matter where you look. Friday we went out and looked around the UNCG campus for examples of these elements and we were surprised at how many we found.

CIRCLES: sacred spots, connections to sun and moon [light sources], center points [focus], etc.

One of the best examples of a circle on campus was found on College Avenue. It used to be [and still may be] the center of campus during simpler times before the school was expanded and built up. It was the center point between the dorms, the cafeteria, the library, and a few other buildings. It symbolized a meeting point for people and an equal space for everyone to travel to. Another place where circles were found was in the EUC. There were circles above both entrances letting in natural light and adding visual interest. The circles, like the one on College Ave. also represented meeting spaces for people. The principle of unity/harmony ties in very well with the circle element and it's shown in many places on campus.

GROUPS: people, trees [groves], columns reaching vertically, etc

There are so many examples of groups in the buildings and architecture around campus. Many buildings have columns in front of them. These could emulate many things: trees, people, etc. The housing buildings are also in groups. They stand together like a group of people, nicely balanced. Anything that's grouped together and has unity fits the group element and can be found rather commonly around campus.

STACKS: mountains, piles, gathering resources

 Stacks were also pretty easy to find around campus, considering most buildings are made out of brick. The School of Education, Alumni House, and Faculty Center are all places we looked at to see how the stacking of bricks contributed to the structure and appearance of the buildings. The stacking provides structure and unity as well as balance. Stacks can also be found in the stairs and their upward ascension. 

The question of environments and rituals and their effects was also posed to us. We were asked, "do environments influence rituals or do rituals influence environments...or both?" I honestly believe it's both. Rituals can be anything-they don't necessarily have to be "religious". So throwing trash away or driving to work can be rituals for people. These things definitely have an effect on the environment in that they lessen the quality of it. On that note environments definitely influence rituals as well. People have always felt a connection to nature and that can be shown in some of their rituals. I think the two can go hand in hand.

RR 1:Gonur, Margiana...2200 B.C.E.

So it came time for us to change our headers again and this time we had to use computer font(s) that described us as designers. We also had to incorporate a hand-drawn graphic that also reflects us as designers. I chose fonts on the tall/skinnier side because I personally like those best. My graphic is a series of lines that vary in shape/tone/placement. If you've seen my work from the past semester you'll agree that the graphic looks like something that would come from me. I like clean lines and lots of order...but there's always room for imperfections (as long as they're small!) and I think that my new header really relays that.

SEEING THE LIGHT

Our assignment was to make a luminaire based off of the "light phenomenon" photo we took previously. Who knew it would be such an undertaking?!

My phenomenon was of the sun setting behind mini blinds. You could see just a peek of the sun between the blinds. I wanted to capture this peeking of light in my light fixture.

While looking up ideas I stumbled upon the work of Vicente Garcia Jimenez. His use of layering laquered materials and varying the amount of light shown inspired me.

I first made a little sketch model of what i was kind of thinking of doing with mylar. Then i made a prototype out of cardboard.

When I went to make my final piece I discovered that plastic sheeting wasn't as easy to glue as cardboard was. Because it's clear I had to be very careful with my glue choice. I decided to score the sides and use much bigger pieces just for ease.

After playing around with different ways of gluing/attaching pieces I came to the conclusion that if I could paint glue on evenly and apply lots of pressure it would be nearly invisible. I sanded the sides to make them less transparent and glued everything together. The glue took FOREVER to dry so I spent plenty of time at the middle table waiting.

After everything was dry I made a smaller box to cover the bulb because it was still pretty bright. I drilled a hole in the bottom of the box before attaching that piece (also scored) onto the box. I then put the socket through and glued it to the hole. I made little standing pieces to insert in the bottom so that the box was raised and wasn't sitting right on the cord.

with inner box

without inner box

from top

I experimented  with putting mylar between sheets of plexiglass 

I almost used wire but it was too bulky

I almost used brads but they, too, were just bulky

We then had to do technical drawings of our piece along with an expressive drawing. The technical ones weren't hard to draw at half scale but my one regret is that I didn't look closely at my light effect in a dark room before drawing it. I think it would have been much more successful had I done that.

I had some serious challenges with this project (expensive materials, FRAGILE MATERIALS, materials that required much patience, etc) but I really think it turned out well. 

A PEEK AT THE FUTURE?

This week I went to one of the second year critiques. Their assignment (or what they could interpret from Jonathon's long project statement!) was to take a piece of paper and make rules for how it should be folded...this crease should always go here, the folds should be this size...etc. They took their paper designs and blew them up on the computer and turned them into full scale pieces. Some versions ended up in parks, others in urban spaces.

Jasmine shared with us her concept of weaving paper strips together to make something instead of folding it. She focused on weaving and tension folding. She used aluminum mesh since it was already woven and used fishing wire to sew it into the form that she wanted. She used points from her hand to give the model directional tension, something she learned from an earlier assignment about the human body. She shared with us that 3D modeling was definitely harder than expected!

Justin and his group told us about their concept of biomimicry and how they wanted to capture the look of wind and dune formations. To recreate their paper model they used the laser cutter on acrylic and then baked the model in the oven and had to check on it and shape it periodically. They wanted their piece to be placed in an urban setting and were inspired by the light effects it would produce/that would be produced through it in that type of setting.





What did the students have to say about their projects and challenges? They said that even though some of the assignments will be hard to understand, you have to take your interpretation and "keep moving forward!" They also quoted Tommy saying to "always have a beginner's mind." Later that day one of the second years was walking around looking at our studio. He told a few of us that he stopped in at a few of our previous critiques and that the work we've done was much different/even a little better than theirs last year. I'm not sure how true that really is but it's exciting to think about moving forward and creating things like these. Things aren't going to get any easier but they're definitely going to get more interesting!

DESIGN VISUALIZATION 110

This semester I definitely learned a lot. I learned the expected things like how to successfully draw many types of architectural drawings, how to scale a line down, etc. I also learned the best type of pencils to use in different drafting situations, the best way to sharpen those pencils, the way to hold them...I learned that masking tape and drafting tape are definitely not to be mistaken for the same thing. I learned that staring at the same paper for hours can make your eyes do crazy things.

While my drawings weren't usually up to the high standards set, I know that I worked hard this semester (ask my roommates...they had to make sure I was still alive sometimes I was gone so much!). I've discovered that it's pretty near impossible to get a high A, at least for me, but with more practice it'd be an easier goal to reach.
 Speaking of practice, I've had much practice doing observational drawings this semester as well. We started out drawing leaves...then came twigs...and so on. I wish that I had spent more time on EVERY drawing...I think it's probably evident in my sketchbook which drawings I took time on and which ones I didn't. While I'm by NO means an expert sketcher, I think that my drawing abilities definitely improved. I'm better at shading for sure.

I think that this is one of my most successful drawings from my sketchbook. I took more time to get this one right and I think it turned out well. 

I'd be lying if I said this was my favorite class ever, but I can say I'm definitely taking a lot away from it!

MOST MINIMAL

In drafting, we've been working on figure drawing for the past couple of weeks. This drawing is from a day that we all took turns in modeling and sketching each other in groups. We had 10-15 minutes for each drawing and by the end of the exercise we each had 2 drawings on our papers. At the end, we all posted up the better of our two drawings and the class voted on different superlatives such as best line quality, craziest style, etc. My drawing here won "most minimal" and you can see why!

TIMED FIGURE DRAWINGS

We were split up into different groups and each had to go to the center of the circle and pose for us to draw them. For group one we had to draw them as abstract line drawings. We had 5 minutes to sketch.

For the very last drawing, half of the room stood up and we had 3 minutes to draw everyone as contour drawings. It was hard because they all kept moving but this is about half of the group.