Monday, February 14, 2011
Sunday, February 13, 2011
BP #5
shapes and colors twirl in rhythmic harmony
values change in layers yet keep unity.
This song came to mind when I first saw this image and thought about the waves of color and their depths and heights.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
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.
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.
Monday, February 7, 2011
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.
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.
FROM ROME TO TODAY...BP #4
Friday we took a walk (a very rainy one) around the UNCG campus. We looked at the principles and characteristics of Roman architecture that we've been learning about and how they corresponded to the campus today.
The place we visited on campus where I thought these all came together nicely was
inside of the MHRA.
commodity...
The Moore Humanities and Research Administration building holds many classrooms. Here there are classes for English and other languages as well as studies in Classics and Humanities. The Writing Center and the Speaking Center are also located in this building. All of these resources help meet the needs of many students. Students having trouble with either can go to the MHRA to get help.
firmness...
The MHRA is made of tile, stone, metal and glass mainly. The metal frames the windows and the building and the glass is for the windows that let in a ton of natural light on sunny days. Frosted glass also marks entryways to offices, etc. Stone tiles define the hallways and set them apart, telling you where to go. They also provide support for the building. The columns inside are mainly for decoration (they're hollow) and don't provide a lot of structure or stability however there are pairs of real columns outside the building providing plenty of stability for the building.
delight...
The MHRA gets a lot of natural light because of all the glass around it. That, alone, is a delightful and aesthetically pleasing but there is also a great mix of materials that's also pretty cool to look at. The MHRA brings together stone, tile, metal, glass, and some wood in an interesting and more modern building.
circles...
In the lobby of the MHRA by the front entrance there is a dome-like ceiling. This circle is echoed on the floor. Stone insets on the floor reverberate out from the center point of the circle...helping mark the "sacred" or important entrance spot.
axes...
Hallways in the MHRA tell you where to go. They're set apart by the stone and the ripples on the floor lead you to them.
We've been learning about COMMODITY, FIRMNESS, AND DELIGHT as well as CIRCLES AND AXES.
commodity...meeting needs
firmness...structure, stability
delight...creating a sense of place and enjoyment
circles...mark sacred spots and endpoints to/along axes
axes...directional forces, tell you where to go/look
The place we visited on campus where I thought these all came together nicely was
inside of the MHRA.
commodity...
The Moore Humanities and Research Administration building holds many classrooms. Here there are classes for English and other languages as well as studies in Classics and Humanities. The Writing Center and the Speaking Center are also located in this building. All of these resources help meet the needs of many students. Students having trouble with either can go to the MHRA to get help.
firmness...
The MHRA is made of tile, stone, metal and glass mainly. The metal frames the windows and the building and the glass is for the windows that let in a ton of natural light on sunny days. Frosted glass also marks entryways to offices, etc. Stone tiles define the hallways and set them apart, telling you where to go. They also provide support for the building. The columns inside are mainly for decoration (they're hollow) and don't provide a lot of structure or stability however there are pairs of real columns outside the building providing plenty of stability for the building.
delight...
The MHRA gets a lot of natural light because of all the glass around it. That, alone, is a delightful and aesthetically pleasing but there is also a great mix of materials that's also pretty cool to look at. The MHRA brings together stone, tile, metal, glass, and some wood in an interesting and more modern building.
 |
| the stone on the left, tile in the middle, and wood on the right in addition to the natural light let in all add visual interest to the space. |
circles...
In the lobby of the MHRA by the front entrance there is a dome-like ceiling. This circle is echoed on the floor. Stone insets on the floor reverberate out from the center point of the circle...helping mark the "sacred" or important entrance spot.
axes...
Hallways in the MHRA tell you where to go. They're set apart by the stone and the ripples on the floor lead you to them.
Monday, January 31, 2011
COLOR WEEK!
All last week we worked with ColorAid paper. We mixed colors, blended shades, and mastered cutting/mounting techniques. These are the results...
 |
| We first learned how to find the middle shade between two colors. |
 |
| Here we learned how to "middle mix" three colors. |
 |
| We used complimentary colors and "middle mixes" to create a color palette. |
 |
| We had to use only the colors on our color palette to create an abstract composition that represented the four seasons. |
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
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
Sunday, January 30, 2011
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)