Room Cleaning

We are starting to clean the studio space today. It will be emptied of EVERYTHING there starting at 3PM. Please see that all your stuff is out and gone by then.

Grading is almost done.

Sunday April 26

I meant to be in the studio photographing models and organizing the precedent studies from 3 to 6 today. I was actually there from 4:30PM until 1:30AM. You all have to stop asking me about your portfolios. I want to help but I'm a reviewer and it is a conflict of interest.

Help

I need help moving our outside visitors from and to the airport. This can be a great chance for some of you to make buddies with people who you'd want a job with some day and to just meet very good architects from around the country.

Monday:
a) Sergio DeJesus will collect 3 architects, two from Dallas (one alum) and one from Houston (alum), from the airport on Monday at 10h30
b) Kevin Ilaoa will collect a professor from UTA from the airport on Monday at 11h20
c) Jeremy Webb will collect 1 architect (alum) from Albuquerque from the airport on Monday at 11h50
Tuesday:
d) Professor Shacklette will deliver 5 architects, two from Austin (one alum) and one from Houston (alum) and two from Dallas (one alum), to the airport Tuesday at 16h45.
e) Professor Tsubaki will deliver a professor from the University of Arkansas and an architect from Albuquerque (alum) to the airport on Tuesday at 17h55

Mr. Chips

Goodbye, Mr. Chips - Peter O'Toole @ Yahoo! Video

2nd & 3rd 5 Wks. Grade Shts. are On-Line

They are to the left.

EXno.21 thru EXno.25 : Last Dance

All the files in the Final Models folder to the left are now up to date and capable of making some nice descriptive images. All models print 11 by 8.5 by 200ppi except the form perspectives, which are each 5.5 by 4.25 by 200ppi. It is recommended that you hit the fit button after selecting the view. In the formal perspective file there are six views which can be changed to fit your model. Click through them on the sample file to see an example of "continuity" and narrative in the set of images.

It all should be fairly straight forward. Have fun. Do this work so that you demonstrate the things we've been talking about for the last four weeks. Make the sum of the images a description of the project. Don't waste time thinking. Do something and then do it again in less time and better.

If you take nothing from this class you should take that: That if its worth doing its worth testing and trying and improving via a process of modeling and drawing it. That goes for whatever you do. A good way of thinking anything out is to make a graphical depiction of it.

There will be a new post about the exam in a day or two.

Cancelled : April 21 Evening Session

I am getting all your working files in order. I have no lecture prepared. I, like many of you, am bagged. No gas in the tank.


Brian

End of Semester Open House

I would like to have an open house during our class time on April 28th (6 PM to 8PM) for the whole school. The reviews for graduate studios will be over at about 4-5PM. You all could introduce your class to the school by having a "wrap-up" party in our studio with your work on the walls. We could invite people to talk about what you've done and to introduce themselves.

Is that a good idea? Would everyone be willing to chip in $3 to pay for some foods and drinks (Non-Alc, natch)? Or do you all just want to bring stuff for the event? I'm not sure I trust that you'll all bring something with your final project submissions, which will be due at that time.

If you'd all pitch in a few dollars the TAs and I could go get enough to attract visitors.

I've reopened the ability to discuss this post below.

EXno.20 : Circulation and Sequence

Given the front (the short side with the single plane), put a line in space that outlines a sequence through the spaces in the model. Not all spaces need be reached with the line but they must be engaged in the logic of how one would pass through these spaces. Think of this line as a sort of variable speed timeline where one passes from one to another in a cinematic sense of space that works the line like a camera. It is a view and an occupation both. They're different. One is experiencing it bodily and one is perceiving things visually. Consider this situation in two parts: Where are you looking? and What are you occupying?

Build your line while considering these concepts:
Arrival
Threshold
Compression
Density
Passage
Delay
Tracking

In your model make these lines. We'll help you with finishing these lines in class Thursday.

This is all leading up to a great final assignment.

Bernard "Pretty" Purdie

I didn't do this guy justice in class. The point was to show an example of continuity and the development of an idea and its transference across time. Secondarily, it was to introduce you to a great artist's work.

Here's the people he's recorded music with: James Brown, Grover Washington, Jr., George Benson, Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, Steely Dan, Toto, Louis Armstrong, and he claims that some of the Beatles' drum tracks are his, not Ringo Starr's. The drumming on Beck's "Devil's Haircut" is a sample of this guy's work.

One addendum: He's not dead. He's currently the drummer for the musical "Hair" on Broadway and is 68 years old.

The Best Event Space I Know : Cai Guo-Qiang

This artist from China draws with real explosions (fireworks) and dynamic models using taxidermy and diorama that really capture moments in "Event Space". In am almost cinematic way he puts you into a very intense and vivid moment in time and in space.


On his Tigers Shot Full of Arrows:


He did the opening and closing fireworks for the Beijing Olympics.

EXno.19 : Programming the Model

We must be systematic, but we should keep our systems open.
Alfred North Whitehead, Modes of Thought

Preface: Please read this post carefully and ask questions about what you do not understand. If you just don't know the definition of something, look it up. Ignorance of the meaning of words is no excuse. A lack of a clear conceptualization of the ideas and systems in the discipline of architecture is why we're here.

So this is the real shift in logic from understanding the model as object based space to understanding the model as event based space. There's s subtle shift in understanding where the specifics of shape, jointure, and scale give way to specifics of an ontology of adjacency, congruency, and proximity. For a time we'll be interested more in how things in space correlate than how they are composed. This part is more topological than topographical in nature.

So, first you build an understanding in your head of the space and spatial relationships in your model. Answer these questions:
Where is there space?
What is the Hierarchy of space in the model?
How is space related in the model?
How does it interconnect, congrue, and correlate?
What spaces in your model can be cataloged as unique (variable) or repetitive (constant)?

Then build a digital spatial spatial model that makes ALL the space in the project as cubic form.

To help convert the perception of this model as evental rather than formal we give you a simple prescriptive programmatic framework to use to categorize the spaces therein.

An Outline of Four Types of Event / Programmatic Space in Architecture

a) Place Space (Yellow)
spaces which portray a sense of definite location or position.

b) Path Space (Red)
major transition spaces which are directional; corridor/connector/passageway.

c) Transition Space (Green)
spaces which act primarily as joints or fasteners.
can become an articulation between dissimilar elements.
a type of space which defines, separates, or joins.
a space that aids in the definition and/or juxtaposition of spaces or elements of contrasting or continuous character.

d) Servant Space (Blue)
spaces which are support to place spaces, path spaces, and transition spaces. mechanical voids & space occupied by structural elements, built in elements, wet areas, etc.
(Servant space as understood in opposition to Served space)

Using this developing analysis you should build these colors into your digital programmatic space model y colorizing the cubic volumes of space accordingly.

Make five different versions of these.

Have progress on Thursday ready to be talked about. These five models are due on Tuesday.

Semester Schedule

EXno.17 : Final Models

FOAM:
A full scale model of your project on the black base. This model will be graded intensel for clear intention and careful craft. Make every joint in the model an intentional reveal, connection, alignment, and connection. This model should be constructed of one color of foam, it should have NO visible conection materials (glue, pins, wire, etc.).

FORM•Z:
A complete digital model built on the base model (1412_XXX_Ph2_MasterModel.fmz) provided to the left. It should have these layers, these colors, image properties (resolution and size) these shadow settings, etc. The only thing you should be able to move is the location of the sun. All you have to do is import your current model into this file.

To show your work in this digital model you will provide the associatd rendered views. Each view in the views pallete is marked with how to render it. Once you've rendered each view go to "FILE", "EXPORT IMAGE" and select .tif file. Save each file in the same format as the master file but add the view name at the end of each image file (1412_XXX_Ph2_MasterModel_RightSidePlanimetric.tif). You will turn these on on a CD with the master file. Change the XXX to your first inital and your last name (1412_BRex_Ph2_MasterModel.fmz) in each file you submit. There are 8 views you will collect.

Back up and Running

Welcome back.

You should be drawing the heck out of your precedent study right now. I have not posted a new assignment for the studio project.

Please have your studio project two dimensional "sections" you started from, your foam models, and the digital models you have been building with you in in class on Tuesday.

Please have your precedent drawing progress in class tomorrow.

Lecture By Professor Michelle Addington

In the College of Architecture we do not have a big lecture series this year but we have some big lectures. We're very excited to present this upcoming event in conjunction with our "PINK DAY" celebrations in our building.

Wednesday, March 25th at noon Michelle Addington from Yale University will give a lecture, "Buildings, Boundaries, Behaviors" in English 001, the large lecture hall at the bottom of the light well on the inside (eastern side) of the west wing of the building.

Michelle is a former NASA engineer who is now a professor of Architecture at Yale University and one of the world's leading authorities on Environmental Control Systems and New Building Materials.

A recent lecture at the New School in NYC can be viewed HERE.

About INstalling and Re-Installing Form•Z

Hi Brian,

The student version allows you to install on any two computers. If your students have already installed on two computers, and one dies, then we can reset our records so the "dead" computer will no longer count as one of their licenses. If you need us to do this, just let us know their serial number and we can reset this.

To reinstall, just use the install package that they downloaded previously, and the same serial number and install code. (The installation instructions note that these should be backed up in case they are needed in the future.)

All install packages are the same (except Mac vs. Win), so if they do not have the install package that they downloaded, an install package from anyone else will work with her install code. (Or you can use any Joint Study Extension DVD.)

If they forgot their serial number or install code, let us know and we can retrieve this for them.
Please let us know if you have any further questions or problems.

Best Regards,

Paul Helm

Thom Mayne

Thom Mayne's Architecture Firm MORPHOSIS

Precedent Research

I have scoured my hard-drives for background info on the Precedent projects and I've found the material now linked in the third category on the left, "Precedent Research". I do not have anything for some structures. I have some hard to get info in these. The two projects with the most info are: Lovell Beach House (20mb including HABS documentation) and Villa Curruchet (95mb), for which I have an incredible number of detail photos.

You all need to know all these houses and pavilions. The ability to identify these will be on the final exam. You will need to know: Name, Date, Architect, and Location when shown a plan, section, or model of the project.

It is a good set of reference materials.

EXno.10.2 : Precedent Planimetrics

The process of analysis involves viewing the work from many different angles; "...in this way the complexities and overlays of architectural thought and fact are revealed. The student begins to understand and realize how much really goes into the making of a significant piece of architecture. She dissects the work and re-assembles it; she begins to discover the differences and similarities among the major works. In the search, things are rediscovered that perhaps the creator of the work had not intended.

Through the investigation, the student reveals her own architectural thought to herself on a more critical plane; she even invents within the analysis. At first the ego is overwhelmed by a thorough analysis of another's world - a period of adjustment becomes necessary before the start of one's own creative work - but once the impact is received and absorbed, one's new work becomes filled on many levels. The analysis problem is one of recreation.

John Hejduk on Analysis

You are to construct a set of planimetric projections of your precedent building in a single file. Build this drawing set by creating and revealing relationships in the geometries and concepts of the house. The sample precedent drawings offered do not show this process, they only show the final product of the drawing's construction. You are going to make the construction of the drawing the drawing, not the emerging image. That will just be one part of your drawing.

This set of projection drawings will include:
2 plans
2 sections

In the drawing you will have:
3 clearly delineated line weights
2 clearly delineated line types
-notational sets such as section cuts, fixtures & directional arrows
-a graphical scale and a north arrow
-notational text as needed in a small Arial or Helvetica font

Architecture operates on reality from a distance, and through the mediation of abstract systems such as notation, projection, or calculation…Architecture works simultaneously with abstract images and with material realities, in complex interplay. It is a material practice.

Stan Allen

You should leave all lines in the construction of the drawing. You are constructing a diagram of how you thought through this planimetric study in drawing not just making an image of the layout of the building. Print out small portions of these drawings often during their construction, keep this record in a binder, and make a large printout at least once before the final due date.

Explore the house in these drawings and make those explorations clear in the drawings. Pinning up at the interim reviews will be checked and part of the final grade.

Thursday March 12th:
Build the general geometry of the sheet by blocking out the general location of the views and their relationships. Start relating the views with notational systems. Start laying out and projecting the individual views. Make a 8.5 by 14 (legal) printout, fit to print, of your overall layout and bring it for review. These are the review dates and what should be done for each date.

Thursday March 26th:
Finish out the lineweights and line types in each view. Finish relating the views through simple and refined notational systems and text sets. Printout the overall drawing, fit to print on a "doublewide" 2 times 8.5 by 14 (make it 14 by 14) sheet.Printout a screen captured view fo your layers pallette on a single sheet of paper.

Tuesday March 31st:
Final Submissions in two formats:
a) Digitally as a .fmz file with good layers and lineweights and as a vector .pdf file.
b) In Print as a 20 inch by 20 inch bond matte greyscale printout.

Precedent Examples

These examples show only the two darkest line weights and do not show line type. All of these examples are done by students at your level of development while here at TTU.

EXno.16 ; Mini-Me-Thickened-Me or the model of the model of the model

Make a new small model in foam of your project that is 50% solid and 50% void in the buildable volumes. Think of Solid and Void as equal but different, variations of the same thing rather than in an opposition where one simply holds or surrounds the other.

Make it simple and figure it out while making it.

Images from Fall 2003

The Project Cart (la Charette)
Lorelei Martin
Josh Nason

EXno.15 : Mini-Me or the model of the model

From only one color of foam with no labels showing and with great craft make a half-sized (xyz=.5 in the Form•Z uniform scale command) and simplified version of your current model.

Bring your documentation of your precedent study to class on Thursday. We're going to start drawing some planimetrics of it.

Flickr Group : WIki-Based College Web Page

The new college website is really taking shape. It is going to be a visually pleasant and useful website that we can be proud of in the college. It will be wiki based so any student, staff, or faculty in the college can add a page to it or edit pages. It will be half image and half hyper-text. It will be navigated as much by a search engine as a pull-down menu. We're pretty excited about this web page.

We need your pictures for the image half. It would be great to have pictures of people working in the studio. It would be great to have pictures from the field trip. It would be great to have pictures of work. Upload your images to Flickr and tag them to THIS GROUP (CoA_TTU).

It looks like there could be some previews of the new page just after Spring Break.

EXno.14 : First Model

1) Open my digital model of the base and 4 1/4" planes linked to the left (it has a delineated build zone).
2) Map the requisite 2-D drafted files on each side of the planes as indicated.
2) Use this 3-D digital model to guide your making of a foam physical model on the big black base.

Have this new model ready by the beginning of class on Tuesday.

Field Trip Itinerary

Is to the left.
Please print it out if you are going so you know where to go.

DMATV : Olafur Eliasson

Great Videos on setting up the exhibit HERE.

Hand Drawing

I have no idea where the notion that we'll hand draw anything in this class came from but it is patently wrong. ALL drawings we do in this class will be done with Form•Z in draft mode. You did not buy all the equipment to make quality drafted drawings. We sketch through pens and pencils and we draft through a mouse. We will make both analog and digital models. All drawings will be digital.

Field Trip Form

I am still getting emails from people who want a release from class Friday. ALL OF YOU should email the release to your instructors and then print the release and deliver it to your instructor when you get back to make sure they register your absence as official university business. I have updated the list one last time and reposted the letter to the left.

It is your responsibility to check the release and make sure your name is there. Two of the forms you returned to me were not legible. I may have missed a name in making the list.

A schedule for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be posted soon.

Grade Distribution

We're wrapping up the grading. The only thing left to assess (and adjust down) are the formatting of the CDs. I was VERY explicit about how those files were to be named. Any CD not properly formatted will be dropped a letter grade.

The distribution for the grades prior to reviewing those CDs is right on track:
33% are A and B level grades (approx 56 people)
33% are C level grades (approx 56 people)
33% are D and F level grades (approx 56 people)
There is 1/3 of this class that is doing above average work. There is 1/3 who are performing average work. There is 1/3 that is performing below average. Notice that the As and Bs are about the work and the Ds and Fs are about performance problems. All the D and F level grades are such because things were either submitted late or not submitted. No one who submitted everything has a failing grade. We were clear all during the first 1/3 of the semester that turning work in on time is the primary and base-level criteria for passing the course. I believe that any of you could pass this class, though some of you have not yet shown the capacity to do so. With work and diligence any of you (except those with excessive absences) can pass this course.

Do not talk to your TA about grades until you have received your grade sheet. Your TA will not talk to you about your grade during class time. You will talk to your TA about your grade before you talk to me about it. You AND your TA will talk to me about you grade, if necessary.

For those of you who have made a simple error in submission, your TA will probably talk to you about how to adjust your submission appropriately. For those of you who think you've been sliding by and not attending or submitting work, this is when the lights come on and the problems are faced.

Those of you who submitted only a CD will be assessed a 0 for the first five weeks and you should in all likelihood drop the course.

We will no longer give "graces" for hard drive crashes. Back up your computer regularly. These, though some are real, have become the new "dog ate my homework". We've had 13 students with hard drive crashes out of an active population of about 167. I've done research and we're running almost triple in this class what researchers find is the usual percentages for hard-drive failures in a control group (3% in the first three years). Keep regular back-ups. If you don't have the files in the next submission then you will not pass.

If the work is not there at the beginning of class for the duration of the semester then it is not going to be graded and you are not going to be a part of the reviews. There are a small group of you who sit through class without work and whose work seems to magically appear at grading time. Don't think that because we smile we are fine with it. I like all of you but that doesn't mean you are doing well. It means you're a nice person. OK work is work that is there on time. As you can see from the grade distribution, submitting work on time and regularly is the base line for simply passing. Real above average and excellent work is then accorded the As and Bs from among the on time work.

There are a small group of you who are in trouble with absences. Assume you will be dropped from the course if you have more than four absences. I've already asked people to drop and they have. We are equitable. The syllabus is clear. An absence is an absence.

For some of you the continuing explanation of extenuating circumstances is getting in the way of the teaching. Please, either do the work and learn or go away. Either the work is there or it is not. Reasons for why are irrelevant. If the work isn't there, you aren't learning. Please, no more time with the TAs telling them why you don't have it. There are a group of you who take time to explain to me that "being an architect" is very important to you so you "must pass this class" or I should be "leinient" on you in the grading. Let me point out to you that the only way I succeeded in getting through architecture school was by being dropped from this course the first time I took it because of too many absences and not submitting work on time. It was the best thing that happened to me in school and I didn't come back for four years. I returned at a time when I was mature and focused enough that I didn't have more excuses than work and I could find the time for my studies. For those of you who are running these excuses and are working the angles I'd like to help you succeed like I did, if you know what I mean. Get it done or we'll help you go away.

Asking for special dispensation or being coercive about matters of assessment is against the university's Student Code of Conduct. Everyone is equal here. Quit asking for anything else.

1st 5 Weeks Grade Sheet

I have places a sample copy of the first five weeks grade sheet to the left. Fill your own version out and follow along.

Field Trip Form

Either Today, Tonight, or Thursday everyone who will join us in Dallas on Friday, Saturday, and/or Sunday (including TAs) will need to bring the Field Trip Form linked to the left.
If you'd like a letter letting your Friday instructors know you are on a field trip then you should get the form to me tonight and note your need for a letter on the form. I will make a letter personalized for you to each instructor if you list their name and the course number and title.

Caveat: If you request a letter and do not show up on Saturday I will be letting that instructor know that you did not participate in the Field Trip.

EXno.10a: 3by3by3 Study Model

Using polystyrene insulation foam, chipboard, and piano wire make a model of the spatial relationships you can find in your model. Make the model express, jointure, hierarchy, constants & variables, precincts & zones, and economy of means. Try to make the model be a model of the space. What is the idea behind the spaces of the given building. How does your model express that idea? Do not be symbolic or iconic but do be laconic.

The 3x3x3 model is due Thursday, Feb 19th at the beginning of class.

EXno.12: Four Variations on a Theme

For the next exercise take one (or a combination, if necessary) of the ten done for EXno.11 and make four clear variations on the theme identified in class discussions today.. Save each of these as a separate file and print each out as EXno.11a, EXno.11b, EXno.11c, & EXno.11d.

EXno.12 is due at the beginning of class on Tuesday, February 17th.

First 1/3rd Studio Submission

Follow these instructions carefully. Make your TA go over this with you in class today. Work that does not follow these procedures will receive a significant penalty. The grading will happen in two parts:
A) Paper Submission:
a.1) Assemble all your final paper submissions for EXno.s 1-9. Put your name, the section number, and the exercise number on the back of each sheet. Clip these together with two binder clips across the top of the work.
a.2) Assemble all your working sketches, printouts, and notes that are on 8.5 by 14 (legal) paper; back them with a legal sized piece of chipboard; and make a neatly printed out cover sheet that lists your name, your section number, and "Composition Exercises-Progress Work". Clip these together along the short top side of the papers with two binder clips.
B) CD Submission:
b.1) Name each of the final Form•Z files for each exercise "ARCH1412_(your initials)XXX_(your section)50X_EXno(exercisenumberhere).fmz". Where there are multiple files per exercise, label each with "...EXnoXa", "...EXnoXb", "...EXnoXc", etc. Only submit mulitiple files for an exercise when there were multiple printout asked for in the exercise. Do nto submit multiples of the same project or progress files.
b.2) Make a pdf file of each Form•Z file you turn in and give it the same name except that it should have the suffix ".pdf" rather than ".fmz".
b.3) Collect these files of the digitally constructed exercises in a folder with the name "ARCH1412_(your initials)XXX_(your section)50X_CompositionExercises".
b.4) Burn this folder onto a CD-R, neatly label it with a sharpie with "ARCH1412", your name, your section, and "Composition Exercises".

Your TA wll show you a wall where you will hang up both parts of section A and will tell you how to submit part B to them. This should all be submitted on your designated wall and ready to grade by 2PM SUNDAY, February 15th. No late submissions will be accepted.

House We'll See Saturday Feb 21 in Dallas

This is a new house by Ron Wommack, a TTU architecture alum. He's taking us on a tour of the house at 11:00AM.

Big Black Base Diagrams

This base should be a perfectly crafted smooth FLAT BLACK BASE. No gloss, no shine. The slots should hold a 1/4" piece of material snugly but allow its removal and replacement. Your TA wll assist you in crafting this thing. Make sure you ask them about how to make this thing.

The BIG BLACK BASE should be complete and ready to work on by the beginning of class on Thursday, February 26th.

EXno.11: Sampling Site

Read the Article to the left called "Collage Making" to inform the notion of sampling and collaging. Reflect on the successes and strengths of your work to date. It is time for a transformation again. Now, on the sampling site and using all the five rules and occupying the full site sample and collage 10 new compositions (EXno.11.01 through EXno.11.10) out of your work to date. Use regulating lines to organize and analyze the composition as you produce it. Work quickly. Have all 10 printed and pinned up at the beginning of class on Thursday.

Field Trip Notes

The dates for the DFW field trip are February 21 and 22.

The preliminary schedule is as follows:

Saturday the 21st

View Larger Map

Sunday the 22nd

View Larger Map

EXno.10: Dissection Project

You are going to make a set of drawings and models of a house designed in the 20th century. You will also be tested on your knowledge of ALL these houses. First, go to the library and research these projects:

LE CORBUSIER
Maison Curutchet, LaPlata, Argentina
House at Weissenhof, Stuttgart, Germany
Heidi Weber Pavilion, Zurich, Switzerland
Villa Shodan, Ahmedabad, India

RUDOLPH SCHINDLER
Lovell Beach House, Newport Beach, CA

MICHAEL GRAVES
Hanselman House, Ft-Wayne, IN

JOHN HEJDUK
Wall House
Bernstein House

RICHARD MEIER
Smith House, Darien, CT
Saltzman House, East Hampton, NY

PETER EISENMAN
House IV, Cornwall, CT

REM KOOLHAAS
Villa Dall’Ava, St-Cloud, Paris, France

LOUIS KAHN
Esherick House, Chestnut Hill, PA

Milam Residence, Jacksonville, FL

Choose one of these houses and collect everything you can about it from the library and the internet. Do an Avery Index search for periodicals on the structure. Make a binder of all the printouts and photocopies you get on the project.

Bring ALL of your research to class on Tuesday. We'll have a raffle of who gets to do what project based on who has the most research done.

Class Schedule for Thursday, February 5th

If your TA seems clueless to this post then call them over and have them read it at the beginning of class. Point out to them that they should check their emails before class. You know all they do is party and daaaaaance while you all slave away and work your fingers to the bone.

Today you are going to pin-up your studio's work in a logical pattern like this: Three printouts side by side- on the left, a very early version of what they were doing (EXno.4 or EXno.5), in the middle the last one they did (EXno.8), and now the final one (EXno.9).

Make sure your work is separate from your classmates and the threesome can be discerned easily because...

For the first hour of class you will rotate over to review a section that you have not ever reviewed with (Lindsay and John or Adrianna and Sonya should not swap sections between themselves). Critique it and look at how the work developed. Is it a progressive transformation? Are they using the rules as conveyed? Which ones are working best? Each student claims one that is most like their own work and then, once they've claimed that work, they will be that person and will tell that work's story to their classmates. When there are fewer projects in the studio you are going to than there are people in your section double up.
For the last hour of class go through each of these projects (with each author mute) and get the studio to explain the apparent narrative in the work. What thematic devices can you discern in the work? What conceptual, intentional, parti, indexical, "big idea" , narrative device, way of working, organizational devices, systematic ways of working, etc. etc. are evident or apparent in each project. This is critical to discern as you begin to transform these things into another site and format. You have to start telling stories through what you see.

EXno.9: The Last One

Refine what you've been doing up to this point in the semester into one last version. Print it out full scale and have it ready to talk about at the beginning of class.

EXno.8: 50/50 and 20/80

Using the work to date as the source material make two new schemes that engage the whole of the 12" by 12" site on 14" by 14" paper. Mine the previous exercises (the source) for qualities and potentials to bring forward in the work to complete these two exercises (the current projects). Where possible just adjust the composition parametrically (changing proportions of parts while holding the developing relationships) rather than recomposing. The two challenges are:
EXno.8a: alter the ongoing work so that there is a balance of approximatly 50/50 of black and white space on the surface of the site. (In this there are equal parts of black and white.)
EXno.8b: alter the ongoing work so that there is a balance of approximately 20/80 of black to white space on the surface of the site. (In this white is the predominant spatial form).
Use regulating lines generated by the edges of every shape on the page. Think about how the schemes address the five organizational rules:
a) spatial hierarchy - an arrangement or classification of things according to relative importance
b) constants and variables - a series of regular and familiar clues, cues, signals, datum points, or reference points that add up to a framework, thematic matrix, armature, or formal structure within which difference (variables) work as the options and choices that create opportunities for thematic elaboration within the standardized framework of constants
c) spatial precincts and zones - enclosed or clearly defined areas differentiated at a scale beyond single defined or contained spaces and occurring throughout the site
d) zone, component and spatial articulation - constructed through the employment and control of butt joints; lap joints; dado joints; and reveals (gaps) throughout the site (formerly identified as "jointure")
e) economy of means - do more with less; prune; cut back to only essential to define a space

Have these printed, joined, and pinned up along with EX.no.7a on your studio wall at the beginning of class. We will introduce your precedent assignment on Tuesday and will not work on this stuff between Tuesday and Thursday to get that other work started.

EXno.7 : Regulating Lines

Have these two variations (EXno.7a and EXno.7b) printed out (full size, no tape) and hung on the wall with the most relevant three of your ten last EXno.6 edits at the beginning of class.

Now, we are giving up the original underlying grid. We are also now completely giving up in the transition from movement to space. We'll start translating the spatial relationships you are making into a narrative of construction ("a big idea"), as we did as a group with a few different examples in class on Tuesday. Your placement of shapes on the 12 by 12 site will now generate its own grid by projecting regulating lines.

Procedure:
1) Review your last ten edits in EXno.6. Consider the ideas that we discussed and examples. Your work should be engaging the whole area of the site with an hierarchy of spaces comprised of black shapes, white spaces between them, composite black shapes, and composite mixtures defining and containing space.
2) In Form•Z and on the old grid sketch out a new edition of your work.
3) On a layer in Form•Z that is different from the one the black shapes and hatches are on, project from every edge of each shape a very thin black line to the edges of your 12 by 12 site.
4) Reconsider what you've done by turning off your your hatches and studying what you see. Make notes and printout this layout for your own reference.
5) Reconsider what you've done by turning off your your hatches AND the black boundary lines of the shapes and study what you see. Make notes and printout this layout for your own reference.
6) Adjust the current black shapes and their regulating lines to improve and clarify the spatial qualities of your work. Consolidate closely related regulating lines and their requisite shape edges when they seem to be redundant. Adjust to clarify jointure between parts, between spaces, and between composite forms. Adjust to clarify precincts and zones of space that associate across the site and throughout the shapes you are using.

All of this is still simply making use of intentional and crafty difference between white and black.

7) Printout two versions of your resulting exercise on full size 14 by 14 paper (2 sheets with an invisible joint). The first version (EXno.7a) should have the black shapes and the requisite regulating lines emanating from them. The second version (EXno.7b) should have the black shapes turned off so that all is printed are the regulating lines on the sheet.

Sheet Joints

Tape is banned from putting the sheets together from here on out. The craft with tape is just too bad. The result is that your intentions are not clear because the craft is not good. That joint should be invisible. EXno.6 requires no joining. EXno.7 (due Thursday) will require two sheets printed and combined. Nothing using tape to combine the sheets will be accepted. Projects with visible joints will not be reviewed or assessed (a "0" for the exercise).

The best way to do this is to align the two sheets on your cutting mat and firmly tape them down in the correct relationship. Using an Xacto knife and a metal straight edge, cut down the overlapping joint so that both sheets are cut at the appropriate location. (Be very careful not to cut yourself.) Then, using RUBBER CEMENT and a third sheet as backing, glue the sheets butted up to each other. Ask your TA about this technique on Tuesday if that doesn't make sense. It makes no sense to put the effort into this work and then make it look unreadable through slap dash craft. You should be making work that lies flat on the wall and displays your intentions when pinned up. We are going to be much more clear now about what is acceptable in submissions.

The art supply store RENDR at 26th and Boston has Rubber Cement, unless you've all bought it all.

EXno.6: 10 Variations

Using the feedback you got from the last class meeting make 10 new variations on your ongoing work. How much variation you take should be based on how to manage the maximum amount of development and change in your project. Questions to ask while you develop this project at this juncture are:
a) Am I creating Hierarchy throughout the whole site? (SITE=14 by 14 page)
b) Am I developing a "Space Grammar" that engages the variabilities of the given black shapes (overall scale, shape orientation, the changeable parametric proportions of the shapes, the spatial characteristics of the shape, the spatial relationships the shapes can have between each other)
c) In representing the motion in the film piece am I constructing 2-D graphical space and spaces across the whole of the SITE?
AT THE BEGINNING OF CLASS on Tuesday have all ten printed out each on ONE sheet of 8.5 by14 paper so that you end up with 10 sheets of paper to pin up on Tuesday. Label each sheet EXno.6-01, EXno.6-02, EXno.6-03...through EXNo.6-10.

We will no longer review any work that is not crafted to the standards explained and outlined so far- no visible tape or sheet joint line (not an issue on this exercise), solid black shapes, no more grey on the sheet, light grid lines that do not interfere with the reading of the project, only the exercise number on the front of every sheet IN HELVETICA OR ARIAL. Name on the back

EXno4

Due printed and ready to pin-up at the beginning of class on Tuesday. Only work that is printed and pinned up by the beginning of class will be reviewed.

Make sure you save each exercise as a separate file. You will be turning in each file for assessment in a few weeks.

Do a new composition that builds off what you've started and the comments made during the last class. Use DIFFERENCES to make your analysis of the movement in the Playtime Clip intelligible. Make INTENTIONS clear. CONTROL the whole 12 by 12 area delineated on the SURFACE through your work.

One thing to change on the pin-up sheet: Remove the text block with your name, leaving only the exercise number on the front of the sheet. Start printing your names on the back of each pin-up sheet.

Printing 14 by 14 on Your Printers

The goal is to print on two side by side sheets of 8.5 by 14 and tape them together. The image above shows you how to manipulate all the dialog boxes. The text below tells you how to do the same thing. "Mr. Lamb of God" figured all this out and told me about it. Give your props to him for figuring it out and remembering what was done.

Go to the pull down menu "FILE" (where you get "OPEN" and "SAVE") and select "PLOT/PRINT SETUP". In that dialog box set the scale to 1=1, "extents", no "frame", and check yes for "overlap paper".

Then click on "Page Setup". "Format For" your printer.

Then select "Custom Page Sizes..." and in there make a new paper size called 1412, make the "Page Size" 8.5 by 14, and zero out the "printer margins".

Then you are ready to print. Check your print with "Page Preview" back in the "PLOT/PRINT SETUP" menu box. Do everything you can to save all these settings so the process is automated.
Make sure you have excellent craft on putting the two sheets together with tape. The seam should not be seen before the work is seen. It should not be in the way of seeing what you've designed.

You should print at least five progress prints that are just "fit to page" as you proceed on each exercise.

If you plotted these it would cost you at least $4 per plot. With your printer (and lots of prints) your costs will be much, much less. We'll plot later in the semester but we'll use the print lab only when it is absolutely necessary.

If that doesn't work then you can try this method.

Form•Z Introductory Notes

(Everything needed in FmZ for the first 1/3rd of the semester)

Topological Levels
points, segments, faces, elements, groups
self, one copy, multi-copy, continuous copy

Ordinates
picker
snaps / ortho
key shortcuts / preferences
layers

Object Makers
line, rectangle, parallel line, point, text

Object Modifiers
trim, break, join, connect, text edit, hatch

Object Translators
move, (copy), rotate, scale, scale x-y, mirror

Attribute Modifiers
line type / line weight, color, layer

EXno.2 - in class exercise for Tuesday

We find its easier to learn in editing than it is in inventing. The format of this drawing is the format you'll use throughout the first 1/3 of the semester. The title block, layout, scale, and means of printing for this drawing will be the same on everything you do until we draw a new format in four weeks. Everything you do will be submitted three ways: In Paper, In a Form•Z file, and in a PDF file. Your TA will show you how to do all these things well.

The standard sheet is 14"x14". There is a 1" buffer on the sheet surrounding a 12" by 12" work area that is centered on the sheet. The common zone stretches from side to side (X direction) down the middle of the work area. The common zone is .75" tall. In the X direction the work area is broken into 14 equal sections each marked by a dark grey thin vertical line that stretches across the work area. Each of these major X sections is divided into 4 equal minor parts. The work are is bifurcated about the common area into two equal sides in the Y direction. Each of these sides is broken down into a minor (.625" tall) section at the bottom and the remainder is equally divided between two major elements of each character.
Certain Form•Z files are provided. Download the 1412 drafting preferences and point the app towards it after starting it. Download the 1412_MPStudio_EXno2.fmz file. This drawing is the base for this exercise.
Due printed and assembled on your section's wall by the end of studio class today.
The exercise is a team project. Everyone in your section needs this done before the end of class.

In Class on Tuesday, Jan 13

It was assumed that you all would secure your lockers in the room. Make sure your locker locks up and that you can tie it to a desk or a buddy's locker. People will steal things. Those of you who left stuff in the room, we hid your stuff behind the grey metal lockers in the room. Those of you that are thieves- there are cameras all over the buildings and digital records. If you are found thieving then you'll be out of the university. Don't even look like you're stealing. I recommend a cheap cable lock and drilling a hole in the rubbermaid type tubs to run the cable through.

You'll need everything- computer, printer, "stuff"- in class on Tuesday. You'll work mostly with your TAs on Tuesday so come to class ready to work or to be sent away so we can work without you gumming our work up. Those of you who have temporary computer issues can go use the computer lab- if it is free.

We'll fix any Form•Z issues you all may have at the start of class.

Ex#1: Texting Movement

First, download and read the class syllabus and familiarize yourselves with it. On Tuesday ask your TA any questions you have about the syllabus.

The real exercise, as they all will, is available as a pdf for download to the left. This entry is just the background material referenced for the exercise.

The movies are linked to the left as well. There is a zip file containing all three versions for those who want it on their machines.

Our first major question for the semester is: How is movement (four-dimensional) or the image of movement (three-dimensional) translated into two-dimensions?

References:
To see other ways of notating, tracing or “witnessing” a scene, ways that have already been devised, consider (research) the methods of:
• The Choreographer
Labanotation:

• The Painter
"Nude Descending a Staircase" by Marcel Duchamp
• Time-Motion Study
Frank Gilbreath Motion Study
Therbligs
• Photographic Locomotion Study
E.J. Marey

Eadweard Muybridge

Course Objectives

• Above everything else this studio is going to be about doing. The way in which design is learned is through experiencing; through the carrying out of a process. The instructor’s role in the studio is more of guide than teacher. It’s more Socratic (responsive) than Aristotelian (indoctrinal) and that means that this course is going to be fueled by your questions and constant questioning. In design we question by working. This is called Practice.

• The other thing the studio will focus on is understanding what it is that we’ve done. The way in which understanding the design (a noun rather than a verb) is learned is by another direction of questioning: the development of a discourse. The Socratic process is reversed here and the instructor will ask the questions. It’s like jeopardy: the instructor gives the answer and the student looks to find the question in the work. Once the student is aware of the question the work becomes “Informed.” The work invokes discourse and the more informed the work, the higher the level of the discourse. Discursive questioning of the work is called Theory.
We’ll come back to talk about discourse at a later date.

First Day of this Class

All of our classes will be held on the fourth floor (rooms 401 to 404).

Fir the first day of class you should bring enough sheets of loose 8.5 by 14 paper and your writing implements to take notes. You will have an exercise due Tuesday using Form•Z drafting.

Everything you need for this class should be in the studio by the beginning of class on Tuesday.

See you at 10h00 or 12h30.

Sandboxes as an Index of the Semester

All images are clickable to enlarge, of course.

Cleaning

All of Your Stuff is Going to Leave the Building Monday or Tuesday

To dispose of your sand and sand box:
a) Remove all the protruding nails and string from the box. Put the nails and string in the trash. Brian has already put a nail through the bottom of his shoe.
b) Using a small bucket or trash can remove the sand from the box. Do not put sand in the large trash cans or anywhere else. Clean up anything you spill. The sand makes the floor very slippery. Take care.
c) Using a cart or a dolly take the sand to the courtyard level and add it to the pile that is started against the concrete wall on the north side of the courtyard.
d) Stack the box on the fourth floor with the rest of the boxes that are staying OR remove it from the university campus.

To dispose of all your paper in the building:
a) Take down all paper from the walls and windows. Pick up all paper on the floor.
b) Take your goods out to the dumpster on the courtyard level or remove the paper from the campus.

To dispose of the box lid:
A pile of box tops has been started in the fourth floor studio. Put yours there or remove it from the university campus.

To dispose of your wire model and blocks:
a) Remove the blocks from the model.
b) Remove the model and / or blocks from any base to which they may be attached.
c) Dispose of the wire model and cardboard, foamcore, or foam blocks in the dumpster outside on courtyard level.
d) A pile of wood blocks has been started in the fourth year studios. Put them there or remove them from the campus.

Work that has been held over the course of the semester is now in a "Corral" that we've made in the 4th floor studio. You can take anything in the "Corral". Material on the tables where Marti and Brian are working just outside the "Corral" is not to be removed. You can photograh it but it cannot be removed. It is going on display. You'll see it in the fall when you return. If you are not going to take care fo the work in the "Corral" then please leave it for us to display or dispose of. Anything left in the "Corral" after Tuesday at 8PM will be disposed of.

Thanks for a fantastic semester...

Stay tuned...

File Folder

Here it is ::

ARCH1412_XXX.zip
Unzip this file and the folder will appear magically on your desktop! Amazing...

All files must be illustrator (ai) files, or pdf's, you cannot include dwg's or dxf's. Lets keep it real. Image files can include jpeg, pdf, and or tiff.

Thank you and have a wonderful summer if we do not see you!

We will be writing more accolades soon so keep yourself posted...

Filling

So how do you fill in elements in Illustrator without changing lines?

1. Select the group that you want to render, say all of the columns from the big bar, or the floor slabs. 2. Go to the live paint bucket and click again. 3. De-select 4. Re-select the object group 5. Go to the fill button and fill with what color you want to fill with, say a gray. 6. Then go to the Object pull down menu and click on expand, when you expand a dialog box will appear, de-select the fill and the stroke box leaving the object box the only one checked. 7. Go back to the Object pull down menu and ungroup your selected elements twice. 8 Then select one of the filled parts. 9. Go to the Select pull down and click on Same, followed by selecting Same Fill Color, it will select the all of the fill color and not the line. Here you are separating fill from line. This gives you so many more drawing and notational opportunities. 10. While all of the fill is still selected, go to the layer window. Make a new layer. Then go back to the fill that is still selected and find the color box one the right side of the layer window. Grab and drag it to the new layer. Now you fill and line are in two separate layers, and you can change the opacity of your fill while leaving your line alone.

Rest of Semester Schedule for ARCH1412

Tuesday, April 29th
In Studio: Review wire models and drawings with your TA. By Thursday, May 1st at 9:00AM, have all your logs, drawings, and photographs printed and on your wall in an orderly manner. Finish wall space to look like Lauren’s section (in the studio on the northwest wall).
In Lecture: Review for the final submission and exam (see exam on May 6th below). Fill out course Faculty Questionnaire. The faculty course questionnaire is about MARTI and BRIAN as faculty, not about the performance of the TAs except in relation to how MARTI and BRIAN managed them as they taught the course.

IMPORTANT!!! EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SANDBOX PROJECT MUST REMAIN PINNED UP AND CLEARLY ATTRIBUTED TO YOU AT YOUR SANDBOX IN YOUR ASSIGNED SECTION FROM THURSDAY, MAY 1st at 9:00AM UNTIL MONDAY MAY 5th at 7:00PM.

Thursday, May 1st at 9:00AM
All print and physical Sandbox work is pinned up and ready to review for grade. Grading begins. Photography begins as we photograph all the completed boxes and all the “A” level work form Bounding space left in the studio at this time. All our photos wil be put up on a designated server space (see course web page for details).
All Sandbox digital work is burned to a CD (clearly marked in “sharpie” with your section # and name) and delivered to your TA for review. On the website there is a folder hierarchy and file naming system that you will use to submit your work in on the CD you will burn. Work not submitted properly will result in the Sandbox project receiving a grade of 0. Your TA will explain where to turn in your CD. No CD = 0 grade.
Leave everything in the studio until you are told we are done with your section. Otherwise, start clearing out on Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM.

Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM.
Begin clearing out all material you used in this course. See exam instructions below.

Tuesday, May 6th
Your Exam: Between Monday, May 5th at 2:00PM and Tuesday, May 6th at 7:00PM you will properly dispose of your sand (at a location to be determined) at the courtyard level of the architecture building. YOU WILL NOT DUMP SAND IN A TRASH CAN OR ANYWHERE ELSE IN THE BUILDING. IF you are caught doing so you will fail this course for academic dishonesty. It is absolutely unfair to the custodial staff to have to lug your sand out of the building. You will remove all work from your wall and remove it from the building or place it in a proper trash can. You will search the building for any other ARCH1412 coursework that is attributed to you and you will remove it. You will either take your sandbox away from the campus or you will leave it empty in room 401 for us to use as part of a larger project that will be done during May.

YOUR EXAM GRADE WILL be 12 of 12 points if you:
a) Take your sand to the designated location for disposal.
b) Either place your sandbox empty in the middle of room 401 or remove it from the campus.
a) Clean your designated sandbox space in the building.
b) Remove any ARCH1412 work from the building that could be attributed to you.
c) Submit your properly formatted CD to your TA by the deadline.

YOUR EXAM GRADE will be 0 of 12 points if we:
a) Do not see your sandbox workspace full of your work and ready to grade by Thursday, May 1st at 9:00AM.
b) Find you’ve removed any part of your sandbox work before Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM.
c) Find any ARCH1412 work after Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM in the building that can be attributed to you by recognition or written name.
d) Find your sandbox sand in your box or anywhere else in the building but the designated dumping location on the courtyard level after Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM
e) Find your sandbox anywhere but empty and stacked up in the middle of Room 401 after Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM.
f) Find your CD not submitted to your TA or improperly formatted after Monday, May 5th, at 2:00PM.

Drawing Examples

To construct this drawing, I shaded the surface a very light gray to further distinguish surface from object. You may do this, but it is not a requirement.

Draw your 13 boxes and place them in your grid. To do this I actually turned off the surface layer and used the original "21 by 21 Regulating Lines" layer to accurately place them in space. To draw the boxes I simply drew a 2 by 2 box and moved a copy up 10 inches and connected the lines. After you are done studying the boxes in space and carefully creating your path space and your subsequent place space, turn the surface back on and the regulating grid off to see what you have.


Draw the path space and the place space that your boxes create. To do this you will need to lock all layers and create a new layer labeled Forms. You will be using the top box edge to regulate and draw what spaces were created from these objects. Turn on the Drop Lines Layer and select the edges of the lines where the intersections of the form are created (see above). Copy those lines and move them to a new layer (you can refer to the attached drawing at the end of this post), turn off the Drop Lines layer and change the linetype of the new linetype. You will have the tops and the sides after these steps. To create the North and South and East and West connections use the Work Layer Profile layers and select the lines that intersect and follow the bottom edge of your form and copy and paste that into a new layer. Now turn off your box object layer and view the forms created by the boxes with the wire surface.


Turn off all surface layers and print your final forms of space.

Here is the ai file :: 1412_Sp08_XXX_Sandbox_100ptWork_1to1scale_Space.ai
Here is a dwg file :: 1412_Sp08_XXX_Sandbox_100ptWork_1to1scale_Space.dwg
Here is a dxf file :: 1412_Sp08_XXX_Sandbox_100ptWork_1to1scale_Space.dxf

(take note of the new layers in the drawing)

Spaces on Surfaces

Click HERE for Thursdays' assignment!

Baroque Wireframe

l’unanime pli - one CONTINUOUS surface, fabric, -scape, or -scope.
Gilles Deleuze in THE FOLD: Leibniz and the Baroque

considerations

These continuous surfaces appeared as ontologically quantified and studied conditions in the 17th and 18th centuries by philosophers and mathematicians such as Leibniz and Descartes (Calculus is a mathematics based on the potential of a continuous fold and topological notions of space and measure). These studies paralleled and influenced the development of Baroque architecture- an architecture responsible to the ability to project within complex surface. The importance of the fold (including conceptual folding and material folds) may have emerged with the Baroque but it has remained an issue in artists (such as Paul Klee), poets (such as Mallarme), and musicians (Berlioz). In the last 20 years folding in architecture has become a common thread in many academic and professional studios. This renaissance of the fold as a key intellectual and technological development in architectural production is chronicled across four texts. In 1988 the philosopher Gilles Deleuze published the book THE FOLD: Leibniz and the Baroque and refocused the importance of the fold in critical thinking and practice. In the same year Avrum Stroll wrote of the notion of geometric descriptions rooted in everyday geometries of surface in his book SURFACES. In 1993, FOLDING IN ARCHITECTURE, a collection of essays edited by Greg Lynn was published. In 1995 Bernard Cache published EARTH MOVES: the Furnishing of Territory, in 2003 Sophia Vyzoviti published FOLDING ARCHITECTURE: Spatial, Structural, and Organizational Diagrams. These five sometimes opaque and difficult texts make up a backbone of teaching through folding.

The exercise returns to wire. We’ll use wire to execute this exercise. You’ll need just over 220 feet of it. You can use the wire you already have on hand. The most successful work overall this semester was done with wire. Reconsider the ways you developed in working with wire and let the metal craft of the project be a major part of your projections.

method

• Take four high resolution digital photographs, using a one strong light, of the existing surface in your sandbox. The light should be evenly dispersed and create intense interior shadows. Print it out and pin these images up each as a 6”x6” black and white print on 8.5 bt 11 inch (letter) white paper on your wall. Put your name and section # on the back of each sheet. Name the .tif photo files “1412_sp08_XXX_ExF_Photo0X.tif” where XXX is your initials and Photo0X is the photo number (1 through 3).
• Study the graphics and database you’ve developed to complete the new 441 point drawing of the sand and hose surface. Discern the dominant inflections and facets described in the drawing. Write this down or sketch it out for your reference.
• Translate the spatial and superficial contents of the 441 drawing into a well crafted 121 by 121 mesh made of wire. This should be a simplified material translation of a full scale model of the sand surface projected in your 441 drawing- nothing else. The strands of wire should be arranged in a 2 inch by 2 inch grid with a perimeter of 20 inches by 20 inches. There should be nothing but mesh- do not make external elements to prop or hold the mesh.

This wire mesh model will become the site for the rest of the semester’s design work. Prepare it well and consider the intersections and specificity of your material design. You will be asked to add cubic and cylindrical elements to this model as we progress.