Communications Workshop 3: Architectural Drawing

Major Project: Rose Seidler House

For the major project we had to produce an A1 presentation of plans, sections, elevations and perspective drawings of the Rose Seidler House in Wahroonga.

We had received some plans etc in class, which were not straightforward to read, as I didn't know much about the house.

I made the trip up to Wahroonga and was struck by the amount of colour used in the house, and how comfortable the house felt, even though it was now 60 years old. A few of my favourite shots can be seen below. I loved the kitchen and fireplace inside, and the use of bold colours on the exterior wall panels and doors.

In the end I was pretty happy with my composition. The layout ended up a bit clustered, and my top perspective too small. But I got to play around with the drawings, I did the rendering freehand in pen, so it was good to try some different techniques than used in the previous rendering assignment.

I found this to be a constructive workshop, where I learned som basic drawing techniques which I can use to develop my drawing ability with practice.

For one of the week 3 in class exercises we had to compose a drawing using different tones of shading (below). Working up from the lightest elements in the composition to the darkest. We had to not use any lines to form the boundaries of objects. I chose a spot in the west stairwell of the red centre. It was relatively easy for me to see the contrast between light and shadows on the same surface, but difficult to tell if the red paint was lighter or darker than the blue surface or raw cement. It was a good exercise to get some appreciation for analysing a scene into some sort of systematic method for building a drawing.

We went on to learn about 1 and 2 point perspectives (vanishing points, horizons etc.) in the second workshop. I had great difficulty doing a perspective of my kitchen over the weekend, as the lines seemed to change direction between when I was looking towards the vanishing point, and when I looked at the roof line for example. I basically ended up tracing photographs for the perspectives, but by doing this it becomes pretty clear that the perspective techniques work.

For Workshop 3 I chose to do Architectural Drawing, hoping that I would get some basic skills in both drafting and freehand drawing.

Our first exercise was doing a plan, section, elevation, and still life of a tea cup. I found the architectural drawings relatively straight forward, but didn't know where to start with the still life.

My tutor suggested starting with a series of elipses and build the drawing up from there. I'm pretty happy with what I managed to draw (below).

Communications Workshop 2: Rendering

Final Submission (above). I ended up getting a Pass for this workshop, which I was a bit disappointed with. I felt as though the workshop was too 'self directed', and for someone with little skills or experience, a series of weekly exercises where I could build a foundation of skills would have suited me better.

I ended up going with Pen on Trace for the major project with coloured pencil on the back of the trace. I was pretty happy with the drawing component of the presentation, but really didn't have much of an idea with the rendering part of it. I think I would have been better off with one of the larger buildings, as there would have been some more drafting involved, and less reliance on the rendering in the final presentation.. However, I had a good time working on it (above and below).

As part of the Major assignment we had to try out a few techniques / mediums for rendering. I had no idea (literally) where to start with this. So I tried Pencil on trace and normal paper. (I also learned that I can't call them pencils, they are to be called 'graphite'). Some watercolour pencils (One of the other students introduced these to me), and watercolour paint on thicker paper, and crayons (which I borrowed from my children) on the back of trace paper. Examples of this experimentation can be seen below..

During the first week of my second workshop - Architectural Rendering, we were given some background material on Architectural Drawing and were 'walked through' the 4 buildings which we could choose from for our major project. I initially went for the 'Ken Israel House' by Peter Sutchbury, because of it's size and apparent simplicity, I decision I later regretted.
We were also asked to find some drawings of an Architect we knew of as pertaining to their rendering style. I choose Louis Sullivan, who we had learned about in History and Theory 1, as we saw many of his hand drawings in that class. A couple of these drawings can be seen below.

Communications Workshop 1: (Re)presenting Representation

The final submission (above and below) showed a view of the Goldstein courtyard which was heavily shaded by trees in the foreground. By adjusting the way you looked through the viewer, different objects were highlighted, such as cigarette butts, and building rubble, or rusty exterior finishes of the building. These objects were obscured in the frontal view by people in the foreground. The viewer forced you to examine the scene closely, and highlighted parts of the scenery which could easily be addressed and hopefully would make the space a more attractive place for people to use.

We received a D+ for the project which we were delighted with.

Weeks 2 and 3 saw us experimenting with the 3D compostition. We basically photoshopped a series of photographs into 8 layers, each of which stripped everything out of the shot except that which was to be highlighted in the slide. We toyed with the idea of allowing the viewer to mix and match their own slides, so that they could form whatever image they wanted. This proved to be dangerous, as it was possible to align them in such a way that almost completely blackened the view. In the end we opted to fix them together.

After week 1 we had no idea what this workshop was about. We spent the first workshop at the site (a small courtyard behind Goldstein College Dining Hall), and afterwards we had to tell the class about what was significant about it.

My Partner (Ana) and I were underwhelmed by the space. It was dark, wet, dirty, and felt abandoned. noone was sitting on the benches.

Our Idea for the first milestone (a 2d storyboard) was to portray the site with a series of layers, of images that struck us as symbolic of the darkness and decay that we felt in the site.

This story board is displayed above.

5 Photo's

Angela Merkel, Helen Keller and POWER

Merkel gains her power from her position, the respect of her countrymen and her colleagues, and through her leadership. The bridge (which serves the only purpose of housing Merkel) allows her to oversee the landscape, her offices discrete, but at the same time overwhelming. She meets with Keller, and the people at the communal dining table. Keller derived her power from respect for her courage and knowledge, and by motivation the public to rally for just causes. Her offices, planted in the ground, are welcoming to visitors. Again she stays in contact with the people, who give her power, at the communal table.

FileFront and Google Warehouse

Filefront

http://www.filefront.com/16754637/Objects.zip
http://www.filefront.com/16754669/Levels.zip

README

For lifts:

P - takes lift from bottom to top of bridge
N - takes lift from top to bottom of bridge
O - Opens door to office at top of bridge
L - Raises table which joines base of bridge to lower office
J - Lowers said table

Animations of lifts

Work in Progress

The bridge is suspended from a cable that spans between the monument on the RHS, and a pillar on the LHS. The platform is supported by a high tension woven metal fabric, which allows some light through, but retains tension. Kellers office can be seen at the base of the bridge. Merkel's offices can be seen discretely on the platform of the bridge on the far (darkened windows visible). These offices form part of the bridge.



The structure of the woven fabric can be seen when the sun shines at this angle.






Images of Helen Keller offices and the base of the bridge. An indoor and outdoor area surround a central courtyard. Walls have openings to allow ventilation and smells to pass through the office. access to sunlight possible from inside and out.




















Merkel's office occupies the top of the bridge .....behind closed doors.







The Structure of the bridge expresses the juxtaposition on Merkel's power, at the base, the pillar carves into the earth, as Merkel authority in the EU slices through negotiations. On the high end, the platform rests gently on the landform, which aligns with her popularity with the German people. The more humane side of Power, influence and respect.