The Architect/ The Musician/ The Friend/ Ben

AutoCAD at Guilford Tech

2011-05-05T08:38:00.000-07:00

I took some courses in the GTCC's Architectural Technology program this spring. The program was exceptional and provided me with a new insight into the drafting world as well as accelerating my speed, efficiency, and precision in AutoCAD. The following drawings are a representation of the work that I accomplished in their fundamental computer aided drafting (AutoCAD) course.

CAD drawings for Hipster Haven

2010-04-28T23:52:00.000-07:00

These are some CAD drawings that came out of our CAD course. I used my second year project, the hipster haven, to expand on while learning how to use AutoCAD. Your can check out the Hipster Haven project here.

AGi32 Analysis and Lighting Application at My sister house -Kitchen

2010-04-28T23:27:00.000-07:00

Agi32 is a program used for analysis and rendering of lighting in space. The Urban studio project "My Sisters House" had already been in the process of construction. We were using My Sisters House as a model for applying our own applications of both artificial and natural lighting in the space. The following are images of some slides I arranged to view and discuss the lighting primarily in the kitchen space.

The Chair that started it all...

2010-04-28T22:44:00.000-07:00

This was a recent submission to the Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens in Charlotte, North Carolina. I worked on the chair during my fall semester at school to send off to the gardens, however during the process I became somewhat attached to the product and the design. The idea itself was not so much original and was something my professor gave us a week to flesh out and submit to the Daniel Stowe Botanical gardens ( in the form of drawing/materials/concept). This is some of the process and work that I have done so far. The design is still changing and I hope to finish it in the up coming month.

Salvation Army Tables

2010-04-28T22:24:00.000-07:00

Our studio worked with Matt Jones and Debbie Nestvogel on a project that would redefine "used" clothing and accessories donated to the Salvation Army. You can view their blog here.

sketch series 3

2009-12-09T21:10:00.001-08:00

sketch series 2

2009-12-09T21:08:00.000-08:00

sketch series 1

2009-12-09T21:04:00.000-08:00

lighting experience: critique space

2009-09-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

While observing this room all parties experienced confusion and uneasiness due to lack of focal point. Because of the large skylight the room was completely washed out, allowing the occupant to have a dull perception of the room. The space contains too much overhead lighting and not enough spot lighting. The little contrast of white walls and light wood contribute to the dullness of the room.

We all feel the function of the space was not sufficiently addressed during the initial design process. The space would function better as a student lounge, or casual work space. Some possible lighting solutions would include some sort of electronic shade barrier on the ceiling or more spot lighting for wall presentations. Even some sort of contrasting permanent boards to present projects on would allow the room to feel more like it has a specific purpose, and would allow the occupants to feel more comfortable in the space.

M.A.C.C- Matter, Art, Creation, Convergence

2009-05-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

This project was the first project that I designed completly digitally, however the design was drawn up and modfied many times before I went into sketchup and began creating the space. My intitial thought was that I wouldnt be able to show the enviroment that way I wanted it to feel by modeling it digitally. However I found that with the right approach and technique, and alot of patience...maybe even a week of sitting in the lab straight, you can easiely create a space that feels less bound by the confines of a digital program or look that it appears to have.

The concept behind the space is inovation through an artists personna. The space was given a label, which evolved into a more personal title as if the space were a person. Inside the space are all of the vital functions required for sustained living much as it were in a human being. The is also included space for the artist to work in involving steel fabrication and sculpture. This choice came partially because the original warehouse space struck me as an industrial haven. Then I also had to take in part of the influences I had as a designer, since I was designing for my own generation...and possibly the next.

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East section

North section

Main floor plan

Loft plan

Wall section reveals the fastened conrete anchor bolts supporting the 2" x 4" rosewood boards along the wall. The stairway platform will fit flush with the concrete wall just between each board; other additional support includes a central concrete wall that the stair case sits on top of.

Isometric view of the entire complex where the apartment/loft space will be implemented

Bedroom- recycled aerospace aluminum alloys

Isometric view of all the interior components of the structure.

walls- poured concrete, anchor bolted rosewood 2" x 4", buffed finish on concrete and patina finish on rosewood
Entryway moment- recycled aluminum alloys

countertop- 3form gunmetal 100 percent base

Loft- poured concrete, applied aluminum, and polyurethane finish
Entertainment station- oak veneer, applied chroma mineral by 3form, and black high gloss paint finish
Desk- oak veneer, applied chroma mineral by 3form, and matte finish

3dps MAX...grumble...renderings

2009-05-06T16:08:00.000-07:00

Podium Renderings

2009-04-13T22:26:00.000-07:00

Messing with sketch up renderings

2009-04-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

Dining Space Animation

2009-04-06T18:04:00.000-07:00

Dining Space in Sketch-up

2009-03-31T10:59:00.000-07:00

Magnetic Resonance

2009-03-05T22:13:00.001-08:00

The Mayan spiritual bath requires one to gather four to nine leaves or flowers of their favorite plants and crush them up in a bucket of water. During the process of gathering and mixing into the bucket one is required to say small prayers to ensure the plant spirit of your intentions. After which, the bucket of water is washed in light for a few hours to allow all the oils to settle into the water. Finally the water is applied by pouring small amounts of the herbal fluid to the body. Once finished one should meditate and/or recognize the absence of negative energies.

- The Mayans referred this bath to anyone with a blockage in their chu' ulel (soul force). Mayan shamans believed that this bath would help revitalize the electro-magnetic field that surrounds our bodies and promotes the mind/body/soul.

Form:
This sketch model portrays that space as open, flat, and transparent into the exterior world. The absence of a roof plane is evident in order to bring the structures most important elements in which are water and earth.

Orthographics:

The floor plan examines the layout of tiles in the space. The tile are split by a pathway of water which then is connected through a series of earth magnets embedded into the floor. This allows the water to travel over the magnets and receive their energy (blessing) before moving on torwads the central cleansing ritual.

These elevations and wall sections show two ramps, one traversing the level changes and the second allowing access into the main bathing space.

Materials:

The Experience:

Inside users should expect to be guided through the top level and journey into the center without disruption of the physical body. These pathes and nodes shown in the floor tile act as the users guide torward harmony

Bathing: Sequence and Therapy

2009-02-22T18:48:00.000-08:00

Bathing:

-The immersion of the body into a fluid, usually water

Forms:

- Mud bath provides mineral rich waters for the skin

- The Sauna also known as a sweat bath invigorates internal bodily functions much like exercising

- Hot water bathes to release toxins and decrease muscle tension

- Cold water bathes to prevent swelling by constricting blood vessels

- Social pools (self explanatory)

- Spiritual bathing usually involves special herbs or other additives for cleansing the mind, body, and soul.

Example of a Mayan spiritual bathing practice:

-The Mayan spiritual bath requires one to gather four to nine leaves or flowers of their favorite plants and crush them up in a bucket of water. During the process of gathering and mixing into the bucket one is required to say small prayers to ensure the plant spirit of your intentions. After which, the bucket of water is washed in light for a few hours to allow all the oils to settle into the water. Finally the water is applied by pouring small amounts of the herbal fluid to the body. Once finished one should meditate and/or recognize the absence of negative energies.

- The Mayans referred this bath to anyone with a blockage in their chu' ulel (soul force). Mayan shamans believed that this bath would help revitalize the electro-magnetic field that surrounds our bodies and promotes the mind/body/soul.

The Human Electro-Magnetic Field:

As most know the earth along with every living organism have a magnetic field. Every magnetic field has a positive and negative polarity. On a cellular level different chemical reactions within the body release charged particles. These charged particles create an electric field and due to the movement of these charged particles they create a magnetic field. Recent scientists have concluded that positive magnetic fields can create stress and disrupt metabolic functions within the body. Negative magnetic field have a beneficial effect on body by activating the hormone known as melatonin. Melatonin is an anti infectious, anitaging, stress reducing hormone. Sometimes negative magnetic fields can greatly increase the rate broken bones are healed along with other physical or emotional medical problems.

2009-02-19T12:09:00.000-08:00

a place to [dine]

2009-02-05T12:13:00.000-08:00

TWA Pattern

2009-01-28T21:54:00.000-08:00

I went to New York City this past Christmas break and flew into JFk airport. As I was riding the skytran around the airport to Jamaican station I noticed the TWA terminal designed by Eero Saarinen. On my way out of New York I walked around JFK exploring the different terminals and I wasn't allowed inside of the TWA terminal, however I did manage to get some good photographs outside of the terminal. This pattern I created was inspired by a Victorian pattern made by Falkiners. The pattern reassembled a repetition of cross shaped naturalistic designs. I took my image of the TWA terminal and spliced it into many different arrangements by mirroring and copying different layers. The original picture was carefully sculpted out using a magnetic lasso and mask to accurately cut the image out.

CAD and the Future it Beholds

2009-01-25T09:26:00.000-08:00

Computer aided design in the world today exists as not only a tool for preconceived design but rather an essential component in a designers process. With the development of the first personal computer many new programs have been written to aid designers in communicating their ideas to other professionals. Obviously not every designer had access to the super computers developed back in the 1960’s therefore computer aided design was irrelevant and even with the use of computers such as MIT’s TX-2 renderings and geometric calculations were far inferior of a designers mind.

With the development of the first CAD systems, designers began to realize the potential in computer technology. These first CAD programs helped designers calculate complex curves and geometries that would otherwise be impossible to create using newer materials such as sheet metal and reinforced concrete. In 1977 CAEADS [computer aided engineering and architectural design] was created for architects and engineers to perform a spacial analysis, energy analysis, and other building specific analysis’s for building functions.

Later artificial intelligence was implemented to examine how the computer would create specific solutions to problems on its own. Earlier systems would respond to full filling the needs of the inhabitants. However, flaws in this would later reveal that the computer cannot do as good a job on the details as the user manipulating the system.

Here’s where the controversy starts; whether you use a computer to analyze your ideas, or create them, the computer is only as smart as the person who’s using it. Today that rule still applies to almost every system out there, but programmers have made design progressively easier to accomplish. An example would be the amount of designers now a day that continue the practice of hand drafting. Some designers still lack the necessary skills to hand render or draw their ideas. These complications arise when technology begins to take over the profession.

I believe the future holds a great deal of knowledge for us to obtain, because computers cannot realize every aspect in design, most importantly the fact that sustainability and our environment are two primary design objectives that a computer may never understand. Artificial intelligence can only exist with a processor, or brain, that can continue to rewire itself or like us relearn and unlearn certain things. In reality the only true intelligence is one that can learn from its mistakes and change when it’s environment and society is asking for it; this require consciousness. The culmination of “conscious” machines is not possible, however the culmination of human and machine is probable.

Design Timeline

2008-11-09T22:20:00.000-08:00

Starting from Revivalism We have University of Virginia main library. Into Arts and Crafts we come to the Gustav Stickling armchair, then Gaudi’s Casa Mila. In Art Deco there are many vertical buildings similar to the Chrysler building in design through thin narrow strong vertical elements. Modernism grew from Art Deco showing Corbusier Chapel at fifty. As modernism grew Eero Saarinen came to build the St. Louis arch presenting us with connections to the past, present and future. The High-tech movement came along through the 70-80s and Piano and Rogers Lloyds of London building was constructed. Finally we come to post modernism and the Indianapolis College Life Insurance building showing repetition and the idea of deconstruction.

S.O.C - Shelter l Bus

2008-10-06T07:34:00.000-07:00

Why design for four when you could design for more?

Above are four cross section perspectives, two longitudinal sections, a circulation/public/private space analysis and a detail drawing of collapsible shelter. Conceptually this was a battle between designing a "luxury" bus for four tramatized workers, or designing a communal hub for not just relief workers but for victims as well. I felt a strong concern about designing a comfortable suite for only four people, reason being, relief work is about the people who need it most, they are there for them, not for themselves. I realize that after carrying the dead around all day and taking care of the injured, they would need a comfortable place where they can forget about everything on the outside. They have a home for that, and when their work is done they have a home to go to. This bus consists of four experienced intellectual relief workers and sixteen victims to help out. Thats twenty people total in efforts to sway the affects of a natural disaster such as katrina. Thats five times more man power than the original design, and can save millions of dollars in return by reducing the amount of buses needed to house relief workers and victims.

Node and Landmark

2008-09-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

Community Outreach

2008-09-21T14:20:00.001-07:00

In reaching out to the community our group wanted to have a centralized sculpture that was a landmark for everything else. This sculpture is to incorporate something that the community would continue to pass on lee street and turn around a question the meaning behind the structure. In there search they will find that it leads back to the interior architecture studio. The sculpture is very important in this proposal, but we didn't want to limit ourselves, so we connected all of our other proposals back to this idea.

In the photo above we marked a location where alot of our guerrilla marketing would take place. The depot is the heart of the Greensboro transit system, so in order to connect with the rest of Greensboro, why not penetrate at the very epicenter? here we would conduct fundraisers to "sell" our products, which include food, pens, stickers, flyer's-all completely free.

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Sustainablity through Space

2008-09-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

This Image by Ivana Franke "Full Empty Space" speaks alot to me in terms of sustainability. Empty Space? It really makes you wonder questions: Whats in there? How do you navigate the space? Intentionality versus intentionality. Maybe the question we all are missing is "how much space do we need. I would be willing to bet money based on the size of our living quarters that 70 percent or more of that space is waste. And all of that waste is a product of Architects and designers that contribute to the construction of colossal Hollywood homes, where maybe 1 or 2 people will live and only viably use less than 3 percent of that space. Now look around you and think globally how much energy and natural resources go into "empty" space. It's static possessions that control those space, and maybe it wouldn't be a long shot by saying our ego is too big.

Now back to UNCG, how do they help with space. Well, its simple, dorm rooms. Dorms rooms are sustainable in my opinion. We learn to make use of every inch in that space. I didn't realize it at first but after a while, I came back to my dorm room and felt cozy at home knowing I had everything I needed right in that's 20 sq ft. space. I could give almost 1000's of examples of spaces that conserve and contribute to sustainability. So next time you go home think about your space, and think about if it adds anything to your lifestyle, or is it merely you ego.

Unknown Separation

2008-09-04T20:58:00.001-07:00

Today I was given a mission, and that was to explore the exciting GTA bus system. As soon as class ended I headed out to the Bus stop with Leah, Heather, Sara, and Anna, located at Anna's house. The was a small sign up with the route number on it, and with my experienced skills at bus riding I immediately knew that route 2 would lead us to Four Seasons town center. We ended up having to call the bus number to pick us up and surprisingly the bus came literally within seconds of receiving our call and location. Once the bus arrived I was pushed along quickly after I swiped my card by the Bus drivers impatient motives. Apparently we were causing the bus to by slightly delayed due to an off route call. I could see on the looks of everybodies faces that they were not happy with us. Well I felt bad, but hey, its the way things worked out, so what? After quickly absorbing the torrential downfall of frowns, I sat down comfortably in a hard plastic shelled seat. Definitely not the best seat in the world, and my survival rate dropped due to the lack of passenger protection gear such as the commonly known seat belt. I understand I'm riding this bus at my own risk, and also the fact that unless this bus plowed off a cliff or got jacked by terrorists, I was quite safe. Moving on past the physical feeling of being on the bus, I'll let you know that it smelled like the fumes from a dirty lawnmower. I didn't hear many people talking, so I assumed the passengers were on there way to work, or heading home for the evening. If i were to describe some of the people then I would say most of them were predominately African American. I actually didn't read the excerpt about the sit-ins in greensboro before going onto the bus, due to a time crunch. However after just reading over it, I've realized that things now seem to be very equal, but not at the same time. I couldn't understand why Most kids at A&T are African American still, and there is a white minority. I have a few friends who go there and they are African American. I asked them why they didn't choose to go to NC state or some other school for engineering and they told me because they were familiar with the school. From the reading it seemed that alot of African Americans were applying to get into white school and were denied, and now that the restrictions are lifted things are still very similar...to some extent. Back to the bus though, It was a curious sight to see only African Americans on the bus besides ourselves. I'm not sure why, but my first guess was not joy riding around Greensboro like myself. The bus returned to the depot where we proceeded to get off and explore the area. The first stop was the Greensboro train station. The station itself was impressive, it had high vaulted ceiling, and many rows of large wooden benches. These benches stretched half the room, where only 4 or 5 people actually were sitting on them. My observation would be that public transportation has changed alot since the car came along, and trains are no longer a reliable source of transportation due to it. Again much like the bus, most of the people in there were African american, and again I realize that although many things have changed an unknown segregation still lays before us. This occurs in school, in work, and even in transportation.

Uhm...first week of class

2008-09-03T07:18:00.000-07:00

This week started off alright, but then when I found out Tuesday night that I couldn't get into the studio after work...I guess you could say I was "pissed" off. I understand that some of the cards were deactivated, but its worse when security won't even let you in. Struggling through 9am - 11pm from going to class early to finding times to eat, and then going to work and still finding other ways to work around the clock. Time constraints are harder on me this time but I'm just going to have to figure out how to manage my time alot better. Once my card is activated then I think everything will work out a little smoother.

Uhm...first week of 2nd year

2008-09-03T07:15:00.001-07:00

Uhm...first week of 2nd year

2008-09-03T07:15:00.000-07:00

Pathways and Nodes

2008-08-27T08:29:00.000-07:00

First stop on the journey to he natural science center: Intersection between spring garden and Warren street, which is the location of my residence.

Second Stop: Approaching a Baptist church on Aycock going towards battleground ave.
Third Stop: Under two bridges down Aycock.

Fourth Stop: On Westover I passed a large high school on the left.Fifth Stop: Detoured down friendly ave. and passes the new friendly center.
Sixth Stop: Lucky 32 back on westover ave.

Seventh Stop: Krispy Kreme on Battleground ave.

Eighth Stop: The freshmarket on Lawndale rd.

Ninth stop: Forest Lawn Cemetery on Lawndale rd.

Final stop: The natural science center. The most notable aspect was all of the vegetation around the building

I made a Mess of Things...Elsewhere

2008-05-07T23:10:00.000-07:00

Elsewhere was a real "change" for me as far as art is concerned. When I first walked into Elsewhere I thought that you could buy the items from the store. However I was wrong, very much so. The concept of the store was how the objects, that you cannot purchase, move around. The store is almost like a living breathing organism. It all started when I picked up the bouncy palls and slammed them into a colossus mess of instruments, some only pieces remained, and heard a loud crashing sound of atonality. I was worried they would lose the bouncy balls, but the owners didn't seem to care, they just kinda shrugged when things fell off the wall of bouncy balls flew across the room.

After having a brief walk through of the building, the owners explained to us that the whole purchase behind the building was change. Visiting artists would come there and move objects all around creating puns, and other strange creations. These creations shape the atmosphere and space within the environment. I can remember when I walked across the creaky "levitating" platforms over the glass bottles embedded within the floor that I was really experiencing that space. I felt like i was going to fall through any minute, and I quote Zach when he said "it was a leap of faith. "

There were many other experience's within elsewhere, almost too many to talk about so I'm just going to skip ahead to the drawing experience.

I heard the owner mention concept of layers many times over, and I decided that it would be a good Idea to try and draw my space using layers. So I started off by drawing a basic perspective of the space as shown below. (My space was the skyscraper) This picture is composed of a couple layers in itself, which included a layer of pencil, a layer of pen, and marker.

From here I took a new sheet of trace paper and drew in the objects that I saw within the space, some of which changed spots over the course of time. But this only added a neat messy effect to it. below are the objects in empty space without the structural layer added. As you can see the objects where drawn very quickly in a gesture type manner (this tends to be prevalent in my style).

From here I Layered the drawing to get a closer look at it, and realized that alot was going on in the drawing. I liked the way that felt , because Elsewhere was all about busy clusters of junk that moved around unknowingly. I decided that I wanted the space to stretch out more and have alot of contrast between the layers so I went back through and added another layer.

In this next layer I went back over the original structural perspective of the skyscraper and drew the lines so that they would interact with all the other lines. This created interesting weave in the drawing and I liked it because it felt more energetic, especially after I added the color, which was the next layer.

Here is the color layer in empty space.

Finally I got the final drawing of the space.

I would consider going back here in the future because everyone was so nice. I felt at home when I was there amongst the piles of mess. However still organized in some fashion, I still felt like maybe I could make art work without having a clear polished statement. Beyond art this space is an organism in all forms. I guess Mark Rothko was right about art in space.

Sketch-Up tryout

2008-04-21T12:29:00.000-07:00

I had a little difficulty using the guide lines, but besides that everything was pretty clean and easy to understand. I'm still not a big fan because it just doesnt any personality to it. I feel like hand rendering something like this would bring more attention to it.

Sleeping Quarters

2008-03-25T17:57:00.001-07:00

Here are a few examples of sleeping spaces that you may not have thought about, or maybe you have.

Above are a few bulb-shaped tents that hang down from the trees.

Micro compact home. The ideal sleeping location of my choice, small, sustainable, and very portable. Everything you need you can just fold right out of the walls, or the ground. If you ask me, I think we could conserve resources by having everyone live in something like this, because how much space do we really "need"?

No its not a spaceship, however your kids might be pleased to know this is a tree house. The clever and simple design makes this successful.

If your homeless you might consider your options a little more carefully.

Whether your a space geek or not this design is very modern and futurist like, however it does not lose the quality of comfort.

Foust Presentation Board

2008-03-04T09:26:00.000-08:00

First off, I would really like to thank everyone that helped us with this board. I was pleased the way it came out, however, I thought there were a ffew kinks in it. One of which was the presentation of the black against this olive green color. I looked good up close but you cannot see it from a distance. I felt like the thumbnails could have had a contrasting strip behind them to push them out a little more, or even what Tommy said with bringing them up farther so that the title would run perpendicular to the thumbnails. Overall, it was a real struggle but I learned quite a few things from it, and brought that into my studio midterm presentation.

Doors/Windows, Drawing

2008-02-26T00:24:00.000-08:00

Here were some more technical drawings of doors and windows. I was pleased with my lettering however, the guide lines were a little dark.

Fisher house from Ching Book

2008-02-20T00:21:00.000-08:00

This is a drawing of the floor plan from the Ching book. I thought that the orange poche would turn out well, but when I made the copy it did not appear as well as the black poche would.

Pen and Ink Styles

2008-02-11T19:54:00.001-08:00

Styles:Drawing by Jake Tucci.

Drawing by user k0hi at Deviant Art.

Drawing by user Swolf330 at Deviant Art.

My Drawings/Attempts:

Drawing of a hallway through the Foust building trying to utilize Jakes vanishing point. Here in the picture the vanishing point is not visible which made it alot harder for me to draw. I'm pretty sure I did not hit the style right on, but maybe alot more practice and I'll have the concept done correctly.

Here I utilize the second pen and ink technique, but instead I added another form of media to it so that the black's would come out alot bolder.

A drawing of the exterior of the Foust building. Some of the picture was cut off because I ran out of space. I would expect to do more shading in the future so that the drawing will pop out more in a 3 dimensional way.

Thumbnail Sketch of The Foust building

2008-02-06T18:53:00.001-08:00

Up Close and Personal

2008-02-05T19:43:00.001-08:00

Pats Chair

2008-02-01T00:05:00.000-08:00

Above is the Orthographic view of Pats chair.

Above is the section view of Pats chair

Worksheet Exercise

2008-01-26T00:11:00.000-08:00

This was an exercise off of a worksheet given to us. Here we practiced drafting and using the poche' technique. I learned that it was better to poche' on the backside of the paper.

Hatching with Ruler

2008-01-23T19:29:00.001-08:00

I enjoyed this exercise and approached it much differently than I did on my other drawings. Here I took a small ruler and used it to draw straight edges or lines wherever I needed. I found that it was much more effective and the drawing turned out alot cleaner than just some ragged lines and cross hatching. The straight lines brought out more of the vertical hatching technique as well and made objects look defined. Only a little bit of hatching seemed necessary to define each object, otherwise it seemed to over power it.

What a Messy Mess

2008-01-16T21:25:00.001-08:00

The First drawing of the semester thus far, and quite messy too. I was not too pleased with the drawing, because the lines and proportions got thrown off a couple time, and considering I used pen instead of pencil I had to just work with my mistakes which led to this. In the future I would look into coloring the drawing, because it has a nice cartoon-like feel to it and the colors would really help in defining texture and shade as well.

Leaf Layout

2007-12-10T10:06:00.001-08:00

Other energy sources

2007-12-09T21:07:00.000-08:00

Geothermal Energy- The energy comes from steam, which was around during the early part of the 19th century. The geothermal liquid is injected into an underground chamber where the heat is recycled throughout the house. Since it is underground then the water stays at a constant temperature, so that the house stay the same. Some geothermal plants are around the world and they burn clean and are completely safe for the environment.

Wind power- This energy source is becoming more prominent, because it is completely clean and produces alot of energy. The wind pushes the turbines which in turn causes the electrical generator to produce electricity. This wind mills are usually located in large farm and help power large cities and grids. I feel as if this would be one of the most renewable sources of electricity that we can get. I mean wind, we get that all of the time and it completely recyclable.

HNTB Architecture Site

2007-12-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Website: http://www.hntb.com/

Only one word to describe this site here: plain. When I came to the site I just wanted to automatically click the back button so I could find a better one. Because to be honest here, I didn't have much to say about it, I didn't even know where to start. I guess the navigation of the site was alright, didn't feel special or anything. The tool bar on the side is nice, but they could be more innovative than that. I did like how they had career highlights for young architects though. I mean I guess if I were working for them I would feel somewhat special just being reviewed at the bottom of the page. Its nice to know a company cares for their employees. The site needs more work, I'm sure its not that hard to get innovative with a site considering you might have thousands of designs and concepts to choose from.

Suzane Reatig Architecture

2007-12-09T13:44:00.000-08:00

Website: http://www.reatig.com/projects/metrochurch.html

The site doesn't really appeal to me, but I do like the organization within the site itself. When you first arrive at the site you see a couple pictures and they link you to the design that you are looking for, whether it be worship or townhouse. The feel of the site is not much different than browsing the Internet on Google. There isn't much motivation in the site, and I really hope that doesn't show on the company themselves. I could see alot of potential here and maybe through time they will develop a much better site.

Gensler

2007-12-09T13:37:00.000-08:00

Website: http://www.gensler.com/

I wasn't too surprised by the site at first, but after I clicked on the studio 585 link, I began to see things their way and I was really impressed. The site is designed really well and I do appreciate a site that can be easy to navigate through. Its not too crazy and doesn't require alot of patience to stroll through. So if you have a slow computer then you wold appreciate something like this. The color scheme was red and white which seemed to fit the designs they have. Red is a great color and really penetrates the white. The site has a great look, and I definitely wouldn't do anything to change it. Nice and simple is the way to go here.

Archigram?? What?

2007-12-09T13:32:00.000-08:00

website: http://www.archigram.net/about.html

I may not quite understand the company, but the site isn't anything to look at. I feel like I just jumped back 40 years through time and I'm suddenly inside this cheap diner wearing chuck taylors. I don't know but I like chucks, however in the sense that I feel like I going to be wearing something cheap in architect, I don't like that feeling. The use o f the site is very obvious, ill give that to them. The choice of colors just don't' follow through with their designs, and the descriptions are full of jumbled text, very plain and boring. I think I would fall asleep looking at this page, much less reviewing it. yawn...

Asymptote Design

2007-12-09T13:22:00.000-08:00

website: http://www.asymptote.net/#

By far the best design site that I've seen. I was confused at first about the different views you get of the site but eventually figured it out. The site is like a living organism, these little numbers fly around and the designs pop up from the numbers. I haven't quite figured out why the site is titled Asymptote, but seeing that they derives from many numbers and mathematical equations??? I guess I could see it in there. I love the feeling of just watching the site come up, assuming you have a fast enough computer to watch it pop up and slowly come to terms. I really enjoyed looking through the site. Its really innovative and appealing to the modern world.

Gregg Fleishman

2007-12-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

Gregg Fleishman is all about rejecting the common joinery, which implies nailing two things together, or gluing them together somehow. He instead uses a system of notches that he can easily put his designs together with. For example you can see the playground that he designed for these kids. It looks like a pagoda, hence the name of it, and completely made of wood, and some metal on the slides. This guy is great with wood, and I really enjoy seeing his work, its just something new and innovative, and definitely a unique style that I haven't seen in any other architect.

Famous Architects

2007-12-09T12:20:00.000-08:00

Antonio Gaudi- Possibly one of my favorite architects. He was a very influential figure in the art nouveau style. Most of his works were created within Barcelona, Spain, which is also where he started designing the Sagrada Familia which was never finished during his lifetime. Eventually this was finished by a later architect. I really enjoy the curves within his architecture, it very dreamlike and thought provoking to me. Then the church he designed just blew me away and the fact that he twisted the rules of architecture and still had people accept his style is an accomplishment in itself.

Aldo Rossi- Another architect who loved city planning. He became more famous for his drawings, and theories developed during the 80s than for his architecture. I feel like it is important however to critically analyze architecture and developed theories, but on the other hand I think that theories are only made to be broken. His civic center in Italy was a big accomplishment, but he had to work a transition between the old historic district into the new. This demonstrated his competence in designing larger plans of work, rather than the singular space.

Tadao Ando- After reading about his childhood I really felt a strong connection to this architect. I saw his water temple and then just fell in love with the design concepts he created. As a kid he learned about construction with wood, and then around the age of 15 he was reading alot about the temples and designs he saw, and then began to trace sketches of them. I really appreciate seeing an architect outside of school, I feel like he really had an affinity for it. That is love for architecture if I've ever seen it.

Paolo Soleri- Much more of an urban designer that took a large approach to designing buildings. He proposed alot of city plans that seemed very furniture-like in their organization. I really like the way he thought of things, the way his cities were organized remind me of some sort of dream scape. Very different in the way he approached architecture, but all the same I like how he thinks architecture is more than just a singular building.

Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe- I see him as an architect with the idea of functionality over the actually physical appearance of and object. I really like that about him. In the Tugendhat house their were many open spaces within both the living area and in the kitchen and dining room. This is more reasonable I think in terms of how people like space. Some of his later designs seemed to take on a modern approach, but I can definitely see him as the functional architect that he is.

Gottfried Boehm- He seems to have transversed many different styles over his time. His father was an architect and so are three of his four children. It seems he really has a thing for architecture built in blood. He served in the German army for some time in the 30s and early 40s, after which he went back to school to do architecture at Munich. In the 70s he developed a style similar to architects in the time period, using materials such as galvanized metal. This transition took him away from the old and brought him into modern architecture today.

Frank Owen Gehry- I love the design of the Guggenheim Museum, and his use of metal being woven around the building. I have heard however, much like Frank Lloyd Wright, Gehry did have some structural problems within his buildings. However his designs were unique in that the materials he used were galvanized metal, copper, lead, and cardboard. He had many designs that resembled the snake-like figure, I guess that goes to show he didn't study the snake form all too well if some of his projects are falling apart. Overall a really interesting architect in perspective.

Frank Lloyd Wright- When I think of Frank Lloyd Wright, I think of design as a whole. He was really good at designing his residential houses as a whole, incorporating the chairs and furniture within the space. Everything was custom designed for the house itself. The only downside is that the residence wouldn't use the chairs so he would get really mad at them. He wasn't much a nice guys, and not all of his buildings were very stable.

Some Eco-Friendly Items

2007-12-09T12:02:00.001-08:00

Here is the Cross side table designed by Andre' Joyeu. This table is very unique in its composition which is old white oak. The surface is polished nicely to look very pale and clean, which is what I really enjoy about it. It really reminds me of an ancient sculpture laid in ruin, which gives me the impression that it is a very sustainable design. Not only environment friendly but completely re-usable.

Dirtt walls are the new replacement for dry-wall. They are consisted of separate tiles and can be re-arranged on the wall. This design makes construction alot easier, as well as "de-contruction." Since the environment is effected by demolition of dry-wall buildings, this method makes the process more envirnmentally friendly, which is in turn much more sustainable.

A good example of what recycled glass can be made into. This chandelier is awesome, I am really into the tentacle looking bulbs that protrude from the base. It almost reminds me of a star, because when you look at stars closely they flare up and you see these kinds of shapes. I guess you could say this product looks sustainable as well as being sustainable. Stars have to recycle energy too.

When I first looked at these, I thought, wow what a piece of junk. Then I realized their names were Dust catchers. So I thought about what I would use these unique looking vases for and really nothing came to mind except pots for plants. Not really my kind of thing, however the company runs their furnaces off of wind-powered electricity, and donates about 100 pounds of glass to be recycled every day.

Albert Speer

2007-12-05T00:08:00.000-08:00

Albert Speer was appointed by Hitler himself to be the chief architect of the third Reich. Speer was young at the time and shared a close relationship with Hitler, because he was able to communicate Hitlers ideas, since Hitler wasn't very good at drawing up plans or ideas. Personally, I don't really support what Speer did for Nazi Germany, but his work was very successful. He came up with the ruin theory that stated that ruins were to stay in ruin so that they could show off historical precedence. I agreed with him on that one, because if the Greeks or Romans did not leave ruins behind them, then we wouldn't have much to learn from them afterwards.

Music Albums Connect

2007-12-04T22:23:00.000-08:00

This recent NIN remix album was just released, and I was immediately drawn to the cover of the album. The songs weren't all that amazing, but I was amazed by the artwork shown on the cover. I feel like when I'm browsing around the store and I see a nice cover like this, I will pick it up and hope that the music is Representative of the cover itself. I mean thats the way it should be.

A very morbid album cover, but It is somewhat cool to look at. The picture is really weird, and I wouldn't suggest it to the average alternative kid, but by personal preference I really enjoy it. The little feathers and the slick hair combed over her eye, give a very defiant look, which is very much like the singer on this album. However it has some medieval references with the cloak, and the poetry written on the album really shows in this picture. So once again this album reveals to us the nature of the music.

Very weird indeed, but I loved the text effect that they had. I didn't quite understand the name of the band itself and the music was awkward, but I did see how the music fit the cover of this album. The cartoons that hovered above the text are strange and I don't particularly like them that much. However they do seem to flow with the text nicely which is the only reason I can seem to stand them being there.

A great band, and the color of choice if I were to choose. The music is very repetitive and minimalistic, which goes along with this album cover. There really isn't much which isn't overwhelming to the eye. The colors reinforce the look on the mans face, and his pose shows how the album will feel to the buyer. A great album and a great cover.

This is one of my favorite album covers because it is very clean and organized. I would definitely want to hear the music if I were to see this album in stores. The crossroads are very apparent and come full circle when you listen to the whole album. The colors are very cool and electrical which defines the music as a soothing electronic experience. This is a must have for any fan of electronic music, and the fits the album perfectly, in fact flawlessly.

This is rebellious as it can get to the modern world. This picture shows how peace and prosperity is being destroyed for such monopolization in the economy. I really like the burning peace symbol and the effect it seems to have on the picture. The music is very minimal but draws you in like the burning peace symbol does. The symbol actually draws you into the backing scene, and is very representative of the world we live in today.

I am a fan of the music, but the album cover is just not up to the music standards. The electronics in the music are much more complex than it is shown in this album cover. It seems like they tried to pull off some sort of mathematical look to it with some sort of alien life form. I did enjoy the music, but the album cover needs alot of work if it is to achieve anything close to the effect of the music.

With teeth is an intriguing name to go with for an album. I can't quite figure out why it is named that, but there is a song on the album that is called with teeth. When I saw the nine inch nails logo it looked like a bar code, but when I looked closer the effect seemed to drift away and connected to some organic form. The form itself looks like it might be dripping ink on some transparent board. A really nice touch, but the music has nothing to do with it.

Muse is very overwhelming when it comes to their music, which it good, because when you look at this album cover the man seems to be overwhelmed with some greater thing. I don't know what that thing is, maybe its just a force of nature or something. The hovering silhouette's make me ponder alot of questions regarding the state we live in, and that is what muses music is all about. Absolution, the search for something, for answers.

Unsure of what the cover may be, but I guess thats just part of the greater mystery added to their music. It looks as if there is some sort of switch on the bottom left part of the screen. I feel like I'm looking through a cracked window as well, and maybe a torn up cardboard box in the background. The cover is alright...but I feel lost when I look at it. I mean maybe they just want the buyer to be lost in both their music and their artwork.

Nebula II Chair

2007-12-03T22:31:00.000-08:00

This chair was designed by Greg Fleishman. This Chair is very unique. I like the way he laid out the chair on the sheet it lets the user see the chair from different perspectives. This design is what I would call an Alice in wonderland kind of chair. I feel like if I were tumbling down some rabbit hole I would run into this chair. I really like the chairs design, its really warped and unique in that way.

The Obelisk Chairs

2007-12-03T22:13:00.000-08:00

Stacking chairs that actually create an interesting form. I'm sick of all those stacked chairs that do nothing interesting when they get stacked. This is the perfect solution. I like the look of the chairs and when they get stacked. The designer, Janus Et Cie, did a really good job putting together these chairs. Not only did she think about how the chairs fit into the space, but she thought about how the chairs would fit together inside of the space when your not using them. Thats one way to save space, and make it look good at the same time.

Future Systems Website

2007-12-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

Site: http://www.future-systems.com/

When I first came upon the site I saw a big logo that said "Future Systems." I was excited to enter the site, but then once I got I really was upset with what I saw. There was little effort put into this website. Its very plain and simple, which isn't too bad, but something tells me that the site should have a little more to it to that explains what the companies about by just looking at the design of the site. The company seems to have a lot of well made projects but, they need a lot of work done to their site before further exploration.

Ride in my Vacuum

2007-12-03T21:48:00.000-08:00

Wow. This...appalls me. It makes me want to clean. What is it with items that require work and being able to ride them. Like the lawnmower, you can now ride one, i mean whats next the riding mop? I love the concept of your children helping out in the cleaning. I know for sure that as a kid I would love to ride one of these things, in fact if you just turned it on I would ride it everywhere and the parents wouldn't even have to clean. A great concept, I personally would like to own one, but i don't really have money that I can just blow away right now. Awesome Vacuum, I'm sure kids will love to clean in the future...at least vacuum.

Peter B. Lewis Building

2007-12-03T21:36:00.000-08:00

Designed by Frank Gehry, this space is the interior of the Peter B. Lewis Building. When , I look at this space, I wonder how exactly did they build these form and still have some sort of stability. The place just seems like a walk in wonderland. The walls are very organic in their forms, and look like flowing water. This huge cuved block in the center of this space confuses me, I havent quite figured out its function, but it looks like a space ship. At first when I looked at this space I thought it was really small, but thanks to the table I actually get a good feeling of the shear space inside this building. Quite impressive. I still wonder how does this palce hold itself together?

Orestad Gymnasium, Denmark

2007-12-03T21:18:00.000-08:00

This space is very Representative of the Scandinavian architecture, which the design presides from. Inside the buildings, in the lobby space, there are platforms that hover over the walkways. I really like this touch, its very communal, and I feel like the place has a strong sense of community. The windows have different colors on them and they rotate around during the day to direct the sunlight into the building showing the time. Not only does the sunlight that flows through create time, but the colors change during the season. This internal space is a good example of how architecture, notably the interior space, connects the external world to the internal world.

Micro compact Homes

2007-12-03T21:04:00.000-08:00

A team of researchers from the university at Munich designed this space to help with housing demand and sustainability. The Micro compact Home and around 30,000 euros, and 50,000 American dollars. This house contains everything that is essential for the average human to survive, and its really well constructed and clever. The floor comes up to make a bed, and the shower pops out of the wall and the water drains right below it. The kitchen and everything are all Incorporated into one small space. These homes are very popular in creating communities. There is a recent project that's being worked on which suspends these house above each other into and tree-like form. This design reduces the use of land and all the materials used within the project are completely recyclable making it sustainable. These small homes can be dropped out in the middle of nowhere and with an attached solar panel to the roof you can have power and satellites make it possible for theses houses to communicate to the world from distant locations. A great design, and I feel like we might be seeing this come alive in the future more, heck maybe I'll get one myself, I'm not the kind of guys that needs much room.

Sources: http://www.microcompacthome.com/

The Low Plastic Chair

2007-12-03T20:57:00.000-08:00

This chair was designed by Maarten Van Severen. Their were a couple other color choices which included green, white, and red. The red one was the most appealing to me. I like how they folded the polycarbonate over itself, and then attached the piece to itself with springs. I feel like if I were sitting in this chair then I would have a very soothing experience. The design is real sleek, and modern which is very appealing. Harsh to say though, but there are not many environments currently that I could place this chair into and it would work out well. Maybe in the future when modern design, and sustainability come full circle.

Sonic Chair for the Ipod

2007-12-03T20:26:00.000-08:00

This the ultimate accessory for any musician. I want one no doubt, thought it might cost me a couple hundred dollars. The Sonic chair was designed by Holger Fritzlar, Frank Hussong, Michael Kientzler & Daniela Reuter. The chair has speakers built into it and you can hook your Ipod up to it and just blast music straight through your skull. This definitely a chair for the average college student. I love to blast music and I like to relax too. Sitting down and blasting music inside this egg shaped pod that hovers over ground is just awesome. What else can I say, I bet this chair could take out someones hearing in a few years if the tunes are played right. Crank it up, that's what the chairs made for.

Super baddy, Nike's Got something Dorky for you

2007-12-03T20:14:00.000-08:00

Whoa now kids. This is not the typical sneaker, in fact they match your favorite tools. Elmer's glue with a pair of Airmax sneakers is perfect if you ask me. The composition notebook adds a nice touch to the sneaker. Actually I'm being sarcastic, this is just ridiculously pointless, why would you make shoes to match items that people hardly care for. I really don't like those composition notebooks, because they are so hard to write in. And the glue doesn't stick anything together, and its messy. The last thing I want to do is advertise shoes that advertise glue. What a disgusting proposition. Maybe next Halloween they will have mat board shoes, just to mock me.

Morphosis

2007-12-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

When i first saw this site, I was a bit skeptical, but after exploring it for a while I grew really fond of the web design. It took a while to get use to it, because at first there was a bunch of letters jumbled up and flying around the screen and I got really lost. The graphics are mind blowing. In the upper right hand corner of the page, there are three links which open up a small hub that allows you to see the company working live from three different platforms. Its not much like a video camera, but I think every minute or so the picture is updated. I like that, because the public, or client, can see how well the company works. This is a really good strategy for drawing in clients. Besides there website, I looked around at some of the buildings and spaces that they design, and I was very impressed. One of which that captivated me was the design competition for the capital of Alaska. The building was really amazing, and the renderings were really good as well. Personally I've never seen a better capital, and that in itself makes me want to travel up there to see the design. Overall, This firm really deserves the fame it appears to have. A very well thought out web page and intuitively designed. Although I work out it being a little bit more user friendly, Sometimes I can get lost within the letters.

website: http://www.morphosis.net/

Scale Model Orthographic and Site

2007-12-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Design Research Zine

2007-12-01T15:35:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving Drawfest

2007-11-20T12:46:00.000-08:00

This here is a composition of Drawing styles and techniques that I have learned over the course of the year. In class we had a model pose for us, and we had an hour to create thumbnail compositions and then create a final composition that we would incorporate 4 different techniques. The techniques that i put together were Shading, contour, blind contour, and gestural. I was fairly surprised by the work that i did here, and I felt pretty good about it. My shading drawing was very good, considering I have alot of trouble with the human face and attributing it to the person I'm drawing. Overall I feel pretty successful about the composition.

More Shading

2007-11-19T22:43:00.000-08:00

These are a couple sketches that I did in my drawing class last week. Two of them are building by le corbusier, and then there are two drawings of people with cubes surrounding them. I actually did a good job with drawing people this time around, expecially in a short amount of time. Althought the other two drawings could use work and I feel like would have been better if I had seen them in real life.

I tried to get detail and texture in Zachs back, but only got the outlines and a little shading for the color since he was wearing a dark shirt.
I did really well on the perspective, but then the shading ended up weird and I wish I would have gone over it with a darker pencil lead, hopefully that would add contrast.

Prototype Zine for Time Capsule

2007-11-19T21:49:00.001-08:00

The Prototype Zine layout for my Time Capsule.

Time Capsule Iterations

2007-11-12T21:28:00.000-08:00

These are two iteration of the time capsule project that I drew for my studio drawing class. The top one is the iteration that I felt most strongly about, and the second one was mostly an experiment with forms and space. I had alot of dificulty drawing the first iteration and then the shading was alot harder as well with it. The second iteration was moreover a science project and brought some laughs I saw, but I still kept my cool, because I felt like I could bring in some kind of science into this project. Everything worked well but I was unaware that the main concept now was community and so that project failed at satisfying the communal aspects of the time capsule. Still the presentation was awesome.

Shadow Cubes

2007-11-08T00:13:00.001-08:00

In class we worked on more shading and stacked up our cubes that we made to practice the shading. I had a lot of trouble with the contours at first but I realized that it was much easier to just draw them out lightly and then darken over the more confident lines. After the contour was done I would shade in the cubes and then other remaining factors, such as people or notebooks, I would just gesture draw and try to shade a little bit.

Sketch in pen.

I saw shadows inside of shadow....if that makes any sense. Some of the light was conflicting and causing shadows to lay over each other at different tones. This was particularly hard and in the drawing above I made an attempt to replicate these shadows over each other.

Still Life

2007-11-05T23:02:00.001-08:00

Here I selected a couple of my favorite drawings from the exercises 2.4-2.12. The first one was cool, because it was an interesting gaget and I felt compelled to put a pen in one of the clamps.

This Drawing was of Ashley Blackburn's mirror. This was meant to show texture, but the thing was really fluffy and all over the place I tried a more gestural approach to it, and then tried to refine it.

3D Shading Exercises

2007-11-05T22:57:00.001-08:00

FRCH, Design Worldwide

2007-10-29T20:31:00.000-07:00

http://www.frch.com/flash.htm

At first look I was impressed and The graphics were pretty intense, and had small rectangles pop up and create this site layout. The graphics are amazing, whenever I roll over some text or links the letters and numbers move. I really feel like I could interact with any part of this site. I looked around some and came across a video...yeah right. Seriously I came across a video and it was awesome, I watched it and then I realized right there, they just won me over. I saw there culture and style of work the friendly enviroments they work in. It was all amazing. The video included a step by step contour sketch that slowly evolved into real life. I was just jaw dropped by the creativity displayed in this site. Everything really is just wonderfully done and I can look through the site easily and in short phrases the company tells you what there all about without you having to sit around and ponder the meaning of it. Simple, complex, interactive, and creative. I love the site, I love the company.

Shading with Application

2007-10-24T23:16:00.001-07:00

I did a couple sketches using different shading techniques. The two techniques that I used were Crosshatching, and smudging. I did however incorporate a little of both in my sketches. I ended up having a good time with these drawings because I felt like they were actually coming out to look like something. My favorite is the keys, and I actually did them on a page that was stained with markers from the previous page and it added a neat abstract effect to the whole composition. At the bottom I added on to a drawing that I was working on in the past and used a couple different shading techniques to make it have a little more substance rather than just being a plain contour. Its a very interesting drawing....

Gesture Drawings

2007-10-24T23:01:00.001-07:00

Here I've posted a couple Gestural drawings that I did the other day. I tried to practice the quick strokes and worry more about getting the gesture of the person. I did the same person with two different mediums to see if it made a difference, and I ended up liking the way my charcoal gestures started to look in contrast to the ink drawing below. I've done many other drawings and will eventually post them up as soon as I get the time to scan them through the school. I think with more practice I can start to refine my quickness and precision with these gesture drawings.

Pumpkin Portrait

2007-10-20T19:19:00.000-07:00

I never thought that I would see the day when I start nailing metal plates to a n organic figure. At first I thought about carving individual pictures into the pumpkin, but then I realized the night of, that I didn't have enough time, or even the right tools to accomplish a task such as that. Instead I salvaged a few metal parts and tried to figure out with I could do with them. I turned the pumpkin over so that the top became one of the sides and it started to look like a face. Then I came up with the strange idea that nailing metal on the pumpkin would be a very interesting response to this project. So i figured I would stir up some confusion and go on and do it. The metal plates themselves signify a kind of solid foundation around this soft organic core. Its like bicentennial man with him being a robot on the outside but becoming human on the inside. I then sketched out different parts of my face and pinned them to the pumpkin which added to the fun. I thought maybe it would be cool that you could interact with the project like that of Mr. Potato head. At the end of it all I look back at it and think "what exactly was going on in my head when I did this, what was I thinking? I don't know but in comparison to all the other monoliths that were created I think this one suits me. Somehow stinking out like a sore thumb feels better than standing tall with the rest. I suppose that helps with its recognition.

Little

2007-10-19T19:58:00.000-07:00

As I was walking through Durhams new park downtown, I looked into the window of one of the buildings and saw a big sign that said Little on it and it was glowing red. I looked them up online and came across the Design firm, and they work in many different fields and collaborate across various projects which I thought was pretty cool. The design site is really easy to navigate and I have no trouble getting around. If I wanted to see what kind of projects they've been working on I just click on either community, retail, or workplace to view the different projects or spaces they've been working on. The site is very pleasing to look at and is not an eye sore. When you enter the site theres a small introduction which forms the site in front of your eyes, pretty neat graphics. On the home page there is usually 4 links that change the photo in the background of the home page. This photos are shots of new projects they've been workingon and it helps to see that the company is very active and growing in size. Overall there really isn't too much to say about the site besides its simplicty and its user friendly. I really liked it alot and I'm excited to see that there is a local firm that does alot of really awesome things.

http://www.littleonline.com/

Labyrinth/Vanishing point/Illusions

2007-10-17T19:55:00.001-07:00

I was sitting around in my friends house over fall break and drew this while I was there. Its really not an intentional drawing, only something that slipped out of my pen once I put it to the page. After drawing this for a while I found out how to draw illusions, and you can kind of see them in the top part of the drawing, where the circles are hard to look at closely and follow because they have no defined shape. These illusions really actually remind me of a labyrinth or a maze. I also tried to work on a 3 dimensional vanishing point that went straight through the body, and it looked really neat. I also put some text on the left side to see if I could draw the text as it would be seen in the distance, or going towards the vanishing point.

Metamorphosis

2007-10-12T01:05:00.000-07:00

Middle Mix:

Ashley's Mix:

Ben's Mix:

I wasn't too sure on how to approach this project once it was given to us. It actually took about a day for it to start to fall through, and after a couple sketches I started to see a point to come across. My two projects that I choose was Ben Collins egg project, and Ashley Blackburn's memory project. I really did like the shape that Ben took on the egg project and the use of tabs layed into that was really interesting. I tried to Incorporate a couple things from his project that included: the shape, color, directed light from the top, and the centralization. Upon coming to Ashley's memory I was stumped, but once I sketched out a few designs and played with some new materials, such as foam board and wood, I started to see a good middle mix come through.

The next day we received a new assignment, which was to find the mixes between the middle mix and the two projects. So this meant that I had to build two more iterations for Friday. The first iteration that I worked on was that of Ashley's and one of my classmates brought back some materials from work and suddenly I had an idea. She brought back a flat piece of Styrofoam with holes in it. I ended up cutting these round pieces of wood into foot long pieces much like the length of the first middle mix. I took these pieces of wood and I weaved them through the foam, and it cause a really cool wavey pattern than kept true to Ben's curves in his project yet the straightness as well. I added a lot of color and texture to the project that Ashley used in hers and this led to an interesting finger painting experience.

After completing her portion of the project, or metamorphosis, I began to brainstorm on Ben's project. I looked at his closely and talked to him about it and His project was very simple. So I wanted to incorporate and very simple look to his yet keep true somewhat to the craziness of Ashley's memory. So I talked to Ben about how he used tabs on his egg project. From there I duplicated his technique and then used colorful rubber bands that portrayed the colorfulness of Ashley's Project. Some of the colors she used as I remember were pink, light blue, green, purple, and light yellow. I found the tabs very hard to measure out and even harder to put together as I needed some help. Once the tabs were in place there was really no need of glue or any other adhesive, which was really nice and made my life a lot easier.

Mesopotamia

2007-10-09T10:20:00.001-07:00

This project was particularly difficult for me to complete. I pretty much spent the night in the studio the day before to complete this. I do have to say that it was my fault for starting on such a late notice. I never expected it to take me this long to complete it, and even though it is complete I feel like there is alot of work to be done here.

In the process of searching for my pictures I looked through some various magazines, including Architecture Digest, Dwell, and wallpaper as well. A couple of the photos are uploaded from online because I had run into them in another class and really wanted to talk about them. One of those in particular is the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona.

This was a really nice house, and I wanted to show more views of it so I ended up taking up the whole two pages for it. I actually did that for alot of the buildings that I choose because there was so much to see in them that one picture wouldn't be enough. In doing more pictures I ran into another problem, which was the 3 page limit. I thought about it some, and I really wanted to include the extra photos so I felt compelled to break the rules and use 4 sheets of paper instead of 3.

Overall I did learn alot about magazine layouts and I feel in the future If i ever had to do another one, I will be more knowledgeable in the process, which would include better time management, and quality of craft. I also think it would have been helpful if we reviewed some computer tools, such as illustrator that would have greatly helped with this project.

Sasaki Associates, Inc.

2007-10-04T20:10:00.000-07:00

http://www.sasaki.com/

Wow, this company is really overwhelming. I looked under there portfolio, and noticed that they have hundereds of pages worth of projects that they have created. I'm really impressed by it, however the site feels a little sloppy. I feel like they need more pictures or somthing, because when I come to there home page I see grey and small white text which bothers me, and I think how hard it might be to read for someone looking to work with them. I think nice big text and more stand out colors and pictures would make me feel like I've jumped into their world and I can get a nice feel for their work. The site is very professional and I guess I'm a little bias because I prefer the more interactive sites that have alot of graphic and really feels interactive, compared to the boring plain layout sites that are completly straight-forward. I can see that the company does alot of good work but I feel like their site could use alot of improvment.

IARC Zine Bunny

2007-10-03T22:23:00.000-07:00

This is suppose to exemplify first year studio. In this case I'm showing how hard work can be, but at the same time you can get a lot from it.

Shatter Cube

2007-10-02T13:48:00.001-07:00

This was a really exciting project and I had so many different memories and ideas that it felt so cluttered at first. I had gone through a couple memories from the past two years of my life and came upon one that was more recent and inspired by a friend of mine. Last year I encountered many obstacles and changes in my life. It was exciting but scary and confusing at the same time. I had a big course load both semesters and eventually pulled through on the deans list for the year. My parents were really happy for me and it was a great change considering that I struggled through high school somewhat.

On my first iteration I was just playing around with materials and originally was going to just paint a cube. While I was working on the cube I noticed Philips technique in scoring the mat board and using it as a way of contrasting the colors and bringing out forms. A light bulb went up and right then I knew what to do, and so I made the cube and scored on the lines to create a nice 3d color contrast.

This next iteration was a big change from the first one. I guess I was thinking more with texture rather than color. I mean it wouldn't hurt to go somewhere else with this project. So instead of scoring the lines I ended up pealing off the squares and it created this dark rough texture that I really saw going somewhere. The color was black to show how absorbing the feeling was, because I did absorb a lot of knowledge from last year in many different fields of study before I finally decided on this program in interior architecture. The resin mold ended up being extra junk so I decided to through that out, I think Tommy agreed with me on that one...well moreover he was the influential figure in this discussion.

This was my final project the black shatter cube. It really feel defiant in a lot of ways, considering a cube is missing and the black is still the absorbing color it was before. Now that I look back on this project in comparison to the metamorphosis I see how this developed in that way. The 3d scoring technique came from the first iteration and I combined that with the color from the second iteration and I got this. Well with a few added feature such as an increase in size and the missing cube really helped too with the development of this memory.

The Shadow Face

2007-09-24T21:44:00.001-07:00

This is me. In the dark.

Front Face Sketchs

2007-09-23T22:02:00.000-07:00

I was just working on some front face drawings, and this was one of the better ones that I had drawn. I sat with Shannon for a while trying to figure out what was wrong and we adjusted a few things and messed around until I finally got something to look right.

Its Satan. Just a thought...really guys...its just a thought.

Pandora's Box

2007-09-20T20:50:00.001-07:00

This box was actually had an interesting process behind it. I started out researching some box online and came across a few designs, one stretched out and locked into place, and then I came across this idea. At first I sketched it out and strangely enough the sketch was very acurate. I added dimensions to the sketch and it ended up becoming a layout for the design process, which made things much easier in constructing the box.

This first iteration of the box was very sloppy, but it was very functional. I was pleased with it, although I needed a new approach to building it. Here I cut out each individual peice and glued them together. This was not only time consuming but sloppy.

This is another picture of the sloppiness of the first project. As you can see the glue is very clearly seen.

This second iteration was much better, and I tried a new technique by scoring the sides and then bending them inward. It was much faster and much easier to build this time. The only problem I ran into was the top which I was going to put a slide peice in but then it looked tacked on and very un-atractive.

This final iteration of the box project was very easy and simple to construct. I had layed out everything on my mat board, and then just cut out two large peices. I scored them together and used rubber cement to glue them temporarily. Afterwards I used hot glue on a couple sides to help make the structure more permentant. Then I scratched away the rubber cement and It looked much cleaner. After talking to Tommy about what else I should do, he suggested that I leave it the way it is. I wanted to paint it, but he said I shouldnt have because the blue on the white was a very unique contrast.

Another shot of the finally iteration.

Portfolio Sketches

2007-09-17T11:33:00.000-07:00

Here I've posted some recent sketches of a couple classmates, that I didn't sketch in class before. The first one (above) was an improvement on the one I did in class, because I knew where to start and what details were important to add in.
This second was another improvement on that one, because I drew it much larger and It gave me more room to add in smaller details and other improvements.

Keys in Contour/Blind contour/Negative space

2007-09-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

Here I've posted a warm-up assignment that we did in class. The task was to draw our keys using all the different techniques that we've been practicing in class. So here is the final product of those, I thought it turned out nicely, and with more time could have had a lot of potential.

Human space drawings

2007-09-13T10:25:00.001-07:00

I really had a hard time finding a good spot to draw people at, so I went to the library to draw people on the computers. Though the people did stay still for a bit, they always moved around and walked about, or even just left. This really made some of the drawings quite hard to do because I cant always picture what the person looked like in their past pose.
On this drawing I concentrated on getting both the peoples general position with the computer right. The space was hard to draw, but drawing in pen made things more fun because I had to commit to the drawing and go with it.

The wheelchair was another tough one...well none of these were actually easy. But this one was tough because the wheel chair was at an awkward angle and there were also alot of people in this drawing shifting around so it was a really difficult drawing. Though I tried to concentrate on the people more I ended up screwing up that and the space they were rendered in.
This last drawing (not that they are in any particular order) was drawn on the first floor of the library, in a large room on the left where a bunch of people were studying and messing around on the computers. I was a bit disappointed in this drawing mainly because I had messed up numerous times on the girl to the left and ended up having a nest of lines in there that I couldn't get rid of. I guess a lesson learned here would be to sketch over in pencil and then draw in the confident lines with pen.

Humans Where? How?

2007-09-11T19:37:00.001-07:00

This was was really difficult for me to draw. I never draw people, in fact I'm much more of an abstract kind of artist (if you want to call me that..even) than a realist. It was surprising how the sketch turned out though. I really tried hard to concentrate on the contour and relative position of them before I dived in and drew the facial expressions and small details. Another impact on the drawing was that the people in the sketch are moving around, so its hard to capture a still shot of them and draw it. I did appreciate the final look of it, even though it is rather incomplete. In the next few days though I will be sketching more on this topic, and I look forward to seeing how they turn out.

Downtown Contours

2007-09-11T19:27:00.001-07:00

This downtown drawing was of the BB&T bank that cross market street in downtown Greensboro. This one was the favorite of the four drawings, I guess the perspective I was drawing at was unique in that it bends in both directions almost like the building is being smashed between a valley.

This is the second drawing and was sketched just on a bench down spring garden.

This drawing was hard for me because I messed up the angle of perspective and drew the vanishing point straight up which cause the sketch to bend upward hard.

The Egg Project

2007-09-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

Where to begin? Well it was 3:30 in the morning the day before a previous critique, and I had a bunch of projects that really just didn't fall through right. A couple of them were thrown together without a plan, which was a big mistake first of all. I was getting ready to leave the studio and just hope for the best results the next day, and then it struck me...I was actually feeling my earing at the time and it inspired me to build this shape of course originally it didn't have the entwined circles, BUT it soon developed into that. What I was originally going for was a shell shaped structure that would cradle the egg but I had trouble making that one because the paper molding technique wasn't very efficient. This Idea, being spontaneous and all, was fun to construct and I felt like I had a lot of options to work with. The overall meaning of the structure holding the egg was symmetry and centralization. The sphere is meant to portray the curves of the egg (which is perfectly symmetrical, horizontally and vertically) and celebrate the egg by putting it in the center of a seemingly god-like structure that put the egg in a suspended position to be viewed at all sides and was untouched and protected by these entwined circles that I perceived as representing the balance of life and death. Even if one thing dies another will be born in its place and that cycle continues to infinite. (note: the curves don't stop at any point, although one circle is cut to show how the circles don't touch, which is symbolic of birth being a non-physical connection to death)

After the first critique I had learned that the project had no need of a base, but it didn't take me long to realize the solution to this problem. I designed it so that it would lay on its side...besides what really is up and down on a spherical egg? So here it is I've snapped a couple angles of the egg to show on here.

This was a shot from the top of the egg and I liked to way the light on each side cast two shadows, it was a pretty neat effect.

This is another shot taken of the egg place on the other side so that you can see how the two circles don"t actually touch each other.

This is a shot from the back, as you can see I used a lollipop stick to suspend the egg in the center of the sphere-like structure.

Negative Space Bicycle

2007-09-10T17:49:00.001-07:00

This is a sketch that I made in class of a bicycle laying upside down on the bench in the lobby of the studio arts building. At first I was a little unsure of where to start on the sketch and as you can see I used pen so that it would display a sense of permanence to this drawing. So i started on the front tire of the bike (on the left side) and worked my way around the tire and down the frame of the bicycle. I was actually very pleased with the end result of this drawing. I feel like this may be a big improvement from my last negative space sketches.

The New Science Building

2007-09-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

These drawings here are meant to show the contour lines of the new science building, and of course its surrounding area. Each of these pictures, notably the second attempt at drawing the building give a sense of layering to them. The trees were a big help in drawing the layers because they helped me see the picture more clearly and focus more on what I actually SAW in comparison to what I knew was there. Above is the first drawing that I made of the building, and as you can see here I had a little trouble including depth into my sketch, some of the clues would be the height of the light pole, and angle of the roof's slope.

El Carreton

2007-09-05T19:24:00.000-07:00

This was a contour drawing of the stairway that leads up to El Carreton. This was a dificult sketch and took me a couple tries as you can see...I overshot the circle the first time soo I had to scale it down to fit the page.

Cityscape

2007-09-03T18:56:00.001-07:00

This Sketch was fun to do, even though there wasn't much time to complete it. The task given to me in this drawing was to draw the cityscape as I saw it in front of me. The hard part was of course getting comfortable so that I wouldn't move around and have to adjust to draw at different angles. The Look to this picture seems cartoon-like. I didn't want to impose on my lack of skill in drawing, but it really has a nice touch to it. Hopefully one day I'll have enough time to color it in or something.

The Architect/ The Musician/ The Friend/ Ben

AutoCAD at Guilford Tech

CAD drawings for Hipster Haven

AGi32 Analysis and Lighting Application at My sister house -Kitchen

The Chair that started it all...

Salvation Army Tables

sketch series 3

sketch series 2

sketch series 1

lighting experience: critique space

M.A.C.C- Matter, Art, Creation, Convergence

3dps MAX...*grumble*...renderings

Podium Renderings

Messing with sketch up renderings

Dining Space Animation

Dining Space in Sketch-up

Magnetic Resonance

Bathing: Sequence and Therapy

a place to [dine]

TWA Pattern

CAD and the Future it Beholds

Design Timeline

S.O.C - Shelter l Bus

Node and Landmark

Community Outreach

Sustainablity through Space

Unknown Separation

Uhm...first week of class

Uhm...first week of 2nd year

Uhm...first week of 2nd year

Pathways and Nodes

I made a Mess of Things...Elsewhere

Sketch-Up tryout

Sleeping Quarters

Foust Presentation Board

Doors/Windows, Drawing

Fisher house from Ching Book

Pen and Ink Styles

Thumbnail Sketch of The Foust building

Up Close and Personal

Pats Chair

Worksheet Exercise

Hatching with Ruler

What a Messy Mess

Leaf Layout

Other energy sources

HNTB Architecture Site

Suzane Reatig Architecture

Gensler

Archigram?? What?

Asymptote Design

Gregg Fleishman

Famous Architects

Some Eco-Friendly Items

Albert Speer

Music Albums Connect

Nebula II Chair

The Obelisk Chairs

Future Systems Website

Ride in my Vacuum

Peter B. Lewis Building

Orestad Gymnasium, Denmark

Micro compact Homes

The Low Plastic Chair

Sonic Chair for the Ipod

Super baddy, Nike's Got something Dorky for you

Morphosis

Scale Model Orthographic and Site

Design Research Zine

Thanksgiving Drawfest

More Shading

Prototype Zine for Time Capsule

Time Capsule Iterations

Shadow Cubes

Still Life

3D Shading Exercises

FRCH, Design Worldwide

Shading with Application

Gesture Drawings

Pumpkin Portrait

3dps MAX...grumble...renderings