Fin.

Alas, the time capsule project has come to a close. It has been a challenging, yet rewarding experience, from which I have gained priceless information about design process. This project, which began at the halfway point of our first semester, required us to explore the challenges of group work, rendering, and even the relationship of materials to construction. With such a large project, we were forced to buckle down and organize our process through Partis, sketch models, scale models, detail models, and finally a full scale model. Never have I found myself so frustrated, but there too I have never felt so accomplished. Each and every student found themselves exceeding what they once believed to be their limits, allowing each of us the opportunity to learn more about our abilities as designers. The final design of my time capsule was to be made of 24 gauge galvanized steel boxes to mimic the exposed duct work of the design studio. It was to include 16 boxes, each of which contained 3 compartments to hold sketches of each student. It was to be located in the lobby of the Studio Arts building, allowing the exposed ducts, signature to the IARC studio, to filter down into other parts of the building. The idea was that the structure would appear to have a domino affect, symbolic of our dependence on collaboration within our first year studio. Though my time capsule offered a plethora of hardships, I am quite pleased with the final product and truly appreciate everything it has taught me.

Expert Review

Campion Platt
This designer's use of organic shapes and clean lines create comfortable, refreshing spaces. He uses texture and materials to add to small spaces, making his designs personal, yet easy to relate to. Lighting in the spaces is well incorporated into the designs, making for fantastic contrast within th space. Storage and practicality make his spaces incredible sensible.

Dean Marchetto
The modern lines and shapes of this green designer's spaces are intense, but easy to relax into. Although contemporary, his designs achieve a level of comfort that invites visitors to explore the artistic characteristics of his homes.

Stephen Knollenberg
Beautiful designs. His intelligent blend of clean lines with traditional concepts forms a comfortable, aesthetically pleasing space. His use of unconventional contrast in spaces is stunning, but used carefully to prevent it from becoming overwhelming.

Jaques Grange
I would best describe spaces designed by Jaques Grange as tasteful eclectic. He does a great job of carefully blending international flavors and textures to produce a warm,worldly feel.

David Harvey
This designer has excellent concepts, but uses materials that are too strong from the spaces. They become overbearing and uncomfortable. I love his use of color and art in his rooms.

Professional Pros and Cons

Hiller Architectural Firm- I was blown away by the quality of this website’s design. It was certainly an inspiring, entertaining experience. The site was extremely user friendly, even fun to navigate. The designer utilized white space and color, which allows the eye to travel smoothly across the pages.

Ewing Cole- This site has a very clear layout and excellent use of pattern and color. This site was also very entertaining and immediately grabbed my attention. A changing series of pictures keeps the main page fresh and exciting, while the remainder of the site is straightforward and pleasurable to explore.

Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill LLP- This website features amazing designs which are well presented through a clear, concise layout. The information on the site is comfortably divided into list-like sections following a series of balanced datums.

Opus Group- This was an extremely uncomfortable experience. The small font was accompanied by fast moving photo slides, which made it very difficult to find the focus of the site. The cold blue color scheme boasted little emphasis of any one section the page, forcing it to feel unbalanced and uneasy.

LS3P- This site features a beautiful intro page, but is unclear as to how to actually enter the site. Once past the small text “enter LS3P,” the site is rather cold and corporate. Even so, the site had a tremendously successful layout with interesting lines. The pictures and text were apparent, but somewhat washed out- a negative stylistic choice, in my opinion.

Karlsberger- I was quite impressed with the layout of this site, as it was clear and concise. The pages included text, small pictures, and a large picture, as well as navigation info at to top. Considering the amount of information on each page, they chose successful layouts. The site may have been more successful with less information on each page.

Pei Cobb Freed & Partners Architects LLP- This is a very successful, professional firm, so I would be fitting that such qualities be brought into their website design. As a whole, the site utilizes a very plain font and weak colors. I find that the site speaks poorly of the firm.

Gensler- This website caught my attention immediately. Their use of clear datums ensured clear organization, making it easy to follow. The images on the first page included a largely white room, which was then carried into the text. This flow served to direct the eye across the page. Because the contents of this site was grouped into lists along the side, the website was very pleasant to read.

Perkins + Will- The alternating images and clear labels on this website were incredibly fascinating. The four focuses of the website- Vision, Expertise, Design Solutions, Sustainability immediately show the viewer how to navigate the website.

Callison- Although I really appreciated the designs pictured on their website, Callison immediately struck me as cold and corporate. Because of the cold colors and commercial appearance, I felt very detached from the designs and could not relate to the firm. Despite their stunning designs, I found myself at a loss of interest.

Global Revolution

Diagnostic and Treatment Center, Daimiel, Ciudad Real
Considering the purpose of this building, I feel that it is unbearable cold and industrial. In appearance it is uncomfortable, which seems perhaps unnecessary if not overwhelming for a Diagnostic and Treatment Center. Purpose aside, this building is very abstract is successful in its interesting use of materials.

Filter Perk Parking Garage, Chicago
This parking garage is transparent, designed to span the entirety of the Kennedy expressway. This seems like a brilliant way to eliminate the problem of concrete parking decks, but I am curious to learn what material they could construct such a structure from. The deck itself will have a “filtering” urban garden, but it would be interesting to see if they could use a sustainable material for the massive structure. The use of color could also bring life to this interesting structure.

Architectural Review, 12/07

Leaps and Bounds

Architects and critics such as Chuck Hoberman and Martin Pawley have envisioned a new strain of sustainable buildings. Hoberman has developed a new technology that will allow construction cubes made operable anodized-aluminum extrusions with the ability to expand in a gridded structure. These will allow limited air and sunlight to enter the cubes, but can be retracted to open the space up to light and air.

Similar to the lenses of sunglasses, Laboratories across the country are in the process of developing photochromic windows to increase energy efficiency of buildings. These windows are constructed of “Smart Glass,” which utilizes light and heat sensitive thermochromic glazing to eliminate the need for electricity. Additional research involving mirrors could improve energy performance to the point of reflecting both visible and infared light.

Architectural Review, Dec 2007

Cultural Identity

Archithese (German): After reviewing several editions of this journal, I was very impressed with the apparent flexibility within the solid identity of German design. Clean lines and thoughtful lighting and materials enable German architecture to cross from industrial to beautiful. Steel, glass, and concrete are paired with intense hues to produce a hypnotizing rhythm, intelligently used to unite a space. The industrial feel behind German design is a clear reflection of their history, reminiscent of their not so distant industrial era. The design portrayed in these Archithese journals is enticing, leaving me with a desire to learn more.

Abitare (Italian): Thus far, I have learned little about the existence of cultural identity within design, but I felt a strong presence as I opened the pages of Abitare. Unlike german design, Italian designers seem to play off of color and texture more than materials. Here, too, I saw clean lines and the use of steel and concrete, but the industrial feel was overwhelmed by the contemporary design of the space. For example, a solid white room with stainless steel accents was drawn into the realm of contemporary with its use of playful shadows and faint imprints of trees in the white walls. Although I never felt cozy, I certainly felt artistically inspired.

Graphis (Swiss): Perhaps the best way to describe the design I experienced in the Swiss joural, Graphis, is contemporary artistic. I saw the industrial materials and definite lines, characteristic of German design, but there was a very artistic feeling clinging to such design. Detached from the design itself was a heavy layer of modern art, which, in correlation with industrial design, submits the designs into into powerful, sophisticated works of art. Because of this, I felt that they were pleasing to the eye but held little hope of usability.

Leaf Me Alone!

For our Design Visualization exam we were instructed to find a leaf and draw it nine different ways on a 17x 17 square. This was my first experience drawing leaves, so I learned a great deal about the shape and structure of such organic forms.

Orthographic Exploration

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