Cassiopeia

The name tag for the Cassiopeia discussion group made in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. A bunch of faces in space!

Alexander Remizov's The Ark

Several weeks ago, I came upon an article labeled "The 'Ark' Eco Building of the Future" and my curiousity was piqued.  According to this article, Russion architect Alexander Remizov has envisioned an eco-friendly dome that can house 10,000 people and withstand environmental disasters of biblical proportion.  Not only can it house so many people and withstand natural disasters but it can be built on land or water.  Possibly inspired by an old toy, the Slinky - it is amazing to see what our creative minds can come up with.  If building this dome - that can house that many people andwithstand natural disasters - is possible, what is holding us back from imagining other great things?  We might imagine or create something that might not be possible to build now, but with the knowledge that technology continues to improve - nothing is impossible!

The Ark on land





 

The Ark on water

Energy diagram of the Ark on water

Here are a couple of links about Alexander Remizov and his Ark:

The 'Ark' Eco Building of the Future
Green 'Ark' could house 10,000 -- and looks like a Slinky!
Russian architect Alexander Remizov : "The Ark" could have 10, 000 people

Pegasus

Hey all,
I wanted to share with you all my group Pegasus composition. It was created on Adobe Illustrator. Maybe you all could do something as simple as this for a reading response?
-Jenni

Stacks, Groups, and Circles

Hi all, your friendly TA Justin here wanting to share with you some of the work I did in History and Theory of Design I and how it may relate to the ideas you all are learning about Circles, Groups and Stacks.

The first thing I would like to bring to your attention is the many different levels of scale layering or stacking can occur at. If you look at the superimposed papyrus column it has several tiny layers of ornamentation placed in a hierarchy of forms across the capital. Yet if you change your focus to the black and white column you also perceive a sense of stacking from the base to the shaft and finally to the capital but you can also count the ornamental bands as a form of sub layering as well as the capital ornamentation stated above.

In the section cut of the hypostyle hall you get a greater perception of the larger context and you can clearly see there is clustering or grouping of columns. Yet again there is a difference in scale between the larger papyrus columns down the center and the lotus columns flanking them on the sides. This cluster of central columns obviously marks the main entrance and progression of movement.

While there is no clearly defined dome in this space, it is not a stretch to consider the columns as a cluster of circles. Perhaps the fewer, monumental papyrus columns contrasted with the majority of smaller lotus columns represent a stratification in society, the majority ruled by the few. Wouldn't this be an ironic twist in our understanding as circles inherently representing uniformity and equality?

temples + sacrifice

we continued our exploration of ancient greece and the buildings and objects that come to us time and again as people continue to use these as a model for buildings today, considering george hersey's postulation that greek temples, ultimately, represent sacrifice. read more about hersey's book here. and here's a great review on the PILASTERED blog....and one more that links hersey's work to daniel rykwert's THE DANCING COLUMN.
here's a sketch from my greece/italy travel journal that i made in 2006 when wandering around europe with 29 students and another faculty member that year.

Response to the Powers of 10 Video

Making pieces of the Powers of Ten and showing how it relates to the area and atmosphere we live in.

In thinking of a response to the Eames Powers of Ten, we began to think of the pieces that make up the video. It was little things added together that makes this video so powerful and moving. To show this importance we decided to draw the pieces of the Powers of Ten and show the complete drawing in whole and how it becomes something powerful and visual once all the pieces come together. We also … read morewanted to show how going out of the "powers" of the location effects this picture and its importance. This drawing of the Powers of Ten relates to its location because it is in our design studio and we often relate with our classmates how "powers" and scale matters in architecture, materials, space, and practically everything. This drawing is important to our school (University of North Carolina at Greensboro) because our studio and Interior Architecture major is a part of this school. Therefore, the work we do and others works we relate to matters in making the University what it is. But, the farther we move away from the location of this drawing the importance of it to others becomes less. We hope though that by making this video we will inform others that in fact the powers of things, like the Powers of Ten video, is important in understanding the world and atmosphere we live in.

blog post for monday, january 31, 2011

following the in-class exercise to compare the acropolis with the xianyang palace, take the collective ten ideas generated (space, power, experience, principles, precedent, site, order, scale, technology, surface) and apply them to the uncg campus. this post should contain at least one photograph, at least one diagram, and writing to support your thinking. label each idea by category and HYPOTHESIZE how each of these has been expressed in material form.

Queen Anne Table

I thought this would be interesting. My father found this table in Pennsylvania.



Queen Anne Tea Table:  1740 - 1750

http://robertpearlantiques.com/



Queen Anne Tea Table:  1740 - 1750

The curve in the cabriole legs derives its elegant characteristics from Chinese influence. The term cabriole comes from the French word cabrioler, which means “to cavort, or leap excitedly”. The slender elegance of the leg resembles a goat leg. Thus the term cavort usually means to dance around like a goat. The table top is lifted high above the ground displaying the curves and defining an interesting aedicule below the top. There is a slide top located underneath the table top that provides more surface space when needed.




http://robertpearlantiques.com/







Compare the corner of the leg with that of the French and English below.
http://robertpearlantiques.com/

 

  This style table was the North American version of the French Rococo Louis XV furniture. The Queen Anne furniture is the English derivative of Louis XV. The English took the extravagant French Rococo with its floral influence and simplified it. This style was carried over to the American port cities. In this case the Tea Table is thought to be from Charleston South Carolina. We think this because of the abundant use of Mahogany. This wood originates in Honduras and is extremely expensive. Charleston would have been the chief southern state import city for the wood. The abundance of Mahogany within the Charleston region would lower the cost of the wood allowing cabinet makers to use it for the primary and secondary parts of furniture. Inland from the coast the chief secondary wood for the southern states would have been yellow pine. Here Mahogany would have been more expensive. The primary and secondary wood on the Tea Table is composed of Mahogany.



French Louis XV Table - 1780

http://gofrenchantiques.com/item/18th-century-louis-xv-game-table/

English Queen Anne Table - 1780
http://archives.furniture.oneofakindantiques.com/112_period_english_queen_anne_mahogany_lowboy_1.htm

blog post for monday, 24 january 2011

report one image each for a circle, a grove, and a mountain (at least one must be a drawing for all majors, encouraged for non-majors); write about the use of the environment as a concretization of ritual and how an environment impacts ritual.

the chair blog as resource

TWIST CHAIR [jonas lyndby jensen]
http://www.seatingzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/twist_chair1.jpg

i want to be sure to draw your attention to the chair blog for this class as the great resource brian peck has made it to be. on that blog, you can not only learn the latest about the chairs assigned, brian also incorporates stories, snippets of popular culture, and ruminations about design. worth staying linked...and checking back often.

blog post for 19 january 2011

working from your efforts in discussion group today, post a reaction to the site your group was assigned following the requirements on the reading response handout. you should use this as an opportunity to practice what it means to compile a reading response....in other words, work on writing, formatting, and illustrating...to make this exercise count.

DUE : WEDNESDAY, 19 JANUARY 2011, 12noon

processional: reading response iii

Yet another example of a reading response. This simple version was done in Word, and explores the primary function and human interaction with the ancient architecture at Giza.

stonehenge : reading response ii

adapted from work completed by iarc history/theory course veterans JEN YANCEY + CATHERINE YOUNG, this stonehenge reading response offers yet another option for students in the current course to report on some of what they are seeing in our new textbook (A GLOBAL HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE) and in the ever faithful text (UNDERSTANDING ARCHITECTURE).


sources for images on this post :
http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/stonehenge-wallpaper-4.jpg http://crystalhatchlings.com/EasterEggs/Images/Stonehenge.jpg
http://www.viajesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/stonehenge_closeup.jpg

heliopolis : reading response

in providing different kinds of reading responses, i drafted this hand-drawn READING RESPONSE on the KHUFU pyramid in egypt at giza.

stonehenge : reading response

i fashioned this simple slide show to give students in my history/theory of design course an opportunity to see an example of a reading comprehension. students work through the assigned readings for the course and select one particular object, space, building, or place in the reading and report on it. they are to include a title, concept, a minimum of three images, and writing to document their understanding of the assigned reading. here's my effort...

this blog on hiatus...

during my fellowship year with the lloyd international honors college, i was lucky to teach a number of courses outside my normal assignment. as a result, this design history/theory blog went on hiatus for a year.