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[bella-mcmahon]

two strangers assessment

presentation

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DFyksBFcHxNfoJ9nDNrMaNmCp9FfF5Z0/view?usp=sharing

recording

https://drive.google.com/file/d/13tdcdtPSnBPpUHXIv-Q7eJmKvppN9lxx/view?usp=sharing

[bella-mcmahon]

week 09 - 13

These weeks have been focused on developing and refining my presentation for the Two Strangers Space.

interior viewpoint exploration

I initially positioned the views as though the camera was a person in the space. After feedback from Kristie I increased to field of view and chose positions that allowed the views to show people using the space rather than what a person would see.

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mid-semester critique 

This project is very much still in it's raw state and the final presentation will be much more developed in terms of finishes and page layout.

PDF

https://drive.google.com/open?id=14biil2B1eElCDsRJFcUJhEg2r529LOcs

Recording

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1iDKQMyJs_63A9ArZ8wjQhpndSbGABZvL

going forward

Over the coming weeks I plan to develop my overall presentation, adding colour and texture to the elevations and other aspects. I have had issues with software, hence why the image sequence is not completed but I hope to have this resolved early this week. I plan to show how light changes in the space throughout the day, how the pivot doors and sliding screens change the feeling and use of the space and finally the many ways it which the strangers can seek communication or privacy in the space.

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week 08

This week has consisted of my sitting at my computer 24/7 and my eyes growing squarer by the second. To develop my floor plan, interior elevations and sections I am using Archicad which is new to me. This has taken some getting used to which has put me behind where I was aiming to be at this stage. I have a clear vision and plan for the space but I am a perfectionist and don’t want to compromise this in order to rush the project. 

paper pulp

In Wednesday's class Harriet took us through making our own paper pulp which was a quick and fun hands on process, I look forward to seeing how they turn out when they're dry and how I can use this method in the future.

space colour scheme

I think it is important to draw inspiration from the natural environment that surrounds the space, therefore I will draw the colour palette from these pictures taken in front of the site. Drawing on these natural tones will add to the comfortable retreat feel of the space.

going forward

I look forward to receiving critique and feedback on my design so far and how I will respond and develop from this. Adding the finishing touches and seeing the project refine over the next few weeks will be interesting and exciting.

[bella-mcmahon]

week 07

who is this space for?

The site leans itself to a retreat focussed around being immersed in the natural environment, a space away from the chaos of life where your mind can relax, reset and be inspired. I will design an artists rehab. It will be clean, comfortable and minimalistic, a place where artists can switch off and allow inspiration to come from relaxation and exploration.

capsule hotel research

Japan’s capsule hotels are a space where strangers come together purely just for a space to sleep, there is often little to no interaction between capsule inhabitants and the average stay is one night. 

In this first example of a capsule hotel, people are stacked on top of one another, barely given enough space to sleep. The capsules are uninspiring moulded plastic for durability and hygiene but their warm lighting does add a slightly homely element. These spaces are impersonal and uncomfortable but they do allow for guests to have their own space where they don’t feel guilty for being antisocial. 

These capsules are larger and allow room for the inhabitant to store their belongings nearby and comfortably move around. While it is still on the sterile side, timber accents attempt to add a feeling of warmth and comfort. Curtains allow the space to be open or private depending on the individual. The size and privacy of these capsules could be a good reference for the sleeping area of my space.

going forward

Over the coming weeks, I plan to start refining my thoughts and applying them to the space in preparation for the assessment on the 25th. 

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week 06

This week was the beginning of exploration of elements of the ‘Two Strangers’ space, through making and sketching.

another scale of architecture

I chose Junya Ishigami’s, ‘Another Scale of Architecture’, from this weeks digital library. The relationship between natural and man-made spaces has influenced elements of my designs in the past and I intend to explore this again in the ‘Two Strangers’ space. I find the relationship between the sharp, linear horizon and the organic, ever-changing swells that appear from it an interesting combination.

proposal for a... exercise

Wednesday’s class took us on a walk around our neighbourhood exploring interesting patterns and forms that would later inspire a maquette of an aspect of the interior. My first design was a completely ‘wing it’ moment and turned out to be a floor lamp for a fairy! The second was more thought through with the aim of evoking a privacy screen design for the ‘Two Strangers’ space. I was happy with how the privacy screen turned out, it created bold, linear shadows and its overall curve in combination with the individual linear wood mimics the interesting combination of the horizon and swells that appear from it.

sofa design

A few rock walks and a bush walk later, I had collected a handful of interesting textures which I decided to do pencil rubbings of. The veins of the leaf skeleton inspired a sofa and table design.

original floor plan

The space I chose is currently a 62m² open plan kitchen / dining / lounge. I plan to close off the hallway and scullery doors to create a sense of privacy and remoteness in the space, the door from the entrance will now open into the space as if it were an entry door. The sliding doors on the northern facade may also need to change in configuration for privacy.

presentation colour palette

The sandy, earthy tones of this feather I collected on a walk along the beach will inspire the colour palette of my PDF presentation. It is relevant to the site and its natural. understated tones will allow the design to be the hero.

going forward

Next week I plan to develop who this space is for and how that will influence the direction I take. Looking at research of similar shared spaces may be useful.

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week 05

This week was focussed on resituating ourselves in the world of university, although it looks a bit different!

space and place; the perspective of experience

“The point at which one feeling [space] turns into another [place] depends on conditions that are hard to generalise.”, states Yi-Fu Tuan, a humanistic geographer focusing on people and their condition in relation to environments. Tuan writing, particularly the section ‘Spaciousness and Crowding’, challenged me to view space and place from different perspectives and I took away three key points that I believe will drive certain decisions in the ‘Two Strangers’ brief.

Spaces are a network of relationships. As spatial designer’s we must consider human interaction. Interaction between two humans, physical or behavioural interaction between humans and the environment, emotional interaction between humans and the environment, the list goes on. These interactions influence how spaces are experienced by bodies and minds and in our role we have the ability to manipulate these interactions.

“…culture and experience strongly influence the interpretation of environment.”, writes Yi-Fu Tuan. This got me thinking specifically about the ‘Two Strangers’ brief. These strangers could experience the same space in entirely different ways due to their backgrounds and naturally developed behaviours. Do I want them to experience space or place, comfort or discomfort? How will my design address thresholds, privacy and conversation, familiar and strange? Can one persons experience of a space change over time? His writing has challenged my thinking on how I approach space and the design of space in relation to its inhabitants. 

Tuan states, “Enclosed and humanised space is place. Compared to space, place is a calm centre of established values.” I find this idea of place interesting, place is enclosed, humanised and a calm centre of established values. Place is a space, but a space is not necessarily a place, and the very things that make space a place are completely unique to every individual. His statement drew me back to the previous brief and, in particular, ‘place’ in my diorama. These values reflected those which I had in mind when creating that space but is equally important in this upcoming brief as I hope to design a ‘place’ for the two strangers rather than a ‘space’.

site observation

Zooming out from my site I looked broadly at the elements that will effect and influence the ‘Two Strangers’ space. From the immediate surroundings, including neighbouring houses and existing landscaping features, to the bay and its positioning as a whole, and finally the summer and winter solstice.

going forward

I look forward to delving back into creativity and exploring ideas through making next week. It is an exciting, and somewhat daunting, challenge to be faced with making models and mockups with materials and tools that we may not ordinarily use outside this unique COVID environment. Looking further ahead, I am intrigued to see how these site observations may influence my choice of materials, layout and uses of the space.

[bella-mcmahon]

mid-semester break

I figured that I should keep myself busy while the nation came to a standstill so I spent my four week break producing work that I would be proud to present.

diorama progress

It is a well known fact amongst my past teachers, friends and family that I have a tendency for being a perfectionist. While I am proud of this trait, it can also mean that I often spend a lot more time on my work and executing my ideas than others may. This extra time gave me the ability to execute my diorama to a standard I am proud of. I not only had more time to physically construct the components but also time to think about how they were coming together and how I needed to adapt them as I went. At this stage the diorama is still minus its ends and directed viewing windows.

displace atmospheric image

I had a vision for this image from the start but executing that took a few experiments. The final outcome hopes to provoke feelings of ‘displace’ with chaos and coolness through a use of materials, angles and photoshop editing of hues and lighting.

abstract

This compilation of work should be considered as a journey between two states, a threshold, a spectrum. Exploring the commonalities and discrepancies of ‘place’ and ‘displace’ through atmospheres of comfort and discomfort, or known and unknown. A monochromatic palette has been used throughout the drawings. Combining clean architectural lines with more delicate lines of varying clarity and weight, a feeling of depth is created relating to the many layers and perspectives that form an atmosphere of ‘place’ and ‘displace’. Balsa wood portrays a feeling of warmth, while texture and tactility is depicted through corrugated cardboard along with layered curves which engulf the view of ‘place’ forming a clear path. In stark contrast with ‘place’, feelings of chaos and hostility are provoked by the ‘displace’ view.  The diorama explores the threshold between these two states with a linking path.

reflecting on the brief and going forward

This brief threw me in the deep end, challenging my thinking as a designer which has developed greatly through this process. Posed with a broad, abstract brief I was challenged to think without boundaries, something that was a challenge coming from a high school environment where there is much more guidance. Initially when I was asked to visually communicate these thoughts, feeling and ideas my mind was blank, how could I possibly sketch a feeling? However, once I overcame the initial block, I started to relish in the task and the problem was no longer a lack of ideas but instead choosing just a few! The development of my thinking over such a short period excites me for how much more I will grow over the coming two and a half years and how this will influence my work.

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week four

Little did we know this would be the last last week of uni for over a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

talk with kristie

I have found that talking one on one to teachers or tutors and peers allows me to grow and build on my ideas through purely a back and forth conversation. Whether the other person says something that triggers an idea or I reach that lightbulb moment as I explain my design, I believe that conversations help me to address my ideas from a different perspective. As I received feedback on my initial ideas, Kristie and I were able to collaboratively refine my ideas further through conversation and sketching.

diorama material choice

Following my talk with Kristie, I felt confident in the materials I had chosen to convey the atmospheres of ‘place’ and ‘displace’. A cold, reflective and dark ‘displace’ environment created with aluminium and acrylic sheets. A warm, tactile and light space through materials such as, timber and corrugated cardboard. The opposition spaces will play with the corrugated cardboard and how shape in combination with the surrounding contents can change the understanding of a material, curves versus sharp lines and edges. I explored how the curves of the corrugated cardboard in ‘place’ would be viewed through locating the viewing window in two different positions. 

going forward

With a more refined understanding of my diorama and the direction I am taking I feel well prepared going into this period of no classes. Over the coming week I aim to make significant progress on the diorama and I look forward to seeing my ideas develop and clarify further through this process.

[bella-mcmahon]

week three

The week started off with a city walk to explore Auckland’s public art and get the creative juices flowing, and flow they did. Ideas for my diorama started becoming much more refined this week through macquettes and sketches.

city walk

Our guided walk with Taarati took us through Myers Park, past Auckland Public Library, down through Freyberg Square, and finally down Fort Street. While the installations were all completely unique to their location within the city, we identified three themes that created a link.

1. The artworks related back to their natural environments - in their own way each managed to tell a story about their natural environment, whether that be past or present.

2. They were incorporated (subtle) into the space - many of the installations were utilitarian while others were understated through their material or location.

3. They told a story of culture - many of the artworks told of the past and how their environment has changed through European settlement and development.

I found Wayne Youle’s ‘Moana Whenua’ in Fort Street particularly relevant to our focus on ‘place’ and ‘displace’. We are essentially investigating perspectives. Youle’s artwork plays on not always understanding a situation from only one viewpoint or perspective. This got me thinking about how I would compose a diorama that addresses two ends of a spectrum only visible through small windows.

initial planning and maquettes

Hundreds of ideas and questions about how my diorama was going to come together had been going through my mind since we received the brief three weeks ago. While this was the first time I had put my ideas down on paper, I had already gone through an initial refinement process. My earlier drawings that investigated feelings of ‘place’ and ‘displace’ helped to narrow down the feelings that I want to provoke in these spaces.

going forward

I intend to clarify the interior of my diorama through discussion, maquettes and sketches from the results of my initial maquettes.

[bella-mcmahon]

week two

Starting in the studio and finishing in the Marae made for a broad week. 

the marae

An introduction to our project with Taarati and Dion which immersed us in culture, not just Māori culture but also our individual culture, who we are and what our values are. When asked to find a carving in the marae that I related to, Tāwhaki drew my attention. Tāwhaki is climbing to the 12th heaven to receive sacred knowledge, representing filling a basket of knowledge and achievement. I was drawn to the fact that he is climbing to receive sacred knowledge. I continuously strive to learn and I believe all knowledge can be sacred knowledge because no two people have the same basket of knowledge. There is a relationship between this and a feeling of ‘place’ or ‘displace’. Our basket of knowledge not only determines our ‘place’ in society, where we feel we sit in, but also shapes our view and experiences of spaces and situations.

olga tarasova

After Xavier’s context talk I was particularly drawn to Tarasova’s style of sketching and modelling. Clean lines combined with soft pencil strokes and shadows of varying weights create a sense of depth and play on architectural conventions in combination with more illustrative techniques. Tarasova also tends to play with white space and negative space to allow the content to ‘breath’ and have focus. While my previous ‘layered drawing’ already used many of these techniques, I decided to more consciously explore Tarasova’s style in my A2 drawing of ‘place’. I was also interested in Tarasova’s style of modelling. While the features of her designs are clear and relatively refined, the slightly unfinished nature of the material shows that there is still room for development. She does not list the material used for these models, however it has inspired me to play around with clay modelling. 

a2 drawing of ‘place’

Through the series of drawings from week one, context talks from Lucy, Xavier, and Taarati and Dion, along with my research of Olga Tarasova’s techniques and styles, I developed a clear vision for the direction of this drawing. I used a rendering paper to increase the texture of the drawing as can be seen in Tarasova’s above.

juhani pallasmaa

‘The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and the Senses’, at first glance I thought this would be a topic that would intrigue me and I was right. Juhani Pallasmaa is a Finnish architect and former professor of architecture. In this piece of writing he observes how oblivious society is to the significance of sound in spatial experience and how we are making a conscious effort to mute and absorb it. Our eyes cannot fully appreciate the nature of a space alone, they isolate, whereas sound incorporates. Pallasmaa emphasises the importance of exploring the aural possibilities through how we design spaces, particularly public, and their ability to draw connections between people. I found his particularly thought-provoking in terms of the current brief and the work that has already been completed and what is to come.

going forward

The techniques used by Tarasova along with the curves of her design have helped to refine and clarify my style and idea of ‘place’ for this brief. I look forward to how this along with my A2 drawings, the second of which I aim to complete next week, will influence the style and atmosphere of ‘place’ and ‘displace’ in my diorama over the coming weeks.

[bella-mcmahon]

week one

Week one was a shock to the system, being introduced to a brief that initially overwhelmed me in terms of the lack of direction I would be given. I produced a series of four drawings throughout the week both in studio and in my self-directed time. 

 Floor plan, atmospheric map, layered drawing, and thumbnails. Week 01. Materials used: A3 cartridge paper, fine liner, pencil, marker, paint.

floor plan

My first task as an AUT Spatial Designer was to generate a floor plan of my bedroom. Despite very little direction I was comfortable with the task at hand, familiar with drawing floor plans and using scale, etc. My selection of modes and media were A3 sketching paper, black fine liners of varying weights, black marker and a variety of pencils (2H, 2B, 6B). This first task took me back to what I had learnt at high school but the following tasks pushed my thinking much further.

atmospheric map

I sat staring at the black paper for what felt like forever. This was the first time I had been tasked with drawing my senses, feelings and memories. One of my biggest struggles throughout high school had been letting go... just getting my ideas down on paper and forgetting about what the end product would look like in these early stages. This drawing is a very personal, it is a compilation of my own feelings and memories in a place that is mine and how I have communicated this is my interpretation. I began this drawing with the pencil layer, the slightly more literal aspects of the atmosphere. The wind, smells and sounds that comes through my window, the texture of my bedspread, and the contrast between the gentle curves and angular linear lines that live in harmony in my bedroom. The second layer, a visual communication of how this space is able to calm me. Straight lines represent a frustration that eases as I enter and the curved lines that overlap before becoming clearer showing how my stress and confusion eases in this place. Finally, paint, a media I am not comfortable using on any level. It takes me back to primary school, a time in life when you’re not worried about anyones thoughts or opinions, maybe this is the feeling I needed to harness in order to move forward with the brief. This final layer is communicating memories. From the days that life feels like its swallowing me whole and I shed a few tears to the late nights I stay up watching Netflix and as my eyes grow heavy it becomes a blur.

layered drawing

Again I was struck with an initial feeling of being completely perplexed by the task. As I reminded myself again to just let go I started to produce a drawing that I look at and think “that’s my place.” A collection of the abstract thoughts and references from the atmospheric map combined with the tangible aspects of this space that give it the feeling of ‘place’. From the map of where it is located in relation to the beach and the window that casts shadows down the wall whilst also letting in a breath of fresh air to revisiting the idea that the space is calming and somewhere I can let go and be completely myself. A drawing that initially perplexed me but morphed into a piece that I understand completely.

thumbnails

While ‘thumbnails’ is a term that I am familiar with, the pairing combinations pushed my depth of thinking again to understand the space through its transitions, contrasts and opposites, how the space changes with us and our patterns. I chose to address the five pairings of; diurnal and nocturnal, vertical and horizontal, movement and stasis, macro and micro, and opening and closure. To begin with I struggled to understand how to communicate these ideas in quick thumbnails, I may understand them myself but how do I visualise them in a way that an audience will understand? A few scrunched up pieces of scrap paper later and I have produced a series of sketches that I believe deepen the understanding of the space looking through the relationship between how I live in it and its physical aspects, both fixed and temporary.

going forward

This week was an overload of new information and ways of working but I think at the end of it I am able to get a sense of how I need to approach tasks going forward. I will always be a person who asks questions to gain clarity and I believe this is a strength, both in day to day life and as a designer. However, I have also learnt this week that I need to trust in my own skills and understanding at a point rather than questioning myself.