Architecture Investigation 1

Architecture Investigation 1, Horizontals and Verticals

Wooden Skewers, Plywood, Basswood, Wire

5" x 20" x 15"

A modular option of the same pieces

Artist Statement

This piece is the first of four architecture models I am creating based on my inquiry question, how do horizontal and vertical lines juxtapose and impact the structure and appearance of architecture? For this piece specifically, I already had a sketch outlining almost exactly how I wanted my model to look, however I was able to play around with additional horizontal and vertical elements that went beyond my sketch. The buildings were originally designed to be public spaces on say a college campus, one building being a café, another a library, and the last a museum, however even more importantly than the purpose of the buildings was how their design interacted with the base I built below. My thought process when sketching was how can I make horizontal and vertical lines stand out most at eye level in all of my elements? With the base being multiple pieces of wood stacked, I tried to naturally incorporate horizontal elements to juxtapose the central building in my sculpture. Once I had my base and buildings done, I realized that to really push the main design element and the focus of this piece, I had to add more horizontal and vertical elements. To do so, I began to experiment with different moveable elements that would add more interesting details to my model. Additionally, I wanted this model to include modular elements, and I was able to incorporate this into virtually every building and detail. This really allowed me to play with different setups and offer many more perspectives and purposes, all the while being able to move my horizontal and vertical elements to continually emphasize my inquiry question.

For this piece, I wanted to focus on the horizontal and vertical elements of the materials, so I chose to keep the color scheme to one color wood only because I wanted the lines, shapes, and textures of the different elements to speak for themselves. I stuck almost entirely to wood in this piece, I used plywood because they were the only big sheets of wood that I could find, some basswood since it was easy to cut and model with, and a lot of wooden skewers. To add more detail to this piece I added some wire detailing and plastic sheets as windows to give the model a more realistic feel. Furthermore, I used the bits of wire to add detail and contrast but also to show function, since those horizontal slats are supposed to be sliding doors. I was not opposed to using other materials, however I wanted my model to be a more traditional architecture model rather than an experimental sculpture.

From the beginning I had a pretty clear sketch of exactly how I wanted my piece to look, however I had to tweak a couple of ideas once I got a feel and the quantity of materials that I had. At first, I wanted to make a dress that used essentially the same inquiry question as the one I am using now, however I could not find any fabric at all that would work for me, so I decided to make a model instead. Unfortunately, I didn’t get around to finding materials till the end of break, so the things I had available were pretty limited. With limited and difficult to use materials it took me a really long time to plan and cut all of the pieces, since my model incorporates multiple wavy elements and layers and I am not too skilled with a saw. Once everything was cut I first started off with the base, which was supposed to sit at half the height of the building all the way to the left. Although I got close to this, I didn’t have any more wood available so I left it as it was, which didn't quite get the whole effect I wanted. When making the actual buildings, they started off looking pretty simple, and did not underline my inquiry question enough, so I played around with the wooden skewers I had and came up with some moveable elements that elevated the buildings. At that point, I realized that I actually wanted to make this work modular, and the way the buildings are set up you can move them all around to fit different styles and setups on the base that I made. With all of the elements I made, I was able to really play around with them, which also inspired me for my next sustained investigation, in which I am going to make one simple building with interchangeable walls.