Architecture Investigation 2

Artist Statement

This piece is the second of my sustained investigations that focus on how horizontal and vertical elements impact the appearance and efficiency of architecture. For this piece, I wanted to incorporate these elements by focusing more on purpose first, then appearance second. I was inspired by a courtyard house that designed a while back and wanted to reinvent. I was also influenced by traditional and modern Japanese homes, which incorporate courtyards and sliding doors. My thought when designing was how can I keep this design open, airy, and essentially flooded with sunlight while still maintaining a sense of privacy and walls. The idea of layering the horizontal skewers over the vertical ones came from when I was playing around with my first sustained investigation, which was modular, so I just moved around some elements and came across layering them at random. This discovery made it much easier all of the sudden to designate spaces within the design that would be more privates. So for instance the corner I imagined could be a bedroom is open, there is only one layer of vertical skewers and a big window. However, to add an element of privacy I created sliding doors that could cover the windows entirely for complete privacy. I implemented a similar idea in the main entrance and the passage to the courtyard (first two detail photos). To enter the home, there is a big glass door, however rather than having the door facing out and into the open, I decided to have it open onto a sort of covered porch. Furthermore, there are sliding doors which can completely cover the opening into the home, allowing for total privacy. There are again two sliding doors on the inside of the courtyard, so even if the front door is open and accessible, the courtyard can still be blocked off.

For this piece, I wanted to stick with the theme of wood since I think the natural color and texture enhances the model and gives it a more sculptural feel to it. I essentially just purchased several bags of long skewers, cut them into the proper sizes, and glued them into place with hot glue. To physically make the piece I made each wall separate and then connected them, which proved to be somewhat difficult as not all of the pieces fit properly to form a square.

From the very beginning, this piece was full of ideas and inspiration that it was difficult to narrow down and plan out. I was very inspired by layering, Japanese courtyard houses, and my own past designs, so I essentially just started glueing and cutting and saw where the rest of my inspiration took me. I experiments a lot with what elements to layer and where, which tied back to the idea of a modular design like my first sustained instigation. I wanted the house to be flexible and light, yet still aesthetically pleasing and private. Each horizontal element was created first and then glued on as one chunk, as this allowed me to move them around and see where they fit best. When it was time to make the roof, I decided that I wanted to make a SketchUp version of my model to experiment and try out different ways of approaching the roof. This also gave me more of a feeling of how my design could translate as an actual building, whereas the physical thing is more sculptural and it is a bit difficult to see it translate into an actual building.