Architecture Investigation 8

Artist Statement

For this piece, I wanted to adapt my inquiry to a more modern, utilitarian design, so I experimented with row houses and in general close quartered living. I worked to incorporate horizontal and vertical elements in a functional means while still maintaining my own personal style. For instance, the elements covering parts of the windows allow for a greater amount of natural light to be let in as opposed to having a solid wall in place of it while still maintaining some privacy. In addition, I added sky lights with a similar idea in mind, that I placed so that they would likely translate to a hallway or staircase in the floor below as well as from a design perspective I wanted the window coverings to stretch cohesively over the rest of the house.

When making this piece I really liked my design, however I did not know how to translate it onto paper, however after much editing and altering in SketchUp, which is incredibly helpful in making sense of all sides of a design, I started my drawing on paper, however I messed it up and did not like it anymore. At this point I didn't have much time to redo my work so I took the original SketchUp model and edited in Photoshop in a similar fashion as to how I drew it the first time around. I decided to stick with the red, though this was the part I messed up on the first time around, because it supports my processes of specifically showing where windows are and where light would filter through the elements.

From the beginning I had a general idea regarding the shape of the individual units and how they would juxtapose to one another, for it's important on such small living spaces to be cautious of entry ways and such, and in general just keeping in mind that as humans we value our own space and privacy even on such close quarters. Once I got into SketchUp I was able to experiment and revise my basic outline to be more appropriate to the purpose of the buildings that I was designing. From there I just experimented with trial and error regarding how to incorporate horizontal and vertical elements effectively, first looking at just one unit and then several strung together. The actual drawing process took place in a similar fashion, and altogether I am not entirely pleased with my final piece yet and will likely revise it.