Conceptual? Modernist? Abstract?

RESEARCH

For this catalyst project, I have found myself in a blurry area within the titles that were given, 
I have found that all areas (Conceptual, abstract, minimalism, digital and modernism) do 
overlap and interlink with each other,which is incredible but doesn't play to my advantage 
when knowing when to stop researching.

I set off to research the conceptual topic, simply because I am intrigued by big concepts. From discovering 'Conceptual Art' by Tony Godfrey, I found an exhibition that was of some debate in the book, this was the subject of 'Abstract Expressionism'. This term was not explained, so I researched this art movement and found that this was a branch of Modernism! It was then when I found that the project I was about to do was not strictly going to be on Modernism, but many branches involved with that movement. Yet the work I eventually discovered were abstract pieces of work!
Since I had found this link, this did put me at a disadvantage in the beginning because I did not know where to stop with my research! 

Abstract Expressionism was an art movement that focused on colour, form and directness; an aspect that I admired the most. Much of the work was non-representational and its inspiration was to be very direct in its work.
The main movements I researched were  Abstract Expressionism, Expressionism, Constructivism, Suprematism, Futurism and Deconstructivism. I briefly researched more art movements, so I could find more prominent artists'  work that stuck to my mind. The main artists I paid more attention to were Kandinsky, Rothko, Malevich and Boccioni (who resembled much geometric forms and directness). They have mostly focused on the importance of form, which is a key characteristic of Modernism.

Kandinsky, was the artist that struck me the most. I had created a square for the graphics rotation, which came to mind when I was exposed to his work.. I was very shocked at the similarities between his and my work. This was strange because I had never seen Kandinskys work before yet I seemed to have it in my mind. From this thought, I decided to research into further art movements that he was involved in. It turned out that he was not exactly part of the abstract expressionist movement but was part of the expressionist movement and der blaue reiter.

The Rothko chapel by Mark Rothko is what united both architecture and Abstract
Expressionism painting. This has been stated in an essay published by MoMA. He also wanted to simplify his work with directness. The
ambience that was given from the plain canvases in the chapel, was something I wanted to try to achieve in my final outcome.

Looking briefly at Constructivism led me to find Tatlin, it was because of him that I found
Futurism because he was heavily influenced by that movement. I focused on the dynamic
photos because I felt they captured the essence of moment, which is something that could
be transferred into attempting to create the atmosphere of a building. I really admired the
sharp but curved lines that are used in the following paintings. In addition, what appealed
to me was the aspect of having to ‘unscramble’ what the painting was. This characteristic
could produce very intriguing features within an architectural structure in more detail because I am really drawn to the spatial aspect in the geometric forms.

Consolidation.

Research ended today, and I found myself creeping into further areas of research such as German expressionism and De Stijl.
I found it quite challenging to consolidate the overwhelming amount of research (which I love) into my designs because I wanted to integrate the strong concepts behind Abstract Expressionism and Suprematism into my work as well as the spatial aspect of Kandinsky's work.

I chose to experiment with 'domestic interior' and 'interactive system/instellation' because I was hoping to form an idea that could bridge across the two areas. Here are a few vague forms I drew at first:

I used the forms from paintings created by Umberto Boccioni, who was part of the Futurist movement, because the sharp shapes appeared to me as something that would be visually striking in a building. Additionally, I used Malevich's and Kandinsky's influence to create my own composition of shapes and use this to 'build upwards' from the shapes.
I believed this was a good way in composing initial base shapes for my structure as it integrated much forms of the art movements.

3DD - Day 11

Whilst consolidating the work I have created so far, I decided to combine the dome structure (exaggerated form of the tape measure) and the 'measurement' print aesthetic. I would use the tape as dividers throughout the ground floor of the seating area. This would result in much of the seating area to resemble booths. 

[sketches]

Each booth would have a measurement number, which would correlate with the order system at the restaurant.

The globe shaped dome would be in the centre of all the surrounding booths. This means it would act as a piece of sculpture for the diner's experience. 

[sketch]

Additionally, I revisited the anamorphic urban art that was created in Brazil and found that  there was an anamorphic image in the toilets of the Victoria and Albert Museum. The interactivity of having to move to a specific angle to view the correct perspective of the image is a characteristic I wanted to integrate into the booths as well. From this point I discovered Felice Varini, who had created these anamorphic illusions on very large scales.

Materials.
As I began to look into materials for my structure, I initially thought it was a tensile structure. I then discovered a book called 'New Tent Architecture' by Philip Drew. From this book I found a steel structure that I wanted to incorporate within my 'globe'. The structure came from the 'Dynamic Earth Centre', Edinburgh (Hopkins Architects). I really admired the aspect of it being interactive in an unusual space.  From seeing this structure I realised that it was possible to create the outer layer of the structure in steel, and using a fabricated tent material would not be ideal to have long term stability. 

After finding this 'steel cage', I then experimented with different types of compositions that could could be created with the steel.

[sketch]

 As I struggled to find much information on typography/graphics on buildings, I visited the British Library, where I found a book called 'Forms in Modernism A Visual Set – The unity of typography, architecture & the design arts.' It didn't exactly present actual buildings that had typography printed on the exterior. The focal point of the book spoke about how architecture and typography both influenced each other in the Modernist period. Although it wasn't what I was looking for, it was interesting to read about these aspects of Modernism.

3DD - Day 10

Functions.

To start creating the function for my structure, this began with research. 

I condensed my ideas to find an aspect that I could focus on. One aspect I concentrated on was the 'measurement' print being used as the main aesthetic for the building. This links  to the subject of typography printed on architecture.

Centro de Cienca Viva (Science Alive), Lisbon

Add caption

'Light in the Alleyways', Vila Brasiliandia, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Urban Art)

Korea Pavillion, Shanghai, China (Shanghai Expo 2010)

Further research I gathered included text on buildings but through 3D projections. Some of which included the 'Lumiere Festival' in Lyon and the celebration of Independence day in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Lumière Festival, Lyon

Independence Day, Kharkiv, Ukraine

From reflecting on the manipulations I made, I had come to a conclusion that from filling the packaging with water, this resembled a dome form. This led me to research into dome structures and materials, textures that are trapped  in between two materials. 

The integration of the packaging and tape also led me onto researching into interlocking buildings because I really appreciated the structure that was formed in mid air, between the plastic and the tape. 

3DD - Day 9

Continuing with manipulating the tape measure... 
I reminded myself of the packaging that I hadn't used in a while. I brought this concept to the actual tape itself, and so I used the tape as a package and  wrapped it round the outside of the tape case. Here I have revisited the idea of bringing the interior onto the exterior. 

I carried on fiddling with the tape but this time I have moved onto looking from the inside of the package to the inside of the object itself. I dismantled the tape measure to see what other forms that could be created. 

Another aspect I focused on was integrating the package and it's contents, so I weaved the together. The structures I created didn't exactly turn out how I wanted it to be because there was very limited stability in the tape, so the maze/webbed form I wanted to create didn't have a strong structure. 

When looking for stability within the tape, I decided to plait the tape and twist it around until it was upright and standing. After creating this I decided to look into the aspect of using the measurements of the tape as the visual aesthetic of my structure.

3DD - Day 8

Tape measure. 

The design process begins.. 

I listed all the different ways I could transform the tape measure. I decided to work from the outside in, in other words, I focused on manipulating the packaging and looking at the simple form and composition of the object. 

I have fiddled about with the basic form of the tape measure 'the circle'. As the tape measure is formed of different sized layers of circles, I decided to continue this concept repetitively. I had chosen to use four main colours (red,blue, green, and yellow) to give a colourful aesthetic, which reflects part of my previous project.

[insert sketch]

I then began with looking at the packaging itself and defacing it by scratching into it and piercing holes. 

From here I progressed onto looking inside the package and exaggerating the form of that by filling it with water. During this time I really wanted to get to know the object I was working with so I could see the the many potentials of the tape measure. 

After I filled the package with water, condensation occurred and lovely patterns started to form on the plastic.
This process inspired me to start thinking about creating a structure where there would be an 'air layer' in between the material of the structure and a glass outer layer.




















From drawing this sketch, it led me to think about how the element of water could be integrated within a structure, whilst using the main form of a tape measure (including both the tape and the casing for the tape).

After looking at the different compositions I decided to view my structure as an installation piece. This could potentially integrate the water cycle. For example, every 20 minutes the facade of the structure would show the different processes such as liquid water, ice, thawing of ice, condensation etc.

I then listed all the ways I could use the tape from the tape measure. I feel that as I continue this manipulation process, more structures appear within the forms I have made. 
The processes below show the 'wrapping & tangling' process. After creating the forms, I then photoshopped out the background so I could get a clearer perspective on the raw form of the tape.

3DD - Day 7

Presentation day!

Beginning with new software… Solid Works! This software was a great 3D tool as the images and models I was creating was very clear. I learnt how to use the fillet tool and ... tool which smoothed and flattened edges. Later on we moved onto creating our own shapes and forms. I found this extremely frustrating because I wasn’t able to use many functions due to my shape not adhering to the rules of the software. Eventually I created a simpler shape: 

My presentation wasn’t at its worst, but it wasn’t at its best. I did like my final outcome to some extent, but I felt that the forms I used could have been more abstract and complex. Although, I felt that I got a bit confused when explaining my research process to the class because I had conducted further research when I was reaching closer to my final structure, this route prolonged the process to some extent, for reaching my refined final idea. I didn’t mind this because I find that researching gives my work a stronger context and concept for its function.

3DD - Day 6

Since creating my first model, I knew I wanted the architectural structure to be located in the River Thames having a birds eye view of something similar to the Citadel Flotilla.
[insert sketch]
I then needed a structure to connect the each section of the building, and Musee du qui Branly came to mind because I really admired the steel and glass construction work for the outside of the museum. At this point I began creating another loose metal wire model of the base for the glass corridors. This model now reminded me of the way the Pompidou escalators were constructed (colourful steel and glass).
[insert metal wire]
These aspects then contributed to further research.

Having exceeded my own deadline for completing my prototype, I made sure I finished my model today. However, as I continued to make my model, I questioned myself if glass floors were actually applicable for a building? As I conducted research, I found many glass buildings.. but without glass floors! This meant my structure may not have been physically possible. Although an advantage I gained from this research was that I found more influences for my building and could integrate this into the structure. Eventually I found buildings that did have glass floors but they were only implemented in very small surface areas, such as an overhanging piece of glass in the Chicago tower and Vertical House by Atelier FCJZ, where it was also only administered for artists and architects. Minimal furniture was placed in the room, since the floor may not have been able to withstand the weight of a lot of furniture.

I was not pleased with using this model as the final representation of my final outcome as it was very lopsided, probably due to minimal measurements being made for the model. So I then created the model on sketchup. This was my first time in using sketchup... it was a very long a tedious process. Although, I was somewhat pleased with the final model.