Wall assignment - final post

I’m very pleased with how the final ¼” model turned out – I followed each of the steps and learned something from everything that I did in the process of completing the model.

Before I did any designing, I wanted to lay down a few guiding principles that would shape all of my thinking. I am most attracted to minimalist architecture and design, so I wanted the wall to have almost a “bare-bones” quality or aesthetic. John Pawson inspired much of my design – his work is simple, clean and practically oriented.

In fulfilling the program requirements, I wanted to satisfy the requests of the client without any extraneous embellishments (i.e. I didn’t want to include anything that wasn’t detailed in the program, regardless of whether or not it was attractive or would be appreciated by the client). I sought to create a habitable area and a Zen view in the same space so that there would be no need for other structural additions.

The ideas and design principles that went into my use of manipulations and proportions were all based on the aforementioned guiding principle of minimalism. In using the manipulations of addition/subtraction, envelope to structure relationships, mass penetration/staggering/layering, and simple/complex, I wanted to maintain a certain style that tended towards subtraction and skeletal frameworks, but I also wanted to experiment with the other manipulations and I wanted to contrast the minimalist aesthetic with other elements. As for proportions, I structured everything based on three very simple patterns. The most basic was to break elements into thirds (the wall for example is split vertically into thirds, and the window shades and the door panels are split horizontally into thirds). The next more complicated pattern was a 2/3/2/3 series pattern, repeated in the window shade designs as well as in the slit windows/bookshelves lining the inner wall. Finally many of the elements in the wall follow an “L” shape, which is both intentionally created and a product of the first two proportional design themes.

I went through many iterations of the project – most of my scratch work was not done on trace, but on regular paper. I did my best at the actual crafting/assembly of the project, but some of the angles do not meet up properly, sometimes due to imperfect cutting. My crafting skills have improved, though, and I intend to get much better as the quarter continues.