A piece of foam selected from the world of packaging is portrayed orthographically. Through projection we sectioned the foam into slices to reveal a new condition…i.e. something unique or interesting. In this case, the new condition is the subtle changes in slope when viewed from certain angles.

Project 2:

Building an armature for the foam:

The objective is to find a modular shape that can connect at the x, y and z axis. Only one modular shape can be used. This forces us to experiment with the different methods of connection: sliding, pivoting, rotating etc.

The armature should reflect the shape of the foam. When standing apart, it should be obvious which armature belongs to which foam.

The foam with its armature is then described 2-dimensionally using orthographic and axonometric drawings.

Project 3:

Descriptive Geometry:

Taking the side dimensions of the foam we orthographically bisect the now simple cube shape on three different cutting planes. The cuts are not random, but modular. In this case, I divided each side 4 times and then sliced through any of those points. The three sections create 6+ new shapes. Choosing 2 shapes we used descriptive geometry to discover the true size of the 2 shapes.

Next, we take these measurements and create a single shape for each that can be folded and sealed to create a 3-dimensional perfect representation of the extracted shape.

Unlike project 1 and 2, project 3 took a 2-dimensional form and turned it into a 3-dimensional form.

Project 3 continued: Site analysis for building a pavilion with planar, linear and mass elements:

Using the modular/linear elements from project 2, the planar elements from project 3 and the solid shapes of our foam we studying a courtyard within the campus and designed a pavilion that was sheltered from the elements revealed by our site-analysis.

My site analysis (below) revealed:

Low noise levels. Sheltered from the wind by three existing walls. The angle of the roof suggested that in winter months when the angle of the sun is 29 degrees, my chosen courtyard would get little or no sun. One axis way was used continually throughout the day. Exposed to rain.

My pavilion is glass to bring warmth to the courtyard. It is elevated on linear elements to bring the little breeze that exists into the courtyard. It does not intercept the flow of foot-traffic, but invites people to spend time here by the specific placement of mass elements used as seating.

Project 4: Using insights from previous projects, design a small residence for a visiting professor. The residence cannot touch the ground and must provide the visitor with a place to work and sleep.

For this project the main emphasis was on threshold and aperture. The idea was not to think of a door so much as a threshold. Not a window, but an aperture. Thinking in this way allows us to challenge the preconceived ideas of what a door should be or what a window does.