Final Learning Portfolio

FALL 2010ARCH 101TR 12-3pmZEYU XU

PART 1: Design

Inspiration

I got inspired by Theo Janson. I like his idea about how to change a single one dimensional movement into a circular movement and then in to a complicated motion. Also his design on how to get together all the individual movement and make them continuously. So I did some research about his design, and it took me a really long time to figure out how his “walking animals” works.

Material

I spend really long time on looking my main materials for my project. I was looking for something has bigger volume with a cheaper prize and also easy to work with. I was thinking about wood and metal pipes, but none of them works. Once I was talking to Chanan, she mentioned that I might want try PVC pipes, and it turns out PVC pipes are perfect for my project. They are cheap; easy to cut; light; easy to join together with pre made joints.

I learned that I can’t just site there and think choose what I want to use from what I know, there are whole branch of different materials out there. I need to go and see, look for more materials and learn more about them, so that material choosing won’t be a big problem in my later design process.

Math and physics

There are a lot math and physics problems involved. For example I need to find out how to balance the weight with lever ratio; I need to calculate the length of the leverages. The project seems really simple, but I took a long time to design it perfectly in the technique level.

It’s much harder than what I thought, I learned I can never assume anything is simple even it might look simple.

Connection to the wall

I noticed that the pattern of the stairs is a repetition of a single box shape stair, which look like multiple wide “n” shape. So I decided to make some “n” shape hooks attached to my project and hang the upper part’s frame on the wall. In additional I found out there are holes in the wall, I decided to put some bolts in those holes to fix my lower part’s frame.

From doing this I learned it’s a good way to design things using things are already there. One one hand I can easily create a well conversation in between the project and the site, and one the other hand it’s just easy for me to find a way to connect the project to the site.

Connection to the site

First of all the wall I choose is a step-up wall, so I compare it with a person’s life-- from born to the end, and this will connect to my narrative. Also I noticed the patterns on the wall are some vertical straight lines, so I designed most of the movements in one single plane which is perpendicular to the wall and also the ground. Another thing is I found the branches on the other side of the wall move up and down most of the times, so I related my sails to the branches, which is also moving up and down. In additional, the top of the project is aligned with the top of the wall, and the bottom of the project is aligned with the art pieces on the wall.

I learned it is actually not that hard to make connections between the project and the site. I think I just need to see the site more carefully, and find the special things of the site; then personalize these elements and use them in my project.

Connection to the narrative

My narrative is bounded with my real personal experiences. I was actually worrying about if it is too personal, or too emotional. It turns out my narrative is not bad. The judges said it’s my strength to use my personal stories. I am happy with that, but I still think it’s too personal. I mean even it’s kind of moving and touching but it’s not that meaningful for others. I think I will try to make it go further; still start with my own experience and goes to the general.

Continuous movement

My original design is just ten sails moving individually. Later I noticed that the movement is going to be ugly-- no moving pattern, no organization. I want a continuous movement, so I did some research. Theo Janson’s design really inspired me; I studied his design about how he made the wings of his “walking sculpture” move continuously, and that how I came out with my central rotating part.

I think this is an important process in my design. I can’t make things only with what’s what I know. I have to do research and study on it, then make it in my way. I don’t see these as cheating; I think this is like I bought a seed then I grow it, then I got my own plant. I can updated it I can make it more personal, and the most important thing is I learned the process of learning and making.

Connections in the project

In this project I created a lot connections and joints by myself. Its really fun. Since all the colors is white, the connections became invisible, which made my work and my time invisible.

I learned I should make them visible in an appropriate way, so people can see my work and also won’t annoyed by the connections.

All others elements

In the design stage I also considered about the scale of the project, the color, the density, the contrast in between two parts, shapes, transitions from one part to another, and all these kind of stuffs.

This is a really big and challenging project for me, so I totally forget about the design elements at the beginning. I was only focusing on the structure, materials and the construction problems. All of a sudden I found out I missed so many design elements, so I took out my list of the elements which I need to address in my project and work on them on by one. This is like a warning of my later design. I should always remind myself about these design elements no matter what I am designing or who am I designing it for.

PART 2: construction

Gap between small version and full scale

Building full scale is killing me. It’s way much harder than what I thought-- cutting, nailing, measuring… Another thing is I should never be over confident about myself on my working ability. I always relax a little bit today and plan for working tomorrow; it turns out the “hard-working-tomorrow” never came true.

I have this problem for my whole life so far; I really need to work on it, so it won’t bring any bad influence or effect in the rest of my life. I wish I could fix it as soon as possible.

Ideal design and reality

I never finished even one small version of this project. It is because there is always some problems, big or small, in the way. I started notice that what I could imagine is not equals to what I could make. Like what Jerry always say,:” You think!”

Thinking is way not enough; whenever I started making it, problems would show up. I learned that there is always a gap between what I designed in my mind and what I made from my hands. Ideas are always ideas; I can never say I solved all the design problems until I physically made it.

PART 3: besides the project

How to present my work

I don’t think pre write a well organized paper is enough to make people like my work. I think be well prepared is necessary and basic, but how I perform is another story.

First of all I think I have to show the confidence, I do this by smiling. Second thing which is really important is looking in people’s eyes instead of looking at the paper; it’s also make the audience feel like I am talking to them. Another thing is I have to keep a good standing position. Also I try to speak louder and clearer. For sure these are not enough, just what I learned so far.

Risk and time management

By the time I decided to do this project in this scale, I never think about the risk of it-- what if I couldn’t finish it or so. And also I have no idea about how far I can reach in a particular time period.

I think I should pay more attention on it.

Time management is also really important for me. I know this is because I always leave work for tomorrow, so I always barely meet the died line. I’m sure people don’t like me doing that, especially the person who is giving the grade:-). I don’t like it either; I just need time to work on it.

PART 4: After all

Through the whole semester of learning, I did learned a lot both about design and besides design. I would like to say thank you to Jerry and all the classmates. This is my first architecture design class and also the favorite one among all the classes I took this semester. I feel like I choose the right major for myself, and I feel like I belong to this department.

I started with almost zero, and now I can say I know something of architecture design, and I totally get my self into architecture design through this class. I definitely learned tons of design language, skills, and I also found that my way of looking things changed. Now whenever I find something pretty or ugly, there will be a voice in my head from jerry ask “Why?” I try to make things be beautiful or ugly for reasons. It’s tired sometime, but I still enjoy it.

I also learned something valuable besides the class like never do things at the last minute. Also I should take everything I am doing seriously and “get the most from it”.

I just really enjoy this class, and again I really appreciate the help from jerry and all my friends.