Final Submission

The Artists and Their keywords

Louis Bourgeouis: Arch of Hysteria

fear, tense, vulnerable

 http://www.yatzer.com/Goodbye-Louise-Bourgeois
 I found that this piece of artwork evoked emotions more than thought, thus I tried to use strong keywords that expressed intense emotions. While doing some background reading on Bourgeois, I found that her artworks are personal and "express themes of betrayal, anxiety, and loneliness" (1) due to her own personal experiences.


Ai Wei Wei's works on the other hand are quite political and provoke thought rather than feeling.

Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds
individuality, persevere, fragile

http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/unileverseries2010/

This installation looks like millions of sunflower seeds on the ground, but they are actually made from ceramics and are individually and manually painted. Audiences walk into the room on the seeds, and collectively, they share the weight and do not break.


Drafts

18 sections
36 custom textures
8 stair sketches
stair section detailing




Top: Individuality
Bottom: Fear

Vulnerable - Individuality

Individuality - Fear

I took these two sections sections as inspiration for my model.

Drafts

I redesigned my assignment, but kept the major concepts and key features.

Then, with the CurviLoft Plug In, I took away the "lollipops" for a more dynamic design. At the top, I thought about the workers painting the ceramic seeds; would they want to be cooped up inside doing this tedious task? Every now and then they would like to look away. Thus I created an open studio space, as well as an inside area to protect them from the elements. The sail seems to balance an egg-shaped orb and a large wing - balance; a word that I think is connected to belonging and individuality.

Below the datum, I originally thought about using pitch black texturing to heighten the sense of fear. However, I considered about safety circulating the space, and thought that red rises would distinguish steps, and create a sense of blood or magma.

At the datum I thought I'd meet halfway between outside and inside by creating an outdoor but covered gallery.

Animations

(1) http://www.wowvondahlenberg.com/-venus-art-trap.html

Stair Sections and Surroundings

Reinforced glass treads
Steel spine

Stone, granite, black marble, red pigment (for red coloured areas)

Video

model animation of Zaha Hadid's 2012 London Aquatic Centre

by darjole 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wRqnejg778

The white flowing roof is similar to the organic shapes used for the sails in my model.

Progress Update

Week 3

After feedback from students and tutors, I decided to discard the "lollipops" and opted for a more organic and free flowing shape. I still have a round object as my above ground space, which resembles an egg and therefore, my keyword of "individuality".

Textures

Stairwell leading to the space below the datum which represents "fear".

"opaque"

External view of outdoor gallery space. Ground stone texture is from SketchUp's own material library.

View from under the outdoor gallery space with Louise Bourgeous' Arch of Hysteria Hanging from one of the sails.

"lumpy"

Transparent glass stairs leading up to the space above

"crystalline"

Stair Ideas

Stair 1: Individuality, above datum space

Stair 2: Fear, below datum space

In these stairs, I wanted to convey they fragility of individuality, thus the treads seem to teeter on the edge of the previous. To support the stairs, there would be a steel spine running down underneath middle at the point of contact.

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I intended the platform to create a new space, but this disrupted the visual continuity of the stairs.

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Playing around with cantilever spiral staircases. This sketch inspired my to sketch a double helix version (below).

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The pattern creates something of a tunnel with bars on either side like a gaol.

In the above section, the right is fixed to the ceiling, while the left is on a roller support on the ground.

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A spiral staircase with 2 starting points seems fitting for the above-ground space where there are "lollipop sticks" and the keyword inspiration is 'Individuality".

 

DNA helix

http://rinf.com/alt-news/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/dna.gif

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Each tread is trapezoidal and not parallel with the ground, rather, the thinner end is level with the top (wider end) of the next step down. Highly unconventional and very dangerous, I think that this increases the feeling of fear and apprehension upon decent. This idea was partly taken from Castelvecchio.

 

Castelvecchio

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Scala_sfalsata_-_carlo_scarpa_in_castelvecchio.jpg

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I was hoping to create another space inside the helix, but now that I think about it, it seems to use rather than create space.

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Taking inspiration from the steps on the Gangas River in India (as shown in Leacture 2), I want circulation to lead people down a single tunnel, no matter where they started their decent.

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Amped-up model. More tools were used this time and I played around with sandbox.

Week 1 Sketch Up Model

 

Individuality - Fear

Keyword Sections

Vulnerable - Fragile

Fragile - Vulnerable

Vulnerable - Persevere

Persevere - Vulnerable

Vulnerable - Individuality

Individuality - Vulnerable

Tense - Fragile

Fragile - Tense

Tense - Persevere

Persevere - Tense

Tense - Individuality

Individuality - Tense

Fear - Fragile

Fragile - Fear

Fear - Persevere

Persevere - Fear

Fear - Individuality

Individuality - Fear