communications reflection

I think overall the workshop structure of the architectural communications course was very interesting and well planned, as it allowed me to choose areas that I felt I needed or wanted to strongly focus on. The three workshops I chose, material modelling, architectural drawing and fluid thoughts to actions I think ultimately allowed me to learn and develop a range of skills but more so gain confidence and dexterity in communicating using different mediums.

In material modelling I learned to appreciate the qualities of different materials, and the model making process. The sense of experimentation with the workshop I thought was very exciting and was a feature that I think was common throughout the course. Models I soon came to realise were invaluable not only in conceptual stages. They offer to communicate in a way that is accessible and tangible. I think there was a lot to learn as this was my first opportunity to create an architectural model. Something I know that I want to improve in the future is precision and quality of construction to achieve something very seamless.

Through the photomontage component of material modelling I also came to learn to translate 3 dimensional to 2 dimensional forms and also to create a landscape or rather ‘mindscape’ an extension of a real space into imaginative environments. Photomontage was something completely new to me and I think was a valuable skill to learn as it allowed expression/communication in a unique and different way.

Both architectural drawing and fluid thoughts also extended this idea of expressing 3 dimensional forms on a 2 dimensional surface though in very different ways. The balance in drawing styles taught through these two workshops I think has offered me areas to expand my knowledge. Fluid thoughts I think could greatly enable communication of concept, the ability to sketch quickly but also achieve a kind of measured drawing that is precise will I think help me in the design process in communicating design ideas. Spatial articulation I think was made a lot easier through the practise of drawing that I gained from this workshop. In conventional architectural drawing of plan, section, elevation and perspective of architectural drawing I picked up how to go beyond depicting form but also adding depth and spatial quality to bring these drawings to life. Using of the different tools and mediums for these workshops was also a learning experience.

I think in the combination of these workshops I’ve developed a kind of confidence in the ability to translate and move through 2dimensional and 3 dimensional articulation i.e. constructing a 3d model from a set of plans, sections and elevations or drawing back what is seen into a 2d surface. But I think I also learned from the workshops I didn’t do through the lectures and that was particularly interesting, notably colour, which I found I used though unintentionally across all 3 of my workshops.

WORKSHOP 3: FLUID THOUGHTS TO ACTIONS

selection from folio set

fluid thoughts i find was an extrememly interesting and expressive workshop, especially when stepping out from the technicality of architectural drawing. I think for all of the class excericises i tried to maintain a consistency in the way i drew, unlike the sketchbook where i found myself experimenting a lot more with different styles and composition. Charcoal was a particularly bold form of expression I found, and I think when used well in combination with a rubber could achieve good levels of transparency and also movement i.e. through rubbing all lines in a particular direction leaving a smudge that could probably allude to where the object had been in that image, a previous position, or a future place.

sample of 42 sketches: interior/exterior spaces, day and night

WORKSHOP 2: ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING

presentation set: the Rose Seidler house
elevations/section, plans, 3d perspectives

after visiting and photographing the Rose Seidler house what i really came to appreciate was the intense use of colour and how this defined form and space. I decided to use this concept when developing my presentation set of drawings. For my 3d perspective i chose to mesh together frames of interior and exterior spaces which i found to be interesting and i which i thought contributed significantly to the understanding of the building as a whole. In the plan i had blocks of colour exist in the place of colourful elements i.e. curtains, doors. as representative of how colour defines and forms space. This idea i always carried through in my elevations and sections. I particularly enjoyed using the mediums that i did, mostly pen, charcoal and pastels in primary shades. Overall however I felt it was difficult to get clean crisp lines working this way, particularly when developing the bold artwork like quality inherent in the building itself. I think Layering over charcoal with pen on trace as done in the plan was probably a more successful balance and it also works in shaping depth in an otherwise flat/2d drawing.