MONTICELLO+FALLING WATER

And God said… “Let there be light”

Falling Water and Monticello share common methods and approaches of manipulating natural light in a unique and well-designed way. Each demonstrates its importance in the design and how it was celebrated to present a certain presence in the space.  Monticello created a special way of using skylights and mirrors to manipulate light to make the room seem larger and more spacious by brightening it and elongating it. Falling Water does something similar, in that it has a wall nearly completely constructed of glass to invite light in as well as taming it so that it isn’t entirely overpowering.

Jefferson put much consideration in the design and construction of Monticello, placing emphasis on the way light was being used. In many of the rooms he created high ceilings that were enhanced with a skylight opening that allowed for a significant amount of light to enter the space. This method allowed light to protrude into the room without being too overpowering. It lengthened the room and made it larger as a rule, manipulating the light to create the illusion of size.

Wright manipulates illumination by placing a high emphasis on the sources of natural light. He leaves an entire wall open in each room to create a natural source of light. Wright was very intrigued by windows and how they are used as ventilation systems as well as natural light sources and sound manipulators. He designed them so that when opened, the volume of sound would be manipulated as well as the amount of light entered into a room. It allowed for candles and other artificial light sources to be kept at a minimum.

These two buildings and structures were designed in a way that light was given a great consideration and emphasis during the projects. It was formed around the essential uses of the spaces themselves to create and provide a lighting that was appropriate for the setting. Monticello accomplishes this by adding skylights and mirrors while Falling Water incorporates an abundance of windows to create the same effects; Both giving an aurora of well planned design and manipulation of light.

PATHWAYS-EDGES-BOUNDARIES

These are some pictures of my group's drawings, models, and process throughout the Pathways Edges and Boundaries project. The first three images are photographs taken of the critique set up. (I was a member of the exhibit group, and we worked very hard to come up with a layout for the presentation that matched our conceptual designs of the project as a whole.) The fourth picture is our first model that we created to present. It ended up changing a little bit, but the central concept of the sand waves still persevered. The next two images are of our group's concrete mixing sessions. We had a right amount of fun making the foam models for the box so that we could create the wave effect, as well as fun in casting the concrete. It truly was a group effort and we all had a hand in the stirring, pouring of water, etc. Though we didn't each have our own small model that we cast, we all "got our hands dirty" in the casting process. The next two images are my plan and section drawings of our design. The top view is one foot by one foot, and the section view is one foot, ten inches by one foot. The final picture is our first model that came out. It turned out really well in our opinion, but we learned quite a bit about making our second one. Our second one, for example, had our waves connecting on each side so that they continued throughout the block instead of being random. 

dialogue 5

I have continued playing around with my idea, trying to make the dialogue more defined. I've arrived at my favorite model (the bottom image). I have found a way to make the movement more of a dialogue without creating more than two spaces.

dialogue 4

Tommy and I both started playing around with my second iteration and experimenting on how the dialogue between my two figures could be more defined. in this position, the two spaces are well defined, and the dialogue between them is created by the skewers.

Dialogue 3

I arrived at this idea from my first one. I really liked the skewers piercing the paper in an even proximity.

dialogue 2

As I was "playing" around with the project, I disassembled it and came to have the smaller triangle with the six skewers. This came to be the inspiration for my next iteration.

Dialogue 1

This is my first iteration for the dialogue project. I created two triangles, one large and one small. But I connected the top of the two triangles by skewering them together with six of my bamboo skewers. The problem was.... it was not structurally sound and kept collapsing. (you can see I had to have Rebecca Ladd hold it up so that I could take a picture of it) Also, I had two extra cards and six extra skewers.

Final Unity

This is my final model for the unity project. I decided to return to my first iteration and continue fixing it to make it more "unified". I made several models, trying to get it completely stable and balanced.

Unity 2

This is the second iteration for my unity project. I decided to try something different from my first model seeing as it was a near success. This one proved difficult, however, and wasnt nearly as unified.

Unity iteration 1

This is the first iteration of my unity project. I folded the twelve sheets of paper in half and put two of them together to create a triangle. The skewers separate the different levels of the triangles to create a unified figure. Tommy suggested, however, that I seperate the skewers the same distance as the triangles were from each layer.

Compare and Contrast (Rebecca Ladd)

My project of unity can be compared and contrasted to many of the other projects that my fellow students have designed. One that stood out to me the most though, was Rebecca Ladd’s. Her project was similar to mine in that the bamboo skewers were used not only as a structural tool, but also as something to space apart each module of our projects. We both effectively utilized repetition between each of our modules even though our modules were different. Rebecca chose to design hers based on a series of curved planes, crisscrossing and forming a ribbon candy like structure. I, however, played off a theme of triangles.
The proximity in my project was considered very carefully. I have a repetition of the spaces between each level of triangles as well as the spaces between the skewers themselves. This is not unlike Rebecca’s model. The space between her curves and skewers is also repeated throughout the project, giving it a certain sense of unity. Our projects are also similar in the position of the structure itself. Her structure is meant to sit on its side, as is mine. My project however, is meant to be viewed on its top point, with the pointy end of the skewers running out and upward. Hers sits more on the paper itself than relying on the support from her skewers. Though these are two very different projects, they have quite a few similarities, and I believe they are both successful solutions to this project.

Twelve Twigs - 4

This is my fourth iteration for my twig project. I changed the paper color has to draw more attention to the twigs. I used a dual paper, a dark green on the exterior and a coral on the inside. The spiral continues to be in effect but they are only extending on one side, making the exterior cleaner. The bright coral color was chosen to draw ones eye to the middle to see the complexity of the inner spiral. Something I wanted to change here, however, is the seam. It makes it an imperfect cylinder. 

Twelve Twigs - 3

This is the third iteration for my twig project. I decided to try a sprial all the way down the structure instead of the tiers. It made the inside a much more complex aspect. The outside, however, could be a bit more clean and better constructed. 

Twelve twigs - 2

This is the second iteration for my twig project. I wanted to see if a perfect cylindrical figure would work better than the diamond shaped. I believe it did, but the brown paper blends in too much with the twigs.

Twelve Twigs - 1

My first Iteration. There are six horizontal tiers on each side of a diamond shaped tower. The twigs create an X inside the structure. 

Twig concept

Some notes I was making for my original twig design. Includes notes on my precedent.

Critique 09-17-2008

Today’s critique was a very productive session for me. The small groups helped me gain a better, more personal connection to my project and understand everyone’s views on how to make my project better. I was given a few suggestions to accentuate the spiral aspect of my project: the outer spiral as well as the inner. One option would be to lift the cylinder in a way to where the inside complexity of the structure can be seen as well as the outer spiral. The main suggestion Tommy and my fellow students offered me was to not add to my project. I agreed with their suggestions because adding to the project in terms of my binding agent would detract from my design.

The main topic our small groups discussed today was Focus. We talked about variety reduction, and not putting too much emphasis on several different aspects of your design. It is better to reduce it to one central thing that you are trying to emphasize. In my project, it would be the inner and outer spirals – particularly the inner. Contrast was another important topic we discussed. Contrast can be a good thing if its incorporated into the project in a good quality way. As long as it isn’t a distracting thing, contrast can be a very good aspect of the design. 

Precedent for Twigs

The precedent for my project is a man made invention known as a "cell phone tree". There are six tiers of horizontal branches, some that are made with realistic needle leaves and branches. The trees resemble "douglas firs of the pacific and are unlike unsightly telephone poles that are spanned by wires. Cell phone trees are solitary structures like my twig design.

A Place for a Leaf

The final leaf project for Studio