15 things...

Great blogpost on Swiss Miss about Charles and Ray Eames.  It includes excerpts from a trip that Keith Yamashita went on to the Vitra Design Museum and his reflections on the exhibition and unique relationship of Charles, Ray, and the world.

Keith Yamashita's "Fifteen Things Charles and Ray Teach Us"

All points are great and fascinating, from No.1 "Keep Good Company." to No.2 "Notice the Ordinary." to No.13 "Make design your life. And life, your design."  

Which one fascinates you?

I especially like No.10 "Zoom out." and idea of the "relative size of things in the universe and the effect of adding another zero."  Made me think of a very short series of images captured during a trip through the Blue Ridge Parkway:

0 

00 

000 

0000

concepts / percepts / affects

Bernard Tschumi FAIA, with Bernard Tschumi Architects, was recently featured at UPenn for the 2011 Louis I. Kahn memorial lecture; the title of his talk was “concepts, percepts, affects.” One of Tschumi’s most recognizable projects (initially, at least for me) that put his practice on the map back in 1983 was Parc de La Villette. They have since conceptualized and implemented a range of urban design, museum, master planning, public buildings, housing, and infrastructure projects throughout the world, including the Acropolis Museum, Elliptic City, and Bridge. Tschumi has also been known to contribute to the theoretical side of design professions with such literature as Architecture and Disjunction, Event-Cities, and many others. Tschumi and the firm have established a reputation as one of today’s foremost architects and practices leading design professions throughout the past 2+ decades.

The “rough approximation” of Tschumi and the firm’s approach is very interesting in that it is spelled out and a fairly specific step-by-step process that values program, constraint, space, movement, material, and above all else concept (and a maintained integrity thereof). During the talk, Tschumi boiled it down to “concepts, percepts, affects.” He used an example of an arch to explain the ideas of each term. The first image illustrates the concept of an arch; the second begins to create a percept through materiality and dimension; the third image evokes emotional affects.

A great example that Tschumi used during the talk to provide clarity in defining “concepts, percepts, affects” was the difference between two projects which have the same concept, but different percepts and affects. He discussed the Rouen Concert Hall and Exhibition Complex and the Limoges Concert Hall and how both projects stem from the same concept, program, and double-envelop-style building. What is the major difference? Materials (percepts), which leads to a different experience (affects).

Tschumi is a starchitect and has achieved great successes in design, but I wonder what the role of starchitect design will be in the future (like the Frank Gehrys and Peter Eisenmans) in comparison to a grass-roots approach that involves community participation. Maybe it is more a question of scale, client and context that defines appropriate approaches, designers and involvement. Thoughts? I know Frank Gehry does not think of himself as a starchitect (check out the article/interview where Gehry defends this notion).

hypernature

The concept of hypernature is well illustrated in MVVA's Tear Drop Park. There is an amplification of "nature" and a purposeful composition of seemingly overwhelming "natural" elements in the park (i.e. the stone wall). Tear Drop pulls on natural elements of the region and intensively juxtaposes them with the contrasting urban vernacular. The sensory experience of walking through the park is powerful and the elements one perceives are, at first, out of place for the context of an urban stroll. However, it is this uniqueness that makes the park memorable and has the power to make people think outside the box, so to speak.

This idea of hypernature can make us think. The next question is can it make us act?

Note: I recently read 'Sustaining beauty. The performance of appearance' by Elizabeth Meyer from JOLA 2006 and was intrigued by her discussion on hypernature and how it relates to beauty and the sustainability discourse. I intend to delve more into the concepts covered in this paper in the near future.

effectiveness of work samples

Lately I have been evaluating the success of a series of work samples as opposed to an in depth portfolio. In many cases the best employment opportunities (subjectivity, noted) arise from ASLA Job Link, Archinect or even via Facebook. Many large firms are broadcasting their job openings to a very general, public audience and, thus, are receiving numerous applications. When 100 or 200+ applications come across the desk of whomever will be in charge of short listing applicants, the level of patience this person has to read through a full portfolio naturally decreases over time.

So, using this scenario as a basis for argument, I tend to favor a comprehensive series of work samples that highlight a few projects and a broad range of skills. However, in playing devil's advocate, the portfolio offers a much more in depth look at projects in terms of process and ability to think critically. A portfolio is undoubtedly more powerful in an interview setting when you have the chance to walk someone through your step by step process.

I suppose the big questions for rating the better option are: how powerful is your portfolio when you are not there to explain it? Conversely, how well can you sum up a project in a work sample to illustrate critical thinking and design ability?

And, how do you keep your portfolio under, say, 5mb?

concept to product

Professional practice demands an intense production schedule and one that heavily favors computer graphics. It's easy to get lost in a world of autoCAD or making numerous curves with the pen tool in illustrator. This has me thinking to remember the importance of a quick hand sketch and the native looseness that can't compare to solely computer generated line work.

precedent setting

Nearly a year ago we were busy developing concepts for an exhibition to display student work for the Rutgers University Landscape Architecture Department. These concepts grew and were developed into the pulse, a collaborative student effort that changed the face of the landscape architecture department. This past weekend at the New Jersey ASLA convention the pulse was awarded a merit award for communication in landscape architecture.

The pulse communicated student work to the public in a way that had never been done before in the department. It gave people who were unfamiliar with our profession and our curriculum the chance to understand it by looking at a variety of portfolios that spoke to a variety of work. We also communicated the design process of the pulse, from concept development to construction implementation, in the form of 8 boards. This narrative combined with the abstract form of the pulse to create a user experience that was truly unique and memorable.

The project also spoke loudly to our department chair and university Deans. A new course was developed and implemented this spring semester and will continue to challenge students to think about design across the spectrum of abstraction to implementation.

The pulse became more than just an exhibition; it morphed into a teaching tool and a form of design communication that has set the precedent for what Rutgers students can achieve in years to come.