PROBLEM 4: PLANAR STRUCTURE

PROBLEM: 
Using paper, board or other appropriate material*, create a volume from repeated and similar planes. Dimensions: Minimum 8"x 8"x 8, maximum 12"x 12"x "12" in any and all directions.
Presented on a solid base with no more than a 2" clearance around the volume.
Base should be created to show off the volume. The planar forms cam curve, fold or remain flat.
Voids of a contrasting shape or direction should be cut through the planar forms to create emphasis and counter-movement.
Dominant planar forms must demonstrate a progression of direction, scale and color from one end to another.
All forms must unify into the appearance of a larger solid. Volume should be the first understanding.
Apply color to accentuate the planar characteristics, rhythm and movement. 360 Degree view. 

RESEARCH: 
Upon researching for this project, I found myself very drawn to Jen Stark's work. Her planar structures are so visually intriguing that I kept wanting to keep looking at her work to figure out how exactly she made the masterpieces. What I admire about her work is how she took risks in order to create order within chaos.  These elements combined created a balance that was both beautifully interesting and dynamic, and therefore became the inspiration for my project. What I also found interesting was how Richard Meier was able to include these elements into actual building designs.

PROCESS: 
At first I found myself a little intimidated by getting started simply because of the freedom in the use of planar materials as well as the amount of specifications we needed to meet. As I started my rough sketches though, I found that all these elements kind of come together in the design process and the overall process was not as rough as I thought it would be. I knew I wanted to create something that included a risk of some sort but also something that would allow me to create clean cut lines. With these things in mind, I settled on creating a triangular planer structure that came together from two sides to create a suspended arch.

I started by measuring out my triangles and decreased each plane by half of an inch. I cut out templates on note cards and used them as stencils on foam core. My biggest challenge was figuring out how to create a void that would go through the planes. After playing around with the voids for a few hours, I realized that the best way to demonstrate an ongoing void within my off set, triangular structure was to shift the void back and forth in order for them to match up. I think the end result turned out well because the shifting voids create a sense of bouncing movement for the eye when looking at the overall structure and furthermore, brings a cohesive view from one end to the other. Another issue I faced was gravity. With the tip being so heavy, I began to feel worried about how it would stand. Unsure if the bottom planar form would stand on it's own, I decided to add a few supports to the bottom to create a more sturdy base. Rhythm and movement are demonstrated through the progression, positioning and color changes of the triangular planes while volume is shown through the overall shape.

PROCESS PHOTOS: 

Initial Sketches

Initial Sketches

Note card templates

Foam core

FINAL PHOTOS:

PROBLEM 3: LETTER FORMS

PROBLEM:

Take the letters of your first and last name and draw a flat, simplified geometric schematic based off of a 2" square. Use bristol paper to create the dimensional letter forms that are 8" vertical, 6" wide and 2" transverse. M's and W's are 8" wide. Simplify curves to 45 or 90 degree angles. 

PROCESS:

Overall, the process for creating these letter forms was fairly smooth. Using graph paper for the maquette drawing definitely helped with visualizing the whole three dimensional shale. A challenge I ran into was figuring out how to add some of the sides to create a 4 sided form. In constructing the "W" I realized I could have directly drawn another attached side to the drawing. Instead, I made separate, independent sides with the extra bristol paper. An error I encountered would be the construction of the angles for the curves. In making the "J," I realized I had made the 45 degree diagonal edge also one inch long. While it appeared functional on the drawing, it turned out to be too short for the angled opening since the diagonal, on the 45 degree (or hypotenuse) is naturally longer than the adjacent sides(or legs).  Lastly, I learned that having extra flaps are always a plus! 

Initial Rough Sketches

Completed Letter Forms

Angle #1

Angle #2

Sketch - Angle #1

Sketch - Angle #2

PROJECT 2: PLATONIC SOLIDS

PROBLEM:

Construct 3 platonic solids using bristol paper. Draw two sketches of the objects: one tonal value rendering and one linear sketch.

•  4" cube
• 4" tetrahedron
• 4" octahedron

RESEARCH:

1. Platonic Solids
A three dimensional geometric object or polyhedron must have two components in order to be deemed a platonic solid - the faces must all be congruent polygons and each vertex must have the same number of faces. A classic example would be the cube. Each face is congruent in shape and size and three faces meet at each vertex. The image below shows the 5 platonic solids.

2. Archimedean Solids
An archimedean solid is a polyhedron that must contain the following key characteristics: they must be composed of 2 or more types of regular polygons, and at every vertex, the regular polygons much meet in the same sequence.  The archimedean solid also must be convex. It is also highly symmetric since the identical vertices are repeated throughout the solid. The 13 types of archimedean solids are shown in the image below.

PROCESS:

CUBE:

TETRAHEDRON:

OCTAHEDRON: 

FINAL SKETCHES:

Line Drawing

Tonal Sketch

PROJECT 1: METAMORPHASIS

PROBLEM: 

Use a single, complete sheet of 16" x 20" bristol paper to create a free-standing abstract sculpture with up to 4 cuts. Mount on a 9" x 9" gray foam core 1/2" thick. 

INITIAL RESEARCH INSPIRATIONS: 

1. Richard Sweeney   
When I started researching the designers for this project, I was immediately drawn to Richard Sweeney's work. Richard Sweeney is a sculpture designer from England. What caught my eye and curiosity the most was how he incorporated such a great amount of motion in his paper sculptures. Despite the stiffness and solidity of the paper, there is a sense of softness through the curvilinear gesture. Two of Sweeney's sculptures shown below both incorporate folds that I believe add an interesting texture to a curve. When I think of curves I, for some reason, think of smoother surfaces because they are more malleable. After researching Sweeney's body of work, I was inspired to add some folds and curves into my own project. This feat, however, turned out to be more difficult than I thought it would be. After researching his work some more and watching a short tutorial video I found online, I realized that making curves and folds as seamless and textured as Sweeney required more than just 4 cuts.

2. Zaha Hadid
Zaha Hadid is an award-winning British-Iraqi architect. Upon researching her body of work, I found that almost all of her designs beautifully incorporated a unique shape that had been deformed in one way or another. Hadid's designs are definitely contemporary in that they break away from traditional ways of looking at a building. When you look at one of Hadid's designs, your eyes easily move across the whole structure without jumping around. There is a sense of balance through all her designs despite the various elongated structures. From the examples below, it becomes evident that every element, from the curves to the lines, is connected in the smoothest way possible and this was something I wanted to attempt add to my project. The first image below also reminded me of the melting clocks in "The Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali.

PROCESS:

When the project was first assigned, I was actually very excited to get started. Several design ideas were floating around in my head and I thought this would be an fun project to tackle. However it was not until I physically started working on the project that I realized some, if not most of my design ideas would not have come to fruition due to the lightness of the paper.

My initial design included an emphasis on negative spaces that resembled a rib cage or series of vertebrae. This design (pictured below) proved to be an inadequate one because it was too top heavy. In my second design, I chose to incorporate elements from both Richard Sweeney and Zaha Hadid. Through adding folds to create a texture and curves to accentuate the soft nature of the paper. First I made three cuts to divide the top of my sheet of bristol board into three sections. Then I started rolling the paper to get a better idea of how this structure would stand. I concluded that a cone-ish shape would be my best bet and proceeded to cement it into shape. After letting it dry, I started to curl the outer petals I had previously cut to create a curvilinear appeal. I decided to add just a few folds to the three lower petals to add some texture and create shadows. The remaining petal in the center appeared a little too boring and solid so I decided to cut a portion in the middle to make another flap. I curled the new flap as well in order to add more motion to the sculpture. As far as mounting, since my base was rather thin, I decided to create an incision to stick my base in. With some precision rubber cement, I was able to mount my paper sculpture onto a gray foam core.

SKETCHES/TRIALS: 

Trial & Error

Trial & Error

Final Sketch

PROCESS:

FINAL RESULT:

Eye Level #1

Eye Level #2

Downward Angle #1

Downward Angle #2