BUILDING PROCESS AREA OF EMPHASIS

ARCHITECTURE 160

THE NATURE OF ORDER

◊

AN INTRODUCTION TO

THE DESIGN AND BUILDING PROCESS

FALL 1999

INSTRUCTOR: HAJO NEIS

GSIs: Fernando Marti, Brandon Ankenbrandt

ASSIGNMENTS & PROJECTS

FORM LANGUAGE

HALF SEMESTER PROJECT: Form Language Analysis

• Part A - due Aug. 31

Choose two architects or vernacular or historical building styles that interest you from the list provided. We will narrow that to one which you will analyze in terms of form language.

• Part B - due September 14

Analyze the form language of the chosen architect in terms of one of the following criteria:

1. Walls and columns

2. Roof and slabs

3. Openings: windows and doors

• Part C - due September 21

Completed assignment will analyze the form language of the chosen architect or style in each of the three criteria as well as other special elements you discover.

STRUCTURE AND GROUND

ASSIGNMENT 1: A Space with Life

Due Sept. 7

• Looking at indoor or outdoor built space of your choice, which should be full of life or you like or is loved by people.

• Describe the space in terms of the architecture, form, structure and spatial elements which influence the life of the space.

• Graphic and written representation on two 11x17 sheets for pin-ups in section.

ASSIGNMENT 2: Fifteen Fundamental Properties

Due Sept. 28

• Again, choose a space that you consider to be "full of life;" it may be the same space as the one you chose for Exercise 1, or a different space.

• Analyze the space in terms of the fifteen fundamental properties, and how they relate to creating a field of centers.

• Can you see the life in the field of centers?

PROCESS AND MAKING

SEMESTER PROJECT: Piece of Furniture

• This will be the final project for the class. It should be a major project (small jewelry boxes are discouraged) but not something that is too complex for you to finish in time for the final review (chairs, for example, are very complicated...)

• It should be something that is both useful and beautiful, a gift to yourself or to a loved one.

• You will be asked to keep a journal to carefully document the process. We will also ask you questions to be answered weekly...

Step One: Sketch exercise, due Oct. 5. [One week.]

How is the object a mirror of your "self?" Pinup.

Step Two: Rough mockup, due Oct. 12. [One week.]

Responses to initial pinup. Individual office hours.

Step Three: Mid-review, Oct. 21. [Two weeks.]

Present mockups and analysis boards.

Analysis should include a discussion of the fields of centers and 15 properties - what works and what doesn't? Experiment with color and materials.

Discuss progress in office hours after mid-review.

Step Four: Review in-process work, Nov. 2 and 9

Discuss finishes, etc.

Step Five: Final project due Nov. 18. [Four weeks.]

All work must be finished by the final review date. Unfinished work will receive an incomplete and will not be reviewed.

Step Six: Based on your experience from the semester project and the process journal you created, briefly describe your notions of a process which results in good design at the example of your own project. Bring your process journal and a one-page write-up.

GRADING

Attendance & Exercises 10%

Assignment 1 10%

Assignment 2 10%

Half-semester Project 20%

Midterm 10%

Semester Final Project 40%