Wednesday afternoons at the moment are taken up with tutoring in Visualisation in the Architecture faculty at QUT. Week 11 was a session on modelling with paper, cardboard and foam core for first year students to learn the process involved in building conceptual models and mock-ups.
Drawing was the focus of the first week ... for many it's a new skill, yet to be acquired and tough going at the start. So it was interesting to see the enthusiasm for the 3D task this week. Working on model making, experimenting with forms ... abstract angular, geometric, curving and complex.
I took a few quick snaps of the process in between working around the room seeing what was going on but missed shooting the final results. Students loved photographing their models...particularly the task to get right in close to create the illusion of having designed huge spaces on a scale of a contemporary concert hall or cutting edge art museum. They will take this a bit further next week and place tiny cardboard people in these spaces to add to the illusion.
Its all about seeing ... about 'getting' the idea conceptually to continue developing the models to the desired outcome. It was such a stimulating exercise and great to see people enjoying the afternoon's class.
The following images below you can see here at the page on buildings I have (somewhat randomly) been collating. Adding them after showing the student experiments I thought made a neat link between where concepts can emerge from ...and how they may be realised given the circumstances.
Seeing them as paper thats been folded, cut, loped, twisted, bent and so on makes it quite fascinating seeing the core idea out of which the building has developed.
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This one here is really thought provoking ... called the Succulent House it collects rainwater through use of Biomimicry / Murmur.
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I had a strong passion for designing buildings when I was about 13 going on 14... only to be told that I could not take technical drawing as a hugh school subject as it was only for boys. There's something of a lingering architectural/structural thread running through my work over the years that was observed by some staff in this architecture faculty and one of the reasons Ive been included with the group of tutors.
It's certainly offered a tangent for visual thinking that I welcome gladly... and I'll be curious to see if, by the end of semester, something sticks from this time pursing an alternative line of thinking.
Tomorrow is my first day contributing to a community Mural Project... and this week will give me some studio time after a huge couple of weeks on other tasks. More soon ...
enjoy your projects won't you!
Sophie
