Site as Text: The Unconscionable Maps of UNAM

As I sketch designs during this process of mapping part of the UNAM campus I come to the realization that the way I read a map reflects much of what is being showcased in my study. My project is investigating how the humanities building on the campus acts as a space of transformation between the library and the science sector and on the perpendicular axis from the city to the inner quad. These transformations are just as much mental, almost more so, than physical.  The city is an area of complexities, densities, and confusion, while the inner quad is a a space of quiet, an openness and understanding. The library is a place of introspective thought, personal study and reflectivity while the sciences is an extrovert learning experience with interaction. These axis are two ways streets. The culture and experiences from  the city transform into learning through other culture and experience with your peers; going from the quad to the city these knowledge taken from the inner campus and is applied in the city. Same for the library/ science axis. Personal knowledge is accumulated from reading and studying material and is taken into the science labs and applied, then the knowledge acquired through the scientific process is injected to the libraries circulation of material. My investigation into how the humanities building plays a crucial role in defining these transformations, limiting them and fine tuning them has lead me to believe that these experiences are inter woven and happen at designated point that relate to each other.  2aTo showcase this I will be constructing one map that depicts the intensity of how these axis are interwoven. 2bThe second will display sectional where key points of transformation occur. I will draw the sectional qualityies on each of these axis. Process photos will follow along with updates on the 2c section of the process.

Final Book Prototype

Final Model for Facade Fantasy

mapping project 2b

The next exercise will be focusing on mapping the site. This map wont be just a normal Rand McNally book showing the Roosevelt interstate system of New England. Rather we will be abstracting experiential qualities of the site. The maps in my portfolio will be rendering the experience of the materialities parallel to the monster of the Humanities Building running from the Library to the Medical zone. The side walks, soft scape and building facades, both in plan and section will be developed into a three dimensional portrayal. The materiality of our surroundings add a very emotional element to any site. Materials designate zones, property and associations within a site. These qualities are often very heavily considered during a design process and will be mapped and express within this process both physically and emotionally. The above image is of the zone being studied (expressed in the orange) and the images are of a few of the different qualities. More process images will follow.

Project 2a: Facade Study_Labyrinth of Planes, Mass, Void

The second problem we approached in the design process was to take a close look at the facade of the building, which is a mural that leaves little reference to the interior form other than its a rectangular box. In reality the facade is merely a thin envelope that holds something within it, not necessarily eluding to what that something is. After studying the facade we were to design the interior in a fantastical way, relating to the facade or not. I started with two models one that used the forms within the mural and extruded them within the depth of the form and the second was a more orthogonal articulation of plans where the voids and lines created spaces. The far out model was a labyrinth of spaces and forms that didn't allow much realistic value. The other was too much of just a line study. For the final development in this small project I attempted to marry the two ideas; creating a labyrinth with a series of planes, masses, extruded boxes, and voids. This project allowed my design to step by from the usual structure of well structural feasibility, spaces of actual program, circulation and other design hazards but truly let my imagination run free with the forms and spaces. Images to follow. 

photos from book of colors project (process_final design

Final Book Design

After a gruelling weekend of work we presented out books today. The work that went into the book became very tedious and almost overwhelming. Every thing needed to fit perfect and open and close effortlessly. Needless to say the nice fit and smooth closing were almost impossible. However the book did work and for the most part opened and closed. Some criticisms we based on the lack of rigid literal portrayal of the poem. The basic shape and dimensions were not represented as in the poem however I think the use of realistic images and deep rich colors within them resolved the poem physically. The use of light and reflection of the light off the images i think help strengthen the project intentionally. Overall the project especially the process helped me understand that nowhere in our natural world are there pure colors everything is blended, illuminated, complimented, blurred etc etc etc and that adds to the richness of colors. I wish I had months to work on the project so I could expand the book to depicted every color in nature. I am considering take a camera with me and taking a picture everyday for a year then do the book with 300 pages like the poem depicts. I would like to cover every part of the color wheel. Also to spend more time on the craft and planning the exact placement of every vertical plane. I think that this project leaves a lot of room for exploration and improvement, both which I would like to attempt.

Images from design, process production, and final to follow. (once i figure out how to upload from my camera on my iPhone...any tips?)

Book of Colors Process

The first exercise of the semester was a challenge of looking to the physicality of a book rather than the text. Books come in all shapes and sizes, colors and textures. The physical objest-ness of a book tell the reader, most of the time, what is in store for them when opened. I worked with a title, The Book of Colors, to create a prototype book that would evoke feeling for place, memories and color/object associations rather than telling the reader what to expect. I looked to images of real life color, the way light excites the image and evokes the emotion of the color became appreciated during the process and incorporated into the development. Collaging and mosaics became my first thoughts on expressing the colors. Then the idea of using vertical " lines" to give each color a third demension. I wish I had time to explore more into the way the portype worked. The craft of building the prototype was tedious a best. Everything had to line up perfect and 1/300th of a inch will throw off the whole book. I wish I could have had the plates, as the pages came to be called, rotate a full 360 degrees and each color becomes more involved.

Photos of process with text and final prototype will follow.

Books 010909

Being a building that "holds books", our first step in attacking this problem is to look at books in a new light. Writing has been always apart of our modern culture. Books truely withstand the test of time. However what often gets little thought is the phyiscallity of books, the book as an object.

arch 430 adv. design studio f09

For the fall semester 09 I am taking Luis Carranza's "The Ineluctable Modality of the Visible, or the Library as an (other) minor Architecture Problem". The problem is to find an appropriate design for the expansion for an other wise perfect building, the library at National University in Mexico City by Juan OGorman, Gustavo Saavedra, Juan Martinez de Velasco (1953). The school as it exists in a modern architecture show case for Mexico's Modern Design Movement. From the overall university planning to the design and mural facades of each academic building. As the semester moves forward I will detail more specifically the problem and progression on solutions as well as underlying ideas and new understandings about this projects design as well as a more universal understanding toward design. When I talk about design, not only an I talking about the design of the building but also the process to achieve that final product. The DESIGN PROCESS is often more crucial to the projects development and the architects understanding of what the design meaning to himself and to the people who experience it.

Intro to ARJ

My name is andrew jackson and I am a fifth year architecture student at Roger Williams University's School of Architecture Art and Historic Preservation (SAAHP). I am working towards my masters degree in architecture and have a minor in visual arts focusing on sculpture. I am originally from Waterbury Ct where I attended Holy Cross High School. Outside of my studies at the RWU.SAAHP I wrestled for the RWU varsity team, work as a mentor for first year students in the arch. program through AIAS, and work for the university president as a Presidential ambassador. I enjoy traveling and try experiencing as much as the world has to offer. Traveling to new places is more of a thrill than anything else I can think of. Mostly I enjoy travel by boat. I can find anything mor eliberating than being on the open water. There is no more true way to experience nature and appreciate her. I truly believe that the beauty of the world, natural and man made, is something to only experience first hand, not through a computer monitor or through reading.

I have been interested in the idea of designing since I can remember. The thought of being able to influence people, entire cultures, through something that I designed is an incredible idea. My first experiences I have of designing were building snow forts after a huge storm and creating make shift villages in the woods behind my house out of nothing more than the trash from old construction. Some of my favorite architects are OMA (Rem Koolhaas), Frank Lloyd Wright, Philip Johnson, Tadao Ando, Alvar Alto, Richard Meyer, Louis Kahn, Robert Venturi, Bernard Tschumi and Oscar Niemeyer (I guess this list could go on for hours).