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Project-B> Making and Representing Space  through time. Timeline> A three-week individual process with three checkpoints, the final of which is the final review> 12/16/08 in the Great Space (West and East) from 7-9pm.  Students will present their work along with other students with the same site to a rotating panel of reviewers.  The discussion will focus on the following goals> To design and represent a spatial experience using video and animation.  Students will explore the implications of composing from the first-person perspective by overlapping video and a series of static 3-d images (the resolution of their variance will determine to what extent they are perceived as animate).  Intentions regarding process and product will be paramount including how, when and why scripting, modeling, drawing and sound, come together coherently. Background>Students will expand upon methodologies from the scripting exercise and will use their documentation of the site as  fuel. The scripted interface exercise explored implications of a graphic experience varying with a  parameter.  Conditions from that exercise can be translated into a animate condition if that parameter is applied to the time as represented in video. The 30-second site capture will serve as canvas or backdrop and inform each students intention toward influencing the place through a formal/spatial intervention in the making of these  products> week 1> Due>12/4/08 Each student will author and post a 100-300 word proposal on the course blog accompanied by a storyboard sketch of the proposed intervention.  The proposal will outline the overall intention in terms of process and product.  The storyboard may use frames from ex09 as an underlay. Define important terms as necessary.  In the post, students must also represent some tests of technique including modeling, scripting, drawing, and recording.  Use this week as a opportunity to learn something new. week 2> Due> 12/11/08 A completed version at its full-length must be ready for display and critique.  This version should incorporate each media intended to be used in the final submission.  The primary focus of this week will be a discussion of rhythm, speed , flow and clarity of the sequence.   week 3> Due> 12/16/08 The primary product will be a 1-minute (maximum) video. Although the base for this exercise is 30 seconds in length, students may choose to pause or extend duration to coherently represent a narrative.  The video should be saved without compression for the review and again using the compression and size settings from ex09 for posting on the course blog.  Before the review students must submit the latter version in the interact folder on ttclass titled “lastname_prjB.mov.” Students will produce one supplemental 22”x25” landscape format sheet for one drawing that represents the entirety of the experience .  

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Exercise09> Place in time due>11/25/08 before class Goal>To use video to document a place.  In this exercise a time-based medium  will be used to represent a time-based condition: perception.    Video (and film) allow for  the scaling and editing of time in non-linear fashion.  Place will be represented here in a compressed format, forcing the “speeding-up” of representation of time within a 30-second constraint (a duration we are highly accustomed to for television commercials).  The result of this exercise will be used as the canvas for the final project of the course.  Selection, recording and editing for this project will all be shared by a small group of students.  The final project will be an individual endeavor. Product> First, meet with your group to discuss options for place selection.  Make a long list of options based on accessibility, dynamics of the place (does it change over the course of a day? hours? a week?  weather?), cultural / personal value, or history.  There are no rules for selection and recording of place except that no laws may be broken during recording. Narrow the field and eventually settle on one place (vote, if necessary).    Record using a video camera (or time-lapse still camera) the place over time.  Utilize the varying schedules of the group to share this responsibility.  Record from more than one angle.  Work as a group then to decide how much time needs to be represented over the 30 seconds limit.  Time might not need to be represented in a continuous fashion.  Capture video then edit speed, lengths and size of clips in Final Cut software.  Each group will post one 30-second video on the course blog.  Limit the size of the clip to be less than 10MB.

References> Excerpts from the following films are available on ELMS. 

Baraka. 1992. Ron Fricke, Director. 

Bronenosets Potyomkin (Battle Ship Potemkin).  1925. Sergei M. Eisenstein, Director

REX Architecture is an example of animaion as documentation of design process.

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Exercise08> Coding Architecture due>11/18/08 before class Goal>To explore direct implications of algorithm design in an architectural design context. Much of media research and exploration, including that of this course, is conceptually algorithmic. We focus on process. Algorithms are the codification of that process.  Note that the term “algorithm” has become part of the everyday language of our discourse.  Now, this exercise will explore the craft and technique involved in algorithm design.  Aesthetic patterns, effects and conditions will directly result from the procedural treatment of parameters and variables with operational logic. As we leverage our knowledge to become more than users of tools, scripting and programming is critical in documenting and harnessing creativity in its most primal form. Even if this is the only time students apply a programming language as a designer, the exercise should put all design and all human-computer interaction, in a revealing light. Definitions>Algorithm: A finite set of unambiguous instructions performed in a prescribed sequence to achieve a goal, especially a mathematical rule or procedure used to compute a desired result. Algorithms are the basis for most computer programming. Program: the precise sequence of instructions enabling a computer to solve a problem or execute an action. Script:  the precise sequence of instructions enabling a computer to solve a problem or execute an action through the implementation of existing functions of software within that software environment. Product> Design using the processing programming language and the given script structure. Each student will adapt an algorithm that generates a 2d graphic condition that will vary with a parameter, ‘t’.  The value of that parameter will be adjusted in real-time through the pre-established user interface. This user interface is part of the script that is given as are nested “for” loops that establish a grid. The key for this exercise is the use of the ‘t’ parameter.  The graphic should vary significantly as the value of t changes.  Explore how computations affect the result.  Use at least one conditional statement (“if….”, “then….”).  Strike a balance between randomness and order (again, perhaps varying with t).  Consider shapes, lines, tone and color.  Play at first, then develop rationale and intent. One way to formulate an intent is to reference a texture image from the content library. Turn in the project using the following procedure: In processing, choose file-export.  This will generate an “applet” folder within your project folder.  Copy the ENTIRE project folder (with the applet folder inside) to the ex08 folder in ttclass-INTERACT. We will embed this exercise as a web-based java applet onto the blog during class. Resources> “Algorithmic Architecture” by Kostas Terzidis (section with most specific relevance — including examples — is available on ELMS.); www.processing.org/reference (find examples, and specs for all built-in functions for the Processing Software; www.processing.org/download (Processing software is free for everyone); www.processing.org/exhibition (examples include work through various disciplines including interactive exhibition design, scientific simulation and social-science research). Start>By finding the “lastname” folder in the ex08 folder in TTCLASS-INTERACT.  Copy this folder to your hard drive and replace “lastname” with your actual last name.  Within that folder find “lastname.pde” again, rename this file the same way. When you move between computers you must bring this entire folder and keep its contents intact.  Open the .pde file in processing and locate the labeled area that will serve as the canvas of this exercise.

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Exercise07> Page design due>11/11/08 before class Goal> To experiment with the application of architectural principles to graphic design media . Further, to explore the implications of publishing architecture a portable document  and their contrasts to the issues embedded in designing specific event-based presentations.  Product> Each student will produce two spreads (four pages) presenting a design proposal for a portfolio of their work.  The spreads will use content from work authored prior to the current semester. As a portfolio, the document must convey graphics, headlines, data and descriptive copy. Although only four pages will be created, treat these as test cases in the design of a layout system.  Students will consider binding method although for this exercise, it will only be necessary to print each spread on one continuous sheet of paper cropped to the size of an opened book. The dimension of the spread (and book) are open to the student. The spreads will be printed in color at 1:1 scale for pin up and presentation in class. Students will also post two compressed images (one for each spread) in .jpg format each not to exceed 300KB onto the course blog, http://0095b6.com/lostritto/arch470fa08.Advice> [These are patterns of successful portfolios, not recipes for guaranteed success.  There are exceptions to all of these.] Don’t overload the page.  Most professional or graduate school admissions portfolios as well as documentary folios are between 50 and 250 pages–spread the content out, but not evenly. Use tons of white space.  Create simple series of datums and stick to them, absolutely. The rigid datums should also allow for visual diversity between pages:  figural vs. white space, full-bleed vs. framed content, text density, and intesity should all vary.  Strike a balance between a reading of the entire spread and the individual page.  Don’t use more than two fonts or more than three type settings in the entire document. Consider how binding type will affect the layout near the center spine. Consider that using self-publishing resources (see below) may influence format. The audience is almost never interested in completely understanding every facet of every project–provoke but don’t explain. Resources> 

http://www.blurb.com (“book store quality” self-publishing resource and print-on-demand site.  They have best printing technology available short of true offset printing, even compared to Lulu but their prices are higher and formats limited.  Blurb Interface oriented toward the “prosumer” although complete customizing is possible);

Midterm review event

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Exercise06>3-d Mapping due>11/04/08 before class Goal> Mapping as defined as “the recording through the spatial distribution of a set of data” can be a valuable method in a design process. Mapping can translate social, cultural, or environmental conditions into a spatial language and can be essential in placing architecture into broader contexts. These conditions can also provide fuel for an emergent design process. This exercise explores the viability for digital modeling as media for representing data.  Further, this process presents an analysis of the potential for informational patterns to manifest as space.  This transition makes use of modelling and drawing techniques as well a scientific approach in the articulation of legitimately qualified data.  Product>Each student will choose a set of conditions relating to the 2008 United States election cycle. This could include, local, State, National or a combination of elections and/or social/cultural conditions associated with politics (including but not limited to, the Media).  Choose conditions that can be quantified into data, then map that data in 3-D using modeling software.  Quantify everything into variables and parameters and consider how associating these variables into geometries will affect the outcome of this exercise. Map at least two conditions, so that the relationship between conditions can translate into space. Choose conditions that will translate into a compelling graphic, not necessarily those that will prove a point or express a particular point of view.  The diagrams should not reveal any personal political bias by the student.   Consider whether text or labels will add to or detract from the value of the diagram in an architectural context.  Spend time framing the model as a 2d graphic and edit the geometry in Illustrator for clarity.  Some data might be overlaid in the 2d environment although a 3d component is required for this exercise.  Students will post a compressed .jpg not to exceed 200KB onto the course blog, http://0095b6.com/lostritto/arch470fa08. Post an explanation onto the blog along with (but not part of) the graphic that explains the process of mapping.  ALSO: students will turn in an Illustrator-generated PDF into the collection folder in the INTERACT folder in ttclass.

Resources>Polling Data relating to a variety of elections is readily available from multiple sources including http://www.realclearpolitics.com/polls/  and http://www.pollster.com/  but also consider other methods for quantifying political conditions.  One example are the Intrade Prediction Markets. It might be necessary to create your own data set using Lexis Nexis (logon for free as a student from lib.umd.edu and click on Databases to logon to this search engine of nearly ALL print media).  Media Matters  does this type of research regularly, but if you’re not comfortable with their point of view, you’ll need to do your own research.  Consider that language used by candidates is quantifiable as is money. Many candidates make their schedules available on their websites.

Response to BBoback

I did these two quick overlay exercises in photoshop to demonstrate my hypothesis that offsetting/shifting/overlapping/scaling with this pattern was more provocative than the pattern itself.  We’re talking about a 2 minute time investment to explore something here… Brandon, now its on you to step it up and refute my claim, take it further, question it… I’m anxiously awaiting your response.

a technical note about patterning in photoshop that will help you immensely: you can select the repeating segment of your pattern (in this case one diamond) and choose (edit->define pattern).  once the pattern is defined it is available as a fill when choosing (edit->fill).  this may help you not only with 2d investigations but may also be fruitful in making graphics that you can use as transparency maps so its not necessary to model the diamond forms. Dave is using that technique here.

Brief

Project-A> Pattern to Space. Timeline> A three-week process with three checkpoints, the final of which is the midterm review> 10/23/08 in the Great Space West from 7-9pm.  The event will be divided into two segments:  a gallery display with rotating guests engaging in small group or individual discussions followed by a large group discussion based on a series of  established goals> To provide students a structure to experiment with specific process-oriented, hypothesis-based intentions related to the design and representation of space. To continue an ongoing exploration of the potential of digital media  to enable the design of perceptual experience  restricted and enabled by the parameters of the built environment. Students will begin by reflecting on thisbackground> Exercise 05 directly preceeds  this project purposefully.  The translation of image-based pattern into a surface inherently proposes space as a function of depth. But “depth” isn’t synonymous with “space.” The result from that exercise should be critically evaluated by each student.  How might the construct become spatial? How might it be distorted? The exercise was designed to serve as a critical starting point in an image to surface to space journey. The specifics of this journey are to be defined by each student.  These intentions will give meaning to an otherwise arbitrary proposition and provide a structure for the evaluation ofproduct> week 1>Each student will author and post a 200-500-word proposal on the course blog.  The proposal will outline concepts, priorities and means by which the transformation will take place.  Its is important to note that these means need not necessarily be technically specific but should nonetheless clarify direction.  Define important terms.  Cite at least one reading from the project or course bibliography.   Cite any related buildings, writings, or other works. Begin the process of translation and capture the work so far in at least three images.  At least one image must be the result of digital modeling but may be augmented by drawings with physical media on paper. Scan paper drawings and print digital drawings.  Post these images on the blog and bring them to Thursday class.  

week 2> Model and draw the spatial construct designed using the process outlined and begun in week one. Use digital and physical media as appropriate. Capture formal implications of the translation from  pattern to space as well as represent the perceptual implications of that translation. Photograph physical models in natural light, scan drawings and print images. Bring to class and post on the course blog at least three further developed images and all models.  Draft or sketch a concept for the sheet due on week 3> Students have one 22”x25” landscape format sheet to present drawings and the full essay from week one.   The sheet should function as a single composition communicating both intention and result.  The top edge of the drawing will be pinned up during the review (and in subsequent displays) 5’6” above the floor.  The space below the drawing should accommodate: a final version of the spatial construct, previous versions of that spatial construct, tangential investigations, an unobstructed/unedited printout of the source pattern image, and the surface from exercise 05.  Follow this diagram for pinup>

Deep Space, Shallow Surface

TKR Building in Soel Korea.  Architect: Frank Barkow

Found in The Plan Magazine

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Exercise04>Modeling Experience: Digital Stage Set due>9/25/08 before the start of class goal> Use a 3-d modeling environment to establish the perception of space through the creation of a virtual stage set and camera. Also at issue is the further exploration of graphic text. product>Each student will produce a single collage graphic that demonstrates the “stage set” through its intended view, reveals the reality of the modeled forms with an orthographic projection, and employs text as a graphic element within the composition. Students should utilize the same space image for this exercise as was used for exercise 03. After establishing a fixed “view,” model using only planes and lines the critical geometries necessary to convey the space as represented in the photograph.  Use Photoshop to collage together images generated from the model (all taken though the set view), found environmental  photographs to be treated as backdrops in the virtual set, and an orthographic projection which reveals the reality of the model. A headline will be created that reflects the space or the process of modeling the stage set.  The headline text should be large and will interact with the other source images. Student should maintain and keep the working files but will only turn in a compressed .jpg not to exceed 250KB, posted onto the course blog, http://0095b6.com/lostritto/arch470fa08 Things to think about>Consider what might be abstracted or exaggerated in a literal stage set and how those conditions might apply to your graphic.  It may be necessary to define “collage” as a noun as well a verb prior to defining and individual intent. Students may be interested in exploring extreme and/or unexpected ambiguities between perceived and literal depth.  

Textures

Spaces

Patterns

Actions

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Exercise01>create content librarydue>9/4/08 before class goal>the establishment of a collection of source material for the course. These images will be used for multiple projects throughout the semester.  All images will be made available to every other student for future use in the course.  Projects and exercises will focus on process so source material chosen for each subsequent exercise will be of relative inconsequence.  A limited palette of sources for the coursework will create a control variable for in our research by again placing the emphasis on process.  However, the nature of a shared library does acknowledge that when beginning a project it may be fruitful or even essential to have the ability to intelligently select a source to appropriately test (and challenge) the intention(s) of the each student. product>Each student will gather eight (8) source images, two-per each of the following categories: Actions (images should represent an action or capture an action taking place), Patterns (the images must be entirely patterned or the pattern should at least be the dominant feature of the image), Spaces (each image should convey a single space), Textures (the images must be entirely textured or the texture should at least be the dominant feature of the image.  Students must own the rights to these images (meaning they must be created by the students, released by the author or part of the public domain) and the students must be willing to give up these rights upon inclusion to the course library (see syllabus for more information regarding ownership of work).  Images can be of any proportion as long as the smaller dimension is greater or equal to 1024 pixels. Images will be translated to jpeg (.jpg) format with little or no compression (ask quality 10-12).  Images will be stored in ttclass/INTERACT/CONTENT/…. and placed within the proper sub-folder according to category.  Name the files using the following scheme: lastname_category_#.jpg.  Example: “lostritto_texture_1.jpg”Things to think about>the “thesis fair,” aka “thesis match day,”  will be taking place in the evenings of Thursday and Friday this week.  What defines a thesis in architecture?  What is architectural research?  What means do you observe that thesis student’s use (or plan to use) in structuring their research?…. How do they control the process?  How to they plan to evaluate the outcome?  What are your goals for this course? How do your assumptions regarding the nature of the course overlap with the stated thesis of the course?

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Exercise03>solid space due>9/18/08 before the start of class goal>This exercise introduces the basics of the formZ modeling environment and promotes the idea that digital modeling can be harnessed for more than creating a virtual building.  product>Each student will create an “inverse model” of the primary, secondary and tertiary spaces from one image from the “spaces” content library.   Using the tools demonstrated in class model the space as solid volume.  Use additive and subtractive modeling techniques. Obtain as reasonable degree of accuracy as is possible based on the photo.  Make assumptions about the part os the space(s) not visible in the photo.  Change the color and transparency attributes of modeled volumes to delineate spatial hierarchy and overlap.  Export one image that best explains the spatial relationships. Student should maintain and keep the working file but will only turn in a compressed .jpg not to exceed 200KB, posted onto the course blog, http://0095b6.com/lostritto/arch470fa08 Things to think about>Don’t forget to post a critical comment on the course log in reference to another student’s exercise from last week.

Brief

Exercise02>definition of space with 2-d digital mediadue>9/11/08 before class goal>This exercise will explore the beginnings of a translation from 2-d graphics to 3-d by representing a space through the manipulation of tone and color and layers within a planar realm.  Each student will draw from two (2) images–one texture and one pattern– from the content library to recreate a third–a space–as accurately as possible.  The space image may not be used in whole or part in the final composition.  This exercise is designed to push propel students beyond casual users of powerful software into  designers with full command of the breadth of potential available. product>Each student will create a single composition that presents the recreated image as well as the three source material images used in the process.  The student’s name should be the only text in the composition.   The image may be any proportion but the largest dimension should be no greater than 1600 pixels.  Each student should maintain and keep the working file but will only turn in a compressed .jpg not to exceed 200KB, posted onto the course blog, http://0095b6.com/lostritto/arch470fa08 bring some drawing precedents to bear on the discussion of 2d media… link to them on the blog and/or bring them to class.

categories for posts

Students, a few notes about categories… I’ve added an image precedents category so that we can pull out our reference gathering from the archives for each project. As you continue to find images please post them to that category. Also if you posted precedents along with your exercise 02 in one single post please pull out the precedents as necessary to a new post.

Description> This course introduces the principles and fundamentals of computer aided design through inquiries into digital modeling and drawing. Issues at stake include systems of analysis,  meaning of media, expression and the syntactical and spatial language of architecture. Thesis>Digital Media’s relevance to architecture can be tested by its ability to be translated into or to facilitate the transfer of other media, especially physical media; Digital media is process. Pedagogy> In some ways digital media education is an exaggerated microcosm of architectural education.  Consider how technical information can be conveyed without obscuring the development of instincts, abilities and attitudes necessary for the valid application of that knowledge. In the case of digital media (as with any media) certain skills necessarily precede production.   But if the merits of academia are assumed a given

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