Unit 10 Summary

Hello, everyone! Today's post is going to be the last of the semester, which is super exciting! I'll be discussing the themes we learned, how they connect together and to interior design, and what I was able to take away from this course.
The main themes discussed during this semester were experience, finishes, furnishings, representation, and theories. Similar to last semester's themes, these themes play a huge part in what makes up an interior environment. As a quick background, I'm going to explain each one as I understand them: experience is how a space causes someone to feel and how they interact with the space; finishes involves the outer-most layer of materials and deals with being shine/matte/etc.; furnishings revolves around the objects that take up the space such as chairs, tables, etc.; representation is the portrayal of a specific idea or message based on what the client wants to display; the theories are different ideas that designers have come up with for why specific things work with designs and why other don't. If you were to look back through my most recent posts, you'd actually be able to read a few that discussed the themes that we learned about throughout this whole year.
When I think about the themes we've learned, I can't help but see their connections to interior design as a whole. Each one has a significant meaning and is separate from every other one, but they're all forms of analysis for describing an interior environment. Every place we were asked to go to or to research, I found myself using these themes to make a clear synopsis of what the ideas and thoughts were when creating them. For example, when I attended the Christ Catholic Church downtown, I realized that I was using the themes from last semester (since my visit to the church was right at the start of this semester) to make a clear idea of why it was built the way it is and how it makes people feel when the visit. I used these themes to help me understand my case study location (High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia). After everything we've learned this semester, I understand my case study building so much more and I'm looking forward to more case studies like it.
Last but not least, these themes have seriously effected my way of not only looking at design, but looking at the world. I look at everything from a new perspective and I'm growing to understand design a little bit more. I have the ability to give a better analysis now in comparison to how I was at the start of the year in August. I'm very proud of myself, but I know there's still plenty more to learn. I'm excited to learn more and to improve my skills in design. I hope that these new skills will help me in my future career in Stage/Set Design.

Putting It Together 3

Hello, again! Time for the last part to this series of posts. These posts have helped me to realize just how much I've learned and what I've accomplished in this course. Now without anymore delay, I'm going to continue!
Inspirations From Art: Going based off of the name of this theme, I would say it's taking the inspiration from art and what's being portrayed in art to then create an entire interior space. After watching the lectures for this assignment, I found out that this theme connects a lot with modernism and that art has gradually become more and more important in design. We've named design eras after art (Arts & Crafts, Art Deco, etc), so it's obviously been a large part of design for both interiors and architecture. This is something that's constantly visible nowadays, especially with how popular abstracted spaces can be (the same goes for abstracted art).
The only direct example I can currently think of is the artwork that Zaha Hadid did. She was famous for her architecture, fashion, and artwork; after doing some research on her, I found that she drew a lot of her inspiration for her structures and buildings from her artwork. This was a very important factor for me whenever I was completing my projects for Studio because it was where she drew her inspiration, and I had to draw MY inspiration from her. While this theme seems more in the direction of designers creating spaces based on art produced my separate people (not themselves), this was the absolute closest I could get in order for me to still understand what I'm talking about.
Good Design for All: Thinking off the top of my head, I feel like this theme is about functionality and how it effects the people who use it and are available to its resources. Another idea of what it could be is that it's what any designer does in order to continue showing the same ideas that they've been displaying for the world to see. In the lecture, several designers are given as examples, so I'm just going to use one of them for my main example.
Frank Lloyd Wright has been a very common name that I've learned while in the Interior Design major. One of the main creations he's had is Falling Water. This piece, in my eyes, is very inventive, fresh, and new even when given the sense of modernism. I've very revolutionary and it pushes the limits of what we know design is and has been. I believe that this is what we have to think about when discussing what "good design for all" really means. I guess it generally could mean multiple things, but this is just what I believe it means.
The Rise of the Interior: This theme is about the origin of interiors. Thinking back to past lectures, I remember lightly discussing the groups of women who let a movement in design. Although, I don't know much about them and their history, I do know that one big factor that came into play during this time (and ever, really) is that interior design isn't looked at for what it is. It's often mistaken for interior decorating, which deals with the arrangement of furniture to make a space "pretty." Interior design is the application of material in a space to solve a problem, which often deals with the functionality of the space.
An example that I have is an image of an interior space created by Elsie de Wolfe. She was a part of the First Ladies of Decorating (yes, I know, I know; what did I just say about this, right?), which was an organization that helped bring to light the exploration of interior design. I think it's really interesting how they put so much work into this chapter of design and made it what it is today.
Reactions to Modernism: This theme is kind of just how people feel about interior design and what actions designers take in response to the modern buildings and spaces. For the most part, this theme seems really basic and understandable. While watching the lecture, I saw that there are different types of reactions to modernism: brutalism, tectonic, and other sources (inspirational, it seems), roots, extensions, etc. This theme revolves around both historic preservation and new production of modern buildings.
An example of this theme is the Sydney Opera House. This building is directly correlated with the tectonic reaction to modernism with its sharp corners and narrowed edges. This design pushes the limits of modernism and is completely its own. The use of many modern materials adds to the idea of innovation and looking to the future of design; it's design style (aside from being modern) is still unseen in any other structure or building.
Beyond Modernism: Last but not least, this theme revolves around looking past modernism to understand other design styles and types, and figuring out a way to create even more buildings and spaces. After watching the lecture, I found that materials and sustainability are very important factors that need to be taken into account when looking past modernism.
An example of this theme is the Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center by Zaha Hadid. This building is very modern and falls under the expanded modes and materials category. During the lecture, this design was described as being inspired by the workings of a computer since that's how it could even be created; this is visibly displayed based on the pixelated appearance and the placement of light fixtures within the panels on the facade.

Putting It Together 2

Hello, again! Here's part two to the "Putting It Together" series of posts I'll be putting up. This one will be the halfway mark for the group of posts, and it's going to be about the same type of post (based on the last one). So let's get started!
Experience: Based on my understanding of the subject, experience is the way someone is emotionally effected in an interior environment. This feeling could come from any number of things: the arrangement of the principles and elements, the use of materials, the application of light and color, etc. It could easily just be your particular attachment to that type of space. Whatever it may be, that's what the meaning behind experience is.
One of the top examples I have for this theme is the Clubhouse at my apartment complex. The Clubhouse is the recreational area that everyone who lives here to go hang out at. There's a basketball court, a gym, a pool, a computer lab with printers, a game space, and even a communal kitchen. This entire space is very casual , but it's also a ton of fun. When I'm in this space, I don't necessarily get "crazy" emotional, but I do get a few strong feelings because it makes me realize that I am out on my own and I can do whatever I choose with my time (aside from what I do for school because school totally comes first!). The natural lighting that comes in through the large windows also effects the atmosphere of the space, so sometimes my feelings that are attached to this location are stronger during certain types of days.
Finishes: As I understand it, finishes are the different textures of surfaces that are possible in interior design. For instance, there are matte surfaces and then there are smooth surfaces; and sometimes there are a bunch of different levels between that have more smoothness versus matte or vice versa. Sometimes finishes deal with the exposure of certain materials in an interior space, such as brick or concrete. Finishes mainly just deals with different surface types in the world of design.
A direct example to this theme would be the church we (the first-year Studio class) got to go to on our trip to Berea last semester. This church was very small and had many visible materials being used. The finishes, however, varied throughout the room. The stained glass was probably one of the smoother surfaces, then it was the wood (were about a medium smoothness), and then the concrete/tile/brick-type of wall panelings. This was the material that was most exposed throughout the whole space. It created a particular feeling that kind of just took you back to the what felt like the first days of going to church, and these feelings are based on the application of finishes and knowing when they should/should not be used in specific spaces.
Furnishings: In this part of design, things get a bit more "decorative," in my opinion. This is because we start to focus more on the material items being used for the human interactions we'll partake in when inside of the interior space. This can range from anything between sofas, chairs, benches and tables to beds, chests, cabinets, and dressers. Furnishings also have to correlate between the materials and style of the designed space; it would be very odd to have a traditional wooden furniture piece (for example) in a very modern metal and glass-based space.
An example of this theme would be one of the study rooms in William T. Young Library here on campus. It's very metal-based when you look that cabinets and some of the smaller features on the desks, and then the main material on the desks is linoleum. One big flaw in this space is that they combine these materials that I just named off (which are very modern and metal-based) and wooden chairs. These chairs just don't flow with the space as a whole and they almost create a strange atmosphere within this room. It could be changed by using simple plastic chairs that match in color; the comfort in the chairs wouldn't change, then, because plastic and wooden chairs feel about the same.
Representation: The way I see it, representation is the portrayal of specific ideas within an interior space. This could be what the designer, the client, or both wish to display in the overall design. The preferred idea to portray could be literally anything: any particular aspects of design, something important to the client (maybe something they want to display in their business, a motto, etc.), and so much more. Representation can come from many starting points, but how it's carries out can vary; it can be shown through the materials used, the applied principles and elements, etc.
An example of this theme would be in the SAVS building here on campus. There's a part that you walk into and if you look up there are these interesting arrangement of lights. There are small spotlights, larger regular florescent lights, and then a skylight on the ceiling. With all of the sources of light available, it gives me multiple ideas on what the reasoning could be representation-wise. One idea could be that the client wanted to make sure the artwork was more pronounces, so more lighting was applied for that reason. Another possibility could be that people look at art from a different perspective, from a different "light" (pun totally intended), and that's why these lights are here. While that last idea is a bit of a stretch, anything could be possible.
 Theories: The way I understand this theme is very limited, so please bear with me. From what I've had to read for this course, I'd say that this theme is based on the ideas of what people (designers, architects, etc) believe to be true about buildings, spaces, and environments based on personal theorems. This could include what they think is the reason behind certain features working in a space versus their opposites. One of the main theories we learned about was by Stewart Brand, and his theory was about how he believes that each layer of a building ages at separate rates.
The closest example of this theme that I could accomplish is the Hunt-Morgan House that we had to visit for an assignment last semester. While it's already an older building, I'm sure it still can apply to the theory that Brand came up with. He said that there are six "S's": site (eternal), structure (hundreds of years), skin (about twenty years), services (about seven to fifteen years), space (three years), and stuff (changes monthly). Going off of his theory, the building itself has lasted the amount of time that was expected; especially since it's most prominent material is brick. Brand had a generalization that brick was "eternal" and could withstand after time passed--which makes sense since brick is one of the most sustainable materials we've ever had.

Putting It Together 1

Hey, guys! Tonight, I'll be posting a series of discussions to kind of just wrap up this whole course. They're basically just going to cover the themes we went over throughout both this semester and last semester (ID161). In this first post, I'll start things of by mentioning five key themes from this course (where we talked about the history and theory in the interior environment) along with complimenting images. So without further ado, let's get started!
Principles & Elements: The logistics of what the principles/elements are consists of what you can visually observe from an interior space. The elements include line (continuous mark on a surface), shape (two-dimensional figure), form (three-dimensional figure), texture (feeling on a surface), pattern (repeated decorative design), color (light reflection that reflects off of a surface to create hues), and light (quality of brightness); the principles include balance (the amount of interest in objects and the space they're in throughout the whole space), contrast (difference of quality between 2 objects in a space), rhythm (repeating elements for interest or movement), emphasis (visually reinforcing elements to draw attention to the space), unity (different elements coming together to create a unified whole), harmony (logical relationship between objects/surfaces in a space), and proportion (the relationship of sizes between surfaces/objects).
An example of this theme is the entrance of the 21 Hotel downtown. When you first walk in, there's this really interesting piece that's attached to the ceiling. It features many colors and line-work that screams "principles & elements." When I first analyzed this piece, the elements I noticed were color, line, shape, and form. The principles I noticed were rhythm, balance, harmony, and proportion. These elements and principles make up the visual appeal to an interior space or environment that makes people want to explore it.
Materials: When I think about materials, I think about what resources are applied in order to create an overall interior space. Some really common materials include wood, metal, concrete, and glass; these are just the basics. The use of materials has changed throughout the ages as new technology has come to new light, and it's effected the sustainability of buildings, structures, and spaces. For instance, some of the first "houses" were these small huts (also known as thatched huts) made with sticks and dried straw. These huts were great for Nomad-based people who were known to constantly be on the move. As time went on, it was discovered that there was a way to actually lay down some "foundation" (not the real kind; just being metaphoric here) and live in one place, and this happened through the use of bricks. Early bricks were made of mostly mud that was dried to form blocks that people built homes with. Fast-forward to present time to see that now we not only have bricks, but we also have things like concrete to our availability. This was just one example of the evolution of some materials.
An example of a space that makes me think of materials (aside from literally every space there is) would be the Christ Church Cathedral here in Lexington. This was a church we had to visit towards the beginning of the semester when we were discussing experience. Materials had played a large part in the experience I had in this space. There was a large amount of wooden features throughout the room (the pews, chairs, etc.) as well as metal from the light fixtures and the organ. Overall, this room has a wide range of different materials and material applications, and it's very representative of this theme.
Scale: The basic idea behind scale is that it's the understanding of proportion between the human body and the objects in and of a space. To be completely honest, this was a theme that I was constantly struggling with simply because I wasn't quite grasping what I was about. I was thinking of the proportion difference between the human body and the building that the interior space was in when I should've been thinking about the proportion between the human body and the objects/surfaces within the interior space. I was being ridiculously close-minded on the idea of scale when were originally going over it. Luckily, I get to discuss it now in this blog post.
The main example that coming to mind for me is my case study building, which is the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia. When you first look at this building, all you initially see is an all white building with a lot of windows. However, if you stop to really analyze it, you'd see that there's a reason for all of the white materials being placed where they are (which is to create plenty of natural light for people to see), you'd see what materials are utilized throughout this art museum (wooden floors, painted aluminum on the exterior, concrete frame at the core of the building, and a bunch of glass windows. In the image that I'm going to provide for this example, you'll be able to see the proportion between the human body and these openings in all of the walls.
Light & Color: As I understand it, light and color go directly hand-in-hand in the world of design. Color is the reflection of light on an object or surface, and light is the quality of brightness. Light and color was probably one of my favorite themes to discuss in class because both cause so much emotion in the experience that people have in an interior environment, and along with that the both (light and color) make the space more visually appealing when observing it.
The main example that pops in my head when I start thinking about this theme is the Mike McKay exhibit that our class went to see over in the Singletary Center. I was this large structure that at first glance looked super conceptual and abstract. However, if you were to look at it from these specific points that McKay had pinpointed, you could see that shapes and forms could be created visually. Some important features that came with this piece included light and color. The colors that were included were hot pink, pale pink, black, and gold (as well as white from the original gallery wall and the browns in the wood flooring). The light reflected the most off of the gold vinyl that;s more toward the interior of the piece, but it also reflected a lot off of the black paint because it was on the shinier side.
Technology: So last but not least (for this post) there's technology. When thinking about the topic of technology, I think of something that's innovative and progressive in interior spaces; maybe something that's not often found in spaces or is new to the world of design. Technology can honestly be any number of things. Back in the day when we were coming up with how to create more sustainability (going back to the examples used earlier in this post), bricks were seen as new technology. To me, technology as I understand it is anything that's a new step in progression in design (or anything, honestly).
The main example I have of this is back to the Christ Church Cathedral. In particular, we will be discussing the notes I took while I was there. When sitting on the over-looking balcony of the space, I remember looking down for a moment because I was looking for my pencil and I found this interesting little crevice purposefully placed between every seat up there; they were made to hold any bibles or other church-related documents. I thought that this had been a really interesting technology to have, especially in a church. It made complete sense for the given space and it was very useful to those would use it the most.

Solar House

Hello, everyone! Today, I'll be discussing the Solar House from two classes ago. For some background, the Solar House is a building here on campus (over by Commonwealth Stadium, specifically) that was built to represent sustainability. It features a large solar panel on the roof that can adjust to absorb light from the sun. Inside, there's a bedroom space with a space office area in the corner, a bathroom, etc. I didn't get to observe the entire space due to feeling nauseated and claustrophobic.
Overall, the building is a clear representation of sustainability in the design world. It's energy source is from the sun, LED lighting systems, and the materials used include some natural sources that can withstand the elements. It's also a decent enough size that someone could live comfortably, but small enough that they'd be living "small"--meaning that they wouldn't be subject to materialism and hold on to unnecessary items. That, in itself, is a sustainable quality to have in the human mind because if people become less materialistic, they'll be less prone to stock up on junk (unnecessary items I brought up before) that'll end up just getting thrown away one day.
The only images I can supply for this visit are of the brochure, which I'll provide bellow:    

Cast Study 10

Good evening, everyone! Today, I'll be putting up a link for a video I had to create and then upload to YouTube. The video consists of my analysis of the High Museum of Art in Atlanta, Georgia--which we all know already is my Case Study building. Hope you enjoy it!
Below is the link to the video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZr0CTjQJ7Y&feature=em-upload_owner

Sense of Place

Hello, everyone! Today, I'll be discussing what I believe "sense of place" means in interior design and then give an example.
I believe that "sense of place" means that you can understand the what location that object, space, or building connects back to based on it's overall design and familiarity. For instance, anything with the Eiffel Tower or the Statue of Liberty on it; both of these are culturally important monuments. The Eiffel Tower is a basic representation of Paris, France, and the Statue of liberty is a representation of the US (although there's a smaller copy of it in France, but that's beside the point). Both of these objects are important to French and American culture, and they act as symbols of each country.
Below is an image of smaller representations of these monuments.