The Little White Schoolhouse

The new Little White Schoolhouse is located in Valley, WA, and it is designed to show Valley's history, culture aspects and vernacular art created by local artists. This community museum includes the historical display area, the projection space and the interactive area. The two main concept, Colville River and the Spokane Falls & Northern Railway, are deeply influenced the interior and exterior design in this building. The  materials, such as wood and bronze, are used to convey the sense of industrial age. The fence and playground design not only attract people to use this space, but also display the cultural value of Valley.  

Geology-Environmental Sciences-Physics Project

We are involved to redesign the Webster building in WSU.  The old arrangement in the lobby of Webster is strange and it seems that people can not use this space effectively. we want to redesign the space and the showcases in order to satisfy the educational purposes. In addition, we also concern about the code issues, especially the ADA and the fire code. We hope to create a harmonious space which is safe, rational and educational. In this design, I think that we successfully improve the circulation of space. We design to put the two benches in the middle of the space and rearrange the shows cases.  People can be easier and unintentional to use this space. We also resign the context of the show cases. The new layout is more clear to read and understand. In the interpretive exhibits, we expect that our design can help viewer easily understand the science principle  and attract more people to see those staffs.  In this design, I learned how to cooperate with other people and finish our own works on time. And I also learned to respect other people's ideas and focus on my own parts. I think that it is a effective way to work with other designers. I think that I need to provide more opinions to my group and have more conversation with the group members. It will help my group and myself. I think the Revit is a good software to help our clients understand our ideas, and I hope that I  can improve my revit skill and help my group.

[DEPOT] FINAL BOARD

This time I prepared 12 board for my final presentation. Those board can help me to explain my design concept and my design processes. I used two basic colors, red and green for my backboard. I want to let my board to be simple, so people can pay attention in my context of board. The hand writing tile and text can be found in those board. I spent a lot of time writing those things, and I use scanner to import into computer. I would like to do the digital work because it is easier to save those works. Even though I will spend more time than traditional way, I still enjoy doing the digital board. This is my first time to do over 10 boards, and it is a good experience to design for a house depot.

[DEPOT] STUDY MODEL

This time I construction different concept models in order to find the appropriate layout. The plan is located in Pullman, WA. It is a adaptive depot house, and we will try to reuse this space and convert to a house for residential area, studio and the gallery. I try to use different interior walls to separate different areas in this plan. The traffic flow is really important in this project, and I also need to consider to the circulation in the gallery.

I constructed the study model for my depot project and used this model to imagine the environment in the real world. This model can also help me to understand how to connect natural landscape with the building. And I can use this model to show my design concept and Mark Zirpel's design principle. He exphasizes about the harmonious relationship between human and nature, so I design the pedestrian path at the west of the house. this path can be the buffering zone between street and depot.  I think that this model help me to explore and observe the natural landscape surrounded depot. I used the museum board for this study model. And this material is easy to be dirty, so I need to be very careful to glue the board.

facade

 sunset

 sunrise

residential area & gallery

Textile reflection

This time I design a textile which is derived from my concept patterns and models. The idea of pattern comes from the steel structure in depot house. the vertical elements symbolize that the supporting and protection. the triangular part presents the dynamic forms and the principle of variety. I decide to use red and green color in my fabric in order to show the interesting contrast. And the color combination can create special visual effect and the dots in the triangular part show the organic form. I choose to use the 6"x6" pattern in my final textile because I don't want my pattern to be too complicated or too simple. I think that it can be the appropriate size for textile. I used the Illustrator to create the digital pattern. The digital file can decrease the gap between the patterns and let it look better. I never thought that I can create a pattern by myself before I started this project. It is really funny to design my own fabric. I think that I can design the textile for my future project and apply my design philosophy into the design. 

 

FUTURE PRIMITIVE-Mike Jobes

I think that the living building represents the harmonious relationship between human beings and the buildings. The living building not only shows how to satisfy all kinds of demands on this building, but also presents the urban-natural hybrids. I think that residents play an important role in the living building. Human activities and social interaction decide the development of the city and community, and the living building needs to be reformed by continuous human behavior. Those behaviors can display how human beings try to improve their life and show the spirit of innovation. On the other hand, I do not believe that over planned and controlled building can show concept of living building.  For example, the developers of Celebration in Florida controlled everything in this community. In this community, people cannot show how to use their intelligence to refine their environment. It is the reason why it just looks like a fancy resort rather than a living community.

The pedestrian path also plays an important role in a living community. Riverside and Llewellyn shows how to apply natural concept into the suburban plan by those pedestrian path. The path presents the good relationship between environment and human, and it also shows the strong social interaction which we cannot find in new suburban community. However, transportation is really important in modern society. The city does not have good mass transportation system and convenient road system means that it is impossible to have long-term development. The living buildings also rely on the good traffic flow to commute from working space to residential area. Radburn is a good example to show how they separate automobile and pedestrian path. In the other words, it represents how to blend urban concept with natural idea. I think that the natural setting in urban area should not be so intentional. And it needs to be flexible and maintains the space for self-development.  

The economic purpose will stimulate the development of living building. The present value can decide how can developers invest in new project and adopt new technologies in buildings. For example, the speaker demonstrates the agricultural design above the strip mall.  I think that it represents the developer is inspired by the incentives. And the architects have more opportunities to use much softer way to construct green belt in the city.  Howard’s garden city might influence some cities in the world deeply. However, I think that the concept of garden city relies on the master plan, and the huge plan can lose the flexibility of the building. The intensive layout might not be suitable for modern society, and it will not help to thieve the city.

The over planned and over controlled city or building can influence the connection between nature and the artificial environment. The living buildings need time to involve into the landscape and the architects and designers can make an effort to blur the line between nature and building. Wright’s horizontal design is a good example to explain the urban- nature hybrids. I think that the concept of sustainability is also related to Jefferson’s ideas. The self-reliance   ideas can also be applied in urban setting by new technologies. 

[DEPOT] CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT-CONCEPT MODEL

The concept model is derived from the pattern which I made before. It shows the dynamic element and the movement. In addition, it emphasizes that the space needs to be protected and enclosed. In other words, this design pursues the principle of balance and harmony. Another point is that the space also needs to be dynamic and variable. It shows different curve lines in order to present the movement of the space. The concept idea implied the principle of rhyme and unity. The idea of organic pattern is derived from the tree. The pattern of tree's skin is just like a small space and it is connected to the larger space, and it emphasizes that the relation between different scales of space and present the rhyme of pattern.

[DEPOT] CONCEPT DEVELOPMENT-TEXTILE

The design concept of those two modules is derived from the post and beam structure which can be found in licensing department. The white steal material and rivets compose the design elements. The arch-like structure provides design characters in the modules.

The first design concept of this module is derived from organic ideas, and it emphasizes the balance relationship between natural elements and artificial products. The central element presents the symmetrical layout and geometrical shape. This part represents the rational structure and shows the principle of harmony and balance. The centralized pattern looks like an industrial products, and it presents the sense of stable. Another part in this module is constructed by variable lines. The curve lines emphasize the dynamic form and show the principle of variability. It symbolizes the organic concept and expresses the natural elements in this pattern. The first part of pattern is overlapped by the second part, and it represents the idea of protection. This module is combined by first and second part, and it shows an interesting combination. And it also symbolizes that the harmonious relationship between natural figures and industrial elements. In addition, it not only shows the rational, but also displays the dynamic one. The final module expresses the radial layout and the centralized patterns show the three dimensional form.

The second module is derived from the industrial elements which can be found in the toilet of licensing department. The vertical element is simplified to be a symmetrical pattern which is similar to module1. And it shows the natural element and represents tree stem.  The green ideas can be brought into the module by this vertical element. The oval patterns are constructed by three semicircular, and it looks like a leaf. The leaf shaped pattern also symbolizes the idea of sustainability and the harmonious relationship between nature and human beings. The second module is constructed by geometrical patterns and presents rational layout. Moreover, the symmetrical module shows continuous curved lines and presents the principle of harmony and balance. 

TEXTILE

VISIT TO ARTIST STUDIO

I visited Carrie Vielle’s studio in Colfax. Carrie Vielle is a local artist in Palause area and she also teaches art history class. And this time we went to her residential area and observed her working environment. Her studio is located at Colfax, a small town nearby Pullman. The site is on the hillside, and this place has a good view to see the landscape of Colfax. This place does not connect to the main boulevard and isolate from the strip commercial area. It will be difficult to find it if you are not familiar with Colfax. . She enjoys working surrounded in natural landscape and use nature resource to refine herself and her works. In addition, the innovative spirit and endless energy support to pursue new unforgettable ideas and beauty of art. I think that Carrie wants to run away from big cities because of congestion environment. The human beings are just like to be isolated from concrete jungle. Carrie wants to build an environment which is between realism and idealism. 

Carrie studio is also separated from her residential area, and it is an independent space which has no connection with other buildings. I think that Carrie wants her studio to be enclosed by natural environment. And she also wants to maintain a distance from civilized world. In her little world, she will not be disrupted by daily chore. And then she can concentrate on her painting. She also makes an effort to make her working environment become more efficient. The storage space is arranged appropriately. I think that she also tried to display Jefferson’s philosophy that desires to make the life more efficient and finds the ways to refine our life. I think that it is a good experience for me to understand the artist’s studio, and it is also very interesting to combines some ideas from class with my observation. 

[DEPOT] CLIENT ARTIST PROFILE

Mark Zirpel is a famous glass artist in north-west area. He is good at using multi materials to present the dynamic, kinetic, and inventive works. His works are related to human’s body and natural patterns. He earns a good reputation in presenting movement and organic function. In his works, we can find that he enjoys using glass, rusticated metals and rubber to mimic our circulation and sensitive system in order to explore the meaning of life. Mark Zirpel id dedicated in art field for a long time. He was invited to be the assistant professor in University of Washington since 2007 because of his achievement in art field. In the 3D4M program, he taught students to apply multi materials, such as ceramics, class, and steal, and used those materials to represent contemporary art. Mark Zirpel uses dynamic design to show the relationship between realism and idealism. In addition, he also emphasizes that “Genius lies not in the perfection of technique, but in its invention”. The innovative spirit and endless energy support to pursue new unforgettable ideas and beauty of art. He said that eighty percent of his works are garbage, and he needs to push himself to satisfy viewers’ demands. Some of his ideas are derived from his early experiences in Alaska. Natural environment inspired him to design the physical artwork. Moreover, he would like to establish his studio in rural setting. He enjoys working surrounded in natural landscape and use nature resource to refine himself and his works. He also got a lot of inspiration after his father was dead. He started to reconsider about the meaning of life and the life process. His famous serious “Body Work” is derived from those ideas and another serious “Water Oregon” also shows that he desires to explore the path of life. Mark Zirpel does not care about how much money he can earn from his works or how many people understand his design philosophy. On the other hand, he cares about how to maintain the endless creativity and innovation how to transform his thought into his works. This project is design for him a space which is included the residential area, gallery and studio area. This space will reuse the historic depot to apply his design philosophy into the space. The separate residential area and studio presents the spirit of independence. The space arrangement is derived from his design concept and tries to create a space which can maintain the endless creativity and innovation. The depot project not only focuses on the aesthetic needs which Zirpel concerns but also demonstrates how to create an effective environment.

:http://www.travergallery.com/gallery_artist_details/Mark-Zirpel.aspx