Meeting with Designer

I had the opportunity to meet with Tina Johansen from ALSC Architects over Thanksgiving break. We met up to go over the floor plan I designed for the Gregory Family. She made notes on which walls to color in black or not; as well as placing taller appliances by each other. Although it was a short meeting, it went great.

Gregory Family Bathroom Design: The Present

This bathroom design was inspired by the painting, "Persistence of Memory" by Salvador Dali. I focused on the contrasting colors, lines and circular shapes.

The circular appliances that lie on top of the straight edges in the design derived from the clocks that were found along the straight edges in the painting.

Gregory Family Kitchen Design

This kitchen design was inspired by the song, "Home" by Chris Daughtry. He talks about how home is the place where love begins and that no matter where he goes he will always return.

Three key words that I focused on were: Movement, stable and focal point. In my concept model, the black foam core is the focal point; the dowels show movement through gradation; and whichever way you set the concept model down represents stability.

This kitchen allows wheelchair accessibility for the client at the same time providing a space for regular use.

Since this was my first design project there are many things that I would like to change or fix. I would change the color of the walls and cabinets.

WSU A+CM Integrated Education Symposium

This lecture was directed more towards the Construction Management, Architecture and Engineer students, but I was able grasp some interesting information. The main focus was how DESIGN = CONSTRUCTION, vice versa. When you integrate and collaborate together you can create extraordinary results. Interaction is different when there's a higher number of people or lower so they prefer 12 or less for better communication.

One interesting quote that I heard was, "We don't start with a solution, but a goal." By doing so, there's no over cost for the client because they would be able to accomplish that goal.

Another interesting quote was, "Beauty is not something you tack on at the end, but mixing it in." What a genius!

Their construction of buildings are very HONEST! If a part is not needed, it will not be there. Materials are made the way it is already so might as well use it in the construction.

Olsen Kundig Architects

One of the greatest opportunities that I have been given was to job shadow Debbie Kennedy at Olsen Kundig Architects. It was a great experience to be able to see and feel what it's like to be in a big firm with so many talented and gifted group of people.

Here is a picture of how they organize their materials.

St. Ignacius

St. Ignacius is a beautiful church in Seattle, WA.

 

Here is a sketch of the exterior. I love how the pond gives a beautiful reflection onto the building. It adds a beautiful, natural texture/pattern.

The top is a sketch of the lobby and the bottom is a sketch of the main chapel.

The top is a sketch of a wall that pops out with lighting underneath with a beautiful glow. The bottom is a sketch of the stage.

Jim Olsen

Jim Olsen gave a beautiful message about the unification of architecture, art, and nature. He describes the beauty of nature and how much it fascinates him.

What inspired him to be an architect was the cabin he grew up in. One of the metaphors he used was how flowers contrast the background so that the bees can see them. As you can see in the sketch below, the same concept applies. The wood is laid out horizontally as the trees (nature) are the background.

One thing he said about nature that stood out to me was, "The thrill of risking something is to see something beautiful." We never know what there are in the woods, forests, etc. unless we take the chance to go and explore.

Some homes are inspired through art pieces, such as, the Red House. The cool thing about the way he used art in his designs were to frame a piece of nature through the window frames. By doing so, you can feel like your outside while you're inside. His famous quote from this lecture was,

"You can have the best art in the world, but you can never compete with nature."

Jim Olsen is one of the greatest speakers that I have heard about design. He has given me a new perspective of design through the nature of art.