The Week in Pictures

I will summarize my week in 5 pictures or 10,000 words (depending on how you do the math).




I now live by the ocean. I like this very much. Everyday I drive or bike along side of it whenever i go anywhere. I enjoy thinking of myself, a small point, along side of this large homogenous mass. Its humbling to think of the contrast.



I found this abandoned pool. There are still many empty slabs that used to be houses alongside of the ocean. Some things are most beautiful when left to ruin. Often this isn't by choice.



We have a studio potluck once a week, in attendance are the South Coast students, family members, and studio neighbors. This week i made a key lime pie. Kyle made a beer butt chicken (to do so you shove a beer can up the chickens butt and bake in the oven).



Similar to Terry's studio, the first week's design project is something small and executable. This is how complete strangers become family in a very short time. We designed seating for the studio fire pit. However the day after we started building a tree fell on what we had done so far. On the plus side, after we chainsaw the tree into pieces tomorrow morning, we will have fire wood for the semester.



Our current build project is finishing the house that the summer group started. This week we worked on putting in nailers for the drywall and finishing the OSB sheathing on the envelope. I spent most of my time working on the roof. I really enjoyed bring in such a raw building environment, everything exposed and unfinished, the day filled with power tools, chalk lines, and nail guns. My safety glasses make it look like I have a unibrow in this picture.

-Tray

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Institute for Cultural Anthropology (Revisited)

I must admit that I was a little disappointed with my final work from our ICA project last semester. The basic ideas were there, but I did not have enough time to fully develop crucial elements of the building. This became evident when I was compiling my portfolio early this summer...especially when my ICA project was stacked behind our primitive hut competition...a Maatrevan gem!

In regards to process, I decided to model the ICA in Rhino. As much as I tried to ignore my recently acquired software this summer, I finally accepted that they will be essential tools in my studies next year. I found inspiration from drawings and renderings on ArchDaily...


The above drawings (from a project called Brittle by Nicolas Fayad) are interesting to me for several reasons. I really like the layers of information in the rhino/cad drawing...there is a lot of activity going on. It reminds me of Tray's ICA drawing in a way, each silhouette contains information and tells a story about the building. I also like the rendering because it is not about giving a photorealistic impression of the building. I think that unless you spend a lot of time tweaking on V-Ray, photorealistic renderings look terrible. This rendering is very simple and I like the fact that it could be mistaken for a physical model.

In this spirit, I began modeling my ICA. Here are the results:



I found that Rhino is an extremely useful tool for 3D modeling and making quick decisions. However, I could only use it late in the design process. It was extremely difficult for me to generate design with the software. On the several occasions where I had to figure out a certain space in the building, I reverted to pencil and paper and subsequently modeled in Rhino. Nothing beats some good old fashioned patina!

Please let me know what you think of the work... Do the drawings and renderings help you understand the building better?

e/l studio extravaganza

i'm posting some photos of the models i made during my time with e/l studio this summer. the first is 1/8" scale and is made using 2-ply museum board. the second is a sectional model at 1/2" scale as is a combination of foam core (for the interior partitions and the bearing walls on the foundation level) and basswood.

the project is a residence for mark's (the principal) parents in wildwood, new jersey. it's sited directly adjacent to an 18-unit motel built in the 1950's that his parents also own. here is more info:

http://www.elstudioarch.com/projects/Jade_Residence/#JE_VIEW_FROM_SOUTH_EAST.jpg

with love,
e

Barn

I passed this barn the other day as I was driving home. (Matt, it will be on your right as you take quillen/jones mill rd coming away from fountain inn towards scuffletown.) The barn caught my attention because of the juxtaposition of the different materials, block, sheet metal, and wood. The sideways course of block form vents on the sides. I would love to know if the slanted wooden walls serve some functional purpose or are purely aesthetic. I took Kyle to see it when he came to Greenville the day before we left to drive down to Mississippi. I brought my slr camera to take some pictures, but when i got there I realized that I left my memory card on my desk at home. So this picture was taken with my cell phone. We didn't go in because its right beside the road and there was a house directly across the street.

-Tray