Thursday, October 15, 2009

Week 13

  • There will be no class in Week 13 (23rd of October), instead you have this time to finalise your final submission.
  • Final submission will be Friday 30th October during the regular Studio time-slot and location. You will present your posters to your tutorial groups during this time on the provided large screens in the studio spaces.
  • Good Luck!

Week 12 Studio Tasks

Peer Review
  • Peer Review two of your fellow students work. Use the peer review Marking Schedule from Courses on the Web.
  • Peer Review the people two above and two below you within your tutor group lists from the Course Blog.
  • Fill out all fields, and grade them as if they were being graded on there final submissions.
  • Post images of the reviews that you do on other students to your blogs.
Other Tasks
  • Work on getting your blog up to date, using the marking schedule as a guide to what requirements you should have.
  • Get feed back on you Second Draft poster.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Independent Study for Week 12

  • Write a first draft of your text to be included in your PDF. (The minimum of 500 words does not include titles and references). Post your text to your blogs.
  • Create a detailed second draft of your poster, with all main elements considered. Include low quality image place-holders of your intended final renders and images, and low quality versions of your embedded videos and 3D models. Also include your draft text as you intend your final text to be related to your images and content, and an early understanding of how interactivity will be achieved across your document.
  • Upload a PDF version of your second draft PDF to a file sharing site, and include a link on your blog. Also include image captures of your 3 x A1 PDF pages on your blog.
  • At this stage, not all elements need to be completely polished, but you should have an understanding of how your PDF will work, both as an interactive digital presentation, and as a large format poster.

Week 11 Studio Tasks

  • Using the representation styles discovered from research into your case study on your chosen architecture, your A3 montage and the graphic grid you developed for Week 10 as a basis, create a first draft layout for your final 3 page A1 PDFs.
  • As you develop your layout, you will need to think about your Interactive PDF on two levels; as a set of posters that can be viewed from a distance, and as an interactive digital presentation, that can be navigated around and viewed on a small screen for detailed scrutiny.
  • For your final hand in you will submit two PDF's, an interactive PDF that will incorporate all of your multi-media elements (this would be the version that a client would view on a small screen), and a print version PDF, that will only have elements that would be printed (this would be the version that a client would print out for display panels). This means that you will need to consider which elements will be printed, and provide the necessary settings to make this achievable.
  • Familiarise yourself with the tools and techniques shown in the demonstration, and be sure that you have the necessary understanding to achieve your desired results.
  • Continue developing your ideas, and refining your models. Set up video sequences in video editing software, considering itegration of media and graphics. Test exporting models and videos in the various formats required for your final PDF.

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Independent Study for Week 11

  • Gather up to 10 textures that relate to your ideas, and that you would like to use as materials in your redesign, using concept development and montages as a basis for your material choice.
  • Conduct more detailed research on your chosen architecture, concentrating on styling and representation techniques (development sketches, techniques of layout, plans, axonometrics, perspectives, etc.). You will need to explore further than the internet do do this. You will have to go to the library and search books and journals to find relevant content. Post your research to your blogs, including complete referencing for your material.
  • Bring your individual re-envisioned models to a high degree of modeling resolution, in preparation for obtaining high quality renders, raw video footage for video editing purposes and quality models for embedded 3D content in your final PDF. Post interior and exterior image captures of your model to your blog.
End of group work today...
  • In your groups, this is your final chance to get your accurate model and image comparisons completed, and posted to your blogs.
Individual work from now on...
  • Finalise your concept for the re-representation of the Vitra Design Museum, thinking creatively, and using a combination of images, montages, sketches, text and quick models to highlight your ideas. Post all work to your blogs.
  • Begin modeling your individual concepts and ideas, to a high level of resolution, considering construction, site context, materials, details and any other aspects of architectural resolution that you believe are pertinent to your scheme.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Independent Study for Week 10

  • Using your 150 word descriptive ideas for your direction for your building as a basis, create an A3 expressive montage of your ideas. This should capture the feel and flavour of your thoughts. Post a high quality jpeg of your montage to your blog.
  • Using the week 9 lecture as a guide, define a grid layout for your 3 x A1 posters, using grid lines and solid blocks. Think about page orientation, relationship between the three pages and grid sizes. Post images of your A1 grid to your blog.
  • You can start playing with your base model to test ideas and possible re-envisioning of your planned building. Make sure to always save in separate version, so you always have the original base model to refer back to. Post any images of your progression, or influences to your blog.

Week 9 Studio Tasks

  • Receive your grades and feedback from your tutors on your first assignment.
  • In your groups of 3-4 and with your tutors feedback on your modeling efforts, refine your base model of the Vitra Design Museum, concentrating on accuracy and detailing, bringing your building to a high level of resolution, both for the interior and exterior of the building.
  • Choose 2 images, an interior and an exterior of the Vitra Design Museum, and take either an quick rendering or an image capture from your model of the chosen images. The images should geometrically match up EXACTLY, and be recognisably the similar images. If they don't, then your model is not totally accurate. Members for the same group should each choose different images.
  • Start thinking about how you would like to re-envision the Vitra Design Museum. Think about a new site context in which your building will exist, changes to the structure, scale materiality, and function.
  • Write to your blog 150 words describing and expressing your ideas and intended direction for the re-inventing of this building.
  • You can start collecting images and examples of the types of modifications that you intend to enact on the building, including site examples, architectural precedents, structural details, materials and functions.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Independent Study for Week 9

  • In groups of 3-4 research the Assignment building and begin building a 3D basic outline model of the Vitra Design Museum.
  • Post images of your group model to your blogs.
  • Post your combined research to your blogs.
  • Individually choose 1 building of Frank Gehry's (other than the Vitra Design Museum) as a case study. Go to libraries to find books about your chosen case study building, and begin preliminary research.
  • Post images and 250 words of text on your case study.

Frank Gehry - Vitra Design Museum - 1990


Vitra Design Museum Commentary

"Using a palette of strongly architectonic forms, the formative ideas explored in his own house were further developed at a comprehensive urban scale in his design for the Loyola Law School....The result was large-scale disparate elements dexterously juxtaposed—thrust inward or conversely pushing outward—against buildings and urban sculptural elements that themselves were formally not reconciled in a traditional sense. It further evidenced Gehry's interest in the discreet interlock of disparate forms which, through collision and seeming disorder, somehow combine to create a presence in resolution—probably the basic reason why Cubism and Expressionism is so obviously his connection to Modernism.

"This is readily apparent in his Vitra Design Museum, a small, 8,000-square-foot building on two floors basically for the exhibit of chairs, design, and educational programs. The building is a continuous changing swirl of white forms on the exterior, each seemingly without apparent relationship to the other, with its interiors a dynamically powerful interplay, in turn directly expressive of the exterior convolutions. As a totality it resolves itself into an entwined coherent display in much the same way that Gehry's 1990 proposal for the American Center in Paris will likewise bring the disparate functional and spatial demands...into a more centralized though again a visually discordant, volumetric totality..."

— from Paul Heyer. American Architecture: Ideas and Ideologies in the Late Twentieth Century. p233-234.

Aerial View of Building


From: http://www.greatbuildings.com

Week 8 Studio Tasks

Must be Done today!!! Create an A3 interactive PDF. This task is aimed at getting you fluid with the technology, and producing a poster document quickly. Consider a basic layout to your poster.
  • Do the interactive PDF tutorial, and read through the tips document.
  • Find a well known building form one of the following architects:
    • Louis Kahn
    • Tadao Ando
    • Toyo Ito
    • Frank Gehry
    • Zaha Hadid
    • Carlo Scarpa
    • Le Corbusier
    • Frank Lloyd Wright
    • Ludwig Mies van der Rohe
  • Make sure that you can find a textured 3D model of your building on Google 3D Warehouse.
  • From Sketchup export 2 images of your model (think about framing from a human perspective) a 10 second walkthrough animation using views, and export the model as *.obj file format. (these will be the main pieces of your A3 interactive PDF).
  • Install Microstation v8i from the samples folder for this course. (ftp://emustore.fbe.unsw.edu.au/Resources/samples/Arch/ARCH1390%20Representation%20Studio%20-%20Harkins/Programs/)
  • Open your *.obj file in Microstation, and export your model in *.u3d file format. (This is the file format that allows you to embed 3D models in PDF's).
  • Make a PDF using a layout program, considering placement of elements on the page.
  • Your A3 PDF should include Title and architect of your building, some text about your building, (include the reference of where you obtain your text from), 2 image captures, 1 x 10 second animation, 3D model with 3 named and saved views, your name.
  • Upload your PDF to a file sharing site, and include an image of your poster and a link to your PDF on your blog.

Thursday, August 27, 2009

Independent Study for Week 7

  • Complete and hand in Assignment 1!
    • Collect your laser cutting content from the Design Lab
    • Print your poster in colour
    • Assemble your 2.5D poster
    • Submit your final PDF version of your poster to emustore (along with any 3D models, illustrator files, InDesign files, videos, etc.) in a folder labeled with your student ID and name. (eg. 1234567_YourName)
    • Refine your blogs, ensuring you have all task outputs posted.
  • Refer to the Assignment 1 Marking Schedule to ensure you fulfill all requirements!
  • Meet in the FBE Gallery at 1pm for next week's Studio Class.
  • Bring your 2.5D poster along to Studio for pin-up and review. (Friday 4th September, Week 7)
  • Good Luck!!!

Week 6 Studio Tasks

Peer Review
  • Peer Review two of your fellow students work. Use the peer review Marking Schedule from Courses on the Web.
  • Peer Review the person above you and below you within your tutor group lists from the Course Blog.
  • Fill out all fields and, ignoring the Submission Requirements_, Overall Impression_, and Final Posters_ sections, and grade them as if they were being grade on there final submissions.
  • Post images of the reviews that you do on other students to your blogs.
Other Tasks
  • Work on getting your blog up to date, using the marking schedule as a guide to what requirements you should have.
If everyone is up to date, and we get around to it, we'll have another try at...
DIGITAL PICTIONARY!!!
  • RULES
  • Split into groups of 4-5.
  • All drawings to be done in Sketchup in 3D.
  • No gestures, text, or generally any dodgy stuff!
  • 4 minute time limit, (use the online count-down as a timer) .
  • Winner keeps the card and writes their name on it.
  • Winner Draws the next word!
  • If the word is not guessed card goes back into the card pool for another group to attempt, and another word is attempted by the same drawer.
  • Save each sketchup file that you draw, and post an image of your pictionary model, along with the word that it was based on to your blog.
  • Person with the most wins (cards) by the end of class gets the Prize!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Independent Study for Week 6

  • Hand in your laser cutting Illustrator files to the Design Lab by Monday 24th August to be laser cut. (You need to give them time to cut your content, so you can get it back and assemble your poster.)
  • Research two significant pieces of Architecture that you are interested in. Find drawings, sketches posters, models etc. relating to you chosen buildings and post all information to your blog.
  • Write 100 words on each building commenting on the visual styles used to represent the architecture.
  • Use your research to help you refine your posters, in terms of the visual styles that you discover.
  • Refine your poster design, and produce a second draft of your poster, developing your layout and content.

Week 5 Studio Tasks

  • Tutors will be checking the blogs at the start of class, and anyone who is not up to date with all Studio tasks and independent tasks will be asked to leave.
  • The first half of class will be spent in feedback on your poster design and laser cutting files, use the advice given to develop a second, more complete draft of your poster in the coming week.
  • Second half of class...
  • DIGITAL PICTIONARY!!!
    • RULES
    • Split into groups of 4-5.
    • All drawings to be done in Sketchup in 3D.
    • No gestures, text, or generally any dodgy stuff!
    • 4 minute time limit, (use the online count-down as a timer) .
    • Winner keeps the card and writes their name on it.
    • Winner Draws the next word!
    • If the word is not guessed card goes back into the card pool for another group to attempt, and another word is attempted by the same drawer.
    • Save each sketchup file that you draw, and post an image of your pictionary model, along with the word that it was based on to your blog.
    • Person with the most wins (cards) by the end of class gets the Prize!
  • You can only play if your blog is up to date!
  • If your blog is not up to date you will be asked to leave to get your work up to date! Once your blog is up to date, you can come back to class and will be marked as present.
  • It is good to remember that if you are marked absent for 3 Studios it will be an instant fail for the course!

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Independant study for Week 5

  • Do the first three Illustrator tutotials on the Swinburne University website, a link to the Illustrator Tutorial page can be found on the Courses on the web page for this course.
  • Read through all the Laser Cutting Info on the FBE Design Lab web pages, and familiarise yourself with the process. You will have to submit your Illustrator files to be laser cut by Monday 24 August, to ensure your material is cut in time for you to assemble your poster before final submission.
  • Complete your draft A2 poster in InDesign of your final design considering 2D layout and the way laser-cut elements will be incorporated into your 2.5D poster.
  • Create an Illustrator file (using the design Lab Laser Cutting template) of elements that you would like to have cut for incorporation into your 2.5D design poster.
  • Post an image of your draft poster, and an image of your Illustrator Laser Cut drawing to your blog for your tutor to check next week in Studio.
  • Source materials that you would like to use for your laser cutting process. The Design Lab sells a limited selection of materials that you can purchase from them, and has information on suppliers in their documentation, though if you would like something more specialised you will have to consult with staff at the desugn lab as to its suitability to be laser-cut.

Week 4 Studio Tasks

  • Play around with Sketchup and BuildAR trialing a few different .3ds models, sections, tranparent, wireframe etc. considering the best way to display your work in a group situation.
  • Present your creature habitats/dwellings to the class using a combination of Augmented Reality and Sketchup.
  • Capture images of you holding your Augmented Reality model (Print Screen, and crop in photoshop) to post to your blog.
  • Extract relevant plans and sections of Sketchup environments in DWG format to be imported into Illustrator for enhancement and laser cutting.
  • Do a few rough sketches exploring the layout of your design poster. Refine your ideas in preparation of creating a Draft poster for next weeks Studio.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Independant study for Week 4


  • Scan and post good quality images all of your physical sketches from Studio, and image captures of your developing Sketchup environments.
  • Take your chosen habitat/dwelling to a high level of resolution in Sketchup, including site context and materials. Make sure to consider your creature's personality, and where and how it might like to live.

  • Develop both the interior and exterior of your dwellings, and the surrounding landscape of your environment. Be sure to consider the basic construction of your dwellings, with elements such as wall thickness, doors and windows (if any), how it relates to the landscape, and any other aspects of your designs that are relevant. Also consider the habits of your creature, eating, sleeping, recreation (dancing), and any other behaviours you may envision.
  • Extract and post images to your blog of a minimum of one plan and two sections of your Sketchup model, showing elements such as wall thicknesses, floor thickness, space layout, levels etc. These can be simple line extractions at this stage.

  • Take at least 6 well framed (and good resolution) image captures of your building, considering interior and exterior, and post them to your blog.
  • Outputs to be posted to blog for next week:
    • Physical and digital sketches of two creature's habitats from Studio.
    • Images of the processes of your developing ideas for your developed dwelling/habitat.
    • Minimum of 1 x plan extraction image of your developed Sketchup model
    • Minimum of 2 x section extraction images of your developed Sketchup model
    • Minimum of 6 x well framed image captures of your Dwelling/Habitat.

Week 3 Studio Task


  • Give your blog address to your tutor, and show your tutor your 5 creations from last weeks tasks.

  • With the help of your tutor, pick two of your Creatures that you are most interested in developing habitats/dwellings for.

  • Do quick sketches of a habitat/dwelling for each of your two chosen creatures, using a drawing implement and paper. Think of your creatures as your clients, creating a space which captures the personality of your creations.
  • Start with some expressive sketching that explore the emotive themes of your habitat/dwelling for each creature.
  • Then sketch a rough site map, a minimum of two sections, minimum of 1 plan, at least two perspective sketches that capture the main elements of your ideas for each habitat, and a minimum of two details of your environments.
  • Do the previous two sets of drawings for each of your creature's habitats.
  • These sketches should convey a solid understanding of your environments, and should all be little pieces of art in their own right.

  • As your ideas develop on paper, start to transfer your sketched ideas to Sketchup as rough 3D sketches which you can use to assist your understanding of the 3D nature of your creatures' habitats, creating a 3D dwelling for each of your 2 creatures.
  • Alternate between your sketches and Sketchup to refine and develop your ideas.
  • Be sure to capture images of your developing Sketchup environments that show the progression of your ideas.

  • In consultation with your tutor, choose one of schemes to continue to develop outside of class.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

Independent Study for Week 3


  • Install Spore Creature Creator on your own computers, and sign-up to the Spore Website. The installation files can in the samples folder for this course.
  • Create a Blog for Representation Studio at www.blogger.com. Use your name and the Course Code ARCH1390 to title your blog. E.g: yournameARCH1390-2009.blogspot.com

  • Create 5 Creatures using Spore Creature Creator, giving them names and detailed descriptions, thinking about their personalities, the environments they live in, their habits and habitats. Post your creatures to the Spore Website.
  • Be sure to think carefully about where and how the creatures live, as you will be developing your creatures habitats in the coming weeks.

  • Take image captures, and animations of the creatures interacting with their environment.

  • Upload the creature .png file from "My Documents\My Spore Creations\Creatures" 2 images and 1 video (no longer than 10 seconds) for each creature to your blog, including the Creature Descriptions. (Total output 5 png images, 10 image captures and 5 videos).

Week 2 (first week of class) Studio Tasks

To be completed during Week 1 Studio
  • Install and Play with Spore Creature Creator, getting a feel for the interface, you can use the help menu to learn some slightly more advanced techniques.

  • Each student should create 5 creatures with names and descriptions during Studio. Collaborate with your fellow students to discover tools and techniques in using Spore Creature Creator.

  • You will find this extremely easy and fun, the difficult bit will be testing your imagination and seeing how creative you can be with the tools available to you.
  • Be sure to consider the viability of your creatures, how do they move, what type of creature is it, and how/where does it live and interact with its environment.
  • Install Spore Creature Creator on your own laptop
  • If you use the provided laptops, be sure to save your creatures from "My Documents\My Spore Creations\Creatures" so you can load them onto your own computers and continue with the for your independent study for Week 3.
  • Choose 3 Student Representatives for the class, one from each tutorial group.

  • Begin Independent Study for Week 3

Course Resources

All Resources for this course can be found on this blog and on Courses on the Web at:
http://www.fbe.unsw.edu.au/courses/ARCH/1390/

Extra resources, including lecturesm large files, applications and tutorials can be found at:
\\emustore\Resources\samples\Arch\ARCH1390 Representation Studio - Harkins

You can "ftp" to emustore at:
ftp://emustore.fbe.unsw.edu.au
...then follow the path to the course folder.

You will need your FBE logon to access Courses on the Web and emustore.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Welcome to ARCH1390 - Digital Representation Studio 2009

Welcome to the first of 3 Digital Studio's for stage one Architectural Computing students - Digital Representation Studio.

The main ideas running through this studio will be dissecting design representation, re-displaying traditional presentation methods, combining digital media with physical media, creating new representational techniques and having some fun with cutting edge technologies.

Use the right hand menu bar to navigate between other tutorial groups and Student Blogs.

Check this page regularly for course information.

Jeremy Harkins
Course Convener