map 3 concept

This is the concept for my third map. I tried to express the landscape of the campus and the buildings through the same folding technique I used in my last assignment. I feel like the direction I am going in has potential, but there are still questions to be answered.

How can I better express the folding technique?

How can I make this read more like a drawing?

How can I better connect the drawdle to the landscape it represents?

For the rest of the day I'll be trying to answer those questions. Hopefully I can arrive at some worthwhile answers.

finally in the zone

The area that I will be studying in the UNAM campus is the northeast corner. I will also be looking at the campus as a whole and the relationship of the edges to the outside. What I am studying and trying to show is the collision of geometric systems that exist within the campus and how these shape an almost continuous landscape into many courtyards and fields. I am also going to study the points of plastic integration, what story they tell, how do you experience them, and what their area of influence is.

What's in the box?

Assignment 2 called on me to imagine the many possibilities of what occupies the space in the library stacks tower. My concept was that the mural elements on the facade intrude into the box and create space by manifesting themselves as solids or voids.

As I continued the project, I combined the two ideas into one complete concept. I decided that there was a box within the stacks tower that was being punctured by the extruded facade elements. The punctures started to dissolve the box and the solid masses also shaped the floor plates because none of them fit perfectly, some voids were too small for the solids to fit while some were too large.

After this model, I decided to take the erosion further. Luis suggested that I look at some of Jorge Oteiza's sculptures as inspiration.

Through further exploration and after a quick model study of Oteiza's "Homage to Mallarme", I decided to experiment with a combination of folding planes to suggest rather than create the box within.

All that I had learned and thought culminated in my final study. In it, I used Oteiza's technique of folding to create the spaces, voids, and planes I had played with earlier, but with a unified language.

the book...finally

The book that I created is meant to tell the story of how all complex shapes can be broken down into a single element, the point.

If two points are connected with an infinite number of points, a line is created. Two intersecting lines form an angle.

An infinite number of lines come together to form a plane.

With multiple planes, three-dimensional shapes are formed.

boite-en-valise

Found this video about Duchamp's Boite-en-Valise and figured I would share it

A Harsh Book of Geometry

Mathematics can be confusing to people. However, once you realize it isn't about numbers at all everything becomes much clearer. Math is a study of relationships as is geometry. Every shape in this world is made up of an arangement of components. At the most basic level is the point. 2 points connected by an infinite number of points becomes a line. 2 intersecting lines becomes an angle. Angles combine to make two-dimensional shapes. Arranging an infinite number of lines next to eachother creates a plane. Connecting planes together creates three-dimensional shapes that occupy volume.

Geometry isn't only about the relationships of basic building blocks to the object they create. It is also about the relationships within individual shapes. For instance, circles have many different parts like chords, radii, secants, and segments.

The story I am weaving will try and tell all of this in a coherent fashion. I am still working out the fine details, but will be sharing my progress during the building process.

Pictures to come in a little bit...

"This is a thick, brown, leather-covered book, stippled with gold numbers. When opened, complex three-dimensional geometrical diagrams rise up out of the pages like models in a pop up book. The pages flicker with logarithmic numbers and figures. Angles are measured by needle-thin metal pendulums that swing freely, activated by magnets concealed in the thick paper."

Books are . . .

Books are elusive, influencial, withdrawn, and personal. They have a richness that few other objects can come close to. What are books to me? Books are unapproachable. When you pick up a book, you never really know what you're getting into. The blank exterior indicates that it has nothing to offer. The cover is just that though. It tries to hide the greatness of what's inside. Books are more than just the ink and paper they are printed on. They represent an idea, a concept, a story, and an emotion. Books can suck you in and tell you an amazing story. They can educate you and open your mind to different ideas. They can influence you and change your beliefs. Books are always there for you. They are very personal and what you get from them changes over time. What you get out of them may not be understood and can be confusing, but almost always change you in some way.

"Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers." ~Charles W. Eliot