301 : ranch : presentation round one

 The concept for my ranch design stemmed from this Jay Defeo painting from 1952 : I was interested in her use color and the use of layering and textures. 

 After comparing the paintings qualities to that of the ranch I made a connection between the uses of layers.  This ranch house is easily broken up into two sections: the private being to the left, public to the right.  Vertical layering of the walls created spaces within the private sector while horizontal layering of different level broke up the public sector.

 My color scheme manifested from DeFeo’s palette of mainly grey hues.  Because of the textures of the painting it was really important to me to have a lot of tactile surfaces within the space.
Because of the concealed nature of the private space compared to the openness of the public space I chose to use a gradients from dark to light hues.
The large wall of windows in the living and dining room made it easy to use more bright, natural light in the public part compared to the intimate darker lighting in the other side of the house.

 Continuing the idea of a gradient from vertical to horizontal moving from the private space to the public space I chose this printed grass paper on the ceiling in a darker hue as well as this elevated four-poster bed.  I think the vertical form as well as the texture on a higher surfaces draws your eye up.

 I used textures like these wicker ottomans, velvet chaise and shag rug to create a tactile environment.

 The living room is the lightest room.  I chose to use the same grass cloth as on the bedroom ceiling but applied on the walls in a lighter color acting as a horizontal band to emulate the horizontal layers that manifest within the various levels of the public space.

 This is a matrix of finishes I chose for the ranch and I think it helps explain the gradients from the public to the private area as well as the interest I took in textures throughout.

 My concept also manifest in my furniture by using taller furniture in the private spaces and lower furniture in the public spaces. The gradients of my color scheme in relation to the space of the house also pushed forward my decisions furniture wise.

So I end with this quote from Bachelard's The Poetics of Space which reinforces the connection between a piece of art and an environment and again, Conceptually I concentrated on the use of vertical versus horizontal stacking of layers in the two spaces, gradients and textural studies so now I’d be interested to hear if this was conceptually clear to you all

301 : ranch : charrette models

301 : the evolution of southern living 1964-2009

301 : precedent analysis : house of vetti

House of Vetti was a domus owned by Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus, two successful freeman.  Preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD the interests of these two men House of Vetti, a domus owned by Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus, two successful freeman, and preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, provides a moment frozen in time.  This project thus documents lifestyles and the architecture and design that supported in the middle of the Roman Empire.  The surrounding walls supply a home to many frescoes, which take a front seat in the House of Vetti.  The peristyle, laid out symmetrically to the house, contained an elaborate water display.  This lavish feature, as well as the lush gardens and elaborate frescoes set a distinct mood as well as a high social status. Yellow and red accents, true to classical Pompeian style, populate many surfaces and details in the  two main spaces, each open towards the sky. With all of the furnishings on plain view, visitors experienced the owners social and cultural beliefs and interests in tangible, visible form.frozen in time. Fluted Doric columns frame a peristyle entertaining a large space of the house.  The surrounding walls are home to many frescoes, which take a front seat in the House of Vetti.  The peristyle is laid out symmetrically to house an elaborate water display.  I’d imagine this lavish feature, lush gardens and elaborate frescoes set a distinct mood as well as social status. Yellow and red accents are true to classical Pompeian style. The two main spaces in the house reach open towards the sky. This also is an example of how exposed the owners social and cultural beliefs and interests were upon arrival of the house.
In Vetti, the lararium, a shrine to the Gods of household, imitates the form the temple: columns support a pediment and frame a central painting.  One of the key frescoes in the home, these small paintings displayed the owners’ social and cultural interests and habits. The provocative and revealing art featured in the House of Vetti stands revealed front and center in the entrance foyer via an almost life-size fresco of Priapus.  Most knew of Priapus’ powers as a fertility God and protector of livestock, gardens and male genitalia.  The fresco displays Priapus weighing his erection from beneath his tunic against a bag of overflowing with coins in a set of scales that he holds.

301 : precedent analysis : fisher house

Located on a site in Hatboro, Pennsylvania, where the land slopes gently down a main road to small stream, the Norman Fisher house consists of three cubes, two cube forms appear like rolled dice sitting at ninety and forty-five degree angles and  serve as the two buckets of living within the home.  The proximity of the smaller one separates it from the main part of the house. The small area in which the two spaces do connect represents a key to the structural and systematic arrangement of living space.  Although the geometric forms offset the natural surroundings, the cubes work with the site to form two inter-connected outdoor spaces: an entrance court and a kitchen court. The orientation of the house gives an impression of an expansive space but these two forms clearly demonstrate a public and private zone, as do many interior and materialistic features of the house. The cubes contain two distinct groups of activities: one  an entrance lobby and the master bedroom suite (with dressing room and bathroom on the first floor and two smaller bedrooms on the second floor). The second cube, connected by a large opening to the entrance lobby, includes a two-story-high kitchen and living areas, separated by a freestanding stone fireplace.  

Kahn’s sensitivity of materials and light, as well as his specific use of cedar siding and native stone, compliment the surroundings while the natural surroundings offset the geometric forms. On the inteior, Kahn uses a large almost classically inspired fireplace in the center of the space to represent the circulation and relationship of man in the building.

301 : ranch : assigned artwork

Jay Defeo (American, 1929-1989)

Untitled (Florance), 1952

Jay Defeo was an influential San Francisco painter associated with the Beat generation artists of the Bay Area.  She learned of ideas surrounding Abstract Expressionism from New York by her professors at the University of California at Berkeley.

DeFeo worked primarily with a palette of gray, black, and white, often scraping and adding paint repeatedly to create multiple layers.

301 : bungalow

Strongly influenced by the pattern of movement I imagined hummingbirds’ wings to create, with fast paced visual beats contrasting on diagonals, I incorporated the herringbone-like pattern as a horizontal datum on my furniture pieces.  As the central part of my design, this gesture helped to conceptualize the connections of the hummingbird to the pattern, direction and movement of lines from the bungalow and Arts and Crafts period.

With bodies designed especially for eating, and with as much time perched as flying, the notion of eating while perching articulates the dynamics of a dining room setting; sometimes used for casual family dinners, sometimes used for active entertaining.  The typical green and rose colors of a hummingbird also reflect the historic colors of the Arts and Crafts period, staying true to the bungalow style.

The dining chairs marry together the nature of my textiles with the forms that are articulated in the pattern of the other furniture pieces.  The joints shown mostly on the backs of the chairs pay tribute to the craft of the Arts and Crafts period.  Although they tie these two elements together their whimsical character helps them to stand out in the room.

The pattern on the enlay running across my furniture pieces was inspired by the motion of a hummingbird. This concept is a key component repeated throughout the space.  The alternating wood tones adds contrast that also plays into the space.  Deriving from both color schemes of the Arts
the coloring of a hummingbird the rose pink and greens also add contrast in the dining room.

bachelard : the poetics of space : charrette : part 1

In chapter seven of his seminal work, Bachelard suggest that "the plan of the house drawn on a reduced scale implies none of the problems that are inherent to a philosophy of the imagination." (149) REFLECT on the implications of this quote as you exercise your imagination in dealing with your assigned work of art.  Working in plan view only, strategize a working parti for the house of 612 Rockford Road.  Reduce your thoughts to an easily understood diagram.  Write a paragraph to support your work.

The 612 Rockbridge Road Ranch is broken into two distinct spaces; public and private.  The horizontal lines created by various levels create different spaces within the public portion of the house.  Meanwhile in the private part of the house vertical lines created by walls divide the space into secluded rooms.  Vast windows and scarce walls expose the public space to the flow of natural light.  The private portion seems darker because of the smaller rooms and windows.  The lighting merged with the color scheme of my inspiration art piece [Jay DeFeo, Untitled 1952] would allow for  gradient to move dark to light, west to east.  Touches of blue would be expressed on either the north or the east walls and the spaces material would be very tactile, also reflecting the painting.

301 : ranch : charrette models

: as the second part of the ranch charrette we used materials at hand to create three models to represent color, light and material of our ranch+art piece concept

color model : shades of grey and blue hue

material model : very tactile + many layers

light model : public portion : light shades ; private portion : dark shades

bungalow : site

602 N. Mendenhall St. : Greensboro, NC

home of cecilia thompson

301 : bungalow : textiles

: in attempt to create textiles for the bungalow project that articulate concepts of the bungalow style and arts and crafts time period.

bungalow : process sketches

Hummingbirds on the brain 

: Their color relates to historic colors of the Arts and Crafts period, staying true to bungalow style

: Their connection to nature, much like bungalows

: Small but vigorous

: dynamics of rest versus activity | entertaining : casual dining ; flying+hovering : perching

: Visual beat : the rapid and repetitive movement of their wings flapping got me to this herringbone-like graphic which I believe will play a big role in my design