STRUCTURAL & SENSORY SYSTEMS I
Art Center College of Design, Department of Environmental Design, Fall 2003
OVERVIEW
this course looks at the how the environments we design may be influenced, inspired and informed by the natural forces of gravity, sunlight, water and air.
this
class will include:
> the reader & other suggested readings
-weekly readings covering a broad range of issues and concepts of structural
and sensory systems in contemporary society and design. these readings are required
and will be discussed on alternating class meetings. additional reading is suggested.
‘building construction illustrated’ by francis ching will offer
supportive reference material.
>
films & slide lectures
-biweekly presentations of work by designers that manifest the issues and concepts
covered in the class and readings.
>
exercises: scaled models and drawings
-biweekly exercises in and out of class.
-lead by fritz haeg.
-addressing structural & sensory systems in relation to:
1. gravity & structure
2. air & atmosphere
3. light & sun
4. water & life
>
experiments: full scale interactive
-biweekly in class experiments.
-alternating weeks with the exercises.
-addressing the same series of concepts.
-lead by steve appleton.
>
applications: experimental design project
-create a residential space on the l.a. river.
-will synthesize the 4 topics introduced earlier in the
in addition to the following:
5. communities & the urban
6. transportation & communication
7. animals & plants
-apply and manifest the concepts, skills and information introduced in the class
in a real design project that addresses all scales of human environment and
experience from the urban to the interior.
>
the reader
gravity & structure:
‘atomic architecture, multi sources synthesis’
from architectural design vol. 65 no. 1/2 95 / pages iii-vii / battle, mccarthy
/ 1995
‘earth
as a british building material
from architectural design vol. 67 no. 1/2 97 / pages 87-89 / linda watson /
1997
‘down
to earth buildings’
from architectural design vol. 67 no. 1/2 97 / pages 90-93 / sumita sinha /
1997
‘contemporary
techniques in architecture’
ali rahim, ed. / pages 9-19, 72-76, 102-107 / 2002
'your
private sky: r. buckminster fuller'
j. krausse, ed. / exerpts / 2001
air
& atmosphere:
'the architecture of the well tempered environment'
reyner banham / pages 18-28, 171-194 / 1969
‘post
air conditioned architecture’
from architectural design vol. 67 no. 3/4 97 / pages iii-v / battle, mccarthy
/ 1997
‘the
soundscape of modernity’
emily thompson / pages 18-33 / 2002
light
& sun:
‘towards the light, multi sources synthesis’
from architectural design vol. 66 no. 3/4 96 / battle, mccarthy / pages ii-iii
/ 1996
‘sun rhythm form'
ralph l. knowles / pages 3-17 / 1981
water
& life:
‘ground level’
nadir lahiji and d.s. friedman / from plumbing: sounding modern architecture
/ xavier costa / pages 93-100 / 1997
'the
los angeles river'
blake gumprecht / pages 1-39, 235-301 / 1999
communities
& the urban:
‘the non-linear development of cities’
amerigo marras, editor / from eco-tec, the architecture of the in-between /
manuel de landa / pages 23-30 / 1999
‘the
death and life of great american cities’
jane jacobs / pages 5-34 / 1961
‘the
timeless way of building’
colin rowe / 1979
transportation
& communication:
‘towards a new architecture’
le corbusier / pages 89-148 / 1931
‘los
angeles: the architecture of four ecologies’
reyner banham / pages 75-93 / 1971
‘the
suburban home companion: television’
from sexuality and space / beatriz, ed. / lynne spigel / pages 185-215 / 1992
animals
& plants:
‘evolutionary architecture’
eugene tsui / pages 2-17, 86-131 / 1999
‘the
monumental impulse’
george hersey / pages 2-39 / 1999
additional reading:
'itten: the elements of color' / f. birren, ed. / 1961
'interaction of color' / josef albers
'the architecture of the city' / aldo rossi / 1966
'building construction illustrated' / francis ching / 2001
'sustaining architecture in the anti-machine age' / ian abley / 2001
'sustainable architecture' / jacobo krauel / 2002
'the artificial landscape' / hans ibelings / 2000
'sun, wind & light' / g.z. brown / 1985
'the beehive metaphor' / juan a. ramirez / 1998
'body and building' / george dodds, ed.
'architecture without architect' / bernard rudofsky / 1965
'the pattern language' / colin rowe / 1977
'desiring practices: architecture, gender & the interdisciplinary' / duncan
mccorquodale / 1996
'primitive architecture' / venrico guidoni / 1975
'architecture and the environment' / david lloyd jones / 1998
'water and architecture' / charles moore / 1994
'solar energy, architecture and urban plannin' / thomas herzog, ed / 1998
'blobmeister' / peter cachola,ed / 2001
'waterscapes' / herbert dreiseitl / 2001
exercises:
-bring to class every other week (odd weeks):
digital camera
calculator
sharpie markers, pens and pencils
sketchbook
tape measure
architects scale
hot glue gun & sticks
elmers glue
tape
12” roll white trace paper
x-acto knife and blades
scissors
exercise 1:
-in addition, for the next class, week 2, wednesday, 5.21, bring a full photograph
of yourself and as much as you can of one of the following structural units:
1.sugar cubes
2.toothpicks & gumdrops (or substitute)
3.playing cards
4.small balloons
5.ping pong balls & rubberbands
6.paper tubes & rubber bands
-in class we will be constructing an enclosure using only these materials.
-we will be working in teams of two.
-you will be challenged to enclose as much space as you can during the class
period.
-each enclosure should have at least one opening.
-after you have finished the enclosure, you will enlarge the photograph of yourself
to become a scale figure for your model.