BUILD IT - Day 1

What is your understanding between the relationship between shape and structure?

My understanding of shape is that it is a word we use to describe the outline or form of 'things'. Shapes do not necessarily need to be 3-Dimensional. The relationship between shape and structure, to me, comes when defining structure. Structure is the construction or arrangement of shapes. I do not think a structure has to be 3D however, I do think it needs to be free standing to some degree. We also use structure, to describe shapes. e.g- structurally weak.

What shape is the strongest ? which shape is the most visually interesting?

I think the triangle or an equilateral triangle is the strongest shape. I think that these two shapes are particularly strong because of the fact that all their sides are equal length. This means that there is an equal amount of weight going throughout the shape in the case of a square turned into a cube [a Platonic solid] and a very strong base in a pyramid. When observing buildings, these shapes are used frequently and in conjunction with each other, I think due to their structural integrity.

I think "made up" shapes are the most visually interesting. Shapes that contain both straight and curved lines and potentially do not follow the usual order of geometry. When I think of visually interesting shapes, to me, they have to look like they were created by a person first and equation second. Things such as warped squares and rhombus' are appealing to me. In terms of tangible shapes that I find visually interesting; circles. Circles are immediately challenging shapes to create things with because they lack sides or edges. Circles are unique in this dilemma and therefore, interesting to me.

You were asked to work in a team, how did that make you feel ?

I originally did not enjoy team work at the start of the foundation course. A lot of the work I created was based off of topics that felt very close to me and so group work didn't feel like it made sense. I found it hard to compromise ideas I felt strongly about as well as communicate ideas in a clear succinct way. It was frustrating. what I've learnt is, good design is not individual. we do not develop well informed work on our own. Throughout this course I am learning to enjoy team work as an aid to potential individual work. I think that having multiple people coming up with ideas is clever. Having many thought processes to consider and develop just makes for a better piece of work in all cases. Working in a team today meant that we had more ambitious ideas as, as a group we would had the time to tackle it. It also meant we had time to experiment with what was working, and what wasn't, which meant we had a more refined outcome to the project brief.

How did the decision making process evolve in your group ? Did you agree?

I am not to sure I understand this question. However i'll answer what I think is appropriate.

Our group took individual notes on what they thought the brief was, when it was being explained. we then took a considerable about of time discussing out own ideas and deliberating on we the thought were good ideas and what we wouldn't use. we drew and wrote down some of our ideas. After this initial process we then talk more about what the context/intension is of the work we want to create. This helps narrow down our choices. When we have only 2/3 strong ideas the group is happy abut we draw fin to point out which idea makes the most sense and what improvements could be made. At this stage we are ready to design as a group, appointing tasks to each other throughout the design process. I find that the final outcome always looks a bit different from the original sketches we took.

I really enjoy this way of decision making a group. everyone is heard and considered equal. it is also very thorough.

what was successful about the structure you created?

The most successful aspect of our structure was that it was dynamic. The four Platonic solids we created were only connected by one corner, this mad the sculpture fluid and interchangeable. by moving once shape, the entire silhouette was erected and something new had been created. this was exciting on and architectural level as we don't often see buildings that can be moved in any way and also on a fashion design design aspect. We put the object on to the body and played with the moving parts on a different medium. it was interesting to see such rigid shapes behaving like fluid.

Was it stable? How did it respond to ideas you discussed as a group?

It was stable. some of the configurations of our structure were less stable then others however. we made it more installation based in the end as it was easier to communicate our final idea this way. I do not think that was necessarily the best choice as we lost the dynamic element of out sculpture. Upon reflection, a performance piece; physically moving the pieces would be a better choice fo our object.

What would you change about about it? (add/remove)

I think the concept of our design was stronger than the actual final design. It didn't work well as a stationary object. with that being said, I would move our object outside so the movable components of our sculpture can work better.

which drawings could you develop into a design for a space and how would you do it?

I think the initial colour blocking and silhouette drawings are interesting. They already have aspects of what I consider a tangible building would have. I am not sure how I would develop these as of yet.

Reflection

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