GIDE 2012 + Other Business

mind maps + scribblin'

I have been rather quiet as of late on this blog, as I have been beavering away so to speak at several other things.

GIDE is one of the main things on my mind at the moment - for more information see my separate blog for all related posts over on the dark side at Wordpress!

Aside from that I have been working away in the studio, and have taken well to the new course structure, including my new module entitled Critical Making. I shall post separately on this.

I have also this year become a student ambassador for the University of Dundee, attending visitors days and helping the University promote itself to potential future students by providing tours. This has been a fantastic opportunity to meet other students as well as learn more about how our campus operates.

We have of course also moved to our new studios, which, although are having heating issues at the moment look set to be brighter and more spacious than our old location - and I also have a wall space to populate, which I can't complain about!

Sketchup and AutoCAD however, are calling...I have to admit I've missed the project buzz!

London Bound

I'm off to London tonight - and as fun as this sounds, I'm dreading the 11 hour bus journey that comes first.

Aside from that, I'm quite excited to be visiting again, however it has been somewhat tainted by the recent riots that have been so widely publicised recently. I'm not going to go on much about that though, as the internet is already crawling with opinions and outbursts regarding the riots, with blame being put on several things.

I am however excited that after returning from London it's only two weeks until term starts again! Third year should be fun, even as the workload increases. GIDE is coming to Dundee this year and we have new studios to make into our homes for the next academic year - I hope to do a post about the reshuffle soon, as well as GIDE, once we find out more about it.

Apologies for the short but sweet post - I'm really busy with my work at the moment and have several things taking up all my time! I will however post further on what GIDE is, the new studios, London and our new academic choices, come start of term.

Caio!

EcoOffice: Easter Break & Deadlines

Quick update - the current project is going well.

It's now the Easter holidays, although by no means will this be a holiday as the deadline is on the 2nd May.  This means as I now plan into my final decent, I need to make final decisions upon how to present it all. We have been informed that it is not necessary to produce a scale model, but for those of us with presentations lacking a model, we must produce other scaled representations. In this case, I do not intend to build a model as my design has developed into a dense space, making a model too time consuming to do to a standard I would be happy with, not to mention being of little use as it would not be sufficiently viewable. I have chosen to provide plans that will be printed and displayed separately, along with an exploded axonometric, and an isometric showing colour coded departments.

The remainder of our materials fee which is paid annually will be put towards our printing costs, totally 2 A0 sheets, and for a small fee we can opt for a third. As I plan not to make the model, I will continue onto a third presentation sheet.

I am currently battling the baffling realm that is rendering software, which I have a feeling may continue on for some weeks yet.

Planning, I am very good at. Now however, execution is required. Thankfully Carol, our tutor, reassured me on Friday that I am further ahead than I thought I was - and in fact almost finished, so therefore should take a break. Clearly she doesn't know me very well still, because I won't be taking a break from this until it's finished and checked. And checked again. And then edited. And re-exported. And checked.

www.hku.nl

Lastly of my things to update about, I submitted my final application form for the Erasmus exchange programme just over a week ago. I spent a long time getting paranoid over my personal statement and portfolio, in fear I wouldn't do it justice and damaging my chances at such a good opportunity to meet new people and visit new places. I chose to apply to the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht, with no second option as I didn't want to travel elsewhere if I were to be unsuccessful in my first choice. But alas, all is done and submitted now so lest not fret about what can not be changed. But I will fret, it's what I do best after all.

Nicoll Russell Studios

Nicoll Russell Studios are an architecture and interior design firm based in Broughty Ferry, on the outskirts of Dundee. They have had many successful projects, including The Dundee Rep Theatre, several Dundee University buildings, contemporary private homes, The Scottish Dance Theatre in Dundee and Dundee Sheriff Court, along with many other builds.

Garry Farquharson who is an architect for Nicoll Russell Studios, kindly gave us his time last week for a workshop, in which he took us through the building process. This included explaining site analysis of one of their recent sustainable builds in the Dundee area - the Hillcrest HQ. He said they had been lucky to get such a forward thinking client, as when designers mention the horrid "S" word of sustainability, a lot of clients recoil in confused disgust. He went on to tell us that usually you have to be tactful in the way you approach eco building, but with Hillcrest, they wanted to be as green as possible.

artists impression of the Hillcrest HQ
source: nrsarchitects.com

I learnt quite a lot from him, particularly about how a real project can go. I was interested to find out more about geothermal cooling systems, and about on site generation of electricity - something they used for the Hillcrest HQ, which meant enough electricity was generated to sell back to the national grid.

The relationship between your own project and the surrounding land is something that he spoke to us quite in depth, and made me consider this further for our current project. While designing the Hillcrest HQ there was another on-going build on the same piece of land, so the two firms worked closely to ensure both builds would work together. Although this is not quite the same situation for my hypothetical build, it is a site that has a close relationship to the surrounding buildings - particularly the football stadium. I added a psychological aspect into my site analysis to cover what effects the surrounding buildings in the relatively close proximity would have on such a space.

He also mentioned the cradle to cradle theory, as opposed to cradle to grave - which is a book I have been meaning to read for a while, despite buying it a ages ago.

I think I've just found my reading material for the train on Monday!

I Love Tea!

I love tea.

Seriously, I can't get enough of it right now! Twinings particularly appeals to me because Stephen Fry was on the advert, so it must be good for the brain. I also really like the new one where they make a scenic image out of different shades of tea in the cups!

These are my favourites:

Also, if you go on the Twinings website you can select two free samples if there is any you would like to try (I highly recommend the Cranberry & Sanguinello Orange!).

I'm not even sure why I'm posting about tea, it's just after my particularly long day in the studio I have come home to a cup of Lemon & Lime. Ahh! Just what the doctor ordered! Now, I am going to continue with my research, as our briefs were issued today, explaining the project we will be undertaking over the next 12 weeks.

I will post about our brief and my plans shortly.

"If you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it" - Andy Warhol

Influence was discussed during yesterday's lecture.

Who influences us? And how? Are we born with our tastes, are they passed on genetically, or is it how we are brought up? Is it nature or nurture that causes us to have our tastes? 

Do our parents and peers influence what we like? The films we watch, the way we dress? Do we like the music we like because of the people we spend most of our time with?

Furthermore - when we look at rankings, how are these decided? Sure a lot of people may like that, but not everybody will. A majority vote is only displaying the likes and interests of a set number of people. 

Well, yesterday we did an exercise to question all of the above.  We all wrote our own personal top 5 films, bands, classical composers and designers. After that, we conferred with a small group around us to create a general consensus of our group top 5 of the above categories. We were then selected at random to create a whole class list of the same topics again. What we found were that few us agreed with what was on the final list. 

Next, people were asked to stand up if they (for example) were wearing a scarf. What was found was that groups tended to be clustered together who wore similar things. This shows us that (generally speaking) groups of people who work/socialise together, influence one and other. The interiors and jewellers wore scarfs. The interactive media students wore hoodies. Specific groups do specific things. 

Taste goes further than what you are wearing. We like to believe that someone who is considered an expert, is right - but when it comes to artwork, surely it is a matter of taste? Pierre Bourdieu took a range of work from the likes of Michelangelo, Rubens, Titian and Di Vinci and scored them based on his expertise in the likes of composition, drawing / design, colour and expression. Michelangelo was scored to have the equivalent of a 3rd class Honours Degree - something that is thought of by most to be quite preposterous. 

This however, highlights the issues that come with taste. What exactly is expertise? What makes what Bourdieu scored right?
Jonathan then brought up the debate about Andy Warhol's work. The Campbell's Soup screen prints that are world famous - are they his work? Are they Campbell's graphic designer's work? Are they the work of the screen printer who actually printed them in Warhol's "The Factory" studio? Without the soup tin, his work would not exist, however the soup tin on it's own has virtually no value. From this the conclusion was that a name can incur value.

This then lead to the debate around if Warhol was present in the building at the time of printing - does this make it an original, and therefore valuable. However, does this also mean that if he was not present, they are replicas? I however think they were all replicas, wether he was there or not. Few of his pieces are new imagines altogether - a lot is altered replicas of a already-in-cirulation image or logo. 

He's quoted to have said "I suppose I have a really loose interpretation of "work," because I think that just being alive is so much work at something you don't always want to do. The machinery is always going. Even when you sleep." - so for his works in particular, were the after hours pieces replicas? I would argue no, as he had commissioned them to be created at those times.

Warhol often spoke of his love for money and that he created things to make money from. He had little if not no deeper meaning in a lot of his work, and almost mocked the industry for buying it. It was just a business - or at least that is how he portrayed it. "I'd asked around 10 or 15 people for suggestions. Finally one lady friend asked the right question, 'Well, what do you love most?' That's how I started painting money."

"Being good in business is the most fascinating kind of art. Making money is art and working is art and good business is the best art. " - Andy Warhol

This however is only true for him and his works - the previous argument about value applies to a wide variety of works from various disciplines.

DJCAD: New Studio Space

We have been told that DJCAD is set to be going under serious renovation over the next few academic years. As exciting as it is, it causes almost immediate disruption to the Interior & Environmental department as our current studio space inhabits most of floor 5 in the Matthew Building - which is set to be developed into the new cantina area. As a result of our current area being designated to other uses, we are being moved up stairs to the top floor - level 8 - over the next academic summer. Such upheaval has caused a mixed response within our department, leaving a lot of us a little perplexed at the thought of getting ready to move. There was a lecture provided to explain what exactly will be happening, however it unfortunately landed during the critical height of our projects, so few people made it. Nobody seems to be sure of how it will pan out - as the layout on the floors above is somewhat different, meaning we will have to alter our working layout. 

Currently there is a large studio housing first through third year, with two a-joining critique spaces, allowing us to showcase work and conduct meetings during group work. We also unofficially inhabit the gallery space on level 5, allowing us to mark out large spaces during early development work. Fourth year are housed opposite in a long private studio, with an additional crit space at the end, which can also be used by all years. All in all, the current layout works well, and with the main studio acting somewhat as a "hub" for the bustle and energy, allowing fourth year to continue in peace. I&ED is after all, renowned for their nursery like ways - paper planes and paint everywhere. 

Being interior students, we had to investigate our to-be studios. Upon conducting our  investigation upstairs, we were a little surprised and found that it was a totally different atmosphere to what we were used to. I can't help but feel that when I step out the lift, I have just entered a floor of The Overlook Hotel: 

And having an overactive imagination such as I do, it means I then expect to return along the corridor to be confronted with the iconic blood elevator: 

But as I say, I just have a terrifying over active imagination. 

I hope something interesting is done with regards to the studio spaces, as it looks as though we are going to have two studios - perhaps splitting first and second year from third and fourth. This may work well, as it allows the latter stages to bounce ideas off of one and other, as they are more developed in the course. 

I do hope the orange doors are painted, or removed altogether - it's currently a Stanley Kubrick nightmare. Bare breeze-block is bearable to an extent, but I find the whole attic like space quite terrifying. I can't imagine I'd be staying behind late on my own, in the winter, and snow...it's sounding more and more like The Shining. 

On discussing this with fellow classmates, Ross suggested it may be good to incorporate "Idea Paint" into the new studios - a paint that once dry acts as a drawing space that may be cleaned and reused. This would be fantastic for group work and brainstorming - and even mind maps! I'm unsure as to the expense of such a product, but it is surely within reach. I hope sustainability will be high on the agenda as well, as I would feel awfully hypocritical to study sustainable building in a space that contributed hugely to waste!

Although it will be sad for us to leave what we have considered a home from home over the (almost) past two years, in a way, it will be a nice thing to happen...as what is more interesting to an I&ED student, than a studio refurbishment? 

...just leave out the horrid carpets, please. 

*Shudders*