SOMETHING OBTUSE

12.10.2011

Boscage:
I can not see through this mess.
A pile of sticks and leaves.
A thicket of light shading devices.
It is solid.

aWordPoembyJeremiahJohnson

12.09.2011

A House Project

A quick look at my house I designed colours for.
Not completed yet
but I shall not fear.

12.07.2011

Ending the Highrise -- The Backbone of Design

Long alas the challenges of prey

They swoop and turn and twist.

On golden pedestals they laugh and stay

For design is but a fighting foe

strong and wise

and full of wit.

Accomplished we are, for highrise is complete. Four weeks to this day have I put my numb hand through Sheol. My partner's poor hand as well holds bloody scars of joy. But this incarnate ritual and needy process crafts Art. The intensity you drive--the deeper the narrative; the better the design. The finality is but a marvelous glimpse into the power of architectural design. It weaves experience and delight into something so magnificent.

As you approach the layout you are greeted by a golden light trickling soft melodies into the boards. They dance with joy. You gasp at the detail. You float in a sea of antiquity. The design is wholesome. It speaks through many levels which blend intermittently between each other. Every thing speaks to its neighbor: the sepia tone paintings, the industrial pallet wood, the pocket watch the immensely detailed model and particular hand-made frames. The collective whole grasps your spirits and delights to impress you.

Designing to create an experiential whole is indeed important. It beckons to be seen, felt, smelled and enjoyed. It is powerful and majestic. It is functional, metaphorical and aesthetically pleasing. It exists because of particularity and intention. Perception does not matter. Likes and dislikes do not matter. Opinion does not matter. It is whole. It speaks. It lives. To craft a delicate model, paint flourished water colours and find a cohesive blend sends shivers down your spine.

Is this project Obtuse? Absolutely. Considering the use of Hand Craft {Model Making and Painting} to match both the industrial area of Rincon Hill and the Clients values, this Highrise design is avant garde. Though using the computer is not a destructive measure--the purity in hand-crafted quality for this project is very particular indeed. Without thought the project would fail and dwindle. So, the Narrative continues to evoke imagery. It still speaks wholeness and might. Detail upon detail saturates the project. The entire design was not made from Form but from something much deeper--this experience I continue to state. It is not a pizza box design; it is not stacks of floor plates. It is obtuse because the design is much greater than a simple theoretical educational design. We have reached deeper to makes something Obtuse--something of prowess and stature. Something real and tangible. Something you can taste. All your sense are inclined to project within.

The Presentation

A Step Closer

Fredrick O'Donnell Inspiration and Client {painter unknown}

Giant Section Perspective

Diagram of Function

Residential Floor Axonometric

O'Donnell Commercial Floors Axonometric

Site Base Axonometric

A Narrative

Approach

O'Donnell Lobby

Sky Lobby

Penthouse

Market


San Francisco Skyline


Name Plate Detail

12.04.2011

The start of the Highrise Boards

Drawing has commenced. Continuing the narrative the boards will be completely rendered and drawn by hand--no computer will touch them.

The delicate, intricate and craft of a pocket watch needs to be shown in the boards and model to express the experience of the tower. The O'Donnell tower is a complete delicate experience. It is filled design in every corner. All floors are custom to the space and people. Each space is intentional and particular to the occupation. This is extremely important not simply to this design but to architecture in general.

Architecture should not be understood only by a copy {drawing} but through the fourth dimension-time. We can only fully comprehend a building by experience. The boards and model are a glimpse into the experience and while they do a fine job, every aspect must be taken into account to fulfill that quality!

Architecture as a 'pocket watch' proves the experience needed for understanding. A metaphor is used for you to gain a feeling of how intricate it will be.

12.03.2011

Tile work

Within the public space model
a neat vignette was crafted
--Kashmir Lime Granite Tile.

The Cuts

The Assembly

The Product

12.02.2011

New Laser Cutter Technique

The woodshop was closed.
The Model was due.
I had a laser cutter tool.
So the gears started to turn.

--A new technique for the laser cutter--
Problem: Cutting a depression into a board 1/4" deep.
Issue: Make it look like grass.
Solution: I started by cutting fins which I would remove with a chisel. This left thin long strips through the square depression. This was not acceptable.

So I made a grid .005" x .005" which spanned the entire square depression. After one hour of cutting, a fantastic dot matrix was revealed. I then simply rubbed the end of a vacuum against the 'dots' and it removed the entire depression. I once again repeated the cut but removed the edge leaving a 1/8" square. The product was grass-like and wonderful to look at and think about.