Contemplations of a Complex Universe

All of these are possible title pages for my Millennium Development project. Throughout all these title pages, I kept mainly clean-cut lines and bold print. As we talked about in our discussion group, the sans serif text is best for the titles, so I used only sans serif text. Also, I tried to take some of the examples I had found in my prior blog and apply them to my own designs, such as my use of clean-cut lines, white space between photos, and black-and-white photos combined with colored photos.

Posted by Michelle Stein at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Today was overall really fun. I enjoy this work a lot and love the students I work with! When I got there today, the halls seemed unusually quiet. I know most days they have prayer time until 1:50, but I saw a note on some other teacher's white board that prayer was until 2:00 today. So, I had to wait ten minutes. But at 2:00 there still wasn't anybody there. I think we ended up starting at 2:10. I always feel somewhat intimidated before class starts, but it always ends up turning out okay. Today, quite a few of the students who came in to the first class gave me a friendly hi! how are you? which was nice. It makes me feel welcomed that they remember me. (even though I haven't been there the past two weeks cause of spring break). Anyways, it was fun to help them today, and I think because I wasn't so tired that I had more energy to work through the problems with them. Sometimes I feel like my advice doesn't go through to them, and that they don't understand me, but today I felt like they were really understanding a lot. And they always welcome my help which makes things a lot easier. The second class was equally good. I got to talk with one of the guys before hand, which I always enjoy. Its really neat to hear about their personal background. He said he came to America two years ago and moved around a little bit. This is his third location in the US that he's lived. He is now living with his mother and brother, and hopes to stay in this location for good. At the beginning of this class, Hassan (the teacher) came up to me and handed me the white board marker and asked me to go through the problems with the class... (He'd done this on a couple occasions last semester, asking me to teach the class while he substituted in the class next door) But today he stayed in the class for mostly the whole time, just sitting down and watching. Maybe he just needed a break :) Anyways, I went through problems on the board with the class for the whole period. At first I was nervous because I hadn't seen what they were working on today. (It's always interesting when I find out what they are learning about because the first few problems I look at I have to refresh my memory... Luckily the memories came quickly today) It was fun to be able to go through problems on the board. Normally, the students have the pencil in their hand and I have to explain through words what they need to be doing. Instead, I was writing, so it seemed easier to explain the problems.

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Not a whole lot of excitement happened... Just the usual hard work of trying to understand what the students are saying and trying to help them understand what I'm saying about math... it gets kind of frustrating sometimes because I feel like I am explaining the math problem to the best of my ability but it doesn't process in their minds. (I am not trying to belittle their potential abilities, just trying to emphasize the difficulties in communication.) The first class is especially difficult, at least moreso than the second. They are at a lower level, doing basic math skills, yet they can't seem to wrap their minds around the simplest concepts. Sometimes I wonder if they are even trying... However, in a way, this almost adds to the excitement when they do come to understand something. I love when this happens, because I feel like my work there means something and I'm actually able to help them. The second class is really fun to work with because they really seem to understand what they are doing. They seem to really enjoy math... these two things could be in direct relationship with each other though. I unfortunately had to leave early from this class because I had a meeting to get to... oh well. Although at times this work can be tiring, I think I'm not emphasizing enough the fun that it has been. Despite the frustrations, I really enjoy interacting with a different culture and love being able to use my abilities to help others.

Posted by Michelle Stein at 04:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading #16: Biomimicry: “How Will We Make Things?” by Janine Benyus
Keywords
1. Mimic. That’s the whole point of biomimicry: to mimic nature’s genius character, to imitate a quality down to the littlest detail because nature knows best. The reading gives the example of the adhesive that a mollusk uses to stick to objects under water. This adhesive is greater than any that man has been able to create. It uses fewer steps (to actually become an adhesive) and is more successful. It can even work under water! For this reason, biomimics are studying in great detail the mollusk’s adhesive to try to mimic it in their work.
2.Process. I thought it was really interesting how Janine Benyus explained how biomimics are not so interested in trying to imitate certain products of nature, but rather the process through which nature makes these products. “What we really want to do is imitate the manufacturing process, that is, how organisms manage to grow” (100). This makes sense though, because imitating the process is much more significant, a much greater feat, than just imitating natures products. If you can imitate the process, than you will know for sure that your product will turn out to be the same. This is the most difficult challenge: imitating the process.
Discussion Questions:
1. Why do you think we did not use biomimicry in earlier designs/architecture? Or is there evidence that we did?
2. Give an example of another process in nature (not given in the reading or the lecture) that could be used in architecture/design.

Reading #17: Natures Numbers: “The Natural Order” by Ian Stewart
Keywords:
1. Patterns. There are patterns all over in nature. They govern our universe. They are found in living and non-living things, such as seashells, flowers, and sand dunes. The two types include fractals and chaos. (Fractals are geometric repetition, and chaos is the “apparent randomness whose origins are entirely deterministic” (3).) There are numeric patterns, geometric patterns, patterns of form, patterns of movement, etc. All patterns can be observed mathematically and can help to give “a deeper vision of the universe in which we live, and of our own place in it” (11).
2. Mathematics. Patterns are an extremely intriguing part of our universe, but they are “not just there to be admired, they are vital clues to the rules that govern natural processes” (1) They require mathematics to study them in their complexities and to figure out the WHY and HOW; the answer to why they are formed and how they are formed; the reasons behind it all. Mathematics is used to “organize and systemize our ideas about patterns”, to come up with the rules that direct the patterns (1).
Discussion Questions:
1. How can understanding these patterns give us a greater understanding of our world? How can this understanding help ultimately us in designing new buildings in architecture?
2. How can we continue to further our understanding of natures many patterns? Will there ever come to be a point where we have discovered all of them?

Reading #18: The World Treasury of Physics, Astronomy, and Mathematics: “Mathematics and Creativity” by Alfred Adler
Keywords:
1. Skepticism. I was really surprised to hear that skepticism is a major part of mathematics. However, the reading really convinced me that this is true. Because many things that seem to be true at first instinct end up ultimately false, mathematicians have learned to not believe anything unless it has been proven over and over again to be true. “The mathematician learns early to accept no fact, to believe no statement, however apparently reasonable or obvious or trivial, until it has been proved, rigorously and totally, by a series of steps proceeding from universally accepted first principles” (439). They have learned to become skeptics because it is the only way that they can do their work accurately without allowing the occurrence of a major mistake. The reading gave many examples of occurrences where something that seems obviously true has in the end been proven false, and therefore emphasizing the importance of statements and ‘facts’ to be tested repeatedly before believed to be true.
2. Exploration. “The essential feature of mathematical creativity is the exploration, under the pressure of powerful implosive forces, of difficult problems for whose validity and importance the explorer is eventually held accountable by reality” (445). Exploration is one of the most important factors of mathematical creativity. It is vital that mathematicians explore all their options and look for the most difficult problems and solve them, rather than going for the easiest ones. These difficult problems have a more valuable solution. The more mathematicians explore and the more work they put into their exploration, the greater their results will be.
Discussion Questions:
1. How can mathematics be creative? Give examples.
2. Alfred Adler gives many stereotypical examples of what mathematicians can and cannot do when it comes to certain jobs/disciplines. Is this right of him to categorize all mathematicians into these stereotypes? Do you believe his assumptions are accurate?

Posted by Michelle Stein at 10:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading #11: The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems by Fritjof Capra
Keywords:
1. Ecology. Ecology looks at the whole, not just its parts. The reading refers a lot to “deep ecology” which refers to the interconnectedness of all life-forms/organisms. It continually describes the importance of not just breaking down an organism (or whatever you are studying) to analyze its parts individually, but rather study it as a whole and look at the patterns/organization of the individual parts. Look at how they all relate/work together as a whole.
2. Hierarchy. One of the parts of this reading that surprised me was the fact that the author did not agree with the thinking that there is a hierarchy of living organisms. I guess because we just learned about this hierarchical organization in class, and I have always assumed it was true, I was surprised to hear the author disagree. The author explains that many people, such as Woodger, viewed living organisms as organized in a hierarchy. (Looking at the organization of organisms is ecological thinking/systemic thinking). However, he goes on to explain that he disagrees and sees them organized instead in a network pattern: networks within networks. I don’t know if I quite agree with his thinking, although I sort of see where he is coming from. I wish he would explain more though because it very much contradicts what I have been brought up thinking.
Discussion Questions:
1. How can this new understanding of life, this new paradigm (Deep ecology), give us a better understanding of architecture?
2. Do you agree with Capra’s network pattern of organisms? Or do you view them in a hierarchical organization?
3. Do you believe it is necessary to have an ecological worldview in order to truly understand organisms? Explain your reasoning.

Posted by Michelle Stein at 01:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading #14: Nature and the Idea of a Man-Made World, By Norman Crowe: “Geometry and the Primacy of Dwelling”
Keywords:
1. Paradigm: Crowe uses this term throughout the whole chapter. He continually describes various paradigms for today’s architecture. “Architecture and settlements served as paradigms for more structured ways of thinking, just as the natural enviroment had sered as the paradigm for the creation of the man-made in the first place.” Just as the primitive man was influenced in his architecture by nature and the way it interacted with it, their structures are precedents for architectural structures built after them. We continually see history reflected in buildings of today and therefore, nature as well.
There is also the paradigm of the universe as a whole for the built environment. In the past, and probably still today, people have constructed their houses to somehow imitate the creation of the universe in their creation of a house/building/dwelling.
2. Evolution: There is an evolutionary aspect of architecture in that we continually build off of what has been built prior. The first man had no buildings to base their structures off of. Instead they built off of nature’s architecture, so to speak. From then on, people continually modified these structures, molding them to better fit their needs as technology developed and their understanding of their surroundings/materials developed.

Discussion Questions:
1. How does the architecture in your surrounding environment effect you/your outlook on life? How does it affect your culture as a whole?
2. How can we, as future architects, look at past dwellings and learn from them and allow them to affect the way we design? To what extent should we let them influence us? Where should our own imagination come into play?

Posted by Michelle Stein at 12:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I have searched for hours upon hours (well.. maybe not that extreme) trying to find designs that intrigue me to use for my project layout. Here is what I have come across:

I really liked the clean cut lines, the bold geometric shapes, and the large amount of white space on this website. I also really liked the font. It helped me to realize that I don't necessarily have to use Helvetica or Arial and it can still look very nice but have a more unique twist. I think I will also use the more clean, white-spaced look in my project presentation. I also really like the use of pictures when they are small and close together but not quite touching :)

Squint hard... I have always liked the use of bold large capital letters on top of pictures or faint bold large capital letters that somewhat blend in with the background (by blending, I mean they are about the same color). I think I will possibly use this technique in the header of my project presentation.

I really like the use of the squiggly line design in the background. If I found a program that could allow me to do that, I would love to include something simple, yet so lovely, on in the background of my presentation.

I have always loved using the watermarked picture as a background. I am not quite sure if I want to do this just because it takes up all the white space. However, to do this on just one or two of the pages wouldn't be so bad. Also, when I noticed the cut-out squares and how they were reproduced on the far right page in color, I got really excited. I love this technique... It would be fun if I could somehow incorporate this.

I love the bold orange color on the left pages... Its really simple/plain but really stands out and can be a nice way to break up a double-paged layout. And again, I love the page where the orange square is cut out and replaced right next to it. I also like the one picture in the lower left that has part of the floor separated from the rest of the picture.

Here is another example of multiple smaller squares being separated by a thin white space... I LoVE the clean cut lines that this gives! Beautiful gridded pattern!

Here is a beautifully simple layout for a webpage... And it can also be applied to any portfolio. I will definitely keep the simple factor in mind cause it seems like this is something that really intrigues me.

Through looking at all of these, I have realized that there are an infinite amount of ways to design something... But it doesn't mean that they are all appealing to the eye. I found a lot that I liked, but there were quite a few that didn't appeal to me at all. For this reason, I want to pay particular attention to the detail of my portfolio/presentation of my project because it does make an impact on the viewer. Most of the sites that I did not find appealing at first glance, I just skipped right over. First impressions can determine whether or not somebody would even consider looking at a portfolio.

That's all for now, folks.

However, I would like to conclude by saying that this really opened my eyes to the wonderful world of Design. I have confirmed my decision to minor in design! Yay!

Posted by Michelle Stein at 12:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading #15: Search for Form, By Eliel Saarinen
Keywords:
1. Sensitivity. Saarinen explains that “the essential thing in the search for form” is increasing sensitiveness to these mysteries by means of intuition, instinct, and imagination. We must be sensitive/more aware of the deeper meaning to anything we are trying to find form in, rather than just looking at the scientific facts. In order to understand anything clearly, we must get beyond the obvious physical aspects of it. We must look into its “soul”. Sensitiveness, in this instance, is a delicate term describing the way in which we should be observing/learning about an object/phenomena/whatever it is you are trying to understand.
2. Organic order. (Sorry this is two words, but it is a term that I found important to the article as a whole.) It is the last term in the chapter; it sums it all up. Organic order is “the fundamental principle of architecture in all of creation.” It consists of two other orders: expressive and correlative. It consists of that which expresses what is behind the form and that which relates all pieces of the puzzle into a whole, making it very captivating. Both of these combined make up organic order which, when successfully in order, creates “art of nature”.
Discussion Questions:
1. Given Saarinen’s definitions of false form and true form, describe an example of a true form in your everyday life.
2. Despite the fact that our world today is in a self-conscious stage of art-development, what stage of consciousness would you say that you are in? Explain.

Posted by Michelle Stein at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I guess the ‘designed environment’ that has influenced me most has been my own home… a typical middle-class house. I have lived there for most of my life and have probably spent the largest percentage of my life there compared to anywhere else. For this reason, I think my house has really influenced my comfort zone, creating an idea in my mind as to what makes me feel content and secure.

I was thinking about this and how it relates to frameworks, clockworks, phenomena, or oppositions, and I realized that it has quite a bit to do with oppositions. Picture a middle-class home and a bamboo hut. Which one opposes nature more? The middle-class home, right? The American middle-class house is built out of very different materials than its surroundings (most times, at least) and stands in greater opposition against nature. However, the bamboo hut is usually built with materials from its surroundings, most likely from bamboo trees nearby. It is made out of natural materials, so it blends in more with nature and there is less of an opposition.

So back to how this has affected me… Although I find the most comfort in my own home, this does not keep me from traveling beyond this comfort zone. In a sense, it is riveting to experience different environments. I have had the opportunity to visit a Lahu village in Thailand, where I was able to spend some time in a few bamboo huts. In the hut, I definitely felt closer to nature in that there was less of an opposition between the man-made hut and the environment it was placed in. There were not the conveniences that I am used to… The toilets were holes in the ground; the kitchen stoves were fire pits in the dirt floor; the air conditioning… well, there wasn’t any. It made me feel like instead of opposing nature, the Lahu people had to work with it in order to survive. It was so neat to be able to experience such a simple lifestyle.

Lahu House (http://vivienlittle.com/uploaded_images/IMG_3974-746662.JPG)

I’ve experienced an even more extreme condition of working with nature in Canada, camping in Quetico Park (the Canadian boundary waters, if you will). The whole week is spent living with nature, working with nature, surviving off of nature. Living in a tent is almost the closest to nature that one can get. And we weren’t even living in the tents. We only slept in them. We spent most of the day out fishing, swimming, cooking over a campfire, gazing up at the stars, enjoying the magnificent sunsets, etc. This is about the furthest from an opposition you can get without taking away the architecture side of it. It was so neat though to be able to experience the environment in its purest form (as pure as it gets nowadays).

Quetico Park - Trouser Lake

Our Campsite on Trouser Lake

At the other extreme, I have also had the opportunity to visit castles and palaces in France, particularly the Palace of Versailles. I didn’t get the chance to live there, but just spending a day in the Palace of Versailles gave me a taste of what the life of royalty might be like. This building in itself is a pretty large opposition, when it comes to the man-made world versus nature. The materials did not blend in with the natural environment (although it did with the other buildings… but that is the man-made environment). The architect had no intention when designing this palace to make it fit with the natural surroundings. Instead, it was a building to show the power of the king and queen. He did so by creating an enormous, elaborately decorated structure. It was really interesting to be able to experience the life of the extremely wealthy and powerful, the life of one who can build anything they want, as large as they want, as expensive as they want.

The exterior of just half of the Palace of Versailles

The hall of mirrors in the Palace of Versailles

All these places have taken me out of my ‘comfort zone’ in that I am not accustomed to living in any of them. While it was great to experience a life of simplicity, a life of connection to the environment, and a life of the affluent, I don’t think I could ever imagine living at either place for too long.
I am most comfortable in my own home. I find joy in being able to go home to a place where I can curl up on the couch and read a book, eat dinner with my family in the kitchen, hang out with friends in my basement, and go to sleep in my own comfortable bed. I am content with what I have. I don’t think I could live comfortably with too much more or too much less. I have become acquainted with the extent to which opposition of man versus nature takes place within my own home and any opposition greater or less would offset the balance that I have grown up with.

Posted by Michelle Stein at 11:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Reading #12: Architecture as Space
Keywords:
1. Dimension: The whole two chapters point to the fact that “space in actuality is grasped though an infinite number of paths” (59). Architecture is all about space, but you can’t fully portray it in diagrams, or models because you can’t get past 2 dimensions of a plan, the three dimensions of a model, or the four dimensions of a video. You have to actually experience the space to understand the infinite number of dimensions involved in space. Architecture involves the three-dimensional and the inclusion of man, which separates it from other forms of art such as painting or sculpture. It includes that extra dimension of man experiencing the space.
2. Experience: “Internal space… cannot be completely represented in any form…” It “can be grasped and felt only through direct experience” (23). Because of the multiple dimensions of space and architecture, one cannot completely reproduce a building in representative forms. One has to experience it in order to fully comprehend the feel, the atmosphere, the layout of space and its dimensions. You need to take part in “voluntary participation, that consciousness of free movement, which we feel in the direct experience of space” (59).
Discussion Questions:
1. According to Bruno Zevi, “The gross lack of proportion between the time spent on literature and the time devoted to the explanation of architecture has no justification in criticism and has ultimately resulted in our general lack of spatial education.” What can we do to change this, to better provide education about architecture to students?
2. What method or system do you think we could use to more accurately represent architecture in all its dimensions? (You can come up with a completely new/abstract method of representation)

Reading #13: The Idea of a Man-Made World
Keywords:
1. Harmony: This is the result of a balance between the man-made and natural worlds in a unifying manner, a “rapprochement between ourselves, and what we build, and nature” (19). It seems as though this might be a goal of every architect, to create a certain harmony. We have to recognize that there is distinctness between the man-made and natural worlds and work towards a balance between the two.
2. Dualism: We live in a dualistic world, with two distinct parts: the man-made and the natural. What is natural is not of our mind because we are able to think about it (according to Rene Descartes). This dualistic world is what guides our thoughts. Today, we have forgotten that these two worlds are interconnected and what we do with one affects the other. They are dependent on one another. This apathy has created many environmental problems.
Discussion Questions:
1. Our world is already so far from realizing the interconnectedness of man and nature. What can we do to turn things around if the situation already seems so hopeless?
2. How should the dependence of man on nature and nature on man affect the way we live?

Posted by Michelle Stein at 09:45 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)