1) IMAGES
You should re-size your image in Photoshop to something like 400 x 600 pixels before you post it, so that you download the image quickly and you save space in your file quota.  For your audience to be able to see an enlarged image, you need to either link to the original image file by clicking “File URL” or by choosing a larger Size, then hit “Insert into Post”.

You MUST cite any picture that you don’t own:  say what is the subject and what is the source.  In order not to compete with the original, it’s best if you post an image that is much smaller than the original and link it to its source if you can.  [Worst practice would be to scan something from a book and post a big image online: it violates copyright law because it discourages purchase of the book.]

2) LINKS
Make your weblinks active: highlight a word and then click the link icon and paste in the URL.

These images are capturing some of my first attempts and exploration in mocking up my luminaire.  The current idea is a form that can morph allowing more or less light to escape its interior.  I have taken some of my previous panel studies and their kinetic abilities (or lack thereof) and established a system that will allow the form to squish, therefore opening up the slits on the panels.  The concept of the form comes from a sunflower, its overlaying petals create a very intriguing pattern as it effects the light that pass through its membrane, and its ability to move and track the sun.  These ideas transform themselves into a luminaire which not only emits light but actually controls it based on the proximity of people.

The last image (wallpaperThree) is an example of a Wallpaper Group 3 from our reading by Lionel March and Philip Steadman.  I thought I would include it as inspiration so that people can see some of the possibilities of these planar symmetries.  I have developed it for my thesis project, where it becomes various types of walls, from completely opaque disintegrating to a sun shade over glazed portions.  The idea is these would be a modular cast component, where the form work could be modeled and milled resulting in a form work that can be adaptable.  Allowing for subtle changes in panels concavity a series of panels can be cast allowing for more variation on along the facade.  The generating concept comes from caustic networks and cracked mud, in the idea of how these very organic looking systems are actually ruled by physics and mathematical proofs.  I have begun conversations with Nathanael Malone of Fuez, who owns and operates a precast concrete company here in Portland, whose work includes using a 3-axis mill to create the form work for very regularized counter tops and patios.  We have begun to discuss the possibilities of using computational design and digital fabrication techniques to introduce new ideas to his company.

lightWell – changingLight

This video is a six day time lapse of the changing light (or lack thereof) of the light well on the 4th floor of the White Stag Block. By greyscaling the video and boosting the contrast, I was able to focus more on the amount of light in the space. As you can see the light is more directly influenced by the lights of the 4th floor studio bays, and less by the north facing clerestory on the 5th floor. This video has pushed me to realize that my canopy idea would not be as successful in this space as a luminary would.

Note: For privacy reasons, this video is password protected, it is intended to be viewed by the members of Nancy Cheng’s Light and Shadow class.

This will be a continually updated bibliography. I will use it much the way I use my diigo account, a repository for things that interest me. Some of the sources will be in an annotated form, while others will serve solely as a resource or a reminder to myself and others.

Update June 9: Added eight more sources.

Bando, Kosuke. Respect For Blank Space. Autoxic. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. – link
Kosuke Bando is a graduate of the Harvard GSD in 2008 and has an interest in kinetic architecture. Autoxic is a project of his from 2008 that investigates space making through inhabitation. He creates an architecture that responds to users and manifests itself into a new form. This interests me in that I too am interested in how people actually use space and how you can define or create enclosure and space based off of people. Not through study but through direct manipulation based on real time data.

Gramazio, Fabio, and Matthias Kohler. Digital Materiality in Architecture. Baden: Müller, 2008. Print.
Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler are professor are Professors of Architecture and Digital Fabrication at the Department of Architecture, ETH Zurich. There they have researched various digital fabrication techniques and have realized projects that use the techniques they have developed. They are interested in a Digital Materiality, in such that they believe that architecture should not solely be designed through drawing but through technology and media that best suits their aims. This is the same way I feel about architecture, the way in which we design has been done for thousands of years, and the same in the way in which we build. With new technologies and new tools at our disposal why do we not embrace these tools and use them? They do not approach a design problem with a specific tool that thy want to use, instead they keep the process open and flexible, allowing each tool to perform the task which best suits it, this is similar to the way that I am approaching my project. The benefit of knowing each machine{tools} strengths and weaknesses, it allows me to push my design further rather than being hindered by a specific tool or technology.

Hensel, Michael, and Achim Menges. Versatility and Vicissitude: Performance in Morpho-ecological Design. London: Wiley, 2008. Print.
Michael Hensel and Achim Menges are both graduates from the Architectural Association in London and are on the leading edge of digital design and research. They have taught at the AA, Harvard GSD and Stuttgart University where they promote computation design and research. Their research and studies have touched upon every stage of the architectural design process from concept, refinement, material studies, to fill scale mock ups and even to built projects. They push the material to its limits and investigate phenomenons that a material posses. Their process and writing are very influential to me as I find myself thinking though projects more rigorously and rationally.

Iwamoto, Lisa. Digital Fabrications: Architectural and Material Techniques. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2009. Print.
Lisa Iwamoto of Iwamoto Scott Architecture in San Francisco, is interested in the performance of materiality and digital fabrication techniques. Her book is a collection of some of the best works of digital design and fabrication to date. Most of the work she shows is academic in nature while some are installations and others purely research oriented. The book does a good job of showing the work in situ as well as showing some process. It provides a good resource for those who want to see the possibilities of digital fabrication without having to dig and do their own research. It provides me with inspiration allows me to see how others are approaching similar design decisions.

Kinetic Pavilion – Adapt&Extend. Web. 22 Apr. 2011. . – link
Elise Elsacker and Yannick Bontinckx are Belgian architecture students who are interested in kinetic architecture. Their project Kinetic Pavilion is the result of a number of workshops that focused on various topics of parametric design and digital fabrication. Their pavilion uses a variety of inputs or data sets to influence the form of the pavilion canopy, the canopy adapts and moves based on this data. The idea of making things move and specifically making form move is one of the fundamental ideas behind my luminary project.

Hauer, Erwin. Erwin Hauer: Continua–architectural Screen Walls. New York: Princeton Architectural, 2004. Print.
Erwin Hauer’s screen walls are simply amazing.  Prior to reading through this book, I thought of them as small object around the size of concrete blocks, but I quickly found that I was wrong.  Yes, a few of them are the size of concrete block but others are quite large.  This book does a great job of showing a large breadth of his work and talks about each iteration intelligently.  My only qualm with the book is that it does not go into the making quite as thoroughly as I had hoped.  This is perhaps due to my interest in the actual making of things, so others may find the book to be exactly what they were looking for.  His work are very inspirational and this book does a god job at cultivating that inspiration and creating an allure about his work, an allure that is quite evocative in that it makes you want to see more and learn more.

Millet, Marietta S., and Catherine Jean. Barrett. Light Revealing Architecture. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1996. Print.
This book begins to show how we can begin thinking about light in architecture, how light can go beyond just illumination and begin to shape architecture.  It provides relevant examples of each of the topics covered which makes it a must for architectural studios interested in light.  It provides a place to look for inspiration and precedent and provides everyone with something to learn.

Grynsztejn, Madeleine, Eliasson Olafur, and Mieke Bal. Take Your Time: Olafur Eliasson. London: Thames & Hudson, 2007. Print.
Olafur Eliasson’s oeuvre is broad and far reaching, and this book does a great job of summarizing some of that body.  His work with light and color and material goes beyond something that is experienced on a wall, he takes it to a level that is experienced much like architecture, spatially.  He augments the way in which we see and experience the world around us, he manipulates our senses to allow us to see, feel, and smell the world through a different lens.  It is because of this that I am drawn to his work, and this book is one of the best ways to experience it other than in person.

March, Lionel, and Philip Steadman. The Geometry of Environment: an Introduction to Spatial Organization in Design. Cambridge, MA: M.I.T., 1974. Print.
Delving into the geometry of our environment, March and Steadman discuss symmetries and tilings of the plane in chapter three.  They take what is usually a very mathematical subject and present it with an architectural twist.  They break down the symmetries into the respective point groups, frieze groups and wallpaper groups, and within each they present architectural examples.  At first look the diagrams are a bit difficult to understand, but once you read part of the text, the diagrams become self explanatory.  What they present becomes a very clear and concise document to reference when one studies tiling.

Tanizaki, Junichirô, Thomas J. Harper, Charles Moore, and Edward G. Seidensticker. In Praise of Shadows. (New Haven, Conn.): Leete’s Island, 1977. Print.
Junichirô’s book is a fascinating observation of light and shadow in Japanese architecture.  The attention to detail, light, patina, etc. that he speaks of is moving.  It makes me as a designer think about those things, about where a water closet is located or even what it means, or how its space is designed.  The  writing shows that people are connected with objects, with architecture and with material, these people may not be numerous, but they do exist, and this makes me feel appreciated.  It makes me want to engage in a rigorous design problem, a problem that goes to the most extreme detail.  The book does not read like many of the others from this course, it reads more like an observation, more of a story and less like an educational tome.  I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to be re-awakened architecturally.

Ruy, David. “Geometry and Matter.” Audio blog post. The NSO at Penn State. Web. – link

Menges, Achim. “Achim Menges | AA, London.” Interview by Kevin Klinger. Audio blog post. Institute for Digital Fabrication. Ball State University. Web. – link

Davis, Christopher. “AP:01 – The Grammar of Ornament and Crime and Punishment.” Audio blog post. Architecture Parlante. School of Architecture and Interior Design at the University of Cincinnati. Web. – link

Skavara, Maria E. Learning Emergence: Adaptive Cellular Automata Facade Trained by Artificial Neural Networks. Diss. Bartlett School, Univeristy College of London, 2009. Web. 21 Apr. 2011. .

Still wishing to utilize bounced color and “cracks” of light, I developed an orthogonal weave pattern that is processing some the desired effects that I was hoping to achieve.  Currently I’m using red as my color of choice sololy for experimentation purposes.  Red, because of it’s short wave lenght, shows up best in my experiments.  I am better able to determine whether I am achieving my desired goals.  Eventually I will gravitate toward other colors and color combinations.  Currently I am looking to develop a floor standing luninarie.  My current idea is that the “cracks of light will lead to and explosion of light at the top and bottom of the luminaire’s encasement.