The Predicament of Beginning Proceedings of the 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Portland State University, Portland, Oregon March 14 - 16, 2002 T HE EN IG MA O F T HE FIRST ASSIGNMENT. L E A R N- ING TO LOOK. RE- PRESENTING IDEAS. T H E A B S T R A C T IO N OF PLACE.
THE MODEL OF LANGUAGE. THE PLACE OF A B S T R A C T I O N The Predicament of Beginning Conference Co-Chairs: L. Rudolph Barton and Clive R. Knights Proceedings design and production: Amir H.Ameri Keynote Presentation: In convening the 18th National Conference "Lyrical Mechanisms" on the Beginning Design Student, the Peter Cook, Chair, the Bartlett School of Architecture, London Department of Architecture at Portland State Plenary Presentations: University has endeavored to provide a "(De)Formation" forum for propositions and debate concern- Peggy Deamer, Yale University ing the possibilities,necessities,paradoxes,and fallacies of beginning education in design.
"On Architectural Creativity in an Age of Production: beginning in the middle of things" This document represents the positions and David Leatherbarrow, University of Pennsylvania considered research of over 40 scholars from across North America and beyond, and Session Moderators: hopes to embody a spirit of active explo- L. Rudolph Barton, Portland State University ration and sharing of ideas, experiences, and Lily Chi, Cornell University models for a pedagogy of initiation. Prue Chiles, University of Sheffield, UK In making this possible many thanks are due Eric Connell, Oklahoma State University to the faculty, staff and students of the José Gamez, University of Nevada, Las Vegas Jonathan Hale, University of Nottingham, UK Department of Architecture for their energy Jeff Hartnett, University of Nevada, Las Vegas and commitment to both the event itself and Patricia Kucker, University of Virginia to the issues that it addresses. We also wish Laura Lee, Carnegie Mellon University to thank the three guest speakers and the Gregory Luhan, University of Kentucky session modera t o r s for their par t in Simon Tomkinson, Portland State University p r ovo ki n g an d s u s ta i n i n g d i sc u s si o n.
18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Portland, Oregon. 2002 5 Content THE ENIGMA OF THE FIRST ASSIGNMENT Moderator : L. Rudolph Barton Introduction to Three Dimensional Composition / Dancing on the Digital Divide Geoffrey Adams and Karen King 11 University of New Mexico Ordinary Unfamiliarity: Foundation Pedagogy through the Critique of the Everyday Kevin R Klinger and Marc Swackhamer 16 University of Cincinnati The Sandbox: An Introduction to Form & Form-Making Through Notions of Surface Brian T Rex 22 University of Nebraska Spatial Themes in a Three Week Project Corey Saft 28 Southern University and A & M College CRITICISM AND JUDGEMENT I Moderator : José Gamez In the Beginning - we [design for] humans, an opening studio curriculum for an architectural professional program Alex Maller 34 University of Nebraska Design Foundation - Building Thematic Knowledge: Beginnings, Process & Meaning Simon Tomkinson 39 Portland State University CRITICISM AND JUDGEMENT II Moderator : Jeff Hartnett Becoming Designers: Intelligent Shape Sorting Esther Dudley 47 University of Plymouth Why Do You Always Make Us Think? Maintaining a Journal in the Beginning Design Studio Karl Puljak 51 Louisiana Tech University Ventures in Dichotomy: Rigor AND Tolerance in the Beginning Studio Hector LaSala 55 University of Louisiana 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Portland, Oregon. 2002 7 The Space of Mondrian Lori Brown 120 Syracuse University LEARNING TO LOOK II Moderator : Laura Lee Listening to the Past: Persuasive Stories and the Beginning Design Student Nathaniel Coleman 127 Washington State University Seeing/Site:A one-week project Peter Hind 132 University of Nebraska A Case for Analysis in the Beginning Design Student Curriculum Melissa Weese Goodill 138 University of Maryland REPRESENTING IDEAS Moderator : Patricia Kucker The Viewing Machine Alice MinSoo Chun 143 University of Pennsylvania The Parallel Projection, as Flights of Fancy Mary Nixon 148 University of Pennsylvania Allusion, Illusion and the Beginning Design Student Albert C Smith and Kendra Schank Smith 154 University of Utah The Design Process: Charcoal Drawings, the Qualitative Representation Mo Zell 159 North Carolina State University THE ABSTRACTION OF PLACE Moderator : Prue Chiles Building the River: An Introduction to Urban Design in Savannah, Georgia Christian Dagg 167 Auburn University Rethinking Studio Pedagogy: Teaching Introductory Architectural Design at the Graduate Level Michael E Gamble, Richard Dagenhart and Chris Jarrett 173 Georgia Institute of Technology Learning from Cultural Space: Connecting Culture and Environment in Beginning Design Jeffrey Hou 179 University of Washington The Predicament of Beginning THE ENIGMA OF THE FIRST A S S I G N M E N T Introduction to Three Dimensional Composition / Dancing on the Digital Divide, Geoffrey Adams and Karen King, University of New Mexico - Ordinary Unfamiliarity: Foundation Pedagogy th ro u g h the Critique of the Eve ry d ay, Kevin R Klinger and Marc S wa ck h a m e r, Un i ve rsity of C i n c i n n a t i - The Sandbox: An I n t roduction to Fo rm & Fo rm - Making Through Notions of Surface, Brian T Rex, University of Nebraska - Spatial Themes in a Three Week Project, Corey Saft, Southern University and A & M College 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Portland, Oregon.
2002 11 Introduction to Three Dimensional Composition / Dancing on the Digital Divide Geoffrey Adams and Karen King University of New Mexico Students entering the 3.5Y Masters program at UNM, come occur. They do, however, suggest a position with regards to to embark on a course of study in architectural design. A design methodology can be developed through a all student populations are composed of unique individuals series of discrete, incremental,iterative design problems linked from various backgrounds, this particular group is, at least in to a larger whole.This hierarchy endows the problem with a an academic discipline by definition heterogeneous,possessing number of desirable qualities. First, by subdividing a larger skills and knowledge in diverse fields gained through previous problem into segments, the beginning student is less likely to studies and/or employment.
What they share is a burgeoning become overwhelmed or incapacitated. Simultaneously by interest in architecture and a willingness to explore design in repeatedly executing a more or less “complete” cycle of a a studio environment,to start down a path toward a new way design process the student builds competence and confi- of perceiving and engaging the world. This peculiar mix of dence. Finally the design problem takes on a dual nature, at naivety and sophistication coupled with the insecurities of set- once broken and continuous, which supports investigations in ting out on a radically new tact makes special demands on a diverse media and allows the student to develop a visceral beginning design problem.
Embarking on this odyssey at the understanding of the relationship between medium and turn of the 21st century necessitates confronting the com- design, to begin to dance across the digital divide. plexity of nascent digital technology, a tool that offers much This particular journey starts by giving students three distinct both in terms of promise and frustration to the beginning material volumes of different dimensions and asking them to design student.This paper sets out to explore one endeavor construct a series of three orthogonal compositions each to address these issues developed and refined over the past constrained by a cubic volume of 3”x 3”x 3”. The material three years. In the process of delineating the introductory volumes may intersect one another or be coplanar, but must problem given to the 3.5Y Masters students some guiding stand as a single unit on a flat surface maintaining an orthog- principles employed in constructing the problem have come onal relationship with it.
Supplemental readings provide an to light. The salient value of this recapitulation seems as much anchor and a vocabulary for discussion about compositional in recognizing principles governing the construction of the deployment. The problem is to seek a visual balance (not nec- design problem as in the specifics of any particular instance. essarily a physical balance) between the elements, exploring The following is a distillation of some key principles that have the limits of stasis and dynamism.
This is an empirical process informed (both consciously and subconsciously) the develop- involving trial and error. What may seem facile or simple at ment of this problem. First, create a problem that you would first offers rich spatial opportunities as nuances of arrange- love to do; a potent design problem should engage designers ment and placement unfold. As they work students are regardless of their level of experience or knowledge of prac- encouraged to sketch and draw (draft) as a way of exploring tice.
Enthusiasm is an essential raw material in the construc- 2D relationships of their 3D compositions. To complete the tion and application of a compelling design problem. Second; exercise students place but do not permanently attach the set limits, limits provide the structure, order and form of a compositions on a 4”x 12”base, composing the placement of design problem. Well-placed limits lay the groundwork for the the three compositions in relation to each other and the field exploration of a set of design principles and establish land- given,while being mindful of sequence.The expectation is that marks by which to navigate a process.Third, divide the prob- the final three compositions be well-crafted, dimensionally lem into discrete pieces of limited duration, while providing accurate gems because the most elegant and sophisticated continuity by linking these parts as segments subsumed by a design work will be made moot if its physical manifestation is larger whole.
Fourth, intertwine and overlap media and con- shoddy.This assignment is given on the first day of studio and tent. For example, will a student discover something different reviewed in a group session on the third studio meeting.The when shaping form in a physical model as opposed to a digi- three elements differ in dimension and material.Embedded in tal model? Finally, provide the student with an opportunity to the dimensions of the elements are “hidden” references to collaborate in an aspect of the design of the problem;the stu- proportion both profound and quirky, the golden section (1x dent’s investment is essential. These principles are content 1.618) in the former and the monolith from 2001 (the square independent. In other words, they do not specify a bias of the first three integers) in the latter.
This provides a diver- regarding which ideas, concepts or techniques should be sionary myster y, which unfolds in parallel to the main task and investigated nor the order in which that investigation might sets the stage for the next problem, delineation and graphic 18th National Conference on the Beginning Design Student, Portland, Oregon. 2002 13 Form•Z software application, the drafted plans of their com- positions become the template to recreate the original com- position in the virtual digital environment.This exercise builds competence in deploying the software to build simple recti- linear shapes, challenging the students to concentrate on pre- cisely recreating the composition dimensionally, thus gaining a sense of control and purpose in this virtual world. Using the digital reconstruction of each of the three previous composi- tions as a base condition they are asked to create a sequence of two more compositions by employing any of the following transformational techniques: translation, rotation (90 degree increments only), scaling and duplicating. These transforma- tions add to complexity of the compositional problem by an Fig.collage exercise order of magnitude, by using the organizational capabilities afforded by layers the student can easily examine and play of constructing the plan and elevation, offering students the with multiple design scenarios.
At the end of the second time necessary to contemplate and gain a conceptual com- week the second “virtual” presentation ensues. Using the mand of these essential drawing conventions.