CONCLUSIONS

The entire Communication course has definitely been a worthwhile experience.

The hands-on nature of the course and the fact we could pick and choose which workshops we did made for a very entertaining and fulfilling semesters work.

From the first workshop, (Re)representing Representations, I learnt the value of the relationship between 2D, 3D and 4D as well as how this sequence can be used as a template for analysing any space. The conceptual depth of this workshop was its most fulfilling aspect.

From the second workshop, Storyboarding Interior Architectural Spaces, the main thing I learnt was the difference between design and architecture. So much emphasis was placed on this that I doubt I will even make the mistake again.

And from the third workshop, Architectural Drawing, I especially developed my perspective drawing skills and learnt about an amazing structure that I hadn't previously heard of.

Architectural Drawing Workshop: Week 4

Between last week and this week, I visited the Rose Seidler House. It was a great experience and a great home. Even though the house is from an era passed, it still felt modern; I really liked it. I loved the fact that all the furnishing was designed by Seidler too. My favourite fixture was the S bend two drawer desk in the study nooks in the corners of the bedrooms. On top of this, I really appreciated the open plan design of the home and how it helped me understand my drawings.

As for the Science Lawn task, this is what I produced:

After visiting the house, this drawing became much easier to understand. For example, before visiting the house, I thought the opening at the top of the ramp was a window! Beyond this though, I found the task unique. I really enjoyed taking the perspective given to us from real life and constructing a drawing from this. Also, the fact that the entire drawing was proportioned off a single dimension in the picture made the task even more different and enjoyable.

Also needed for this week was the final project. For this, we had to have at least two plans, two sections, two elevations and a single 3D drawing of the Rose Seidler House. This is what I produced:

Firstly, I should say that these drawings took far longer than I ever anticipated. This made it all the more better when I finished them and could actually say I liked them.

I produced a 1:2000 site model which showed the three houses on the plot of land. I wanted to emphasise the dense greenery of the area with trees drawn in plan, however they turned out a little too dominant.

Also included were two 1:100 plans of the house with the main floor plan being perspectival. The tutors really appreciated the decision to create a perspectival plan. What was even more appreciated was the fact that the point at which I took the perspective in the plan was the point at which you would stand to view my other 3D drawing, a perspective looking down the centre of the house from the middle bedroom towards the fireplace. I included this drawing because I valued how the stonework continued as an interior motif.

I then had my two 1:50 sections and elevations, which the tutors said were quite clear.

All in all, the workshop has been quite enjoyable. I especially liked the emphasis on perspective drawing as well as the major project.

Architectural Drawing Workshop: Week 3

This is what I produced for the perspective task for this weeks pin up:

Overall, I found the task quite enjoyable as it's more technical than still life drawing although drawing the fenestration was mildly challenging. Even so, I decided to use a different technique for rendering. I decided to smudge pencil as the trace provided a very even texture for this. Looking at them with everyone else's though, it seemed as if mine were lacking. From this, I decided to do another one point, as I felt this was the weakest of the two. This is what I produced:

Using a different medium and rendering technique made this particular drawing quite fun. Surprisingly though, it took much longer than most of the drawings I had produced thus far. I really liked the free hand quality of it and the sketchy style of rendering. I feel this makes it especially effective.

The in class task for this week however, was to render a space on campus using no lines. I decided to go back to my smudge technique as this worked quite well. With the aid of a few pieces of paper, I was able to mask certain areas thus creating strong edges with no lines. This was the result:

Even though the drawing turned out a little bigger than first anticipated, I really liked what I produced. I started by sketching the space normally and then using this as an underlay for the trace to produce my rendered drawing. As this particular space had many people walking through it, I opted to take a picture of the area and use this for light source reference.

Afterwards, we started on our last take home task which was to superimpose the Rose Seidler House on the campus' Science Lawn. Of what I did in class, I found slightly challenging. The reason being, I hadn't actually been to house and it was hard to draw from my iPhone.

Architectural Drawing Workshop: Week 2

The second week of Architectural Drawing started with a pin up of the previous weeks task. This is what I produced:

Overall, I was pretty happy with what I produced. It was genuinely a lot of fun and more like the graphics technology exercises we did in high school. The tutors really liked the fact I attempted a perspectival section as well as its neatness.

After this segment of the class was done, we started our next in class task. This time, we focused on the technicalities of perspective drawing and shading. This is what I produced:

I found the perspective part of this exercise quite easy, although the cylinder was slightly tricky. What I found more difficult was the shading and shadows. Making them look realistic was quite hard.

We then explored the campus in search of inspiration for a one point and two point perspective, which are this weeks take home task. We had to do this in trace layers, one with basic blocks, and another with detail and fenestration.

Architectural Drawing Workshop: Week 1

I started my third workshop this week; Architectural Drawing. Having done Graphics Technology in high school, I thought it would be a perfect way to end the Communications course.

After a brief lecture on materials and techniques, we got stuck into our first in class exercise, drawing an orthographic and still life representation of a tea cup. This is what I produced:

The exercise was a great way to get my mind back in the habit of technical drawing. It helped me pin point a few issues and errors.

After this, we got our first take home task and this was to create a plan, section, elevation and perspective of a room at each of our houses.