Archinect - UCLA (TADS)

jtbr_8 :: YES, JACKIE CHAN

2007-06-07T05:57:47-04:00

The other day we had an opportunity to snap some photographs of the fizzle project. Unfortunately, it is still not yet fully completed. It is about as close to complete as it can be without being complete -which is to say: soon. It would be a nice understatement for me to say this was a little more ambitious than I knew. Along with that, it is more satisfying than I previously imagined. The project has many facets and did not shy from many territories. Hence, it is difficult to try to wrap it up adequately in one or two posts. For now, lighting. As I mentioned previously, we found the equipment needed to react to people to be a bit too expensive. So, we flipped the idea of behavior on its head in an attempt to get visitors to react to the installation -as it activates a motionless cavern in Hollywood, instead of the other way around. The start: A burst of light begins from within the wall form, at the back of the lattice structure. The signal of this light generates reactions from n...

jtbr_7 :: YOU WILL NOT SURVIVE THIS

2007-05-31T05:25:27-04:00

For the past eighteen weeks, I (plus four other young warriors and one elder wizard) have been designing an installation for the Paul Gleason Theatre in Hollywood (California). The address: 6520 Hollywood Blvd. The site is basically two window boxes oriented perpendicular to the street. Measurements: 100"x84"x40" and 100"x84"x21". In the images below, it is the space with the black bar above the entry.

Okay, so I think I am going to purge some thoughts on the project and hopefully this will not become too fragmented or vague. The seminar was lead by David Erdman. Two teams. One for the LACE space next door, which I believe has been posted in this blog previously. The name of the project is: Eviscerated Glowwormz. Our project is titled: FIZZLE. Though, that is getting a little ahead of myself. Back to the beginning. We started with a minimal surface: MANTA. A minimal surface is a surface with a mean curvature of zero. These can be found physically by dipping a closed wire frame in...

SUPERFICIAL SUPERGLOW OPENING- THIS FRIDAY

2007-05-24T15:09:27-04:00

A reason for the absence of blogging:

SUPERFICIAL SUPERGLOW

May 25 - May 27, 2007

RECEPTION May 25, 6 PM -9 PM

LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions)

6522 Hollywood Blvd. Los Angeles

This exhibition focuses on two student designed interactive lighting
environments in two Hollywood Boulevard storefronts led by UCLA
Department of Architecture and Urban Design faculty David Erdman.
Superficial Superglow is hosted by LACE (Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions) and The American Center for Music Theater in Hollywood.
Special thanks goes to Paul Gleason Theater and Woodbury University's Center for Research and Design for additional storefronts and support.

Catch the Opening Night Performance of Wild Thing at the Paul Gleason Theater Next Door, 8pm.

Madrid Hoy!

2007-04-15T23:24:39-04:00

Spring quarter has just started (week II) and my group's thesis proposal for the Abronigal site at the bottom of Madrid proper is slowly beginning to form. The site is a big valley, about 2km long x 1/2 km wide, and we are trying to insert dense housing (15,000 units), infrastructure (a new high speed AVE train), commercial and recreation space, all while creating a massive new park over the contaminated soil (currently a large train/shipping container depot).

[Abronigal Container Depot, Madrid, Spain]

The big injection to the site is a series of tubes that will bridge across the valley site which could house a street, a strip of houses, bike paths, etc. High density intermixed with mega-infrastructure and bisected with green is the wave of the future. We have been looking at Corb's Algiers project and Tange's Tokyo Bay Project as examples of integrating high density living w/ infrastructure and at different types of edge conditions.

Also studied was the Fresh Kills winning ...

SUPERGLOW PARTY- THIS FRIDAY- IN LOS ANGELES

2007-04-12T14:56:32-04:00

Just a reminder to everyone to come by our big bash in the Silverlake/Koreatown area. Prototypes will be on display for our upcoming installation on Hollywood Blvd. All are invited, tell your friends.

Friday, April 13th 8pm-?

The Bus Depot
679 N. Berendo St.
(cross street Melrose)

featuring:
alexchewy
+ guest DJs

open bar for 21+
suggested donation $10

SUPERGLOW SOIREE- Open Invite - Friday, April 13th

2007-04-05T16:57:11-04:00

Those in the LA area please come party with us next Friday and check out the latest prototypes and renderings for an installation we will be doing in May.

The installation is part of a Technology Seminar at UCLA School of Architecture with David Erdman of Servo. It will feature two group projects across 3 storefronts.

Here are the party details:

Friday, April 13th 8pm-?

The Bus Depot
679 N. Berendo St.
(cross street Melrose)

featuring:
alexchewy
+ guest DJs

open bar for 21+
suggested donation $10

The final installation will be Memorial Day Weekend with a reception at the LACE gallery and Paul Gleason Theater on Hollywood Boulevard (details to come later).

Invite everyone you know, we hope to see you next Friday.

Copenhagen vs. Christiania

2007-04-03T02:36:36-04:00

After Madrid and Amsterdam, I met up with two classmates in Copenhagen. In Winter, the city hibernates but we were still able to see some of the focal buildings and streets including a well-known church by Jorn Utzon. Medieval age Copenhagen was heavily fortressed and remnants such as large ponds (from the old moat) and guard towers remain. The skyline is also dotted with a variety of spires from the stock exchange to the many churches.

Interior of Jorn Utzon Bagsvaerd Church.

Main train station with SAS building by Arne Jacobsen.

Copenhagen Royal Palace

At the urban scale, we took interest in an on-going relationship between the squatter settlement of Christiania and the city of Copenhagen. Christiania started in 1971 when a small group of people took over an abandoned military barracks. Since then it has developed into an independently governed community with its own government and many flourishing businesses including a famous bicycle company. The settlement works by...

Amsterdam- More than just hash and hookers

2007-03-29T20:27:53-04:00

Our trip to Madrid in February with the Thom Mayne Research Studio concluded with each of us dispersing to major European cities to collect photos of what they described as urban conditions. Given the examples Thom gave, these were instances where multiple systems of the city interacted and were forced to negotiate an impending intersection. The book and website Made In Tokyo were given as a model. Unfortunately the old European capitals they chose for us provided less dramatic hybrids and collisions then you might find in an Asian city.

My first destination after Madrid was Amsterdam. By far, it was one of the most picturesque cities I've ever been to. There's not a lot of greenscape in the city but the canals provide a layer of open space that creates views, and energizes the boulevards. I was hoping to see some of the work of Aldo Van Eyck while there. I failed to make the trek out to the famous orphanage because I had heard its being converted in to an office building an...

Who let the undergrads in?

2007-03-27T03:53:42-04:00

I attended a faculty interview last week for a position at UCLA to head the new undergraduate program. The school is starting up the program next year and from what I understand it will not be a bachelor of architecture degree but it will draw undergrads in their third and fourth years, probably in hopes that they stay on for a masters degree. I haven't paid much attention to the specifics other than peeking in on these faculty interviews/presentations and noticing the space they are preparing for them downstairs. Upon hearing, at the beginning of the year that they were starting this program I was thinking it was a shame, hoping it didn't dilute the great graduate research environment they have developed here. One of the things that drew me to the school was the size, and the fact that it was only had graduate students here.

The presenter last week had very focused work with interests tied to digital fabrication and the scripting of form. It raised the question, will the new ...

Hitting the Powder- 3d Printing 101

2007-03-11T08:05:54-04:00

I thought Jtravis's post on vacuum forming was pretty interesting so I'm going to run through the same description for 3d printing. Along with the CNC mill and vacuum former the 3d printer is one of the major modeling devices here.

It begins with a digital model in Rhino. Since Rhino is a surface modeler, a major chore is to thicken the model considering the final scale. Typically printing below a 1/16" thickness is a roll of the dice (unless your Austrian). If a double surface isn't modeled then it will read as one solid object as oppose to a hollow object which is usually more efficient. Thickening the model must also consider leaving openings to let powder inside the model out

Once thickened it has to be closed in to one enclosed surface. This is then converted from a Nurbs surface to a mesh and exported as a .STL file.

The model can be checked pretty thoroughly in Rhino as far as looking for gaps or holes but if it is really sloppy, alot of people bring it in to a no...

jtbr_6 :: SUBMISSIVE PLASTICS

2007-03-02T04:50:55-05:00

Plastic continues to devour my thoughts. It is a reciprocal fascination. Here, this may be a little dry compared to other posts. I plan to briefly discuss some of the processes and techniques involved in working plastics. Okay. It should be noted, shaping plastic can be done in many different ways. Heat it to a point of super pliability. Do something. Allow to cool. The following is one process (Please note all images are not of the same piece but all all are from the same whole):

Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) Milling. A digital model, in this case Rhinoceros, is imported into Surfcam. Surfcam translates the surfaces into a language the mill understands. Upload the file to the mill. This is a six inch deep block of low density foam. Two sweeps: rouch cut, finish cut. It can be a long process. This particular piece may have been twenty by sixty inches. Maybe six hours of milling. Prepping the file for milling does not take much time at all. This direct transfer from virtual to...

SuperNatural Superglow 02 - Project 2

2007-02-25T16:04:56-05:00

So aside from our Madrid and European urban explorations in Thom Mayne's studio, Superficial Superglow 02, the winter quarter, has taken a step forward with portions of a full-scale mock-up for the LACE storefront installation (opens May 25). This project is a continuation of Prof. David Erdman's previous class (of the same name) taught over the summer and detailed in earlier postings on this blog. Quick recap: S. Superglow is an exploration of "glow" within architectural surface/form and about integrating lighting, dynamic display, and interactivity within a spatial matrix comprised of forms derived from minimal surfaces. The prescribed aim of the class is to teach vacuum-forming, milling, and laser cutting techniques within the context of architecture, and weekly pin-ups and constant modification/updates translate into an intense studio of research, design, and fabrication.
Anyway, beginning with the minimal surface Genus 67, our team, SuperNatural Superglow, developed a fami...

jtbr_5 :: PAU! NOW

2007-02-12T18:37:52-05:00

PAU: Programa de Actuación Urbanística. In actuality, this trip to Madrid marks the middle point of this research studio's (Studio:Mayne) program schedule. Still, it feels like it is just the beginning. The first 15 weeks have been focused on researching urban design through precedents, manifestos, critiques, etc starting with the work of CIAM, through Team X, the Metabolists, and the more recent NYC2012:Olympic Village(naturally) and, of course, an intensive study of Madrid. Finally, much of this information has been packaged in a rough hand book: MADRID. That is the input. This trip is clearly a transitional point. The research will now be activated. The output: large scale urban design projects. Three sites: Chamartin, Abronigal, and Cuartro Vientas. The PAU's are essentially large scale low to low-middle income housing projects. They skirt the city in vacant areas between the inner two rings of freeways. Most of the buildings have been highly successful, and widely accepted by t...

-Where are these guys? Thom Mayne, Madrid and the PAUs

2007-02-12T14:44:45-05:00

Yes, our blog has been quiet lately. Three of the four members of TADS are currently scattered over Europe capturing urban conditions and system collisions for their Research Studio with Thom Mayne. I'm writing this entry from a crappy dial-up computer in my hotel lobby in Amsterdam. The entire studio was together last week for a great week long survey of Madrid. The city of Madrid is expanding heavily and in large chunks called PAUs. The PAUs are huge public housing developments; infill projects around the middle rings of the city. They fill an urgent need for housing in that city and they actually emply some decent architects. But the end product is a stagnant field of decorated boxes with little cultural, or commercial integration.
Last quarter's analysis was presented to both city officials and an architecture school in Madrid. This analysis along with photojounalistic accounts of these other cities, historic case studies, and a compiled written manifesto will form th...

jtbr_4 :: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Plastic

2007-02-02T04:23:31-05:00

3 person team with: Aaron/Scott. Professor: Jason Payne. Course: Manifold Destiny. The course involved studying Arthur Harry Church drawings of a flower, developing (vacuum formed) plastic detail techniques, and eventually a composition. Our group chose the Narcissus pseudonarcissus, or Daffodil. Initial studies centered around the section where the petals twist into the outer skin of the stem and the bifurcation of the petals in the blooming process. The process was a flip of my previous typical way of working. Here, we started with construction details and the overall form emerged from this scale of work. In this way, we really had little idea of the overall for the first four weeks or so. At some point in the design process, glam rock entered into the equation. At least, it became clear that elements of glam were present in the design. That point was sort of the swinging point of the project for me. The project leaked out of the often confusing world of archi-lingo and into a wi...

Superficial Superglow 2

2007-01-30T00:00:11-05:00

For this project I teamed up with fellow TADS blogger Aaron. As jtravis explained in the previous blog this was done for the summer technology course that march II's take. The technology courses at UCLA are meant to expose students to many of the technological tools at the campus, this includes vaccum forming machine, the CNC mill, lazer cutter as well as 3D modeling programs (maya, rhino). It is the philosophy of UCLA that students learn the technology through their design projects as opposed to learning them through seperate more tutorial oriented classes.

The project started with choosing a minimal surface provided and altering it through manipulation and accumulation. By supplying the minimal surface as a starting point for the project more time is spent on the development of the project as opposed to students creating their own starting points. After going through acouple rounds of manipulating the minimal surfaces students are then required to add lighting (LED's) to t...

airtight 2

2007-01-28T18:11:40-05:00

Here is my approach to the airtight project for Neil Denari's Fall Quarter Topics Studio. Attempting to get us to abandon common notions of what a 'building' is Denari wanted us to view the project as a piece of industrial design. He also required the the project use steel for the structure and aluminum for the skin, using the plane as a model. Like many other projects I kept my piece to one side of the airplane taking advantage of the airlane's symmetry, allowing one side of the plane to be viewed free of any obstructions. I looked at the program as providing two distrinct environments; one being the outside environment meant to allow potential clients to view the plane and an inside environment (immersive environment) which was visually cut off from the plane, except for key moments that expose specific views of the plane. To bridge between those two opposing environments I created an in-between space which functioned as the model viewing area and gathering area before and a...

jtbr_3 :: FICIAL GLOW

2007-01-26T22:05:43-05:00

First, disambiguate: This blogging is the result of an accumulated effort between four m.arch2 students here at ucla. TADS is an acronym for our first names: jTravis, Aaron, David and Scott. Each post should end in an initialing to let the audience know who's voice is in action. Right. So, I am going to shoot through one of my personal favorite ucla driven projects: Superficial Superglow. I should say, that super-super combination gets tossed around so much as a joke, super this and super that, the term has unfortunately lost some of its creativity and luster. The course was taught by David Erdman. M.Arch2 students start with an abbreviated summer quarter. During this time, the eleven of us get the building and its resources to ourselves. It is nice. But more importantly, it gives sufficient time to get caught up to speed on the inner workings of the facilities and the languages and techniques of digital fabrication technologies and methods. As the title implies, the course centers ...

suckspace

2007-01-25T20:25:23-05:00

My main agenda for this project was to explore compound curving surfaces as a method to structure a route and establish programmatic differences. It was by far, more complex geometrically than I typically design. Instead of the blob route, I tried to create a predominantly concave appearance- spaces collapsing inward but doing so not by eradicating convex surfaces but with a rhythm of concave and convex crossings similar to the time-lapse photographs of milk drops in D'Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form (a book referenced alot here).

It should be noted that the Air Tight project, as it was given to us, was a sales office that presented the plane by creating its own interior experience rather than physically masking or draping it. This is critical, because the easy trap of mimicking or accessorizing the plane seemed to take projects further away from the formagraphic idea Denari initially presented to us.
-aaron

AirTight I

2007-01-23T04:45:33-05:00

Last quarter (fall 06), we each opted to take a design studio with Neil Denari. The quarter was split into half, with the first five weeks devoted to the exploration of fluidity and its manifestation in shape and form, performance, graphic assembly, and program. Beyond simple smooth surfaces and shiny exteriors (although most projects contained those attributes), the excercise was an investigation of "surface", a topic of the moment in contemporary practice (Sanaa's Toldeo Museum, Rem's Seattle Library, HdM's projects almost anywhere) and situated architecture within the realm of aerospace, furniture, and graphic design techniques. The project was to design a space, similar to a pavillion, that would sell the Boeing 737-900ER airplane to potential buyers (arab shieks, Trump) through interactive information kiosks, a screening room, scaled model room, and VIP lounge. The site was adjacent to the Boeing 737 airplane in the hangar and the piece had to connect with the plane at two...

sm4

2007-01-23T00:06:55-05:00

responding to jtravis' request and expanding on my first post I'll go a little more in depth with the description of our project. One of the main goals of the studio was to derive form from the forces applied to each mass. In this case, the first primitive (a representation of the boulder) was driving the conditions for the second primitive (a mass attached to the first primitive).

below is a portion of the abstract describing the forces of our project.

The boulder surface we chose consisted of three topographical conditions; a field of smearing points, a zone of slopers, and an elongated crimp hold that divided the boulder surface in half. By defining each surface according to its specific hold type characteristics, we were able to introduce a series of parameters that defined each surface as a distinct mass with an internal logic, structure, and physical forces. The slopers performed as individual units, were oriented parallel to the crimp edge, and modulated the second prim...

jtbr_2 :: STICKY

2007-01-19T03:17:06-05:00

D/S teamed for their boulder. A couple of images of my boulder were posted in 2. I think Frank and I took a slightly different approach to the project -maybe because neither of us bothered to read the syllabus. When trying to understand the relationship between one surface and another, we understood each surface would need to be unique in their configurations in order to cleanly accept one another. While we were out at Joshua tree banging out some all star level 15 climbs, we realized, each of us visualized and experienced any given boulder differently. This difference was based on some set of individualized variables unique to each of our own surfaces (bodies). Therefore, we attempted to activate the the primary surface set with the secondary surface. This meant, the primary surface had the capacity to reorganize itself based upon the connection needs of the second surface. Ultimately, this resulted in a choreography of movements between the surfaces as the secondary moved across t...

Sticky Masses 2

2007-01-17T02:45:55-05:00

In an attempt to make this blog as informative as possible for those considering UCLA for grad school we've decided to show our previous projects and hopefully create more of a discussion of the projects than to showcase our work. This will allow four different perspectives as up until this quarter we have all had the same studios.

I'll start by expanding a little on what aaron has already posted. The sticky masses project is an exploration in the ability for mass, as opposed to volume, to drive the production of space and form. As given by professor Jason Payne, the general strategic approach to the project is simply, "a complex assembly of two sensitive primitives balance within the geometrical 'field' of one another." Hopefully this will become more clear through the projects and following discussions.

Our project is approached as the analysis, interpretation and generation of mass(es). Throughout the process we focused on the symbiotic relationships between form, surface ...

Sticky Masses

2007-01-15T15:37:18-05:00

Our six week summer studio engaged the sport of bouldering. A form of rock-climbing, bouldering limits its terrain to a single boulder. The climber works without ropes and stays typically within a few feet of the ground. Individual hand and foot holds become the intense focus of the boulderer as they must read the surface, both visually and tactilely. The holds are so subtle that often a fraction of an inch provides the necessary leverage and friction. For this reason, the studio began with field research through lessons at a local gym as well as a weekend trip to boulder fields at Joshua Tree. Upon compiling a catalog of configurations and terminology each group mapped an individual boulder, focusing on a single path of holds. After modeling the surface in Maya, a second primitive was introduced. Rather than represent the climber, this primitive was more an abstract figure employed to demonstrate the forces required to traverse or ascend the surface.

The examination of topolo...

jtbr_1 :: HISTORY, ANA

2007-01-11T17:44:12-05:00

Okay. The new quarter is just starting to roll. This makes it a little difficult to speak in great depth about what is going on today. For instance, I just ate some peanut butter. Which may or may not be a big surprise or interesting. Still, maybe a little look ahead and a look back is appropriate. This quarter I have three courses: Mayne, Erdman and Speaks. Thom is leading a research studio focused on designing a new satellite city, or chunk of Madrid. This slips into the urbanism theory sector Aaron eluded to in his entry. The premiere event of the quarter will be a one to two week trip to Madrid. After one week in Madrid (and short trips to additional cities in Spain), the studio will divide into research pods which will engage other cities in Europe. The cities include: Paris, London, Amsterdam, Berlin, several Italian spots, etc. The collective research of the pods will then be utilized as precedents to enhance the design projects. Michael Speaks is running a smallish seminar c...

Introduction

2007-01-11T01:56:16-05:00

This blog is intended as a discussion among four post-professional M.ARCH2 students at UCLA. While we came here for different reasons, I think we have all been pleasantly surprised by the quality of the program, thus the motivation to describe our experience to others. Seeing that we are starting this thing halfway through the year it makes sense to catch people up on the basic curriculum structure. I'll take the first stab and my colleagues can expand in subsequent posts.

Ideologically, the school breaks down into two major groups: those driven by fabrication technologies and those interested in alternative forms of urbanism. Obviously this doesn't encompass everyone and there is probably a less defined third category involving design in the more general sense. Personally, I've participated more in the first two but there are definitely a number of figures such as Neil Denari that are hard to place solely in one category or the other.

The curriculum for the M.ARCH2 students is bl...