ARCH-4526 – Architectural Communications – Fall 2020
This course instructs students on how to compose and edit individual architectural representations. Presentations and workshops by the course instructor assist students in developing and critically editing their design work. The course delivers technical knowledge on the appropriate use of software and developing techniques that best express individual graphic and design work. The term assignment explores architectural representations and individual assignments challenge students in specific areas of drawing and representation. The skills developed throughout the course will assist students in portfolio creation and communicating their design projects.
Course taught by Kemal Alladin and Christian Rutherford.
This assignment is an exercise in design, drawing, and reflection.
(de)liberate proposes a “contemplative building” that encompasses the multi-faceted reading of the word.
Liberate (li-bə-ˌrāt): to set at liberty: free
Deliberate (di-ˈli-bə-rət): 1. characterized by or resulting from careful and
thorough consideration2. Slow, unhurried, and steady as though allowing time for decision on each individual action involved
Deliberate (di-ˈli-bə-ˌrāt): to think about or discuss issues and decisions carefully
By liberate, the project proposes a space that is free of doctrine. A space accessible, accepting, and supportive of everyone.
By deliberate, the project proposes a space that is designed for contemplation.
By deliberate, a space that promotes safe and healthy engagement in deep individual and group reflection.
The assignment challenges students to design a “contemplative building”. The building should not exceed 600 sq.m in area. It should have a public contemplative space that can accommodate up to 20 people, a more private contemplative area that can accommodate up to 2 people, have a direct connection to the exterior, and have a universal washroom. The building must be located on a site that is accessible and within visiting distance of one of the group members.
While the assignment describes the building as ‘contemplative’ the space does not have to be about meditation, it may be a yoga studio, a reading room, a series of places to sit with a view, etc. The emphasis of the design is not the program but on the experiential and contemplative qualities of the space as well as the spaces connection to the exterior. Program may be added to support the ‘type of contemplation’ explored in the design, but it is not required.
The building designed for this assignment will be used in ARCH 2306 Design for Climate Change Assignment 02 – Passive Design Integration. The ARCH 4526 portion of the project will focus on drawing and representation, while the ARCH 2306 portion will focus on passive design strategies and their implementation in the design.
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This assignment is about getting familiar with Rhino and the digital drawing environment.
Using one of the Ice Station designs from a previous F19 ARCH 1505 / 1515 studio, students are asked to adapt the structure to function as a permanent installation in the courtyard of the MSoA campus. While the resultant structures will be different from their original Ice Station, they should retain their essential qualities and character.
Students are free to re-design Ice Station as they wish, but the adapted structure should adhere to the original parameters of the Ice Station project, ie. a $1000.00 budget, the structure should be made primarily of wood, and it should consider the site as part of the re-design.
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This assignment looks at how an image conveys the use or inhabitation of a space, and how to work with a combination of digital tools and techniques.
Choose an existing work of art (painting, photograph, film still, etc.) as a reference. It should show an inhabited interior with a view outside, or an exterior with a view inside. This should not be an architectural drawing or rendering.
Look for traces of inhabitation (objects, furniture, etc.). Think about the atmosphere, mood, or narrative of the work of art. Observe where it is, who and what is around, the time of day, season, weather. Design a simple structure to meet the criteria of Assignment 4 in ARCH 2316. You will model the structure in Rhino. This will be a simple wood frame structure with sheathing: you will not add any finishes. Use your selected work of art to guide where you place openings in the structure.
Experiment with a variety of digital techniques to show inhabitation and context of your structure, reinterpreting the qualities, narrative and elements from the selected reference. Write a short caption for your image that conveys your intent. What story are you telling?
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This assignment is about continuing to develop your drawing skills.
Using your dedicated ARCH 4526 sketchbook (size of your choosing, plain paper, grid or dot paper only) students are to complete a sketch assignment each week. Each week a different sketch topic will be posted to D2L to encourage you to experiment with hand drawing.
There are 10 sketch exercises in total, of which you should complete at least five throughout the term. 5 of your sketches are to be scanned and submitted as part of Assignment 5 ‘Document’ at the end of the term.
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This assignment looks at how to compile a body of work into a cohesive document. Working in InDesign, you will create a portfolio that summarizes your work in this course.
Think about the content and organization. You might include both process and final work, but not every drawing. Curate and edit to show the strongest, most relevant drawings. What connections can you make? What story can you tell? Develop a cohesive graphic system, a set of rules or logics that guide the layout, while still allowing variation.
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