Frank Lloyd Wright

 

1867-1959

 

Frank Lloyd Wright was an American Architect born in Arizona and is regarded as one of the most iconic designers of not only his generation but of all time. Wright had a particularly philosophy in his designs, he believed in 'Organic Architecture' which is the harmony between the building and humanity and the surrounding around it. This is something which is a very big part of design today in Eco-friendly building where we're trying to make the design of the building have a minimal effect on its surroundings.

 

He didn't have a good education behind him when he went into the industry, but he was still committed as ever to get involved in Architecture and in 1887 he left University without gaining his degree and moved to Chicago, his first impression was that it was a grimy place, with crowded streets and disappointing architecture, but this didn't deter him in the slightest, it made him more determined to find work and after being in the city for a few days he'd already lined up several interviews with different Architect firms across the town and was hired as a draftsmen for Joesph Lyman Silsbee. He did briefly leave the firm as he thought he wasn't being paid what he should be, but once he started his new job as a designer, he realised he wasn't quite ready to start designing buildings on his so instead quit his job and returned to his old one working for Silsbee.

 

In 1888, he left and joined Adler and Sullivan where Louis Sullivan took him under his wing, mentoring him and giving him more responsibility in the designs than he previously had. In 1889 he got married, and Sullivan gave him a five year contract so that he had a stable financial income to start his married live, but Frank had one more proposal, he wanted Louis to loan him some money in order for him to build a small house in Chicago for him and his wife, to which Louis Suillivan obliged and gave him $5000. To me this shows the character and determination that Frank Lloyd Wright, that he wasn't afraid to ask for that bit of help with something he needed. However during the years that followed, Wright struggled to pay this money back and have sufficient funds and this was blamed on the lavish lifestyle he had, with designer clothes, jewelry and vehicles being some of his luxuries.

 

He set up his own practise in 1893, doing so in the Schiller Building, which was designed by Louis Sullivan and it reminded him of the offices at the Adler and Sullivan practise. After moving out of this building he set up a new location and formed the Prairie School with a few other Architects. His first project in the newly formed school, was the Winslow House, which had elements of Sullivans work in along with with simple geometry and horizontal lines that were all part of Frank Lloyd Wright's work. Several houses he designed after this followed the same principle, and this became a feature of his work which made him stand out from other architects in Chicago.

 

Until 1909, Wright was only known in America but Europe was yet to know what this now iconic American Architect was all about. What lured him to Europe was the chance to get his portfolio printed with Ernst Wasmuth and two years later his work was published for the first time in Europe, gaining major exposure in the continent. He stayed in Europe for another year before returning to America where is 'Organic Stlye' of design was in full flow now with buildings such as; Graycliff, Taliesin and Fallingwater.

 

To me, Fallingwater is the one piece of Architecture which is associate him with. It took three years to build the house, from 1934-1937 which is nearly eight decades ago and in my eyes, it's a house which could have been designed and built yesterday as I think that it looks like a piece of modern architecture of today with its flat crisp edges with bold shapes and suspended parts over the water. Its also encapsulates what Frank Lloyd Wrights philosophy is all about, the building living as one with its surroundings as it doesn't stick out in the forest, if anything it blends in perfectly and it's a house which I could see myself living in as it will never be dated.

 

What makes Frank Lloyd Wright an iconic Architect to me, is the fact that his designs today don't look dated even when they were designed many decades ago meaning his legacy is always around, and when you walk by you won't walk by thinking that's a bit boring and old, sometimes you might be surprised about how old the building actually is. Also the features of his designs, simple shapes and straight lines are very much used in many Architects designs of today, and they no doubt may have drawn inspiration from Wright. Who himself said he didn't have any inspiration in his designs but those close to him, credit his inspiration from five places; Louis Sullivan his 'dear master', Nature, the free forming shapes and colours, Music, Japanese Art and Froebel Gifts. His philosophy of 'Organic Design' will always be an inspiration to me and something that many other will take into account when designing in the future.



  'The thing always happens that you really believe in; and the belief in a thing makes it happen'

PPD3 Final Assesment

Now i'm on my last year of my foundation degree, the time is coming to apply for University. Having already applied for University two years ago, I already know what courses I will be applying for. I'm looking to apply for Architecture mainly, but also Interior Design.

I haven't gathered as much information this time round as i did during my time at 6th form, where i visited several open days and ordered quite a few prospectuses from many universities across the country. One thing i have done this year, is attend the open days for the universities which i want to go to, this being Huddersfield and Leeds Met, I also went to the 'Design Your Future' event held by UCAS at Manchester.

 

For me this was a really good trip because I got to talk one to one with tutors from the respected Universities for Architecture. As I'm trying to get onto the course in the second year, this gave me a great platform as to work with. I have already established a base with Carl Meddings, the course leaders at Huddersfield about entering on the second year, and on the UCAS event day, I got to speak to another tutor at Huddersfield who gave me some advice on what my portfolio should be like. Aswell as a platform being created with Huddersfield, I spoke to the Architecture representitive from Leeds Met, Craig Stott. The conversation I had with him was pretty similar to the one I've been having with Carl, I told him of my intentions of entering in the second year and asked about what he'd wna see portfolio-wise and they both gave me the same answer, "Design Cycle and Process!" When I got home from the UCAS event, I emailed Craig and we got the ball rolling on my next step after Calderdale College.

 

I've arranged to see Carl Meddings in a couple of weeks, and I'm just waiting to hear back from Leeds Met now, so hopefully good news will follow!

Oscar Niemeyer

1907-2012

Described by many as one of the most innovative and daring Architects in the last 60 years, Niemeyer was someone who co-designed the purpose built Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil. He was a protege of Charles-Edouard Jeannerent, Le Corbusier to the Architecture world, who was one of the pioneers of what we call Modern Architecture, so Oscar Niemeyer learnt from the best!

 

Much like Santiago Calatrava, Oscar was an explorer in the realms of Architecture, he didn't see concrete as having boundaries and looked deeply into using it for many abstract shapes and curves on his designs, and this is something that became of great influence on Architecture in both the 20th and the 21st centuries.

 

In 1930's, he worked as an intern with Lucio Costa a French born Brazilian Architect, progressing through the ranks and working with Costa on many different projects and it wasn't until the 40's and 50's that people really stood back and took notice of what was going on in Brazil, but the world opened it's eyes to Oscar Niemeyer after he designed the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi and he received critical acclaim and was recognised by everybody. It was after he drew international recognition that he started doing designs overseas and not just in his native Brazil.

 

In 1947 he was asked to design the Headquarters for the United Nations, this was something that his mentor Corbusier asked if he could collaborate on with him, to which Oscar agreed. They submitted 50 different designs between them, and it was Oscar's project 32 that was chosen. Shortly after the construction of the United Nations HQ, he was asked to teach at both Yale and Harvard Universities, two of the most prestigious universities around the world. 

 

 Juscelino Kubitschek became the new president of Brazil 1956 and had an idea of creating a new capital for Brazil, Brasilia and he wanted Oscar Neimeyer to be the man who made his wildest dreams into a reality. Oscar created a competition, where designers from far and wide came up with different designs on how the new capital would be laid out. It was none other than the person who helped Oscar get a foot in the door, Lucio Costa, who won this competition and whilst Oscar would design the building for the capital, Lucio would design the city. In my eyes, two of Oscar's most iconic designs were here in Brasilia, the National Congress of Brazil building and the Cathedral of Brasilia. These two building to me epitomises what Niemeyer stood for with his abstract shapes and uses of curves, pushing the use of reinforced concrete to a new stage.

 Oscar Niemeyer had a distinct love for both his country and for Architecture. After the military dictatorship had finished, he returned to Brazil after staying in Europe and designing buildings across the European continent. Even as he grew older, he still continued to work and although this drew criticism from some people, with one reporter from the New York Times saying, "the greatest threat to Mr. Niemeyer’s remarkable legacy may not be the developer’s bulldozer or insensitive city planners, but Mr. Niemeyer himself" questioning whether he was still capable of producing the quality of designs that he has done throughout his illustrioius career, but to me it didn't matter how old he was, he still had the capability of producing the most incredible designs the world had seen!

Like many aspiring Architects the world over, Oscar Neimeyer, will always be an inspiration to me, ensuring that we continue to push the boundaries of Architecture as we know it. I will leave you with a quote that encapsulates what Oscar Niemeyer stood for!

"I am not attracted to straight angles or to the straight line, hard and inflexible, created by man. I am attracted to free-flowing, sensual curves. The curves that I find in the mountains of my country, in the sinuousness of its rivers, in the waves of the ocean, and on the body of the beloved woman. Curves make up the entire Universe, the curved Universe of Einstein."
                                                                                                                                                                

Relfection Piece III

This week i've really gone back to basics! This is down to the fact i wasn't well and didn't go to college, so i was back to pencil and paper rather than relying on my laptop to do my work on.

 

For me, i feel this benefited me because sometimes, it takes me a while to come up with different design ideas, but because i was only sat using my sketchpad and a pencil, it made me put the creative side of me into full flow. The project that i'm currently working on is for spatial design, and im designing a shopping centre, i initally faced a bit of a mental block in getting my ideas from my head down onto my paper, so i used Google, looking at modern buildings to ignite the spark i needed, and this came when i decided to focus the design of my shopping centre on natural forms.

 

This week, im wanting to continue with my hand drawn designs, and present them in a way i havent before in drawing an initial design and then layering it with tracing paper with various different designs. Focusing more on the hand drawn aspect of my work, will allow me build up my ability in hand drawn work, and boost me not only now but in the long run when it comes to my portfolio.

Reflection Piece II

 

 

For the second week back at college, I was just continuing with the project that we'd started in the first week. So now i needed to finish off my hand drawn elevations and then start creating 3D visuals for the interior of New Road Primary School.

 

What i thought went well during the last week is starting my 3D visuals so the client has something to look at. This is something i enjoy doing as i work well when using Google Sketchup, however there are aspects i would like to improve in my sketchup work such as the proffessional look and the lighting.

 

With the deadling fast approaching, im looking to get my 3D visuals finished early in the week so that i can concentrate mostly on putting all the designs together and making them look good for my client.

Reflection Piece

During the first week back we were set with the task of writing a reflection piece for the previous week, which would encourage us to be more confident when talking about our own work and in the long term, aid us in going for interviews.

So for my first week back, we've been set with a project for a local school, in redesigning their reception and staircase area. One of the aims of this project is to refresh ourselves with the skills and techniques needed on this course after the long summer break. On a site visit to the school we had a look at the two areas we would be working with and took the required measurements for these. By doing this is gave us everything that we needed to start constructing out floor plans and elevations and then eventually the generation of ideas.

What worked well during these first two days was the communcation between everyone, whether it was when we were at the school and taking measurements, or back at college and talking about what we feel should be done with the areas, both aspects were communicated very well. What i would like to achieve in the next week is to get my ideas generated and start to see them taking shape.

Grand Designs

I have decided to blog about the channel 4 programme Grand Designs. This is because each week of the series every house they showcase is unique in its own different way and none of the design seems similar and they all stand out in their own ways. Some of them work on a much grander scale and are design really modern buildings design on the vast depths of a budget worthy of the house, where as other design are designed on a much more tighter budget, whether being design from environmentally friendly materials or being built within what appears to be small location, all of the designs somehow manage to find a way round on obstacles thrown in their way.

From watching this programme it gives me inspiration into any designs I do in the future, as there will be bits that I remember from different designs I have seen on Grand Designs that have caught my eye for many different reasons and that I will do my best to incorporate them into my designs.  

Not only do I watch the UK Grand Designs, I have recently started to watch the Australian version of it. By watching this programme also, it allows me to look at similarities and differences between the two architectural environments, especially because they’re on different sides of the world to each other. Another reason I have started to watch the Australian version is because it is a country where I would really love to go to and possibly live there for some time, so this gives me some information on the types of property they design.

Another good thing about watching Grand Designs is it gives me information on the construction of the building, so I see it going right through from the design stage, to the construction and to the rendering and furbishing. Also I find it useful to see the different problems they get faced with during their projects and how they overcome them. Overall I find watching these programmes very useful because not only does it give me inspiration for the future it also gives me lots of information which I try and remember for future use.

I find that watching programmes like Grand Designs will broaden your knowledge really easy and it is enjoyable way of learning because watching the television is something you will do every day, so by watching television programmes it is not the normal way of teaching and learning things so you will be more focused on learning this way.

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/pictures

@FineComposition

This is a group from Hawaii, which i have recently started following on twitter and they blog about other interior designers and furniture trends. On their twitter page, they post links up from their blog showing these different designs. Some of the designs they have posted are really modern and are the type of the designs that I am interested in.

When i have some time on my hands, this has often been something which I have looked at. This is because the designs that they show you are really unique and are all very different. Also I feel like this is a very good way to keep up to date with current trends in the design world which is something i see as essential for a student architect/interior designer.

By following this group on twitter, it allows me to "re-tweet" any ideas which I really like, this then sharing them with the rest of my followers on twitter and by "re-tweeting" their tweets it will inform other people that follow Fine Composition that I'm "re-tweeting" which pushes me into the design world as other designers may start to follow me by seeing what i follow. Also because I have started to follow a lot of Architecture or Interior Design related groups this allows me to broaden my knowledge by doing something I am currently doing in my day to day life, it will allow me to keep up to date with all the different trends currently being used and any tips that could possibly be used in my designs. Not only does it help be expand on my knowledge, I know that I could contact the groups I follow if I need any advice on a project, or if I just want another professional opinion on my work.

Although I will be using Twitter to give myself a greater knowledge and help me generate more innovative ideas, and communicate easier between other designers, it is harder to blog on Twitter due to word limits being set on your tweets, which is why this blog will be my main source for blog entries and I will frequently post my blog address onto my Twitter account so people that follow me or even vue my page just the once will be able to take a look at my blog when they want to.

http://www.finecomposition.com/

https://twitter.com/#!/FineComposition

The Shard

Once finished, The Shard will be the largest tower in Western Europe. Standing at just over 300m it dominates the London skyline. It takes its place in modern architecture of today among many over towers and designs. To build this design, it has used techniques that have never been used in the UK before.

The design of The Shard, was a dream of Irvine Sellars in 2000 but this idea was quickly quashed, that was until he met Renzo Piano, an Italian Architect who'd previously designed the New York Times Building. You could see his flare from his design of the Shard. When he heard about its surrondings, of the River Thames and the railway he said the design was similar to that of a sail coming out of the sea and quickly sketched his ideas onto the back of the menu where the two were eating.

The design is split up into sections containing offices, restaurants, a hotel chain and then luxury apartments which will offer views of London that will not be rivaled. Much like the London Olympic Stadium, one of the things that held The Shard back was the financial crisis however a consortium from Quatar invested in The Shard meaning the project could go ahead.

One issue they faced was the location they was building. As they were building in the middle of London it meant it was a relativley small plot located between Guys Hospital, one of Londons busiest hospitals and London Bridge Station, Londons 4th busiest train station. To build the tower they first needed to knock down the building already standing there, however they had to be careful as the lower they made this tower the more it disturbed the current surface and could potentially pose a risk to nearby buildings and make their foundations move so they installed movement detection equipment into all of the buildings within 80m of where The Shard would be. In order for them to start construction of the foundations, they need to get rid of the current ones which are made from reinforced steel, at the only way to do this is by using explosives to blast them apart.

They needed to build a much stronger foundation that the current ones as the building was going to be much larger than before. However becaause of its close proximity to the River Thames, they needed to build a dam to stop any water coming into the excavation site. The base of the foundations will be made from 120 concrete steel piles. When constructing it, they used a top down method of construction, meaning as they dig the foundations they start building upwards so they are doing two jobs simulationusly saving time and money. When building a tower some of the issues they will face are the height in building as they will face issues if there is any wind as this will blow the cranes around when they're lifting the materials and also getting lifts high enough to some of the floors, one way which they got around the crane issue, was by installing a crane at the top of the lift shaft which enabled them to construct the floors below. When they get to the 50th floor building work stops with 45 floors left because they reach winds with speed in excess of 40mph and these winds get colder the higher they get colder. One way they neglected the wind that high up was by putting screens which would slid up when they went up to the next floor, which allowed them to continue building.

At the top of the luxury appartments, they needed to make sure there was no sway so to do this that placed a device which would absorb the movement, much like when you're earthquake proofing a building to share the movement around resulting in less movement this will mean the top of the building will sway less than previously. They got this idea from a skier and their poles and if they were put off balance then they would adjust their poles to balance themselves out again.

After 36 months of construction, In May 2012 the last part was put in place, bringing an end to one of the best skyscrapers in the world and something that is pathing the way for Architecture in London, bringing London's Architecture into the 21st Century and hopefully we will be seeing buildings like this dominating Londons skyline for many years to come.

London Olympic Stadium

During this week i watched a documentry about the London Olympic Stadium. When watching this programme it showed me that when designing something of that scale you will come up against natural, physical and financial problems.

One of the reasons why London won their Olympic bid was because they said that the stadium would become a legacy and would remain in the city for many years. So this meant that the Architects, Populous, had to design a stadium which could be used for anything after the Olympics. However they came up with a clever solution to this, incase that they couldn't find a purpose for the stadium after the Olympics, they designed it so that the stadium could easily be taken apart and the parts recycled, meaning that they have a plot of land of which to rebuild on.

Natural problems the team faced was a south-westernly wind that blew towards the stadiums and they needed to make sure that this wind didnt produce a tailwind within the stadium as this could give some athletes an advanatge during the race and potentially make their times void depending on how high the wind speed is, just like Wilma Rudolph whos world record was not counted due to a high tailwind. To make sure this wind didnt funnel its way into the stadium, it meant that the stadium needed to have a roof on it so Populous deisgned a PVC fabric roof to be stretched over the stop of the stadium which meant the wind would travel over the top of the stadium and not funnel its way back into the stadium.

They had to design the stadium in the height of a recession in London and this meant a smaller budget than previous designs like the Birds Nest in Beijing. Initially for the exterior of the stadium they had intended on making it a big screen where images would run round the sides of the stadium however this would have been to pricey so rather than just having the skeleton for the stadium they had decided to have something like ribbons coming down the exterior with different images on. However this plan was stopped when the Olympic budget was cut by the government and the £7m that was slashed from this meant that this plan could no longer take place. This could have meant that the look of the stadium was not finished and potentially leading it to be an Olympic Stadium that didn't live up to it's billing. However a solution was reached when a private investor donated the money in order for the project to continue.

Those two problems show you that when you are designing something such as a stadium you are going to come up against physical issues made by other humans and more often than not many issues created will be due to nature and this is something you will just have to adapt to or find a solution to get around.



Construction of the Olympic Stadium

Time Lapse of the Olympic Stadium

Over the up and coming weeks on my blog I’m going to be looking into various designers, whether this is artists, illustrators, photographers or architects. When I’m looking at these designers I will focus into what stands out about their work and why I like them, things they do which intrigues me or things they do which are new and need to be researched further and most important my opinion on their work and how I could possibly use it to enhance my own work.

The three photos below are of a design that I am planning to put into my Egronomic Design. The Navigation Bracelet, is designed to aid the user getting around, not only around the house but anywhere they want to go. The system works by voice control, audio and haptic feedback. For blind people that are self conscious of people being aware to their disability, the Navigation Bracelet looks to anybody just to be another high tech gadget thats been produced. I feel that this design is so simple but the technology used makes the design so unique and without doubt will be highly beneficial to its user. Just some of the functions of the design are; helping you get from A to B, whether that be on foot or on the bus and locate items in a shop. It assists the user by sending vibration signals clockwise or anticlockwise depending on whether you need to turn left or right.


The video below goes into more detail as to how the Navigation Bracelet works...

http://vimeo.com/4801449

For my Ergonomic Design project, I am redesigning the bottom floor of my clients house and landscaping the front and back of the property. This is because my clients husband recently lost his sight so she has asked for the property to be redesigned to adapt to having a blind person inside.

Here are the floor plans and CAD drawings of the current bottom floor of the property..

Hello everyone, this is my first blog and my first post.. hope you enjoy whats to come. :D