3D Printing

Being a student with the design industry today, is probably one of the best times to be studying within this field, and in my eyes one of the most exciting pieces of techology is 3D Printing. This is completley changing what designers are doing assisting them in ways never done before, so it shouts out to me as something that I should talk about here on my blog.

 

So some might be asking what exactly is 3D Printing? Well what it is is this; it's the process where a 3D object is created from a digital image from the computer. It does this by building up the different layers of the object one at a time, applying the chosen material ontop of each layer, in some cases its a glue resin which is used.

 

From an Architects perspective, I believe that one of the most exciting uses for 3D Printing will be applying it into rapid prototyping. As when you go to show your client what your design may look like, instead of spending valuable time and creating a model, you can create the design on the computer, using software which they'll already be using and then get the printer to create an accurate 3D replica off the design. To me, I believe this is of great use for Archtiects around the world, as they'll be able to create a 3D representation of their design in less time than it would previously have taken, benefiting both the designer and the client.

 

Other benefits that 3D Printing has produced is due to the fact that we're now able to create rapid prototypes, it means that we're able to create mass products on a larger scale. Another benefit, is that because you'll have the design on the computer already, you can custom the designs on many different scales, changing them a little or a lot and the fact that you can print these designs into a solid object, will allow you to get an idea of what these customisations will look like.

 

You may also think that 3D Printing is something that is only accesable to companies with money behind them, however you can purchase a printer for last than a thousand pounds, which means given the right knowledge you could even have one in your house. As a student about to go to university and study Architecutre, if I had a 3D printer at home, it would make my work and portfolio signifacntly stronger than those around me. However, with the technology world ever developing, one of the developments of 3D Printing I would like to happen in the future, is the option to download parts from an online catalgoue. By this I mean, when an appliance breaks or you're missing a certain part to something, rather than having to go looking for this part at lots of different shops, you can simply go online and get the design and begin making yourself a 3D model that will be able to be used where it is needed. To me, this would be a great advantage to many people across the world, and is something that is a lot closer than other people think.

 

 

 

UCAS

So with my UCAS all now completed and sent off its now a case of waiting for the replies from the universities about my interview dates. I've applied for four courses, Architecture at Leeds Met and Huddersfield and also Architecture Technology at Leeds Met and Huddersfield. I've received emails back from the two courses at Huddersfield, for interviews on the 19th of next month, it's now time more me to start pulling my portfolio together and selecting the work which I think is the best and reflects me the most.

So the next month or so will be all hands to the pumps getting this most crucial stage of the whole application together! I shall continue blogging about my UCAS journey and the results of the Huddersfield interview and anything that happens with Leeds Met.

Final Reflection Piece

Overall the last few weeks, the purpose of this blog has been to help me look closely at my work myself and to see where my strengths and weaknesses lay and by doing this it means that I'll know areas which I feel I should focus strengthening.

Throughout the last couple of projects I have done, Spatial Design and Product Design, my strengths have lied with my CAD work, especially my SketchUp designs. This is because its a programme that I have used for several years now and the more that I use it, the more I increase my skills on it. And by doing this it has allowed me to explore more creative design that are a little more complex than what I would usually do and I feel that this is something I need to continue to do in order to push myself further, especially with university fast around the corner. I would however like to push my skills on adobe illustrator, I believe with a little more time spent using this it would also aid my work significantly, this is because at college we can use the laser cutter in accordance with illustrator so it would allow me to make 3D models of my designs.

Another area which I want to work on and improve is my drawings and hand rendering. At the moment I seem to spend less time with with a pencil in hand than I do with my mouse in hand and its something which I will aim to work on. To do this I will spend more time with the initial stages of my project and the development getting various sketches down of different designs that I can use. The more I do this the more it will allow me to create my own style when sketching and drawing and the greater those designs will become.

Hopefully by applying these to my work in the coming weeks, it will bring my work on leaps and bounds and there will be a noticeable change within the work.

UCAS - Personal Statement

 

When applying for University, we have to produce a personal statement, which give the university their first glance at what sort of person you are. Here is what I wrote for mine..

 

For several years now I have had a keen interest in going into the Architecture profession especially involving more contemporary designs. I particularly like these sorts of designs as they are pushing the boundaries of physics, yet continue to be completely innovative and original. Like the majority of today’s society, social networking is an important aspect of my day to day life, and this is something I use to my benefit, keeping updated on contemporary designs. I have gained great inspiration and enthusiasm from contemporary architecture and interior design related pages I have 'liked' on Facebook which regularly post photos of architecture from around the world, also allowing me to keep up to date with current trends within the design world. Using social networks in this way has helped me to expand on my knowledge and as it is now integrated within my personal life I’m always analysing and looking at contemporary designs from around the world. Zaha Hadid’s work particularly stands out to me and I love how every design is different and creative; constantly pushing the boundaries of architecture as we know it, with an example being one of her most recent designs, the London Aquatics Centre.

During the second year of my Foundation Degree, I worked on a live project for a local primary school in which I had to redesign part of the school for the new headteacher. This project allowed me to experience working face to face with a client and enabled me to develop key skills and practices including client presentation, conducting site visits and the importance of accurate measurement. While studying for my Foundation Degree I also successfully completed a number of briefs based on Design & Art Directors student design competitions. This experience has given me invaluable experience as to what architecture/interior design will be like in the real world, working with clients and meeting demands and deadlines.

I believe I will bring an array of relevant skills to the course including creativity, confidence and design flair which along with my transferable skills, will stand me in good stead for university life, and subsequently in the professional world. I am currently the course representative; a leadership role in which I take responsibility for chairing meetings with the student group who communicate their concerns about the course, and through discussion a solution is reached, highlighting my problem solving skills. I have continued to improve these skills along with reliability, punctuality and communication, working at Next as a sales assistant where I’m interacting with members of the public and acting in a professional manner. Furthermore I have a great passion for sports; during my early years as a teenager I played for a local football team, which developed my cooperation and team work skills. I am also enthusiastic about a variety of sports including rugby league, cricket, tennis, F1 and more recently golf.

My goal of attending university is to become a qualified architect. Between starting my degree and being RIBA certified I am confident I will develop a variety of skills that will help improve my work and give me a more refined understanding and greater knowledge when creating a design. After completing my degree my aim is to find work in a professional practice either in the UK or Australia and following this, to have my own Architecture practice and also to build my own home, which is an ambition I have held for a long time and one I am keen to fulfil. 

UCAS

So now, I reach my final steps of applying and going to University and for my course, the most important stage! The interview. Yes, you may have an amazing personal statement, but if you can't draw or you aren't what the tutors are after because of your portfolio, then it doesn't matter, so to me your portfolio is make or break.

 

During the next couple of months before attending my interviews, I'll be preparing my portfolio for interview. At this stage I haven't really constructed one and all my work is just dotted around, but I'll be choosing the best of my college work, and making slight changes to them, to be in my portfolio, along with designs I've done in my free time. I feel that I'm at a better stage this time than when I was in 6th form for going to interviews, and this is for two reasons. Firstly, my work is a much better standard than it was two years ago, but secondly and most importantly, I know what the tutors are looking for! Because I've been in contact with them both through the UCAS fair in Manchester, and when talking to them about entry onto the second year, which wasn't successful unfortunately. The people that I spoke to both told me the same thing in what they're looking for, 'Design Cycle'. They want to see where your ideas come from, and the process involved from taking it from just an idea, into development stages and then you're final design. Knowing what I need to have in my portfolio is a great difference to where I was two years ago, not knowing and just taking my school work and some drawings of buildings. But now I have a much better opportunity to further my education and get closer to becoming an Architect.

 

I've used 4 of my 5 available choices, apply for Architecture at Leeds Met and Huddersifield, and Architecture Technology at again, Leeds Met and Huddersfield. Which ever course I attend, I'll be living at home, so in a way Leeds Met would be first choice, as it'd be more convienent to commute to each day, however commuting isn't that much of an issue, as shown over the last two years, going from Pudsey to Halifax!

 

I shall blog in the not so long future, about what happens with my interviews and how I feel they go.

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!