temples + sacrifice

in history/theory, we continued our exploration of ancient greece and the buildings and objects that come to us time and again as people continue to use these as a model for buildings today. i think the students were a little blown away at the prospect of george hersey's postulation that greek temples, ultimately, represent sacrifice. read more about hersey's book here. and here's a great review on the PILASTERED blog....and one more that links hersey's work to daniel rykwert's THE DANCING COLUMN.
here's a sketch from my greece/italy travel journal that i made in 2006 when wandering around europe with 29 students and another faculty member that year.

kit of parts

for studio this week, students presented their proposals for the KIT OF PARTS project....JENGA 1.0, in which they elaborated three kits in three spaces. claire and i reviewed, along with the class, 36 projects on friday....36 more to come on monday.

because iar202 is a writing intensive course, students have been working on their WRITING as part of the design process. read corry's post and abigail's to get some sense of the work they are doing in this regard. claire and i selected their work to feature downstairs near the faculty offices...

putting history into practice

one of the sub-themes of the history/theory course is ACTIVATE the practice of history by taking a close look at the campus environment. from time to time, the students forage in their discussion groups to look for elements and principles in our most local built environment as REAL WORLD examples of what they're hearing about in class. in this photo, students pass by the gove health center as they explore...

photo credit : brian peck

weatherspoon exhibition : 70 years of collecting

i'm working today on the final design elements in the WEATHERSPOON ART MUSEUM's 70 years of collecting show, which opens on 06 february 2011, along with the unveiling of their catalog celebrating this great greensboro and uncg institution. i encourage you to check out their museum's terrific new website and the amazing cultural resources in the collection.

about brian's chair blog

TWIST CHAIR [jonas lyndby jensen]
http://www.seatingzine.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/twist_chair1.jpg

i want to be brag a little bit on a student who, for two semesters, has taken up the responsibility of administering the CHAIR PROJECT for my history/theory class: BRIAN PECK. as part of his duties as an undergraduate teaching assistant in that course (12 total in that capacity), brian has set up a CHAIR BLOG as a resource for the students. with a specific interest in the chair as a design form, brian is rapidly working toward a passion in that area. check out the blog here, where you can read stories, snippets of popular culture, and ruminations about design. worth staying linked...and checking back often.

the implications of inspiration AND imitation

http://eliinbar.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/la-tourette-eliinbar-sketches-20100002.jpg

today in history/theory class, we talked about some of the first efforts by humans to make objects, spaces, buildings, and places and the commonalities one can see from a review of sites worldwide. later, i received a link about influence by CORBUSIER on the work of other designers. this link leads you to a visually interesting and thought provoking blog. any thoughts about implications of inspiration AND imitation? where do we draw the line?

where do good ideas come from?

nosing around online during this snow day led me to the work of STEVEN JOHNSON...he has written a couple of books about thinking and design and creativity. claire and i looked through a couple of his postings on youtube. clearly he's a brilliant sketcher and idea man...check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NugRZGDbPFU&feature=related

check out his blog here.

stonehenge : reading response ii

adapted from work completed by iarc history/theory course veterans JEN YANCEY + CATHERINE YOUNG, this stonehenge reading response offers yet another option for students in the current course to report on some of what they are seeing in our new textbook (A GLOBAL HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE) and in the ever faithful text (UNDERSTANDING ARCHITECTURE).


sources for images on this post :
http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/stonehenge-wallpaper-4.jpg
http://crystalhatchlings.com/EasterEggs/Images/Stonehenge.jpg
http://www.viajesmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/stonehenge_closeup.jpg

heliopolis : reading response

in providing different kinds of reading responses, i drafted this hand-drawn READING RESPONSE on the KHUFU pyramid in egypt at giza.

stonehenge : reading response

i fashioned this simple slide show to give students in my history/theory of design course an opportunity to see an example of a reading comprehension. students work through the assigned readings for the course and select one particular object, space, building, or place in the reading and report on it. they are to include a title, concept, a minimum of three images, and writing to document their understanding of the assigned reading. here's my effort...

the semester begins, second year studio

[in the photo, our "middle" pragmatists are raising hands...one a bit tentatively, those to the left represent the conservers while those standing right assume the role of originators.]

under the organizing principle whole > sum of its parts, the second year studio began this morning with an assessment of strengths for the students via the change style indicator. this rubric helps groups of people to learn who are originators, conservers, and pragmatists. for designers, this is an imperative lesson to learn. as teams assemble, one wants to be sure to balance the boat in the studio. the results from our class? MANY MORE originators than conservers, in a proportion of 3:1. of the 24 students and two teachers, only five people stood to the left of the pragmatists. i'm way at the originator end, while my erstwhile teaching assistant, claire keane stands to the right (third in the photo) in the line up.

originators value NOT following the rules + bucking the system....i'm not quite sure what this holds as far as the semester.