Design for Real

Well, I'm in it for real now. I have done my thesis defense and all that remains between me and graduation is submitting the final version of my thesis paper. I'll have my third degree, a Master of Arts in Interior Design.


My plan is to obtain a position in healthcare design, likely in planning or programming. However, while we are searching for jobs, two of my classmates and I have decided to form a firm to keep our feet wet in design. That way we can continue making money in our current jobs, job search, and continue to design.


Even though we are only halfway through the process of establishing our firm, we are already working with our first client. Granted, this is pro bono work, but it will be a great way for us to work out any kinks in our processes. Also, as this is a restaurant, we anticipate being able to get some great PR out of this.


While this our firm was mostly expected to be a way to keep us involved in design, it may be that this actually works out into a viable venture. I am so excited!!

D4 Irish Pub - a study in scale

D4 is a pub just off the Magnificent Mile in Chicago. The food and beer are quite good. The ambiance is a near miss. I feel they picked nice finishes and fixtures, but the scale is completely off. The whole pub is swallowed up by the cavernous ceilings.

Layouts for My Future Portfolio

I am starting to work on laying out work samples for my portfolio. It is slow work, but I am finally starting to make progress!

Church as Branded Environment

In the Branded Environments class, we were to explored a branded environment that was not focused on the sales of goods or services. The instructor loosely defined a branded environment as an experiential design, with intent to manipulate (not necessarily in a bad way). In my mind, the prototype of that definition would be a church. Fortunately, I have a Gothic church right across the street.

St. Ita's Church

By happenstance, each condo I have bought in Chicago has been across from a major church. When I lived in Lakeview, Our Lady of Mount Carmel was across the alley. In Uptown, I was across the street from St. Mary of the Lake. We currently are across the street from St. Ita's, which is our view from our bedroom and living room windows.

Cities Struggle With Not So Pretty Vacancy | The New Republic

"weak and antiquated state laws--on tax foreclosure, land banking, code enforcement, and other areas--can have huge influence on what properties get redeveloped"

Full Article: Cities Struggle With Not So Pretty Vacancy | The New Republic

The Globalisation of Feng Shui

"Practised in China for over 6,000 years, feng shui has played a significant role in shaping the country’s architecture. Despite attempted suppression during the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s, feng shui has not only remained prominent in its country of origin, but has become well known across the Western world too."

full article: ZoukArchitects » The Globalisation of Feng Shui

Final Banners for Thesis Prep

For thesis prep, I stayed mostly in the theoretical. Rather than focusing in on the design of a whole hotel for travelers with healthcare needs, I decided to direct my attention to one aspect...namely the a spa that would also function as a medical clinic. I have done some preliminary work looking at programming, adjacencies, and layout, but I didn't get into the final design. I have been working creating a design language to guide me in the design. I am basing in on genetic coding, which I consider to be at the forefront of medical innovation.

Final Boards for Advanced Digital & Computational Design

For the final in Advanced Digital & Computational Design, I had to design something with parametric controls. For the spa I'm doing as part of my thesis, I wanted the reception to have a dramatic light wall, which would shift in colors and intensity based on where a person was in the room.

(Please pardon the cut and bleed marks on the boards. These are what I sent to the printer.)

Rendering

Code in Grasshopper

Variations Based on Location in Room

Dimensions

Shifting Light Wall

I am furthering my experiments using Grasshopper as a parametric tool for lighting design. In this instance, I am designing a light feature wall for my spa. The idea is that wall has two sets of lights: gentle pink cans in the background, and purple lights in front whose size and intensity is controlled by an aperture. As a person walks across the floor, pressure sensors detect the position and calculate a point in room. The distance of each light from the new point is determined and the apertures of the purple lights are adjusted. So, as the person crosses the room, the should be constant shifting of the lights.

Presentation Boards for The Jellyfish

This is the midterm presentation board for the Jellyfish lighting fixture design.

Lighting Fixture: The Jellyfish

My final lighting design for my Advanced Digital and Computation Design midterm is the Jellyfish fixture. The Jellyfish is actually one configuration of a client configurable line of lights, which utilizes the parametric design capabilities of Grasshopper.

While a rendering was not required, I really wanted to get a sense of how this would look. This is probably one of my better renderings. After designing the fixture in Grasshopper and "baking" it into Rhino, I moved the fixture over to 3D Studio Max to tweak the design, add materials, and set up lights. I then rendered it and made several adjustments in Photoshop to get the final image.

This is my update for my concept model for a hotel (see original).  I continue to use a color gradient to show proximity of hotel rooms to the clinic/spa (not shown in this iteration), but I am also varying the size of rooms. My thought is that rooms which have capability to provide greater intensity of medical service may need extra space for equipment and accessibility.

Initial Steps: New Lighting Design

I'm still working with Rhino/Grasshopper.  It's actually a lot of fun.  My current assignment is start working on designing a new light fixture.  I had some ideas, though the first iterations all looked like hats.  I am happy with the current direction.

Variations in Venetian Glass

I have continued working on modeling a pendant using Grasshopper in Rhino.  Once I had a reasonable model, I varied some of the parameters to created variations of the design.

Constructing a Pendant Light Using Grasshopper

We're moving on to lighting design in Grasshopper/Rhino.  We were to choose a fixture that we liked and attempt to construct it in Rhino.  I will also create a variation by modifying some of the parameters.  This is preliminary work to designing my own fixture.

Designing With Grasshopper

This is my first solo venture into parametric design, using the Grasshopper add-on to Rhino.

A Better Weave

Still working on creating a weave using the Grasshopper parametric add-on for Rhino.  A better result, though with less understanding of the process behind it....

Weave with Rhino & Grasshopper - FAIL

I followed a outline for building a weave in Rhino using Grasshopper.  I still have only the smallest clue what I'm doing in Grasshopper, but I figured I could copy someone else's work.  Clearly not.  There were so many variables that were not visible when viewing the screenshot of the Grasshopper  model.  I can't even say that it is a fortunate mistake, i.e. not what I was going for but beautiful all the same.  Oh well, maybe next time.

Developing My "Style"

These are a series of boards, laid out as magazine spreads.  The idea is that I need to be developing my own personal style for presentation.  This is something that I have struggled with during school.  I feel that I should have this super-slick, high tech presentation style.  I see classmates' work that I covet.  However, when I try to emulate them, it never feels right.  Several teachers have suggested that I look towards magazines whose layouts resonate with me.  Ultimately, the two magazines that I have consistently enjoyed are Utne and Dwell.  So, in the discussion of style, I have attempted to incorporate the feel of those magazines into the style of my presentation.