[201] visionary explorers blog post speeches

I think the speeches that we presented last week were very helpful to organizing ideas. When you make a speech you have to organize it from the beginning starting with and introduction of what topics you are going to talk about briefly to give the audience an idea of where your speech is going so they can make connections between the main ideas and the points that you make to present your idea. This was helpful to me because i have not given a speech in a while so it helped me figure out how to organize my ideas in a thought process that would be meaningful to the people who i was trying to communicate to. i think that my ideas were organized and i tried to put them in a way that they would flow together to make connections between ideas that directly related to another and present them in that order. i also think that my power point slide represented the idea i was presenting with the two museums and having one main focal point connecting the two which was the image on my slide connecting the two interiors. i think i could have made my speech better by going more in depth about how these spacial aspects of the building affect the way the space is used and how the experience is enhanced through these details. i did not go to the speaking center to work on my speech but i went over it so that i was prepared in the order and connections between my topics. it was helpful to have people come from the speaking center because i think it helped to refresh our memory about effective ways to present your topic.

[201] dc presentations

i visited the natural history museum, the american indian museum, and the portrait gallery. working on my speech i learned about the connections in circulation in buildings and how that affects the way people move and experience the space. the museum of natural history has a large open circulation area when you first enter the space which encourages people to look around and recognize the center of the space.  i also thought the way the rooms to the exhibits were organized according to category in order to enhance flow of the space so that it makes sense to the visitors (image on left). it is east to follow because each floor and every entrance is directly connected to the main gathering space. this gathering space is further enhanced through the dome in the center lobby that is similar to the museum of the american indian because there was a large center for circulation here also and a dome in the center enhancing the importance of this space. I also noticed the importance of connecting the outside of the building to the inside. the american indian museum was very curved and fluid on the outside with different stacks making up a layer of curved surface (image on right). this connects with the curved walls on the inside and the stacked center towards the center of the dome in the ceiling, (middle image). after presenting my speech i learned that i need to not only talk about the connections of circulation and flow, but i also need to think about how this affects the people who will be experiencing the space. 

[201] visionary explorers blog post dc photoshop

[201] weatherspoon cabinet materials and lighting 2

a quick sketch to show how the lighting would become more dim towards the bottom if we used plexi glass shelving on the inside so that light could come through and and open top.

this idea shows at the top left, a top view for the top of the cabinet. the middle is open to allow light to come in through the top, instead of going out of the cabinet in our original idea because we were thinking about how it will be moved around a lot and i was thinking that it might become difficult for the users if there is a cord attached to it and it needs to be plugged in.

the right top section is a sketch of using adjustable heights for the shelves so they can precisely arrange them depending on what they are displaying.

the bottom sketch is to scale representing the overall view from the inside putting all of the ideas together. The wood is made of birch veneer. the top is left open to allow light to enter through the top of the cabinet using the light in the space and the shading shows the pattern this would make and how the light would become more dim towards the bottom.

this is a drawing of plexi glass shelving with a wooden frame and slats underneath to give it support, but you can still see through the shelf.

[211] weatherspoon cabinet lighting and materials

 this is a sketch of possibly having interior lighting come up above the shelves

this sketch represents the idea of having wooden slats in the ceiling and keeping the top open so that the slats will create a pattern of light on the wall or a glow above it that brings people's attention and makes this piece its own work of art. 

 a sketch of the interior and exterior materials. we went to the weatherspoon and talked to people in the gift shop about what materials they were looking for. they specified birch and plexi glass. this is a drawing of the cabinet made of birch with birch shelving and plexi glass shelves on the interior of the doors.

 i thought that a darker finish black cabinet would go well into the space if the finish on it was matte and not glossy. each section has a frame of the outside material of the cabinet surrounding it, and inside each shelving space is a rectangular shape of white to try to emphasize the items in the cabinet. also, there is lighting that glows up behind each of the shelves to help highlight the objects.

at the very top of this image is a picture of how we were talking about making the wooden slats to allow light to come up through the cabinet and directly below it is a light study of the shadows and highlights this would make by arranging the slats in a vertical direction beginning on the left side and then they would become more slanted the further you go to the right and give a more angled shadow on the wall.

the quick sketch at the bottom is representing the idea that hailey brought a model of, having a textured multi layered top that is constructed of different lengths of wood.

[211] class sketches and renderings

lemons, trash can, stool, globe, meteorite 

sketch of library

[201] industriesof the blind [an exploration of identity]

When I first walked into industries of the blind I did not realize how important the organization was to the workers there. In the main entrance where we went in, the ceilings are high and the spaces are narrow. It feels very strict and cold. The place represented a space that would be an entrance for boring industrial office spaces and a place with strict polices. The ceiling and floors were white and gray, the walls were white, and the staircases white painted metal. The lighting in the entranceway to the top of the staircase where we entered the second floor was also very dim and gray. When we got to the second floor we went into an office space that was also white and very industrial feel. I was prepared for a boring meeting about the history of the company and its products. Instead, the president of the company began talking about his employees and how they contribute so much to the work that is done there. He started by talking about how the organization began as a very strict working environment, which is why it looks the way it does now. There are no windows to the outside and no color on the walls. The hallways are very narrow and the place gives the feeling that we are not allowed to be walking around in this place. At the time, this was the desired outcome of the building because the senior management did not want workers being distracted by people and events happening on the street or be distracted by each other. Management thought that the only way employees would be productive was If they were watched very closely and forced to do their work. 5 years ago when a new president became apart of the organization this changed from being a strict closed environment to an open and friendly environment. The employees at industries of the blind love coming to work every day. They look forward to meeting with the people that they work with and they also look forward to their work. The outcome of the products the make is very important to them because they made these products by hand. They want to make sure that they have done their best work because they like what they do and they know that they go to work every day for a purpose—to save lives. They provide equipment for our military and want to provide them with the best products possible. They enjoy coming to work because they know that their job is to provide the military with products that will help to save their life when something happens. The workers at industry do not just come to work to make money; the come to work because they are on a mission to give their best work to people who need it and they are proud of their work. This is a wonderful group of people who make up the company. They have great heart in what they do because they truly care about their work because they know that it affects the lives of other people and this means a lot to them. They are very friendly and care about each other and about people who they do not even know. Their spirit should be represented in a place that truly reflects who they are; their motivation, their hard work, and their personalities.

[201] greensboro historical museum exhibits

                    the voices, pottery, the "gate city", the traveling exhibition "down home"


The main voices exhibit opened up into first a circular shaped gray room with portraits highlighted along the walls.  The form was very tall and opened and dark, but there was a lighting affect on the walls that enhanced the works of art displayed. I think this room gives a feeling that what is in there is important. Underneath the pictures displayed there are captions written about each person and there are other people involved surrounding each section. The section begins with the Buffalo Presbyterian church in 1776, then to the Declaration of Independence (1776), through when Greensboro was founded in 1808 and then continues on through the Albright farm, Spanish-American War through the attacks on 9/11 in 2001. The entire middle of the space is void which attracts attention to the photographs on the wall and makes the space seem grander and more important as a whole. As you go into the next part of the voices, it is a green room inspired by nature and moves around in different directions mimicking the feel of nature. This area then goes into a room with the same structure that is painted in red. These two rooms identify the events that took place during the foundation of Greensboro. The first space starts with early Greensboro residents who used carved stones as weapons, clay pots, and stone bowls for grinding seeds. Through the second section, there are displays representing the beginning for businesses in Greensboro. The first example I came across was the Guilford Nurseries traveling agent who sold plant stock to fruit farmers by showing them samples from a specimen book.  Then, Henry Humphrey receives supplies of dried goods and groceries for his business.  The first room, painted green represents the early survival through nature by residents, and then moves through the red room where towns became more civilized and began opening businesses and found ways of trading products or using money.

The next room was the pottery room and the interior designs. The entire room is a large circular section but the walls, similar to most of the exhibits are not curved; instead there are many different planes and directions within the walls. On both sides of the room there are display cases displaying the pottery. Internal lighting within the glass cases lights up the pottery. The room is all white walls with light wood trim and light blue floor that corresponds to the orange and blue colors of the pottery. In the middle of the floor there is another display of pottery and there is written information about how it started here. It appears that the glass cases of pottery on either sides of the room are most important because they are lit up so these displays first caught my eye when I walked I the door. After walking into the space I noticed the interior displays of interiors of the homes in Greensboro, but there was not much description about what it was about.  This area has a larger sense of natural light than any of the other displays in the museum. This exhibit talks about the history of pottery; Jacques and Juliana purchased it for resale utilitarian forms. Jacques and Juliana felt that the traditional art form of pottery was fading out so they opened Greenwich Village, NY teashop. Active participants were a part of this process to help bring back the classical forms that made Jungtown famous.

the gate city represents the set up of greensboro after the city became profitable. when you first walk into the exhibit there is a brick wall hotel established by william f. clegg in 1884. the beginning of accommodations for travelers also began and restaurants were added as a part of the hotel. The steam fire engine company began in 1888. this gave the town a sense of security because they had the ability to fight fires and protect their homes. this exhibit is also in brick reflecting the building material used of the time. this part of the exhibit was sectioned off from the rest of the museum because each wall was a different material and told a different story about greensboro's history. on one wall there is a school building made of wood siding. the side of the building that displays the pharmacy is mostly made of wood and has glass windows. there is little repetition in this exhibit from the rest of the museum and it is entirely a separate place. The hierarchy of this exhibit was the overall idea of greensboro as a city improving economically and coming up with new and better solutions to problems.

The growing city of greensboro changes as jewish life becomes more prevalent. wilmington's temple of israel was brought to life in 1876 by rabbi dr henry hochheimer. the bnai israel synagogue was established in 1897 and the tarboro's synagogue was a queen anne style building to relate to the rest of the neighborhood. Jewish camps began forming during the summer for kids and then were able to begin applying to universities in the 1900s. this was an opportunity for many jewish families to make money because most jewish immigrants to america came very poor and had not previously been able to receive an education although they had strong tradition in education. This exhibit was also separate from the rest of the museum and did not flow well. the lighting was very bright in the center of the room where nothing was displayed but the art and displays around the sides of the room made it difficult to read what exhibit was to be looked at next.

The museum as a whole was very much like a maze. it was winding but the walls were choppy and there were many different planes coming at you in all directions at one time overwhelming you with information. The Voices exhibit was the easiest to follow because it first began with a dark room with lighting surrounding important pictures telling a story of the history of greensboro from when the first people contributed to the land up until recent history. then, the displays after this repeat the overview that was seen in the first room. first beginning with the early history, moving to the development of businesses and then to the later success of the economy. when i fist walked into the lobby before visiting any of the exhibits i had no idea that there was anything else past the lobby in the museum. there is nothing that leads you to believe that there is something behind the walls of the lobby. the whole entrance has a natural lighting color but it is very dull and the walls are dark green covering the whole space from ceiling to floor. After you go through the first room on the second floor of the exhibit, you realize that you are being led into more enclosed rooms with warmer lighting and very colorful sectioned off spaces containing the exhibits. the further you go into the exhibit, the more you get lost in the space and discover the themes being represented. after going through the entire museum you finally come out back into the lobby that is a completely different style and lighting color than the museum. it is at first surprising to come into the lobby because you have been enclosed in these spaces that are so different from the outside lobby. the whole museum is many different worlds separated from the museum so when you leave the space back to where you started you feel that you are not in the same building anymore.

[201] what project can you most contribute to?

what project do you feel you can most contribute to?
what skills do you have that you think would be of use?

i feel i can most contribute to the weatherspoon art museum. i would be interested in the design of the cabinet for the weatherspoon art museum because i think it deals a lot with emphasis on space relating to experience depending on light. light is an important factor especially in a museum because you want the lighting to enhance the view of the displays. i think the artistic quality of the light in the building will correspond well to the idea of displaying items for the gift shop in this cabinet. i would like to find a way to emphasize the importance of the displays that are being represented and downplay the cabinet so that it is working to enhance the displace and not compete with them. i think it should be very simple like the rest of the walls in the space and allow the work being displayed in it to stand out. i think i would be helpful to this project because i like to play with light to see the ways it can affect a space. i think creating lighting around the art itself is important to showing people what the art is about and making them interested in it and drawn to it.

[211] name plate designs

this is the name plate that i designed for tricia. I integrated geometric shapes and composed it entirely in black and white to achieve the highest level of contrast. 

tricia designed this name plate to represent me which i think fits me well as a designer. it has planes of many different lengths but they are balanced in their placement and the color scheme used flows well.

[211] entrepreneur poster

[201] industries of the blind diagram

This diagram represents the experience that I had entering the Industries of the Blind and moving through the building. The first thing i notices entering the building was the materials used. Outside is constructed of brick and the inside has white walls and tan floors. The space is very bland in color and the materials represent a strict environment representing the separation of upper management from regular employees in the past. I also experienced the high ceilings in the first area through the front doors with the tall stairs that are steep going up to the next floor. The spaces and hallways are very narrow and very tall. The space feels very structured. Then, I noticed the way the downstairs working areas were set up. The areas are set up with many working spaces in one open area for all of the workers to communicate while doing their work. This is much different from the feel of the rest of the building because this space feels more open and there is more communication throughout the space.

[201] industries of the blind narrative and sketches

Thumbnail Sketches

Industries of the Blind is an organization that provides military equipment for the government. The majority of the employees working there are blind. It changed from a company that has separation of Senior management from other Employees to now being and open high trust organization. They focus on culture and promote openness and trust.  Entering into the front of the space was very narrow and there was a green garden center in the back left corner of the entranceway. There was a sense of height to the space because the walls were narrow the the ceiling was high and elongated. The staircase on the left was also narrow and tall. The stairs and building on the inside had an institutional feel with white falls and closed off windows. We met in a room with the David LoPresti, the head of the organization, who told us about how work there has changed since he has become apart of the organization and the history of them. The building closed off from the outside because at the time they did not want their workers becoming distracted by things that were happening outside, and they also did not want outside people coming in and seeing what they were doing. There was little trust within the company and there strict supervision to make sure that employees were always doing their job with strict policies. Today the Industries of the Blind is very welcoming to its workers and promotes relationships between workers within the organization. The people who work in this organization enjoy coming to work everyday and doing their part because they know that the work they do is important so they want to improve and do a good job at what they do. There is a great sense of trust and commitment to work since the organization has become much more open. The employees are people who want to do a good job at work and enjoy coming to work because of the open environment and trust. LoPresti knows all of his employees by name and knows things about them. They enjoy talking to him and working for him and they know that their work saves lives. The space today is very strict and sectioned off. Walking through the space, it was not built for promoting communication. Downstairs where employees are working on shirts for the military that absorb moisture, and a guard to stop bullets from going into the back of a person's neck, they have very large open spaces. They have made it an open environment for communication because there are tables for working but now walls. LoPresti mentioned that he wanted to change the front entrance to make people want to come into the building and see how the organization runs. Right now the entrance is very plane and small and it does not make you feel like you can come inside. They want to promote communication and an open environment and invite people from the outside in.

[211] 2 pt. perspective vanilla candle

[201] Experience Diagram: Greensboro Historical Museum

This diagram represents the overall feel that I first experienced when I entered the space. The overwhelming color covering all of the walls that are seen from all floors at the same time from the entrance. The stairs spiral upwards and are not continuous so it is a very hectic feeling. What stood out to me the most was the green and red color along with the many curves in the walls and stairs.

[201] GHM Narrative

For our first visit to the Greensboro Historical Museum, we began out in the parking lot across the street to observe the building entering from the parking lot, like most people who visit the museum will experience it. From across the parking lot I noticed the brick material to the outside and that there was more than one entrance to the museum. The sidewalk parallel to the building was broken up and we had to step over cones and caution tape to get to the front entrance that was a large space in front of the building where the walls came at a curve on each side partly enclosing and outlining the large sidewalk with the tall flat curved front as space. When I first walked into the museum the first thing I noticed was the overpowering green covering the walls everywhere all the way from the first floor up to the top. The entire space was open and the same color green was covering the walls all the way up to the top in the main area and on each level of the floors to the right and also covering the stairs that spiral up, and then there is a break, and then they spiral up again. I also noticed the red that was on the stair railing mixing with the green that was everywhere. The floor underneath the second set of stairs was white and stood out from the rest of the area. The gray tile floor and gray and black dotted stone framing the door did not tie in with the green vinyl walls or the red railings. At the second floor level I could see the whole entrance, the whole fist floor and the whole third floor. The same experience was encountered on every floor. The museum colors and arrangement of floors were overwhelming. All noise and colors and objects throughout every main space on the three floors are all experienced at one time, instead of gradually being led into the space. Everything is experienced at once and the design of colors, materials, and furniture do not go together. It is a very overpowering mixture of many different things all at one moment.

[201] WAM Diagram: Light and Experience

The Gradation around the sketches represents the light becoming dimmer as you go into more confined spaces into the museum. I concentrated the shadows in the drawings  more as you go further into the space to represent that the focus increases the further you go into the space. It begins as a light glow lighting the whole area to the lights being directly focused on the path, and then onto the works of art.

The Weatherspoon Art Museum seems to strongly rely on the lighting of the space. I went back to the museum during the evening to see how light would be experienced differently without the bright light coming in from the ceiling in the main circulation space and also the windows. The light first entering through the garden slightly lights up the whole overall area. Then, as you move inside the main circulation area the lighting creates a glow that is evenly distributed softly lighting the whole area. Towards the stairs the light became more focused lighting the way of the path.  light spreads across the stairs, encouraging visitors to go see what is past them. Then on the second floor the lights on the ceiling highlight the works on up on the wall. As you go into the rooms displaying works of art on the wall, the light becomes most focused here highlighting directly around the focus points; the art that is displayed.

[201] WAM Narrative

When entering the Weatherspoon Art Museum from the back I tried to experience the building from the perspective of someone who had never been there before. At the entrance I first saw the large iron gates that brought me toward the opening. From way back in the parking lot I could not see an entrance into the building; the only thing i saw was the outside garden, the brick wall to the building, and the high narrow window going all the way to the top of the building, but the openness of the iron gates and the brick walls on each side led me into the garden area. In this area there were trees and a few pieces of art. Over to the left is where I saw doors going into the building. I had to cross paths in between columns to enter on the path that leads into the doors. After going through the first doors I went into the second set of doors and I was then standing in the main circulation of the museum. The first thing I noticed was the large amount of light coming in from the open oval shape in the ceiling that opened up to the sky and how if blinded the walls and floor with light. I walked over to the hallway towards the right and at the end was a huge rectangle window covering the entire end of the hallway that brought in blinding light. Then, I noticed the stairs on the other side of the main entrance that were half-way behind one column. At the top of the first set of these stairs was another bright blinding light coming in from tall rectangular windows that curved along the side of the curved wall to the building. At the top of the second set of stairs was a small wooden door with a small circular window in the top. I went through this door and on the second floor was another hallway leading to light pouring in from a window at the end of the hallway and to the left was a large circular window that looked out across the street. The columns from the front entrance to the building were directly in front of the window blocking a lot of the view.  As I went down the hall to see inside the rooms where they display the art exhibits, I saw that the light was a lot dimmer inside of these rooms. There was only the glow of the lights shining around the pictures on the wall to light the space drawing attention to the art.