Making my Model

To make my model, I created an image of an algae representation on photoshop and printed it on ohp transparency. After that, I glued it onto a 1mm piece of plastic and added a black, cardboard frame to the floor and tabletop. I am still indecisive about whether or not the tabletop is effective in this space, it may be too much of a distraction from the floor. 

My first attempt at glueing made the ink run and the glue marks appear.

I used fairy lights to replace the effect of the fibre optic lights I would like to use. Ultimately, I would like the lights to be cool as opposed to warm as it is here.

The lights created exactly the effect I wanted, illuminating the walls from below and casting the seaweed's shadow on the walls. I believe that this effect also makes the room appear taller.

Today I discussed with Kate about having a digital screen as opposed to the tank, however since the origin of the project started with something very organic and I believe that I should stick with that notion. I have now decided that my design will be a shallow tank of running saltwater, containing several types of seaweed and some rocks. 

detail of my artistic gesture

gesture of seaweed bench top for model

gesture of seaweed floor for model

I think it will be interesting to se how the nature of the plants respond to the conditions of the room, I expect that the light will determine where and how much the seaweed grows. 

Exploring and Researching Concept

At this stage I am following the path of the water tank floor concept because I think that it will be more visually effective and incorporate the entire room better. I have been exploring this concept further by expanding on the possibilities of its components and researching them. 

This is a sketch of the tank on other surfaces in the kitchen. 

What does this idea connote?

• personal attachment to water and nature
• being in a river- stones

What are some other materials I could use?

How could I incorporate more of the homely ritual?

• increase in... concentration- of plants?
• increase in temperature- heated water =  pleasant under the foot. I must research algae that can resist high temperatures. 25-30˚C

Where will the water go?

• Recycled in a water recirculation system
• into the garden to feed the plants- make a system of irrigation. 

Research 

I used this website to find out if this water recirculation system would be achievable.

I discovered that this would be possible with several components:

• reservoir (basin that collects water)
• motor-driven pump in the reservoir that is submerged in water (this uses suction to circulate the water)
• filter box for the pump so that debris does not get caught in the engine.
• electrical outlet

I read Seaweeds by David Thomas to find out what the living requirements are for algae.

From this I established that they would be able to live in a tank so long as it contained sea water (35g/L), was exposed to light (kitchen's windows would do this) and had water.

Kitchen in Cryengine

I put the kitchen frame in Cryengine in order to a different view on perspective and light, however, this software (like Sketchup) is new to me and I doubt I will be using it in this project. 

By considering my leading concepts in the kitchen, I looked into some precedent work that would help me develop these ideas. 

Seaweed water tank flooring

Stained glass windows.

I researched artists who used similar aspects to these ideas.

James Turrell

 Light and water express the ripples on the water's surface yet somehow make the space seem small.

Stone Sky, 2005.

 I like the way that the water clearly reflects the scenery when it is still. In this way, it can make a space seem bigger.

Splinther, 2007.

A glow effect is used here. This idea is similar to my window concept, although the total blurriness would be inappropriate for the purpose of the window.

Tomás Saraceno

Cloud Cities exhibition

Saraceno's use of enclosed plants is effective here and it demonstrates some interesting shapes that occur both purposefully and naturally.

I really like the organic yet carefully engineered idea of this exhibition. Gravity used to Saraceno's advantage to employ interesting weights and ropes.

 The scale of Cloud Cities invites the inhabitants to be inside the artwork.

Jean Nouvel

This is an idea for the Louvre in Abu Dahbi. I would like to use this kind of lighting to achieve a soft, natural shafts of light that reflect off surfaces all around the room, as this one does. I feel that the shadows are equally as important as the light in this design, creating an effect that is not so commanding.

Tadao Ando
Silence, 2011

 Silence is an unconventional water feature that incorporates steam and light effectively. There are fibre optic lights that illuminate this artwork at night, although they are submerged in water. This is a material that I would like to use in the flooring concept because I think it would be appropriate.

Exercise in Plan Drawing

Top: side elevation, bottom: Plan

We learnt how to do scale drawings from scratch, including sketching the grid. Since the building was copied from a book this was easy yet tedious. This tested my accuracy in measurement, line drawing technique and attention to detail. Clearly, this was not finished, however I began to use watercolour as means to represent water. 

Precedent Work

Considering my aesthetic for this project, I looked into the work of architects, artists and product designers that use similar ideas in their work.

David Trubridge

Whakatu, New Zealand

all images can be found on http://www.davidtrubridge.com/Designs/lighting/

 basket

 coral

I really like the way Trubridge uses light to create shapes that highlight the walls, thus expanding the area his artwork can take up in a room. Something that he has also achieved well is the use of colour and shape, both of which are significant to my project.

Daniel Widrig

London, England

All images can be found on http://www.danielwidrig.com/

 Brazil, 2009

 Diploria, 2007

 Laminates, 2009

Pathfinder, 2011

What I find interesting about Widrig's work is the way that light contributes to the shapes he has formed, adding a depth through its highlights and lowlights. Naturally, these shapes also appeal to me because they convey a spontaneous, organic feeling which the shapes fit together. 

Anish Kapoor

London, England

Images found on http://anishkapoor.com/

 Cloud Gate, 2004

Wave, 2003

Kapoor's sculptures often carry similar visual qualities, for instance the mirrored, high-shine effect of both Cloud Gate and Wave. Cloud Gate, which is located in the Millenium Park in Chicago is intimidating in both size and the fact that the reflection suggests some kind of disguise. It seems to be more of an interactive artwork than Wave, which I admire because of its colour and materiality that I would like to apply to my project.

Antoni Gaudi

Barcelona, Spain.

La Casa Batllo derived from website

La Pedrera from this website

Finally, Gaudi poses a good example of this aesthetic from an early 20th century Architect. Gaudi, who seemed to be as much as a mathematician as an architect used both stained glass and irregular circular shapes to make his designs.  

As an result of combining the aesthetic gesture and room, I came up with some more ideas that have potential to function in the kitchen space. Although these may not be literally reflecting Emma's homely ritual I believe that they embody the mind set and mood that both she and I associate with this process. The aesthetic that covers all of these concepts is round, organic, a dispersion of concentration on surfaces that are; nonuniform, high gloss, white/green and smooth. I am attempting to reflect these ideas around the whole space, even if it comes from a single source.

Combining Model and Aesthetic Gesture

These are some experiments literally combining Emma's ritual and the kitchen. There is a play between straight and soft edges here, and I can see potential for changes of scale.

In this exercise we made spaces from abstraction by adding inhabitants. This one is based around the idea of a playground.

Making the Kitchen Frame

Sketch up model was made

Translated to Illustrator (colours correspond to laser's actions.)

The final product. This was cut by the laser cutter and glued together.

By thinking about Emma's ritual and the subconscious feelings it reflects and produces, I created these 'things' that were my interpretation of making green tea. I found it surprisingly natural to come up with and create these 'things'. 

They do somewhat reflect the idea of mugs or china that Emma uses to make green tea.

Last week I was given Emma's ritual, making green tea. We talked about the process of fetching the mug, boiling the kettle, getting the tea bag and reading the label, filling the mug with a dash of cold water and dunking the tea bag. Making tea makes her feel calm, comfortable, warm and fuzzy. 
Some of the qualities she associated with her ritual were 

• increase in temperature, concentration of tea and space
• contrast hot/cold and surfaces smooth and shiny/rough and delicate
• the fluidity of water and its spontaneity
• calmness as opposed to business

3D Isometric Sketch

Rough idea of the kitchen including the notion of lintels and studs.

Homework week 1

Experiment of the experience of a kettle boiling.

Documentation 1 of my homely ritual. This device responds to the hot water as the coloured strips buckle under the heat of the steam. 

Documentation 2, this 'thing' is my description of the noise that is made in the process of boiling a kettle. Actual size approx 40 cm

Documentation 3. This quantitative response literally compares time to temperature endured in my homely ritual process