MID-SEMESTER LEARNING PORTFOLIO

CODY T. VANTREASE

expectations: I WAS ALWAYS INTERESTED IN DESIGN, WHETHER THROUGH FASHION, ARCHITECHURE, INTERIORS, TEXTURES; BASICALLY ANYTHING THAT WAS THOUGHTFULLY PRODUCED AND AESTHETICALLY PLEASING. I FINALLY GOT MY HANDS DIRTY BY BUILDING FURNITURE FOR PERSONAL USE A COUPLE YEARS AGO AND AFTER I PROFITTED A COUPLE HUNDRED PERCENT SELLING THOSE PIECES, I THOUGHT I COULD BE ONTO SOMETHING. I MOVED ACROSS COUNTRY, CREATED A CLEAN SLATE, AND ENROLLED IN ARCHITECTURE CLASSES TO BEGIN A NEW CHAPTER.

ITERATION I

• structurally sound• use of organic material• durability of joints

• BORING• too literal/familiar• lacks abstracts • symmetry • contrast in materials• suggested base

+ -

My first iteration is a microcosm of the problems I seem to keep running into. Finished products are exactly that: products. Although the “assignments” have very faint restrictions/boundaries, my work steadily resembles something recognizable, whether it be a cot, a house, stairs, etc.

Another issue that kept arising was that the products seemed to have a suggested base. A suggested base means that your work has an intended bottom/top/front/back and particular points of perspective, which then leads to your work being unexplorable, predictable, familiar; basically any adjective that falls under the umbrella of BORING!!

To be honest, I wasn’t completely dissatisfied with my first work. I was pleased to see how stable the “cot” turned out despite the warping of the leaves. The bamboo was fairly simple to cut, manipulate, and glue.

Although the final product was far too literal, it was quite close to my expectation prior to construction. It was satisfying to know that I could create an idea and produce work that resembled what I envisioned.

Ultimately, however, I knew I had much to learn. My thinking was far too literal and I still am struggling with that. FIXATION is a word that keeps coming up to describe my work, whether out of my mouth or someone elses. A fixation with furniture, a building, anything that’s tangible and been done before. I’d like to think I can be a creative, even if it is stealing a template and improving it. TO BE DETERMINED.

ITERATION 2

• contrast in material• organic vs inorganic

• too literal/familiar• lacks abstracts • symmetry •suggested base

+ -

Looking back it now, I dislike this iteration even more than I did right after construction. I attempted to add some abstracts to the first iteration, and I failed miserably. This iteration is equally as familiar/literal as the first.

I clearly was left with many of the same issues I had after the first iteration. The suggested base issue that I expanded on previously was GLORIFIED in this iteration - you can’t even flip this work on its side without losing its structural integrity.

The positives I was able to extract from this iteration were few and far between. I was

pleased with my resourcefulness in materials and creating contrast between those

materials. The organic vs inorganic theme I strived for was fairly accomplished and

some other students verified this as well, which was needed for my psyche after being

so dissapointed after my first two iterations.

I reach for perfection in everything that I do and ARCH studio is no different. After my

first two iterations, I was so unbelieveably dissapointed in what I was able to produce

up to that point and questioned whether I had the mind for this.

Maybe I am too fixated? Can I escape this?

TBD

creating a narrative:

After the first two iterations, it was clear that I needed some direction for my work. What was the underlying meaning of my prior work? Did it tell a story?

NO, it didn’t.

I needed something to help guide my work. Without a narrative, your work can spiral out into space with no real meaning or purpose. A narrative can almost create guidelines for you to abide by and I needed that.

But it was hard. It was hard to create a story that could be told through bamboo or basswood or plastic or string or cardboard. Here I was again, stuck TRYING to be CREATIVE.

ITERATION 3

• begins to tell narrative• asymmetry• voids • room to explore

• too literal/familiar • suggested base• contrast in material• complexity

+ -

I promise I tried to tell a story here. Long story short, this iteration tries to show the different routes to make it to the apex. I attempted to show that the top is a desired place to be, but failed. The different “paths” to the apex are supposed to represent the various routes one could take to reach a place where they feel comfortable, free, and satisfied.

I attempted to vary the pathway structures by twisting one, lengthening others, and creating a short but steep grade to the last path. These dissimilarities are trying to show that you can take any path you want, but each road will take you for a different ride.

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

I unfortunately fell back into some of the same bad practices that I showed in the first two iterations. This iteration still had a suggested base and lacked contrast in material.

I cut out the bottom of the base just to leave a border and make it possible to explore the work through various perspectives. The thought was there, the effort was not.

I seem to improve on certain aspects of my work after hearing certain commentary and feedback but while those improvements are being made, other necessary components are being neglected.

My third iteration was a cause for concern for me. After being constantly told to dismiss my fixations, I continue to produce familiar work. I need to break the cycle.

TBD

ITERATION 4 ITERATION 5

ITERATION 4

• expressed narrative• abstract• structural integrity • increase in scale successful• spaces created

• too literal/familiar • two-dimensional• contrast in material• spaces created

+ -Although, not completely satisfied with these iterations, I believe these were my best to date. They were structurally sound while not having a base, something I had strived so hard for.

Secondly, I finally had shown a glimpse of abstract work (I believed). The produced work strayed slightly away from the literal and began to take some unfamiliar shape.

With all that being said, there were some aspects to this iteration that seemed familiar: the “ladder”, the “stairs”, and the “ramp” (came up through feedback). I am still having trouble trying to capture the unfamiliar.

This iteration was the first time I had used basswood, a material that I was waiting to get my hands on, but the material wasn’t as ideal as predicted. I had seen many other students successfully manipulate this material but I ran into some beginner issues. It was tougher to bend without breaking than expected but with the many different lengths and widths this material comes in, the possibilities with basswood are somewhat promising.

ITERATION 5

• successfully created skeletal structure• scale• addition by subtraction

• structural integrity • durability of joints• contrast in material

+ -This was a frustrating iteration. Although I was working off the previous iteration, which left my somewhat satisfied, the complexity and attention to detail with this iteration was tough. It required me to be extremely gentle and cautious during construction.

I was fairly pleased with the final outcome based solely on the assignment itself but I know I still have to get away from the overwhelming familiarity of my product.

site responses:

OAKLAND OAKLAND MUSEUM OF MUSEUM OF CALIFORNIACALIFORNIACody Vantrease

WHY?

FACTS & NUMBERS• Formally the Oakland Museum;

AKA OCMA• Architect: Kevin Roche • Landscape Designer: Dan Kiley • Gardens: Geraldine Knight Scott• Collections: Art, History, Natural

Sciences• Renovators: Mark Cavagnero

Associates

• Opened 1969• Sits on 7.7 acres• 300,000 sq ft• 62$ million renovation in

2010• 1.8 million objects

TTRRAANNSSFFOORRMMAATTIIOONN• potentially dismissive from those unbeknownst at the human level• over-integration of the natural

SITE DESIGN STRATEGIES

• complement natural surroundings• signify design from multiple distances• intersect forms: natural + synthetic• creates landmark

• hierarchy: creates, promotes, evokes responses

• emphasizes contrast• parts to whole

SITE DESIGN STRATEGIES

SITE DESIGNSTRATEGIES

• bring outside, inside• intersect forms

• use of natural light• sense of weight