Table of Contents1. Doghouse

2. Doghouse Renovation

3. Crazy Cube Configuration

4. Rapid Visualization

5. Floor Pattern Study

6. Michelangelo’s Campidoglio Plaza

7. Malevich Extrusions 1 and 2

8. A Poet’s Wall

9. Airplanes

10. Rotation Practice

11. Folded Planes Pavilion

12. Geometric City-scape

13. Sandbox with Drape and Building

14. Playing with Sandbox!

15. Apartment Plan with Furniture Design

16. Apartment Renovation

17. Final: Cabin with Furniture and Landscape

Doghouse

Top: PlanBottom: Front Elevation

Left Elevation Right Elevation

Design: - Nontraditional design- House is all wood, with a surrounding

deck area for leisure or playing- Inside goes from an area with a lower

ceiling and graduates to a high ceiling

- Ceiling height is reflected on the exterior

- Roof is meant as usable space- Deck wraps the house and slopes up- Multiple ramps on the roof leading to

a balcony area to overlook the yard

Strengths and Challenges:- Movement that encourages

exploration and play- Using the roof as another level and

area to inhabit was a good choice- Next improvement, I need to add

more practical aspects- I can explore adding landscape

details, importing models from the 3D Warehouse

- Some troubleshooting to find a network of ramps that worked practically as well as gave the aesthetic appeal I desired

Doghouse Renovation

In my second design, I have added a guard rail around the ramp to add more safety, but also to accent the ramp as an important part of the design concept. I lowered the floor of the house and set the house on a raised deck. The dog then has a ramp to lead up to ground level, and then more that raise him to the rooftop balcony.

Crazy Cube Configuration

1. Plan2. Perspective Plan3. Elevation

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Reflections and Strengths:•Successfully created a cube from a flat square and transformed it into a component. •This cube was copied multiple times in order to create a field of cubes. •The human figure and shadows help to give a sense of scale.

Challenges:In general, I need to practice and play with Sketchup more in order to become more comfortable with the commands.•The different camera views and ability to create jpeg images is extremely useful, as long as I remember to take thoughtful photos that convey the original

Below, you can see an isometric view of the cube configuration. I included shadows to show depth and it helps to make a somewhat ordinary scene more dynamic. The human figures are included as well to give a sense of scale. They are barely visible on this model, because of the sheer size – but that is helpful in itself. In a hypothetical second iteration, I would be interested in changing the amount of cubes and playing with materiality. The lessened amount of models will be balanced by the interest of the material added. If it was the same amount of cubes, it would be a sensory overload.

Rapid Visualization

This practice helps to develop quick sketching skills, a deep understanding of basic shapes and forms, and helps with creating multiple iterations and options within a short span of time. Having the ability to sketch quickly helps creativity to flow and develop. The exercises help with muscle memory, seeing what works and what needs to be changed. The shapes and forms then become more of a habit, making sketching easier and faster. It becomes easier to work out problems fast and explore more opportunities in your sketchbook, before introducing the digital aspect.

To help get more familiar with RV, I drew horizontal lines, vertical lines and then filled in the grid with circles. Another exercise was to draw two dots and connect them - to become quick with making precise lines.For more RV practice, I drew an array of floating cubes in space. This helps to visualize how the faces change shape and size as they go back into space. An expansion on this exercise is to only draw the faces of certain cubes, without the full cube to use as a guideline.

Floor Pattern Study

Designing Floor Patterns:I used rapid visualization to quickly go through many different iterations, trying different vertical/ horizontal and radial patterns. I played with borders, geometric patterns, and solids versus pure lines. The SketchUp practice was based off of the designs that I liked and also incorporated more playing with the patterns. The patterns are made from lines, arrays of geometric shapes, and then colored or tiled in different ways.  

Michelangelo’s Campidoglio Plaza

Design Process:I recreated the Campidoglio Plaza designed by Michelangelo. As each step progressed, I copied and moved the model to show my process. The star pattern was created using multiple arrays and rotation. Offsetting the lines made it possible to give line thickness and a more bold pattern.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitoline_Hill

Malevich Extrusions 1 and 2

For this assignment, I took a 2D image (shown above) and extruded them into “built architecture” using Sketchup. I imagined that the 2D image was a plan view of the building or space and built my structures using this framework. My first iteration was an exploration into height – if this image was a plan of a skyscraper, what would that look like? I explored varied levels and layers. I chose to see what options presented themselves with the offset tool specifically. I used many different options and commands, but I liked the idea that as the building grew, it decreased in size exponentially. This added an interesting exterior and would be interesting to see in section view as well.

For my second iteration, I continued with the idea that the 2D image was a plan view – this time of an outdoor play space or park. There are places to linger, to sit, and many places to play or run around. I chose to use bright coloring and create geometric patterns to make it site specific. Colors and patterns stimulate a child’s brain so I chose to follow this path and make it as kid-friendly as possible. I imagine the structures being repainted every few years by local artists, or even by the children themselves, to keep this park colorful and dynamic for many years.

A Poet’s Wall

Process: Rapid visualization helped a lot in this process, as I was able to quickly sketch out ideas and look at different options. I then brought the ideas to life through SketchUp modeling. I was looking at differing thicknesses, openings, geometries, etc and playing with materiality as well.

Reflection: This is an ongoing process – with endless opportunity to explore and create thousands of variations.

Airplanes

The rotation tool was the main focus of this assignment, as I learned how to fold and rotate a simple plane into a more complex shape. By repeated practice, I was able to learn different aspects of the rotate tool – how to lock into a certain axis, how to fold on a specific line, etc. After creating the original model, I copied it to make a squadron of planes. This particular tool proved exceptionally difficult to master, but through video tutorials, online research, the SketchUp guide, and even help from classmates, I was able to create the desired model. So far, this has been the hardest tool to utilize, but with more practice I am confident I can get better with it and that it will be very beneficial in the future.

Rotation PracticeThis model was created to show how taking a simple wall and

manipulating and rotating it, a whole space and landscape can develop. I started with one square, offset the outer lines,

copied and pasted it to make a symmetrical wall pattern. Through using the push/pull tool I gave the wall a thickness

and depth. I used this to make interesting spaces that rotated and manipulated the original wall. I decided to design three separate levels, with varying levels of enclosure, height, and

square footage. The higher a person goes, the more “deconstructed” the levels get. The wall height starts to vary,

as if pieces have broken off or been carved away. In another iteration, I would explore flipping the wall to make a

roof for the structure. This would add another element of design and more complexity to my model.

Geometric City-scape

-Geometric pattern produced through multiplying arrays, rotation, etc-Paint bucket gives materiality-Stayed with earth tones (wood, water, translucent, etc)-Push/pull tool used to create 3-Dimensional quality-Created an abstracted city-scape scene

Sandbox with Drape and Building

I started this model with a grid that I transformed with the Sandbox tool, creating my own landscape. Adding color and landscape details helped to build a more realistic world. I created a small lake area, several groves of trees, and a building atop a hill. Using the drape tool, I was able to make a leading path through the hills up to the building. In future models, I would develop the landscape further – even trying different seasons or places of the world to model.

Playing with Sandbox!

Apartment Plan with Furniture DesignsProcess:-measured my apartment floor plan and created a RV sketch-created some sketches and then measured details of my main furniture and fixtures-modeled according to the measurements-chose material as close to the original as possible

Strengths: -overall, is very accurate- even the many furniture pieces-showed me the many possibilities of Sketchup-challenged me to build a structure bigger than I thought I could

Challenges or Difficulties:-some more sketching in the beginning phase would have lessened the amount of times I had to re-check an item

*The second iteration was a model of a planned renovation – the addition of a wood plank accent wall in the living room area.

Above: PlanBelow: Perspective Plan

Apartment Plan with Furniture Designs

Furniture List Created:-Countertop with sink built-in-Coffee table-Bed-Dining table-Refrigerator-Wine fridge-TV-Wooden crates-Desk-Couch-Shower-Bathroom sink

Apartment Renovation

There are several apartment renovation ideas/options that I am recently exploring. I chose to explore these further

through SketchUp modeling.

Final: Cabin with Furniture and Landscape

In-Progress photos

Site/Roof Plan (Left); Detail of Exterior through main window (Right)

Plan of 2nd Level Plan of Lower Level

-Wooden exterior with industrial metal accents-Large windows that flood house with light and overlook landscape-Designed stairs and built-in shelving unit-Custom designed minimalist, streamlined bathroom-Accent wall with wood paneling-Kitchen island with bar counter and stove -Outside deck for leisure and views-House situated on columns because of flood plane

Details

Front Elevation

Left Elevation Right Elevation

Back Elevation

Sections:

I took strategic cuts through my building to get certain aspects of my design to show in greater detail. The different sections show a wide variety of the work that I put into small details and overall design.