Program Brief

Function

     The structure constructs various sizes of spaces for yoga related exercises. Each area of space served to the exerciser(s) permits them to use it to rest, exercise, or even hold classes. It is open to the general public.

Dimensions

Small ~ 11’ x 10’ x 3.5’ [1 – 2 Persons]

        Floor Space ~ 110sq.ft.

Medium ~ 15’ x 20’ x 3.5’ [3 – 6 Persons]

        Floor Space ~ 300sq.ft.

Large ~ 25’ x 30’ x 3.5’ [7 - 15 Persons]

        Floor Space ~ 750sq.ft.

Spatial Characteristics

    Given three different types of areas of space on the structure, each space is provided for different preferences.

·         The small areas are more personal and intimate and thus are only for 1 – 2 people.

·         The medium space is for a small group of people (around 3 – 5 persons) who are looking to be in a larger space that stills gives off an intimate feel amongst the group.

·         The large space is for those who likes to be around people or is a part of a class.

     The reason why this structure is not enclosed is because of the purpose of yoga. To yogis, being able to relax and enjoy nature is part of the exercise. It is about meditation and being close to nature. Thus, by not enclosing the structure, the structure is making the most use out nature, especially the sun. The structure’s main source of light is the sun.

·         Light is provided mostly to outermost parts of the structure. These areas of the structure serve to those who are looking to sunbathe or sweat even more while exercising.

·         The shadier areas are for those who do not wish to stay in the sun and to stay cool.

     While the areas constructed by the structure are for yoga, which is all about oneself, the interactive spaces are the walkways and the large area below the structure. It is in those spaces, where people communicate with each other.

    

Circulation

     Climbing the walls of the structure and/or walking on walkways on the structure.

Light Conditions

     During the day, the structure is naturally lighted by sunlight. Direct sunlight is provided to the outer edges of the structure and if yogis are searching for cooler areas, the outer areas of the structure and neighboring townhouses provides shade to the inner spaces of the structure. As the day gets darker, public light is provided.

Thresholds

Thresholds: any place or point of beginning

Design: 

            Using the definition I have chosen, thresholds are found at the beginning of each new change in the solid model. 
Activity:

Invisible Cities: Cities & Desires

Anastasia:

Praise - Compliment, Accolade, Kudos, Motivation, Excite

            Syn: Approval            Ant: Denunciation 

Desire - Want, Lust, Dream, Yearn, Sin

            Syn: Crave                 Ant: Disinterest

Force - Push, Pull, Inferior, Dominance, Obligated 

            Syn: Pressure             Ant: Peace

Awaken - Open, Realize, Know, Enlightened, Revive

            Syn: Activate              Ant: Lull

Disrobe - Undress, Naked, Bare, Exposed, Show

            Syn: Remove             Ant: Cover

Invite - Come, Manners, Bring, Insist, Lead

            Syn: Request             Ant: Repel

Content - Happy, Satisfied, Adjustable, Fine, Bearable

            Syn: Comfortable      Ant: Content

Stifle - Suffocate, Restrain, Constrain, Confine, Tight

            Syn: Smother            Ant: Free

Whole - One, Together, Glued, Part of, Include

           Syn: Total                  Ant:Partial

Lost - Confusion, Questions, Unknown, Puzzled, 

           Syn: Absent               Ant: Existent

Slave - Bound, Merciless, Unjustified, Baseless, Lifeless

           Syn: Captive              Ant: Master

Design Journal IV - IN PROCESS

The work that I have prepared for Monday, February 24, 2014, is based off of the body analysis I have done, which is a series of movements with the goal of sitting/laying down. For my series of movement, I decided to do a pose known as the "pigeon pose". This pose is often done in yoga. When I was doing my analytic drawing, I was most compelled by my spinal movement and the angles created by my legs. I incorporated the two ideas into my 3-D model. The purpose of the 3-D model is to create voids and solids based off of an analytic drawing and to analyze the thresholds created. The steps I took in doing so are as followed:

1. Taking two analytic drawings from my "pigeon pose" (one of the spine and left leg, which does not move from it's spot all throughout but does move and shape dependent on the right leg, and the other of the spine and right leg) , I had the spinal movements facing each other from both sides of the cuboid and extended the lines to create an angle in which each frame of spinal movement creates. As you can see, it creates a diamond like shape with levels in between, but upon extruding this into the cuboid, a part of it is cut off.
2. Separating each frame in the series of body movements, I took each one and placed them in the corresponding level of angles. The spine is aligned flat on where the angle is formed. The leg lines are then extended to the edge of the cuboid and then extruded downwards until it's hits the next angle level. This is done all throughout. From the top, you can see the angles my legs form and how they move through each level.
3. The voids that I chose to cut out are the openings created my legs. Otherwise, everything else is solid.

From this model, some of the most intriguing moments are the thresholds (voids/ openings) created by my legs. They vary in size and in some levels we can see through the model, while in others we can see the defined lines of the solid behind the threshold.  Another moment is the levels created by the spine. The spacings created by the levels are not uniform and in accordance to spinal movement it shows time and angles.

Design Journal III

(Assignment 2.3) Using the most compelling component of "Merging Crosses", the X cross, I elevated it to several degrees creating a cup like structure to hold water. To top it off, I extruded the parallelograms in "Parallel Connections" to intrude the voided space. This, along with the neighboring buildings and "Merging Crosses", the structure itself becomes a mold.

Design Journal II

Assignment (2.1) Having captured a series of body movements provided by my partner and I, we decided to use analytic drawings to represent our bodies. From the front elevation, I drew lines to represent different parts of the body. The first analytic drawings displays lines of the spine, shoulders, arms, pelvises, and legs. The next drawing is of the spines, and the third is of our forearms. By drawing these lines, I am showing the differences between body movements of how one walks and how one climbs on the stairs.

(Assignment 2.2) From my synthetic axon, which is composed  of the townhouse elevation and one of my synthetic sketches, I extracted components that I found interesting. For my first hand drawing, I decided to extract planes that is sheared and is vessel-like. They remind me of pipes that can hold water, and thus I decided to extract these lines. My second hand drawing consists of planes that touch from the townhouse facade to the synthetic drawing. It also eliminates noise from my axon drawing to show more clarity.  

Design Journal I

Bounded Essentials

Boundary is set up to highlight the common essentials of a home: the roof, windows, and doors. Not to be repetitive, I only accentuated them once each.

Framed Verticals and Horizontals

Crossed Windows

Intersected Turns

Merging Crosses

Parallel Connections

Each horizontal and vertical line are extended in framing the common essentials. The darkest lines are the outermost lines framed and the lightest are the innermost lines of each window, roof, and door.






Diagonals that are highlighted are and extended to the outermost boundary. The parts of the lines that are within the boundaries of the first layer are darkened while those outside are lighter to demonstrate difference.







Each line is made up of three intersections and perpendicular to each line is another line.











Extracting parallel frames , wherever they intersect, they merge.











Similar to the previous step, a few parallel lines are extracted and intersected to create parallelograms. On the free edge of these parallelograms, lines are drawn to connect with the nearest free edge in a similar direction.







From this set of synthetic drawings, I noted that even though I used a simple rule of extracting lines and making the next line turn for "Intersected Turns", it created a more complex pattern than a more simple looking but with a more complex ruling "Merging Crosses" and "Parallel Connections"; which is quite interesting. It demonstrates that complex products are not always of complex thinking, and that the simplest things may have more than that meets the eye. Moreover, in "Intersected Turns", there is a noticeably dense area on the bottom left corner. This drawing has much more information than that of the other two. It shows which part of the townhouses has more details and which part has little details.

Cat's Cradle

In what way does cat's cradle create "a little place" as Sandback describes? Consider notions of space and place defined by de Certeau in "Spatial Stories."

When playing with cat's cradle, one is creating different geometries that allows the next person to reconfigure new ones. These geometries set a place in space. According to de Certeau, space is conceptual, whereas place is set and of stability. From playing cat's cradle, the string that creates these geometries sets a place for the player to ponder on and decide the next move. Each new configuration of the string is set for the other player to think over, and it does not change unless the other player touches it. By referring cat's cradle as "a little place", one can think of it as a place for our hands and minds to handle.

Experiment: Learn how to play cat's cradle if you don't already know. Practice playing cat's cradle in different environments and document the events in photographs or video. Post to your blog and explain--in a single sentence--the way that this small action involving string produces space (or in Sandback's terms, "a little place"). In what way does the site become part of the game? How does the game interact with a particular site, and a particular moment?

The string produces "a little place" by constantly creating new geometries that insists another player to reconfigure into a new site of geometries.

Experiment: In Sandback's "Remarks on my sculpture" he says that "Having these seven huge rooms to work in was a small revelation, in that I was able for the first time to see how these pieces acted together and to work with them simultaneously."  Experiment with using yarn to explore and analyze the circulation of space and the relationship in and between rooms--Run a continuous loop of yarn through the space of the room and notice how it must behave to link the spaces together. Run yarn between rooms to see how they relate--their flow, interruptions, shapes of movement.

How does "play" function in Sandback's approach to his work and materials? Was play an element of your Sandback assignment? How does play function in your own design practices?

In Sandback’s approach to his work and materials, “play” was an  important factor. He commonly uses string, one of the most manipulative materials out there. String is extremely flexible and takes little to no space, but at the same time, it can create a large amount of space by creating works that looks like it takes up space. Sometimes to do that, one needs to play with it to see how it can take up all that space, and to see what they can do with all the materials. Like my design practices, I had to play with the string to see how much space it can take up and see what it can form. I played with the string to see how people can experience the work.

String Action

The Making:

High                                         Entwine

Low                                          Cross

Expand                                     Spacious

Interior                                     Restricting

Exterior                                    Advantage

         We wanted to take advantage of the entire room by pinning and stretching the yarn across the room, repeatedly. This helps create an experience for people with their entire body. Instead of walking around the work, one needs to go through a series of body motions to get across the room. We also took advantage of the pin up wall outside our room. We expanded the experience to the adjacent space outside the room. By doing this, it shows that a work does not have to be limited within a room, it can be augmented. We created a space not only with the physical boundaries (walls) that were already there, but with the strings.

The Moving:

Bending                                    Dancing

Lifting                                      Entrancing 

Ducking                                    Exiting

Avoiding                                   Stretching

Limbo                                       Turning

         Sandback's arts has taught me that when done properly, space can be manipulated. Sandback uses string as his instrument, and although it occupies little to no space it creates an illusion of occupied space. This idea led my group to string yarn across and outside of the room to manipulate one's experience and space. The strings tell people not to touch and as a result, to cross the room and out, one goes through a series of movement such as, stretching, turning, avoiding, bending and lifting.