The Sketch Book

The Sketch Book was a gift that Rafael gave our class so that we could sketch during class but it was mostly intended to sketch when we would go to fieldtrips. In every field trip we had to sketch at least 5 buildings but we never got to visit all the buildings and the times we did we would get back to school late.

            I enjoyed sketching a lot because it was a way for me to interpret what it was that I saw and how it is that I saw it. Sketching made me feel free and made me feel like I was transparent because I would sketch what I would be looking at and everything that was around me would be invisible. I think this is so because when one is concentrating they need peace and my peace was making me transparent.

            We had a lot of competitions about who would have the best drawings and Kidus would always have the best drawings but there were others that were great as well. The competitions were to recognize the one who envisioned with detail the building.

            Overall, I think that the sketchbook was really the hit for this semester because we didn’t have the sketchbook last semester and this semester was great to have it and to be sketching all the time. Sketching in an architecture class made the class feel more like an architecture class because aside from the teacher having teaching us about architecture, we, ourselves would teach by sketching about everything we have learned and applied it to the building we would sketch.

Thanks Rafael for the Sketch Books! 

Pavilion of the Future

The idea began after the prompt was read, Pavilion of the Future. For the future we envision flight, symmetry, geometry and environmental awareness. There were guidelines we had to follow, a budget of $15,000 and we had limited resources. We had to keep in mind the materials we used and the cycle of the materials. In the end, the material had to be reusable.

Materials used:

Orange and Blue triangles: painted copper sheets

Platform, base, poles, and stairs: wood

Plastic windows: recycled plastic

How we plan to reuse them:

Copper could be turned into pennies after the pavilion. The wood could be made into recycled paper. Then the recycled plastic, would be re-used for other purposes.

The Idea:

It began with the future is flight. We first designed something to look like a flying bird then, evolved it up to fish scales. Reason being was, we were thinking about islands. Islands lead to fishes with its surrounding water. Then we thought about the whole environmental awareness. Everyone started giving ideas out, taking in mind all the uses. Looking through past winners, we started thinking smaller.

At first a few poles here and there, a tent cover, a few windows. Then it went back to the ideas of the wings. Raising the wings so they’d “float” in the air, was a definite. We then started working on the central pole and how it would be too much pressure and weight on it. Adding, the bases so that the pole could evenly spread the weight throughout it, was included. After thinking about it, we decided to cover the base with a raised platform. Then we thought What if we make it move? Flexibility. We felt that flexibility played a big role in the future.  To top it off, people need privacy, so we added curtains that could open and close to manage lighting.

Field trip to SF

The fieldtrip that we went to yesterday was old. The fieldtrip was old because we visited a lot of buildings that were built in the 30’s. The first building that we went to first was called “Building 1” and it’s a semicircle, white, parking lot in the front and almost empty from the inside except for a huge mural that is in the wall of the inside building.

The second building we visited was the SF Art Institute that was really, really old. The setting that was in was perfect for the functionality of the building because the setting is really quiet and when one is creating art they need to be in a peaceful place to be able to concentrate.

The third building that we visited was very unique because it was set in background where it was like a forest and since the building was white and was open because it was meant to feel welcoming. I agree that all the transparency that it had made the building welcoming because it was open.

The fieldtrip overall was very inspiring, due to the context and history of the buildings that we visited.

Book Presentation: Vaults

Vaults are a continuous series of arches deep enough to cover a 3-dimensional space. Vaults started to be constructed in Egypt and the Middle East and the oldest example found has been constructed in 1250B.C, in Egypt called Thebes. Some of the materials that they used to construct these vaults were bricks, clay, and mortar. The first innovation of vaults was the Groin vault, which was the result of two semicircular vaults of the same diameter that was developed by Romans and whom the Islam people, advanced more of. The way that these particular types of vaults got the name that they do was because the lines that they develop are elliptical lines, which means groins. Piers instead of walls support vaults.

After the Romans came the people from the Medieval European world that advanced more the vaults and they created the “rib vault” which is a skeleton of arches. Some of the most recognized examples of buildings today that have the most outstanding vaults are the Lincoln Cathedral and St.Hugh’s Choir aka “Crazy Vault”.

Romanesque Haiku

Arches that are round
But that only go half way
made Romanesque Arch.




I made this haiku the way it is because what made Romanesque Architecture were their half way arches that they placed in their giant buildings. These arches made the building look very stable and very sculptural because their size was very big and there would be different types of carving which could have made the arches look sculptural.

Field trip to Downtown Redwood City and Burlingame

          From all the buildings that we visited, there were only a few that catched my attention. The first one that we visited was the Museum in Downtown which we had to sketch and this one catched my attention due to the symmetry that it had and the material that it was made out of which to me looked like stone. It looked like if the building was carved like the ancient Romans and Egyptians carved their stone buildings. That was the only building in which I put an effort to make a really good sketch because it was very interesting to me.
          Another building that was really interesting to me was the Fox Theater that was also located in Downtown. This building also caught my attention because of all the details that it had. The shapes that it had, the stained glass that surrounded the shape, the magnificent tallness of the building, and the functionality of the building fit perfect to its shape and decoration. Even though this building was one that really interested me I couldn't draw it because of the many detail that it had made it difficult for me to draw.
           The other buildings weren't as interesting to me as the first two and I believe so because I saw them being simple and the colors and structure boring. One other building that drew my attention was the inside of the church in Burlingame, the thing that was in the center of the front wall of the church. It was stained glass with many figures that if you looked closely you could see the crosses going around the center circle whom Jesus was there. Other than these three buildings whom were very astonishing to me the field trip went really well and I enjoyed it very much.

Chinese Architecture Haiku

Symmetrical art
made mostly out of wood material
Chinese architecture

I chose to make this haiku about Chinese architecture because all of the buildings that Rafael has showed us about buildings in China used wood material, stone and brick but for most of the part they used wood; which is why int he second line I said that most of their architecture is made out of wood material. Then I said that their architecture is symmetrical and they all are. All the side of the buildings are identical like buildings in the Forbidden City. They chose to make buildings be symmetrical because they feel that that brings harmony to them. These two qualities in their architecture defines their   Chinese

architecture.