Concept Development

The project that I am currently working on is an adaptive reuse design for the Northern Pacific Railroad Depot in Pullman, Washington. During my site visit, I continuously found myself being drawn to this bench, located near the southeast end of the depot. 

I was struck by the contrasting nature of the bench and its surroundings, and the interaction of those contrasting elements. The arms and sides of the bench are composed primarily of curving organic shapes, while the brick wall behind it displays strict geometry, creating a conflict between their lines. Furthermore, I really liked the contrast in the nature of these two objects: the bench provides a resting space while the train depot is a chaotic traveling hub.  

The contrasting line types and the idea of pausing were both translated into a two-dimensional parti. It incorporates the bold, horizontal lines of the brick wall's mortar, the organic curves of the bench, and the feeling of an exhale, which is communicated through the curved shape and the use of airy and relaxing blues.

This parti design was then transformed into a textile pattern. Again, the horizontal lines are a prominent feature, and are intersected by organic forms. The field color is a pale, relaxing blue, while the organic shapes are earthier red and brown tones. 

Finally, my inspiration took on a three-dimensional form through the use of basswood, 16g wire, and bristol board. This model explores the interaction between the organic and geometric shapes, as the wire weaves in and out and around the basswood. The element of contrast was brought into the model through the materiality, as the man-made wire forms the organic shapes and the basswood signifies the geometric lines. 

Habitat For Humanity

In this project, I worked with a team of two others to design a home in the Tiempo Commons neighborhood of Moscow, ID for the Palouse Habitat for Humanity. We were challenged to create a two story house with about 640 square feet on each floor--a tight space for the expected 4 bedrooms. Another expectation of this project was that the final design would fit in with the common aesthetics of the houses in the area.

This project required several reworkings of our floor plans and elevation due to space constraints. I myself worked very hard on this project and did most of the work, particularly that involving the final floor plans and elevation.
The project served as a wonderful opportunity to learn just what can be done in a week, as well as what can be done with spaces as small as this. In working with Habitat for Humanity, I also learned about what makes a house cost-effective, including using modules of 2', 4', and 8', as well as stacking bathrooms and sharing water walls to reduce piping used.

Graphic Reflection: A Semester of Growth

Throughout the course of Interior Design 205, perspective drawings played a major role. Although I started with a strong knowledge of how perspectives worked and how to draw them, my understanding was on a more artistic level, in which more guesswork was involved. With the first project, I was introduced to the idea of creating a grid to build a more accurate perspective drawing. Fortunately, my existing knowledge of perspectives assisted me while learning this new technique.

Since the first project, I have become more familiar with the process of making a perspective grid, and as a result, can draw one more accurately and within a shorter amount of time. My ability to do this quickly has definitely been a strength of mine throughout the class, as it leaves me with more time to focus on the quality of the drawing itself.

In this course, I have also learned how to render drawings. My artistic background was once again proven helpful, as I was able to identify how and where colors needed to be applied to achieve the desired effect. Working with the Chartpak markers, however, was completely new and a bit of a challenge, and I still struggle with some effects of the markers, such as bleeding edges.

My sketching abilities have also improved over this semester. I am able to draw a free-handed straight line with ease, and have developed a quick, loose style for field sketching. One difficulty that I encountered frequently was my tendency to shade in my dark values right away, as opposed to building them as I worked.

Overall, I would say that this semester, I learned a lot about my own style and abilities in visual expression—whether it’s a simple couch or an in-depth perspective of a room.  Perhaps even more importantly, I have developed techniques that will carry me through this major and this field. 

Habitat For Humanity

On September 9th, myself and a handful of classmates spent the day volunteering for Habitat for Humanity at the Albion site. At the time of our visit, only the foundation had been constructed, and that had been done only a few days prior. Our day at the site was spent putting in drain tile. This involved moving a LOT of gravel. (Several tons, in fact.) Throughout the course of the day, most of my time was spent in the ditch surrounding the foundation directing gravel pouring and evening it out. 

The physical labor was actually somewhat enjoyable for me, as I hadn't done any "heavy lifting" so to speak since my summer job. While the progress that we made wasn't so readily evident like putting framing up would be, we certainly accomplished a lot throughout the day. 

When I was much younger, a housing development was constructed up the hill from my neighborhood. Since it was so close, my dad would often take me up to see the houses being built. Usually when we went, the framing had already been put up, so I had never really seen what really goes into a foundation. It was really interesting to be able to see and participate in the construction of a house before the walls go up.

Overall, this project was both enjoyable and rewarding, and it has made me consider volunteering for Spokane's Habitat for Humanity over the coming summer.

Sketch Crawl at the Armory

My sketches done during the Saturday morning sketch crawl exhibit a strong capability for loose, free-handed rendering of plants. Unfortunately, they do not have color in them, as I only had watercolors with them, and watercolors cause the Flair pen to bleed. For other field sketches such as this, I would be sure to bring my colored pencils or basic rendering markers for color application. I think that my first sketch is much better than the second one, and a lot of this has to do with spending more time on the first. I was also drawing from a very difficult angle in the second sketch, especially for the subject matter—the Space Needle at Seattle Center.

Starbucks Job Shadow

I had the wonderful opportunity to do my job shadow with Anna Ratkoviak, one of the interior designers for Starbucks. In the few hours that I was able to spend touring and observing the interior design department at the headquarters, I feel like I learned several new design process techniques, especially for the inspiration and brainstorming portion. Perhaps the most helpful of these is the use of an inspiration board, which can include such a multitude of images, colors, and objects. I've actually started one of these for one of my other design projects which is centered around designing a residential space.
Prior to this job shadow, I was pretty adamant about my desire to do residential design. Seeing all of the thought and regional personality that Starbucks puts into the designs of their stores, however, makes me start to think twice. While Starbucks is very much a commercial company, the design of their stores is soft commercial at most. They successfully create a third space—something that I think is very important.
I would say that overall, this job shadow will affect my design work because it has provided me with insight to the creative process of design professionals.

Frye Art Museum Visit

The entry to the Frye Art Museum begins while still outside, and the sense of being enclosed increases as one ascends the ramp. The small foyer area has several tall windows which allow lots of light into the space, maintaining its connection to the outside. From there, the natural lighting and the connection to the outdoors is dependent on the art exhibit—if it’s too light-sensitive, any source of daylight is blocked off completely.
When I visited the museum, light was allowed to enter the building. This created patches of natural light flooding from the ceiling and highlighting the stark white walls and light hardwood floors. The interior form was very interesting, acting somewhat like a maze as one’s path weaves through rooms. Some pieces blocked off passageways that would otherwise be usable, which was somewhat frustrating to navigate, as there was really one path to take.