knowing + community

the courage to teach

quote] "knowing is how we make community with the unavailable other, with realities that would elude us without the connective tissue of knowledge. knowing is a human way to seek relationship and, in the process, to have encounters and exchanges that will inevitability alter us. at it's deepest reaches, knowing is always communal." pg 54

thought] that we need people, we need them so that we may understand ourselves, but we also need them to teach us new things about the world in which they live in. however, people need you, because you provide a different understanding of the world that you live in. community is necessary in order to gain knowledge.

leaves as identity

there are so many trees that grow in north carolina, but most of the leaves have similar shapes with a similar vein structure. but there are many that are different too. different leaves of trees have inspired me to create a texture | pattern on each locker of a student. both the sketch and models show how the front of the lockers would look as an individual as well as a whole grouping of lockers.

tree rings as art wall element

the encore hallway is currently stark, so i would like to add a wall element that resembles the rings of a tree, when you cut the trunk. the wall will be composed of slats so that artwork or current events could be hung at different heights. i also imagine having a similar system at the classroom entrances so that teachers could hang special announcements.

dis-member + re-member

these sketches portray the use of tactile wayfinding + signage + a horizontal locker system + possibly a slat system at the classroom entrance to hang artwork or updates.

circles are the foundation of branching

tactile lockers + large graphics

some inspiration before I dive into designing the circulation spaces for the northern guilford middle school and the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade areas. my goal is to allow the circulation to act as a feeder to the classrooms and offices so that it can rejuvenate the students and teachers. i think that this will help with school spirit and encourage students to be active within their community.

the phenomenology of round + re-membering

the powers of 10- charles and ray eames

the poetics of space-gaston bachelard

"sometimes we find ourselves in the presence of a form that guides and encloses our earliest dreams. for a painter, a tree is composed in roundness. but a poet continues the dream from higher up." 239

+

the courage to teach-parker j. palmer

"remembering ourselves and our power can lead to revolution, but it requires more than recalling a few facts. Re-membering involves putting ourselves back together, recovering identity and integrity, reclaiming the wholeness of our lives. when we forget who we are we do not merely drop some data. we Dis-member ourselves, with unhappy consequences for our politics, our work, our hearts." 20

thought] our world is composed of infinite circular objects from the tiniest of seeds to our galaxy. maybe it's in the stars, but maybe our lives should be round. in order to grow and find our identity and integrity we need to define what makes us whole, thus round.

the dialects of outside + inside

quote 1] " but what a spiral man's being represents! and what a number of inevitable dynamisms there are in this spiral! one no longer knows right away whether one is running toward the center or escaping." pg 214

quote 2] "thus the spiraled being who, from outside, appears to be a well-invested center, will never reach his own center. the being of man in an unsettled being which all expression unsettles." pg 214

quote 3] "sometimes, it is in being outside itself that being tests consistencies." 215

quote 4] "the intimacy of the room becomes our intimacy." pg 226

thought] although there are classifications--urban planner, architect, interior designer, product designer, there will always be an outside and inside and who is to say where the line is drawn. spaces overlap and become other spaces; pivotal spaces, so maybe that is when collaboration is absolutely necessary in order to design a space cohesively either exterior or interior.

great firms in atlanta

the atlanta trip was great. i really enjoyed the opportunity to see what firms are doing and their capabilities. i do believe that i can influence the architecture! yay! the herman miller showroom was absolutely wonderful, what a great space that was--with great furniture too! i'd like to see more of lord, aeck and sargent especially in their high ed department and hok was great, but not for me. i also enjoyed knoll, especially the furniture and the history of each piece, but the space wasn't nearly as exciting as herman miller. then it was tvs designs which has a beautiful office and finally perkins + will, whom had a very approachable team. all in all the firms and showrooms were great, but i wish atlanta's downtown was livelier and less urban sprawl. but i was happy to see atlanta in the snow...how magnificent!

intimate immensity

quote 1] "peaceful moments we are...sensitive inhabitants of the forest ourselves." pg 187

quote 2] "prey of great projects, oppressed by vast thoughts." pg 191

thought] we so often think of the future and create these immense schemes and they overwhelm us and take control of our present.

miniature

quote 1] "all solitary dreamers know that they hear differently when they close their eyes...relaxation will come when the eyes are reopened." pg 181

quote 2] "if a poet looks through a microscope or a telescope, he always see the same thing." pg 172

quote 3] "the tick tock of our watches is so mechanically jerky that we no longer have ears subtle enough to hear the passage of time." pg 167

thought] detail in the smallest of things is just as important as big things, almost even more extraordinary. take care when designing small things--they matter too.

corners

quote] "the corner is sort of a half box, part walls, part door...an illustration for inside and outside." pg 137

thought] corners shouldn't be forgotten but celebrated, they can in fact be magnificent.

shells

quote] " a turtles shell is a turtles house--mobile"
thought] i wish i could be a turtle because i could go ANYWHERE how fun!


quote 1] "we want to see and yet we are afraid to see." pg 110

quote 2] "all we need to ask ourselves how, in the case of certain naive daydreams, the simplest images can nurture a tradition."

quote 3] "let us return to images that seem closer to reality. yet i wonder if an image of the imagination is ever close to reality."

nests + the builder

"the enterprise and skill w which animals make their nests is so efficient that it is not possible to do better, so entirely do they surpass all masons, carpenters and builders; for there is not a man who would be able to make a house better suited to himself and to his children than these little animals build for themselves." pg 92 of poetics of space

this quote interests me because maybe humans who have evolved over millions of years have lost touch to their natural instincts and ability to build a quality home. so yes the most primitive of creatures may not be able to produce extravagant toys, but they can still build a home that is perfect for him and his family.

maybe we should go back to our roots and reflect on what has and hasn't been successful instead of assuming and building something that doesn't address the inhabitants needs.