first pin-up of semester

The results after less than 3 weeks of studio....

This project involved drawing (1:1 drawings of texture, light conditions and topography), modeling (collage, 2-D and 3-D cardboard and paper models) and diagramming the seams between pairs of fields (black paper/tree bark, and then ground/ground, sky/ground) and then inserting a program into the "site" (what we ended up with after blowing up a 24"x24" patch containing the two fields, 1"=10')-- a subterranean room for the storage of telescopes and a viewing platform for stargazing.

I looked at two qualities/themes throughout-- the interwoven-ness and mirroring of the sky/ground fields.

2-D seam models representing: third, horizontal element weaving together two fields; black paper field becoming linear element that defines elements of bark field as figures

texture drawings of two field conditions, grass and bark

Weaving was a consistent technique used to conceptualize and represent connections and relationships (such a figure/field shifts and reversals-- or in this case, field/field oscillations), as well as hierarchy, density and directionality. After digging a section cut into the topography at the patch of ground, an intricately woven set of links between the horizontal qualities of sky and soil layers revealed itself in the form of grass and grass roots, vertical connectors between the two fields (sky/ground).

collage reflecting interwoven qualities of site elements

To enter the program, one descends stairs into the underground room and then, when stepping onto the platform, finds herself suspended in the canopy, between sky and ground. By taking advantage of the gradient of the site, the horizontal layer of ground that is extended into the air and woven through the canopy is, at the same time, a vertical path that traces the connection a tree makes between the two fields, advancing from the underground root upwards toward the treetops and sky.

diagrams of sky/field/tree relationships, initial program schemes

There is mirroring of sky and ground structured by the trees and their roots, which is best shown in the model. Once the other ground condition is met, though, the above- and below-ground conditions change and the connection is lost. At the end of the platform is a transparent floor, below which is a reflecting pool. At that moment, the ground is underfoot but the sky is "under ground." Through this inversion, the distinction between fields is confused and, through optical rather than structural mirroring, the connection between sky and ground is reestablished.

1"-thick model of site/program (note the little stairs I built in that glass room!)