Digital Media Practice (1)
“A House Is A Machine For Living In”
Learning Report
Blog (all items for final piece included on blog): http://cdme4004katie.blogspot.com/
Introduction
The Digital Media Practice module served as a great opportunity to explore whatever I wished to. Advised to stick to a realm I know I looked into three different ideas, but went with the one I certainly know most about. The ideas were the exploration of graffiti as art of vandalism, the debate about the fur industry and it's environmental implications and finally architecture great Le Corbusier's idea that “A machine is a house for living in.” Being from an interior architecture background I chose the latter. This is a very neat, bold statement which provides plenty of scope for exploration down various paths and could entail a number of different meanings.
As a very open module I wanted to explore something which I definitely considered a challenge and the variety of interpretations the statement “A house is a machine for living in” conjures up many different thoughts. It is still a very widely known and taught idea as are many of Le Corbusier's musings. He was a pioneer of the Modernist movement which provokes much debate around the world today as the ongoing battle of design occurs in cities throughout the world. Although I know Le Corbusier did not mean a literal machine for living in when he spoke about this idea I have always thought of the phrase in this way. The fact that it is not immediately clear what is meant by it leaves it open to interpretation and is why it is such an interesting and wide ranging proposition to explore.
Concepts and initial ideas
First and foremost, “A house is a machine for living in” was a statement by an architect therefore immediately one thinks about the space in which people dwell. Wanting to explore the literal path of this idea and keeping the concept of space in mind I tried to think of the ways in which people (in particular in the UK) like to live, i.e. what the average person sees as a home. Warm, comforting, cosy and a perhaps place for family. Then I looked at the ideas and imagery machines evoke which is the opposite to home: cold, dark, hard, grinding machinery. These contradictions spurred me on to come up with other opposing ideas such as man vs machine and nature vs. architecture. This man made/natural idea became an immediate theme. One of my main reasons for taking an architectural course was the combination of art and mathematics, so it made complete sense to take these opposing ideas forward. Leading on from this was how opposites can in fact work together very strongly. The fantastic force of architecture is infinitely inspired by nature, but also nature has an architecture of it's own. Natural beauty is perceived by us but there are innate concepts which all humans unthinkingly see as beautiful for which there are mathematical fomulae and scientific explanations such as the Golden Section, the Fibonacci sequence and fractals. This intrinsic existence of science and art fascinates me. Architecture often only hints at the complicated attributes that make up nature and so I wanted to explore these thoughts and ideas further, but initially was not sure how to tackle such a large subject.
The first idea I formulated was that the final piece definitely needed a three dimensional element. This was clear to me from the beginning as the architectural proposition lends itself to this. I also love to work in mixed media and as this topic is not a constrained exploration I thought this was a perfectly valid reason to continue with mixed media, so as to add to the 3D element. My main focus for the course is photography, although coming through an interior architecture route gives me a different way of looking at the world. An initial eye for detail and a great respect for nature has been developed further through this project. I have also always found the notion that we draw and design in 2D whereas architecture is always a 3D final product. I thought that photography would be a great way to represent the proposition in 2D and as my primary focus on the course I really wanted to include this media in the project. This gave me scope for a multi layered undertaking.
The Final Piece
The final three dimensional development occurred after watching a three-part television series called The Code. 'Shapes' was one of the programmes and showed how all of nature is made up of five core three dimensional shapes known as the platonic solids. This corresponded perfectly with the primary solids – five 3D shapes identified by Le Corbusier himself as seen in William J R Curtis' book, Le Corbusier : Ideas and Forms. This gave me ten shapes to work with, five for each 'side'. I figured I could make these shapes and experiment with them through a series of photographs, wondering what they would look like from both inside and the outside. Having the ten different solids as a bottom line for my project was great for keeping me on track and giving me a very sound base to work from without limiting how the project could evolve. The introduction of people was a relatively early thought but cemented when I found a book by an artist called Slinkachu (see blog entitle 'The Street Art of Slinkachu') who has taken on a similar creative initiative to do with the very architectural notion of scale. Though very fun, Slinkachu made a serious comment on the vulnerability we feel when moving to a big city. The art combines exterior installations with contextualising photographs.
For my project, the extra photographic element using the technique known as 'Bokeh' ('Blurry' in Japanese) provides an additional spatial element. Purely through using the blur and colour created in photographs I can convey warmth and coolness without giving an immediate sense of space, but more something like a pure feeling which can be applied to how a space makes us feel.
Hanging the pieces on the wall in a relatively regimented fashion represents the order that oft goes unnoticed in nature, but that is sought after in architecture. Placing the 3D objects throughout instead of all at the bottom of the images livens the whole piece up a bit, but they are still in the same spot for each set of images (platonic – top - and primary – bottom) which hints at the inherent connection between man-made and natural objects which we are always trying to separate. This display portrays a potentially very complex project in a coherent manner allowing the information to be read clearly. Dymo labelling gives it a feel of a science experiment reminding me (and I am sure others) of school days gone by.
How I Worked and What I Have Learned
Unusually, I did not have some initial concrete final ideas. This is definitely a progression for me because the final ideas for this project were completely rooted in the research i.e. the solid shapes and the photographic technique which I then linked through my own thought process about shapes and the relationship between two and three dimensions and how they are viewed. Normally I would find myself post rationalising much of my work which was not the case here. Apart from knowing 3D was to be an intrinsic element to this project, I avoided trying to reach a conclusion specifically to let my research drive this. On reflection this was definitely positive because it allowed me to enjoy the research process in a really open-minded way. I read more books than usual. These included Freeman Patterson's Photography and the Art of Seeing, the Le Corbusier book mentioned above, glancing through the image based-pages of Eric de Maré's Architectural Photography and reading National Geographic articles. Being a relatively slow reader I find the task of taking on a stack of books daunting for fear of not finishing them, but, not just as a result of this module, I have become better at using indices to get the information I need. Previous university reading has enabled me to get more out of the work for this module so it has been a cyclical sequence of informing myself both of the way that I work as well as generally through books.
Engaging in the very architectural task of model making enabled me to revisit an element of architecture which I feel I was good at. The practise that I have had doing these tasks in the past meant I knew I had the knowledge and patience in order to see ten models through neatly. However, this has not been completely free of issues. The primary solids were very tricky to complete in particular the cylinder and sphere, but I managed to somewhat overcome this although these two shapes could have definitely been improved with more time. Time management has never come easily to me but an eye opening experience with projects for the interior architecture degree saw this improve rapidly over the last couple of years which has definitely helped me with taking the initial steps on this project. However, even better time management would have seen me completing this module much more quickly. This is something to consider for the future, but having an idea in mind to work towards certainly improves my concentration levels.
The individual presentations the group did towards the beginning and end of the semester were helpful to gauge time management as well as allowing me to see what others chose to explore. This was where the suggestion from Warren Gee came up about watching The Code series which later became an intrinsic part of my project. As a group, for the initial sessions we worked quickly and creatively on a small number of five and ten minute projects to help everyone think more laterally. This was a great way to get the group to interact with each other in a project focussed way and although there was no actual assessed group work it was great to see people suggesting ideas to others which they thought might help with individual projects.
The learning journal, i.e. the cumulative blog kept throughout the project, was actually an incredibly useful tool. It made me put down my ideas, but I know that doing this project a second time around I would blog much more, because I do not feel that I personally took to this manner of working right away. For instance, I would have done more book reviews as well as exploration of the visual ideas I drew from books. However, finding the blog particularly useful when getting to the photography stage I really enjoyed being able to post images of work in progress.
Overall I have enjoyed the module. It has given me a more focussed attitude and left me hungry for information and knowledge on a wealth of different topics. Learning the new photography technique which, although a friend who I know outside of the course introduced me to it, I would probably not have taken the appropriate steps towards doing it so soon had I not figured out a way of incorporating it into this project. This also allowed me to take on a variety of photographic ideas for the final piece as well as for the learning report blog.
Conclusion: What could I explore further?
In conclusion I feel quite energised by the prospect of looking further into these ideas in my own time. The Golden Section, Fibonacci numbers and fractals are all very interesting theories to explore that did not make it into this particular project, but are certainly very relevant. A continued fascination for the science and maths which leads to natural beauty will definitely keep me studying those topics even if it is only through macro and full on wide angle photographs of the natural world to portray that mathematics and nature go together perfectly. To better understand Le Corbusier's idea that a house is a machine for living in I believe looking at his relationship with nature is fundamental. Nature is inspirational to a great number of artists, from photographers to architects alike.
Another branch of this project is the commentary on the Digital Age. How does Le Corbusier's idea that A House Is A Machine For Living In translate in modern day terms? This could be explored further seeing as his work is still so relevant today. Architecture is such a political art. The work could become even more of a comment on the 21st century, the future and what we are potentially heading towards. This is such an interesting take on the topic which I did not know would present itself at the start and I would have explored further with more time.
In terms of media I would definitely consider exploring more complex shapes, perhaps through the use of architectural software and by seeking out these shapes within nature itself. Photography amd model making is just the start of a wealth of ways these topics could be explored but I believe they are among the best representations for this.
I feel this assignment (and my interest in it) does not end here which, for me, is the sign of a great project.
