Montage-It! Poster

Bringing Elements Together

As with the other two posters, the A3 Montage-It! poster was to advertise an exhibition in montaging, addressing one specific aspect of the process.
I felt that the poster itself should display an example of montaging, for those viewers who do not know what it is.

The centre image was created by overlaying each slide from the flipbook, and then overlaying that multiple times again at different angles. My aim was to show in an extreme case how montaging can take a simple image and create it into something completely different in another viewpoint.
The text surrounding it to a lesser extent shows overlaying as well, set in shades of blue so that  "Montaging" stood out. The multiple angles would (in my opinion) draw more attention than a linear expression of text and it carries the concept of changing perspectives and bringing elements together.


The montaging module as a whole helped to bring the previous two workshops together to bring out yet another use for these methods of communication. Models can be used for many reasons such as a physical representation, a way of exploring spaces and as the base for a montage. Likewise, drafting and rendering can be used for the drawings themselves or in the process of photomontaging. Putting all these skills together helps us as architects communicate to others numerous concepts depending on how we choose to depict them, and especially through what medium.

Montage-It! Week 4 Class

Final Submission


The final class for Montage-It! and for this course was the presentation of your model, two montaged images, and your revised flipbook. 

Following my first flipbook, I revised the size of the images and the page size, measuring it to fit your hand and noting that when flipping, an entire half of the page is unseen. I also printed it on 250gsm paper and offset each page an equal fraction for easier and smoother flipping.

Added cover for flipbook

Size of the images

I decided to have the images flip from the back so that it would flip faster; if you had to flip the page across it would meet more resistance whereas to flip something down was much easier (after testing both ways).
Unfortunately, only after submission I noticed that some of the pages were flipped around, creating blanks in the sequences that would have ruined the smoothness and professionalism of the medium. 

My two montages were presented as shown in the preceding post, as was the model.

Montage-It! Week 3 Class & Take-Home

Layers

The final step for our photo montages was to add layers of information, to compliment an idea or theme in the image. We were required to submit a day and night image, both interior and exterior. It was clear to me that I would use my first night image, at sunrise, however I started anew with my daytime interior.

Final night shot

The light orbs and moon were initially sketches on tracing paper laid over the original image. This was then scanned into the computer, and using a tablet I redrew the lines as a new layer. The light was used with the brush set at a lower opacity and applied both underneath and over the lines of the orbs. The gradient of the towers was also applied by hand in a similar fashion.
After setting the contrast at a higher level to exaggerate the red of the sky and make it seem less natural, the starts were added using a specific brush at different sizes.
The issue of the dark ground still remained, because if the towers were lighter than the ground it looked unnatural and too separate, however if they were made the same darkness they would be lost. I settled for the former, as I knew that once printed it would be darker and would look a little less defined.
The left silhouette was the most entertaining to add to the image. After positioning the man over the image, I began erasing him with the eraser on a very low opacity. I knew that the parts closest to the wall would be the darkest, so I erased from the inside to the outer edges so that the arm in particular stood out and the hand (touching the wall) was the darkest. Note that the feet are left dark as they aren't seen behind the screen. 

Original model photograph

Final daytime montage

Seeing as the building was rather large and I wanted it to function as a public space, I decided to use it as a gallery or function centre in my daytime image.
The horizon of the cityscape in the background was aligned with the images horizon and then I skewed the top of the skyscrapers slightly to appear further away as they would in real life. A lot of the images, in particular the canvases and easels had to be skewed as well. 
Seeing as I removed the mirror dome and jelly cup from this image, I decided to use a chandelier as the main light as it would reflect its own light off the many crystal baubles. 
The ceiling cavity had to be adjusted as the size of the opening seemed unrealistic. The shadows were creating by replicating the object, setting it to the right angle and orientation, then turning down its opacity so that it aquired the texture of the floor. I also noted that when no in direct light, the shadows would be lighter and not as elongated.   

Both of my montages I tried to make as real as possible, even with the first 'out of this world' one. They show how with a base model you can transform it into almost anything through montaging. 

Montage-It! Week 2 Class & Take-Home

Flipbook

Our next media type was a flipbook. Though an unusual and uncommon method of communication, its simple and short, yet gives a good scope of the building and its circulation. It may also be faster than having to model the whole building in a 3D program and doesn't require a computer to show to anyone else. 
The task during class was to draw 15 slides as a person would move through the building, and then at home to make slides in between those so that each slide doesn't jump too much. On top of that, we needed to (in Photoshop) add people for scale and ensure that the transition between slides is smooth.

First slide

Last slide

Taking into consideration that when flipping not the whole image will be seen, I added a thick margin on the bound end enough to cover the size of the clip that will hold the pages together.

Size of the flipbook

In reality however, the edge was not thick enough as most of the image was still unseen. I used thin paper thinking that it wouldn't be too thick or stiff to flip and would make it lighter, however it caused the pages to clump and didn't work with the 24 slides that I had.
Positively, I did feel that the images were smooth between each slide, and that it was just the paper quality that wasn't right.

The following video shows how the images should play out:

Montage-It! Week 1 Take-Home

Day/Night & Real/Atmospheric

Montaging involves a mixture of media. For our first home task, we had to integrate our model within a context. We were required to provide 4 images: 2 atmospheric and 2 'normal' images in a real background.
The challenge here was to correctly adjust the scale to the right effect and integrate the building in terms of sharpness, lighting, and especially angle.

With my real daytime image, I wanted the building to stand simply, in a natural setting to reflect the 'down to earth' structure of the building.

Realistic- day

Because the building has the most focus at night, I believed that retaining the natural grass as a floor would cast great shadows to integrate the building into its setting, and doing this image as a daytime shot was to illustrate that it could also work in the day.

Retaining a natural setting, my 'night' shot is set also in a field at sunrise. I feel that at this time of day, everything is at its most serene and untouched state, and the lighting has its own sense of cleanliness and growing ambience.

Realistic- night

The outcome of this image was exactly the way I wanted. I felt the angle was right, the ratio of building to trees was also right, and the building didn't stand out too much. As with the daytime image, I used a grass textured paintbrush to bring out the grass around the building, and blurred the edges of the building furthest away from the viewer to replicate how a camera would do so in such a shot.
This time I kept the floor white, rather than showing the grass inside, as I believed it would distract from the focus of the soft light and make the viewer more aware of the internal space. My only issue with the image quality is the darkness of the ground, however being a photo taken true to reality, it portrayed the way the landscape really would look (as I wanted in these reality images).


The focus for my atmospheric images was a carnivale mood, where lights always surround you and draw you in. This building, which I nickname the Lighthouse, fits completely into this as the light is meant to create an air of mystery and allure.
My first image is set on a wharf, as I imagine a pier amusement park.

Atmospheric 1

This image was my least successful for the following reasons (which I realise in hindsight): the angle of the building is wrong, as the vanishing points don't align with the background, there is no shadow, and my attempt at creating a reflection on the far right panel didn't work either.
On the otherhand, my reasons for this composition was to set the building as something you would initially walk past, however the entrance and its scale should draw you in.

My next atmospheric image drew from the oranges, lights and wharf setting from my first image. This time, I wanted to create a calmness similar to the 2nd image (night/sunrise) in respect to a quiet morning/night.

Atmospheric 2

The main challenge with this image was recreating the reflection, especially seeing as there were ripples on the surface and that part of the water was particularly reflective. In order to achieve it as best I could I used a mixture of transparency changes, smudges and blurs. I also noted that the railing came in front of the building, as so I followed the natural reflection of it and set it in front of the buildings reflection.
To integrate the building as a whole I tried to match the golden colours, and kept that side of the building relatively dark as the light was coming from the other side. The angle I feel was right, however the scale is slightly too dominating, and it doesn't seem like it would fit onto the width of the wharf. The image as a whole, without focusing on too much detail, I feel works.

Montage-It! Week 1 Class

Model

The concept behind the Montage-It! module is to combine a range of media to create a complete image that communicates ideas and concepts about a building. 

Our first step was to create a model, drawing from one of three artworks given. My chosen inspiration was Eduardo Chillida's 'Mount Tindaya', shown below:

In my initial stages of brainstorming came to:

• the solid nature of light
• monolithic
• light and scale
• light's adaptability
• transparency
• volume
• depth

Initial ideas

As a result, I wanted to try to create a donut-shaped space, with a bright light from the middle space shining out throughout the building. The building would comprise of many different rooms or spaces, that you moved through in a designed sequence that explores light at its brightest with shadows as the focus, to a space with almost no light where the light that was present was the focus.

After some more revision of the model, I decided to create a space that utilises these concepts, rather than showing them like an exhibition.
The main concepts I drew on were transparency and scale. As well as that, I wanted light to have a different purpose to just providing light. 

High angle view

Perspective view

My model is set on a thick cardboard base, and is made of balsa, butchers paper, a plastic bowl, mirror squares and a transparent jelly cup.
The building itself is actually quite large, about 5 times the height of a person, and the comparatively narrow entrance is designed to accentuate that. The translucency of the walls open up the building to its surrounding in a suggestive nature, but still keep an air of mystery about what it contains. This is particularly effective in night shots:

Night- perspective

Night- high angle

The light in the night shots isn't too bright or far-reaching as to draw a lot of attention, however it is mellow enough to have a slight character. It is created by placing a light at the hole in the base, where the jelly cup and mirrors distribute it in varying ways.

The jelly cup surface catches the light, so that the light isn't too bright, and the overall diversity in light gives the space a better dynamic. This variety allows for the space to be used in different ways, as this model is just a base for future addition of information through montaging.

Draw-It! Poster

Characterising Architecture

My poster for an exhibition on drawing consists of two A2 pages, so that the flow from the length of the building is better and doesn't seem cut short.
For this poster I researched a bit more on layout, so that I could improve on my overall composition. I still feel the white space is disorganised, however by having a direction line along the middle I am able to visually guide the viewer to the information and control what has important over another.

The order of images relates to the theme of 'Characterising Architecture'. Through the process of drawing architectural drafts to experimenting with rendering, the effect a drawing style or form has on the character of your building became increasingly apparent to me.
Hence, the first (left) drawings are the elevations, representing a flat perspective, but still giving credit to the drawing type. The text follows, so that the viewer can be made aware that a change is to occur, and also because it balances the darker strip in the top right corner. Finally, a composition of different drawing styles and renders are composed together to compare the styles and the feelings from each. The images are arranged alternating around the coloured separator to accentuate the feeling of swapping over to a different style[/side]. Set translucent in the background, the floorplan ties everything in both as a base for a building but also to connect that each character expressed is still drawn from that same floor and that architectural drawings are important for this reason.


One disappointment with this poster is the image quality. On the verson of Photoshop that I have, I was unable to properly retain the detail of the rendering, and the transparency of the backgrounds. I fear this has hindered the professionalism of my poster. 


From this module, this experience of character has stood out the most to me, and so I felt obliged to respect that lesson in 'setting up' an exhibition in its honour. 

Draw-It! Week 4 Class

Draw-It! Final Presentation


Unlike with the Model-It! module, the final presentation for this module was to create a composition of the drawings for your chosen house.

Because the plan oblique covered part of the floor plan, I decided to include it in the presentation. By setting it at the same angle (by overlaying it in Photoshop so that it the angle and size matched) I wished to make a connection between the two, and make it easier for a viewers eyes to compare the two.

Draw-It! presentation poster (A1)

I separated the poster into a top and bottom section to separate between architectural drawings and renders. The southern elevation was also aligned above the plan oblique to compare the slight difference between the north and south facing, while the west elevation was set to the right on purpose to suggest that that is the corresponding elevation following the one below it.

I chose to draw more attention to the perspective by enlarging it so that anyone looking at the poster would immediately and simply see the overall idea of the building before focusing on more detailed drawings. I felt this reflected how one would use different font sizes and styles to grab a readers attention in an article and set a hierarchy in the text. 


In hindsight, and following feedback from my tutors, I see that the black blocks do not add anything to the poster in the way of directing ones attention, and actually draw too much to themselves in their thickness and greater boldness than the drawings. There is also a disparity in the drawing styles due to the perspective, which now I understand. One of my challenges was to create a coherent space that didn't appear too empty, however I see how I could have used the white space more uniformly, rather than it having no structure and focusing on the arrangements of the drawings only. 
I hope to improve with my next poster.

Draw-It! Week 3 Class & Take-Home

Plan Oblique

In this class we were introduced to plan oblique drawings, where your plan is offset at 30 degrees higher than the horizontal, and all vertical lines drawn following. Plan oblique differs from isometric in that in plan oblique, the real plan is used, giving a 90 degree corner to the plan and 60 and 30 degrees either side of it to complete the 180 degree horizontal. In isometric, the plan is offset on both sides by 30 degrees, skewing the plan to have a 120 degree angle. 


For my first week take-home task, I drafted my plans in 1:200 however I decided to do the floor plan again in 1:100 for future ease, as it provided more clear details. This is the plan that I used for the plan oblique drawing. 

Floor plan 1:100

Clearer details

I decided, instead of just drawing one part in oblique, to draw the entire plan and raise a part of it. In that way, it is easier to connect what part of the house is drawn and the section was more connectable to the corridor seen in the floor plan. The tiles I left out this time to focus more on the plan itself. Seeing as the plan oblique section would be rendered, it would be too cluttered to also have tiles on the floor plan, when they can be represented partially in rendering.

Completed plan oblique

The best advantage with this style of drawing is that I was able to detail the shutters on the norther side of the building in 3D so that it was clearer that they let light through. Although it took a long time to draw each precise line, ending part way at each column to show they're set in, it was well worth it as it achieved my desired effect.

Detail of shutters

The next step, and the task to take-home after finishing the plan oblique, was to render it. Having previously decided on the style I find most effective, I followed it for this drawing as well, for consistency.
The main challenge here was giving enough justice to the roof, without it looking like a rough colouring job, or a messy and quick render. The smudging technique here was harder than with the linearity of the steel renders. 

Final rendering of plan oblique

I also had inner walls to consider, which, if done too dark, wouldn't communicate the lightness of the interior. I opted for a light cover of dashes, similar to the ones I used on my early grass renders, to achieve a light, yet textured look. I slightly extended the pavement lines (which I did in the same manner as steel) to illustrate the glass door. The pavements were slightly tricky as there were two directions of lines, and smudging one direction would slightly rub out the other, and it was necessary to repeat the process a few times. 


The overall image I am pleased with, and I feel that plan obliques are a useful drawing tool when trying to provide details lost in plans and elevations. Particularly, rendering them can further detail materials that appear flat or can be many things in architectural drawings.


A final home-task was to do a perspective drawing of the Magney House. From a quick class exercise outside, drawing existing buildings, I found it easier to visualise the vanishing point for my house, and how the proportions worked.

I decided to draw the perspective sketchy to reflect the idea of the curves seen throughout the house. Seeing as the house is quite straight due to its length, if the lines weren't drawn perfectly straight then it wouldn't seem so austere and gave the building more character (an aim in communications).

Draw-It! Week 2 Take-Home

Rendering Research

Our main task following week 2 was to research various rendering techniques, testing them on our drawings, and deciding which style we wanted to use for our final presentation.
First I tried watercolour and coloured pencils with the background. I only sketched the building, as that wasn't my focus here.

Water colour then pencil

The first attempt was to apply a very light and watered-out watercolour, trying to gradient it, and then applying a cross hatching on top radiating from the building. The cross hatching style is by Renzo Piano and I came across in my research, founding it quite light yet effective in representing the sky.

Close-up of water colour
and pencil rendering

Rendering by Renzo Piano

Next I tried applying the watercolour after the pencil hatching, to see if there was a different effect. I noticed with my first version that if the brush is slightly dry the individual bristles draw lines instead of giving one thick layer of watercolour. I tried to replicate that in this attempt however it didn't work to the same delicacy.

Pencil then watercolour

Colour pencil rendering on
the west elevation

Grass detail

The grass was done in the same style as the sky in the first watercolour/pencil render, and I believe it looks better; even though its more dense and the texture isn't as obvious, its more even.

I was still unsure about whether or not I like colour in the background, so I tried it on the west elevation in a different line-style. From these three drawings, I would prefer the sky from the first render, the grass from the second and the path from the third render.

Ink render

Focusing more on the building, I decided to experiment with ink as I felt that due to the houses already neutral facade I could just accentuate existing features, rather than introducing colour. Following this attempt, I was convinced that I prefer black and white rendering, however ink was too sharp and austere for a building that blends together so well.


To achieve a softer effect I tried using charcoal, used on smooth paper so that the lines were softer and also so that the charcoal wouldn't fracture where it was drawing from any rough paper. I used the southern elevation as it allowed for more room for experimentation. My main concern was representing the steel in a way I liked, and so this was my focus for my first drawing.

Many light lines

Solid lines

Only solid near the edges

Mixture

While working on these experimentations, I accidentally smudged a previous part with my hand while drawing the next one along. As a result I had achieved a light gradient line, thicker at the edges and thinning out where there was less charcoal. From this I attempted my next elevation. Not happy with the clearly fake shadow I had drawn, I also decided to exclude that from this attempt and focus on developing a better grass pattern. The comparative result is as follows:

Charcoal rendering development

This result was what I wanted to achieve. The lines on the building weren't too attention-drawing and the grass was dense enough, and not too straight or unclear. The grass effect was achieved using the side of a short piece of charcoal being drawn in curves at different angles. The steel, by drawing heavy lines at the poles/joints and then smudging (with a finger) these lines towards the centre (trying to keep the lines straight so that both sides would join in the middle).

Close-up of charcoal smudging

I continued my rendering work by working on the western elevation, drawing from my acquired. The western elevation also allowed me to include a road, and personally was a favourite elevation as it showed the beautiful roof and door designs by Murcutt.
After this final render I concluded that I had achieved the style I had been striving for, from a mixture of research and experimentation.

Final rendering result

Draw-It! Week 2 Class

Introduction to Rendering


The class for week 2 of Draw-It! was to draft the elevations of your select building. Having completed mine when I was working on my drafted floor plan (seeing as I only have one level whereas other buildings had two) I decided to spend the lesson beginning to experiment with line weight and rendering.

I decided to work on the southern elevation as it contained the most variety of surfaces: glass, corrugated iron and of course the ground. 
Having no experience in ink pens prior, I decided to use them to learn their effects. Working on tracing paper I was able to quickly get the main shape of the building.

First basic ink and pencil rendering

Outlining the steel section in .8 pen, I accentuated the solidity of the base and by doing so attempted to further bring out the lightness of the glass (in .2 pen). The roof was also done in .2 pen as the section seen was actually the taller curve on the other side of the building and in being further away had to draw less attention. 
A perk of using tracing paper is that it is possible to work on either side of the page. Thus, I added pencil rendering for the grass and steel so that it didn't stand out. The Magney house is surrounded by a field of natural wildgrass, of medium length. I tried to represent this through short hatches, first at one angle, then at another, and increasing in density as you were closer to the building to draw attention to the house.

Detail of first ink drawing. Note the vertical direction of the roof
to illustrate that it's not part of the horizontal frontage

One feature is almost all of Murcutts designs is a connection with and consideration of the surrounding environment. I noted that the Magney House didn't have a garden surrounding it, nor any external lights, and thus inferred that this house was no exception. Hence, my second drawing is aiming to represent the house as a light structure.

Second ink and pencil drawing/rendering

Although the Magney house is relatively greyscale, I attempted here to add colour and see the effect it had in representing the house. Perhaps it was the colours I used, but I do not think my use of them was successful in this attempt. In hindsight, perhaps by using shades of green and yellow for the grass rather than graphite I would've been able to integrate colours easier. 
Looking at it now, the ground is much too heavy, and could be done lighter without losing the effect of a light building sitting on top. In particular, the smudging is too inconsistent and it may have been better even to just leave the hatching clean.

Window detailing

For the windows this time I attempted to give them depth by defining each corner in pencil (as shown to the left). From a distance it worked quite well, and better than having empty frames or colouring them in blue. Even in black, rather than blue, the corner definition worked out how I wanted, however it was difficult to remain consistent with each window and to make the line not seem too separate to the frame.

Rendering the Magney House I find quite difficult as it doesn't contain very texture-rich materials such as bricks or cement. It will be difficult finding a good technique. 

Draw-It! Week 1 Take-Home

Drafted Plans


The first take-home exercise for this module was to draft (draw in detail) the plans for the Magney House.

As with my sketches, I began by lightly drawing in the outline of the house, and all the walls, but extended. Because this house is so long I decided to set my entire set of drawings at an angle. I felt that if one was to see the building parallel to the page, there would be too much emphasis on its length whereas I wanted to experiment to bring out its features more. The consideration of compositions was given to us as a task in class and so I decided to play around with hit. In taping the page to my table at an angle I was able to ensure the T-square always drew lines at the same angle.

The faint structure lines, and the plan to draft

I decided to compose my drawings around my floor plan, with the elevations spread around it so that a link can be seen between the two. This way I could also align all the elevations and thus it'll be more efficient to draw.

Plan with completed walls and main features.
This amount of information was present in my sketches

Initially all my drawings were done in H pencil, so that it was easier to erase any mistakes. As all the main parts were lightly drawn up (e.g. walls, fireplaces), I went over them in 2B, and pressing heavier to achieve a thicker line.
I decided to include the tiles in the plan to illustrate the connection between each room in having the same floor. If the floor had changed, it would define each room as separate to the other, and so I felt I had good reason to include it.

Completed north and east elevations, with the basic
outline for the southern elevation

I faced the same problem with my elevation as to how I would draw the shutters without them appearing opaque. I overcame this by drawing all my vertical lines thicker than the horizontal shutter lines (which I kept in H pencil), and drawing the poles themselves in 2B and slightly more thick than the vertical lines over the shutters. In addition, the shutters were drawn much closer than in my sketches and I believe this might've helped as well.

I was very pleased with my final composition of drawings. The detail was done enough (in my opinion), and the eye followed the drawings like an unfolded box rather than the way they were given to us in a vertical sequence.

Final drafted plans, 1:200