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.