RENDERS + POST
RENDERS + POST
THE LEGEND OF VOLTRON
For this assignment, each student was assigned a secret piece that he/she is asked to fabricate using contours and lasercutting. The pieces, when put together, generated a meaningful whole that the students did not know what it was until every piece eventually came together. The time-lapse video below shows the process of putting together the pieces in class.
The assignment sheet can be found here.
The timelapse video is created by Sadra Tehrani.
Music: The Klaymen's Theme by Terry Scott Taylor
SYLLABUS
Instructor:
Benay Gürsoy | bug61@psu.edu
Teaching Assistants:
Erica Wunschel | emw5831@psu.edu
Ciera Jones | cnj117@psu.edu
Alyssa Penrod | amp7093@psu.edu
Cara Trettel | cqt5290@psu.edu
Esteban Galindo-Carvajal | ezg5281@psu.edu
Kieron Cook | kmc6947@psu. edu
Tuesday + Thursday 4:30 – 5:50
2 Credits
Course Description:
ARCH 122 - Visual Communications II is an intensive two-credit hour course offered at Penn State University - Department of Architecture and is designed to introduce first year students to digital design and fabrication tools and technologies used in both the development of architectural form and the representation of architectural ideas.The goal of the course is two-fold: to introduce students to computational design thinking through the use of digital design and fabrication technologies, and to develop their 2D and 3D graphic communication skills.
The students will be exposed to fundamentals of modern geometry and its applications in architectural design. Geometry deals with shapes and space, helping us to construct an understanding of the world as we experience it. It is an indispensable aspect of design process from concept development to fabrication. A solid background in geometry is necessary not only for form-finding studies in architecture and design but also for accurate communication of design ideas. Core topics of the course will cover Euclidean constructions, regular and semi-regular tessellations, platonic and archimedian solids in an attempt to introduce students with the foundations of modern geometry. The students will also be exposed to computational design theories and algorithmic thinking. Design Computing encourages analytical design thinking. While geometric knowledge helps students build precisely controlled geometrical compositions, algorithms will become the exploratory tools to investigate emergent forms of design.
Besides an understanding of computational design thinking, weekly in-class and take-home exercises will expose students to the tools available to architects for the visual communication of ideas and design documentation. The course will provide instruction in the graphic language of architecture through 2D drafting and 3D modeling using digital tools. The aim is to help students develop their unique architectural language, define their own conventions, and to use digital tools in a creative way in the communication of design idea as architecture is inherently tied to its modes of representation. When the territories of architectural representation expand, the territories for architecture also expand, creating new possibilities for design and building.
A strong emphasis will be placed on the translations between the digital and the physical, whether it is a 2D printout or a 3D physical artifact. The students will be exposed to diverse digital fabrication methods (i.e. laser cutting, cnc milling, 3D printing) to use them not only to represent but also to generate design ideas.