PRIMITIVES – Pictorial
Studies with Points, Lines and Planes
Due
date: Studio
7
.
Draw or paste your answers on sheets
of vertically oriented 11x17" graph paper.
Each sheet should have the project label (see Syllabus) in the lower right
corner.
Multiple pages should be stapled together on the upper left-hand corner!
Grading
Each of the 14 questions is worth 5
points (14x5 points = 70%)
Presentation quality (= 30%).
PART I: SYNTHETHIC STUDIES (Studio 5)
Spatial primitives such as points, lines, and planes are the basic
elements used in graphic design. Simple
variations of a design may be obtained by changing the shape, size and/or texture of an element. Further variations may be obtained by
altering the position and orientation of each element not only with
respect to the ground (or field) on
which they are depicted but also in relation to the other elements in the
composition.
To order several of these pictorial elements in a composition, a designer may
choose to express a contrast. According to Itten:”
the contrast between white and black is one of the most expressive and
important means of design for the artist”
Examples of contrasts abound; besides black/white there is also
thick/thin, light/dark, large/small, many/few, high/low, transparent/opaque, happy/sad,
ying/yang, rich/poor,…. Indeed most of our thinking is expressed in
some contrast. I am sure you can come up
with your own examples. Contrast is thus
not only an ordering tool but also a powerful means to express ideas through
form.
Contrast Compositions
Make a series of 7 compositions, each within a field of 3x3 inches. Pay special attention to the shape, size, texture, position and orientation of each one of the pictorial elements. Each composition should express a contrast (s) between one or more:
1.
points
2.
lines
3.
planes (areas)
4.
points and lines
5.
point and planes
6.
lines and planes
7.
points, lines and planes.
Your drawings should be clean,
crisp, and clear. Write the contrast(s) you used to make these compositions
below each drawing.
PART II: ANALYTIC STUDIES (Studio 6)
According to Theo van Doesburg, "the task
of a designer has a duality of concerns.
It encompasses not only the active aesthetic experience, namely the abstraction of an object into an idea; but also
the aesthetic expression of that
idea with the appropriate expressional means.
A designer should take the object of his perception back to its
elementary spatial (pictorial) manifestation, strip away all arbitrary
features, simplify it and re-express it in artistic spatial relationships using
only the most basic elements such as points, lines, planes, etc.".
[Principles of Neo-Plastic Art, 1925]
Diagramming (see Design
In order to find inspiration,
a designer often uses aesthetically pleasing from a variety of sources. These images may be representations of existing
buildings, natural objects, human-made artifacts, or other kinds of art objects. Rather than merely copying the image, the
designer abstracts it into a series of simple diagrams. A diagram
is a drawing that explains rather
than represents. It is used to describe
a particular aspect of something rather than to represent how something
looks. With a diagram a designer graphically communicates his/her interpretation of what is analyzed. A diagram is carefully constructed to convey
only the intended explanation in the simplest possible way. It explains the main idea while suppressing
the particularities. Since each image
may be interpreted in a multitude of ways, each image may be abstracted in a
multitude of diagrams.
1.
Choose an image from Nature (e.g. geology, astronomy, biology, microbiology ...).
Scale the original image such that it
fits a 3x3”square.
Analyze this image using only the
fewest possible primitives.
Trace at least two analytic diagrams
this image.
Paste both the original image and
your two analytic diagrams onto graph paper.
Write below the image the source, the
title, artist, date, etc..;
and below each diagram, an explanation of your analysis.
2.
Choose an image from the Arts (e.g. music, dance, skating, animation, painting ...).
Scale the original image such that it
fits a 3x3”square.
Analyze this image using only the
fewest possible primitives.
Trace at least two analytic diagrams of
this image.
Paste both the original image and
your two analytic diagrams onto graph paper.
Write below the image the source, the
title, artist, date, etc..;
and below each diagram, an explanation of your analysis.
PARTI Diagram
Between 1938 and
1941, F. L. Wright designed three houses with the same program (the same number
and kinds of rooms). The floor plans for
each of these houses, shown below, are very different. Each uses a different shape vocabularies: one
uses rectangles, the other circles, and the third equilateral triangles. These designs differ in more than merely their
shape vocabularies; each design has also a Parti
– a different underlying compositional structure (shown below each
floor plan). Here, the Parti diagram consists of shapes that represent the
boundaries of the various rooms/spaces in the building. Besides their shape, this compositional
diagram also reveals the various sizes, orientations, positions, and spatial
relations of the rooms/spaces in the building
e.g. Villa
Capra (The Rotonda), 1552-67
Andrea Palladio
[Ching, F. pp. 58, 195, 301]
e.g. Villa
Capra (The Rotonda), 1552-67
Andrea Palladio
[Ching, F. pp. 58, 195, 301]
Analyzing the Solids/ Voids Diagrams
In order to understand
a building, it is essential to distinguish
the solids and voids of an architectural floor plan.
Technically, a floor PLAN is a
horizontal projection taken by passing a reference plane through elements in
space – parallel to and ± 4 feet above the ground plane. Whenever this reference plane cuts through solids, such as columns and walls,
these elements are usually represented in bold
points and lines, respectively. Furthermore,
all building elements below this reference-plane are represented in solid thin lines;
all building forms above the reference-plane are represented with dotted
lines. Hence a floor plan contains
multiple lines and points of different widths. A Solid/Void diagram of a plan,
however, contains only the bold points and lines that represent the columns and
walls of a building.
5. Find the
floor plan of the Villa Capra (The Rotonda), 1552-67, in Vincenza,
Italy, designed by Andrea Palladio [see Ching,F pp. 58, 195, 301]
Scale the image of the floor plan such that it fits a 3x3”square
Trace only the columns
(represented by bold points) and/or the walls (represented by bold lines) of
the original.
Paste both a copy of the original and
your diagram on your graph paper.
6. Find the
floor plan of the Berlin Building
Exposition House,1931, designed by Mies van der Rohe [see Ching,F.
p. 139]
Scale the image of the floor plan such that it fits a 3x3”square
Trace only the columns
(represented by bold points) and/or the walls (represented by bold lines) of
the original.
Paste both a copy of the original and
your diagram on your graph paper.
7. Find the
floor plan of the Notre Dame Du Haut (Ronchamp), in
France, designed by Le Corbusier [Ching, pp. 28, 161,
170, 230]
Scale the image of the floor plan such that it fits a 3x3”square
Trace only the columns
(represented by bold points) and/or the walls (represented by bold lines) of
the original.
Paste both a copy of the original and
your diagram on your graph paper.