Aurelie Nguyen: March 2012

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Final Sketchup Model

Ai Weiwei's studio is on the upper level and Louise Bourgeois's studio is on the lower level.

Weiwei's studio on the upper level is sweeping and planar to balance the precise and meticulous nature of his work ('Sunflower Seeds'). Large arcs cut the upper floor to resonate a slight organic and natural softness in juxtaposition to the angular, geometric architecture, much like the manmade porcelain seeds hand painted to look like real sunflower seeds.

Towards the back, there is a platform down a few steps where the (hypothetical) scenery can be admired. The main studio area overlooks the gallery, as well as Bourgeois's studio.

The stairs to the gallery space begin inside the studio and quit the building, wrapping around the outside before ending inside again. Columns at irregular angles support the stairs, and by protruding them reflect the key word, "grow", in resembling branches. The artwork may be transported down the stairs and displayed underneath the studio space on the gallery level.

The gallery space is kept quite barren, as to not detract from the effect artwork, but does have textured accents to break up the monotony. This is especially important, not directly over, but rather near, Ai Weiwei's 'Sunflower Seeds', which cover a large portion of the floor by the stairs. Because this is a feature, the interior must direct wandering gazes to the artwork. The strip of texture does this.

Meanwhile on the other side, near the mouth of the open building, the glass tips of Bourgeois's studio protrude from the ground. This allows those on the gallery level to look down (key word: voyeur) into the artist's studio below.

Bourgeois's underground studio is a balance of glass and stone, representing transparency and solidity as drawn from 'voyeur'. The artwork may be brought up to the gallery space, although considering the scale, it is unlikely to be managed, so alternatively, it may be displayed in the studio under the protruding glass. This allows the artwork to be viewed from a bird's eye perspective, and viewers are invited to descend into the studio space to view the artwork close up. The second level and spiral staircase provide many vantage points from which the artwork may be viewed in the studio space.

Textures used:

Download: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=758a5d7c2c5cd87b5f83231596a48e5f

Stairs Sections

Above

Below

Stairs WIP

Upper studio stairs. (Weiwei)

A private area of studio(?). A viewing platform to see outside scenery.

Upper stairs (studio to gallery) wip.

The middle part is flat so that an option to transport the artwork (Ai Weiwei's 'Sunflower Seeds') to the gallery space is sliding it down... :) The twin stairs concede the concept of "grow", as the one platform at the studio level splits into the two.

The art is displayed around the bottom of the stairs so that one cannot use the stairs without interacting with the artwork.

Lower studio stairs (Bourgeois) wip.

Ground studio connected with upper level of (same) studio)

Lower stairs (studio to gallery) wip.

A (very very long) spiral staircase from lower studio to ground level gallery.

Some sketches for various stairs...

Friday, March 23, 2012

Week 3(ish) WIP

Just realised I hadn't posted any screenshots for this week yet. Here are some poorly angled screencaps. This side not quite done.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

36 Custom Textures

Above:

Middle:

Below:

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Week 2: Remodel & Stairs

For the upper part, considering "grow", I wanted the stairs to wrap around and become larger towards teh ground in an organic feeling way.

More sketches...

In hindsight, the first set of sketches kind of feels like the Disney logo... haha...

Anyway, I had a bit of trouble getting what I wanted in sketchup. So here we have...

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Week 1 Sketchup

Sketch:

Above: grow / Weiwei
Below: voyeur / Bourgeois

For this model before feedback, I also went ahead and sketched some ideas for stairs and how it would fit together.

I focused on the below ground part and considered the key word "voyeur". I liked the idea of a platform on the stairs to be able to peek just above ground, while for the stairs, I tried to capture an air of something sturdy, but at the same time quiet empty and hollow. (That's just what the word feels like to me). I also considered how the artist (Louise Bourgeois) would move around in this space. She is a sculptor, so transporting her work to the ground level gallery space would require broad steps with low rises.