Chris Freeburn Studio Group: Week One: Task For Today

At the start of each studio you should go to the course blog (http://www.russelllowe.com/arch1101_2020/index.htm) where you will find a new link each week including a "task for today" and "independent study" to be completed prior to the next studio.

This week's task is to create 18 sketch sections "exploring the relationship between two of the projects you chose and the ground line as a datum". Some of you may be perplexed by the abstract nature of this task, but fear not... that is mostly the point! Architects view the world differently to everybody else, I promise that by the end of first year you will be seeing the world through new eyes, and once you have these new eyes, you will never look at anything the same again! However, seeing the world differently doesn't happen overnight - tasks that focus on thinking abstractly will help you to see the world [and architecture] in this new way.

A couple of pointers to keep in mind for your sections;

SECTION:
No matter how beautiful your drawings are, if you are not focused on the idea of drawing a section, you're heading down the wrong path, keep on track and keep it to sections (for now at least). Think about how a section allows you to better understand the relationship of spaces that might not be understood without a section. Have a think about the Pantheon in Rome... for all it's beauty, this is a space that cannot be truly understood without a section.

Remember to treat your hatching as a means to express the difference between solid and void. Perhaps you will use denser hatching to show very solid and loose hatching to show not very solid, or you may use a consistent hatch - whatever the choice, take pride in your hatching and undertake it with care. Space lines evenly. If your lines are supposed to be in the same direction, make sure that they are.

DATUM (above ground or below?):
An area where many people will fall off track is by starting to draw "objects" - an object does not have a relationship with a datum (if datum is a difficult concept for you, think of the surface of the Earth as being a datum point, however a datum is not restricted to being the ground plane, each and every floor of a multi-storey building could be considered a datum). Each of your sketch sections should have a distinct below ground space and a distinct above ground space. How your sketch interacts with the datum is up to you... are you entirely above, or entirely below, or are you exploring the relationship both above and below at the same time?

An easy way to judge if you've heading off track:- look at your drawings, could you easily switch the sketch at the bottom with the sketch at the top with little consequence? A below ground space should only belong at the bottom of the page, if not, you're probably still drawing objects!

ABSTRACT YOUR IDEAS:
Remember, we're not looking for you to draw a literal interpretation of each of your chosen words. You should try to tap into the essence of the word or the idea of the word. I don't need to be able to identify what your word was just by looking at the sketch, but once I know the word, it should suit the sketch drawn. Sharp lines for an aggressive adjective and soft, gentle curves for a gentle adjective are easy ones, but try to explore the grey are between these extremities.

If you find this part difficult, try breaking your word down - what does this word actually mean? What are its synonyms? What feelings or emotions does this word evoke? What sort of lines would I draw if I was feeling that emotion?