FLW's USE OF SPACE

On the Monticello/Falling Water trip, I personally enjoyed Frank Lloyd Wright's design of Falling Water much more.  Reasons for this include that Falling Water is more modern, has an exceptional location over a waterfall, and is simply more of my stylistic preference.  The factors that really win me over though, are Frank Lloyd Wright's ability to use natural materials as literally part of the house.  It amazes me that he did not move of alter any of the rocks that were already there, but instead designed his house around them.  He then continued the natural materials on the inside, where the floor looks like a continuation of the outside scenery.  Even the colors matched the outside world, with his use of cherokee red for the steel, and okra for the concrete, while the rest was natural stone.

My favorite part of all though, was his ability to control space.  He designed the house in a way that led people outside.  He used the actual space to make a person FEEL outside, as well as designed the walls and spaces so that it literally led your eyes towards the patios and windows.  For instance, he had really small and dark hall ways that led to open and bright spaces, which he called a "release of space."  He also had rooms that incorporated two ceiling heights so that your eye would be directed downwards until it hit the window, which usually took up an entire wall.

Finally, he was able to design his house so that no window was ever covered or blocked.  He did not use curtains, nor did he put any furniture that would prevent a window from being opened.  He even designed his furniture (such as the desks) so that there were cut outs in them specifically so the windows could full swing open.  Many of the rooms had patios as well so that one could walk outside almost whenever or where ever they wanted and could view the scenery.

I believe FLW's house captivated me the most because every aspect of the house was so carefully thought and planned out.  He took the time to decorate the house with furniture and color choices, design the house with horizontals, layers and stacks, as well as control how the house reacted to the landscape.

2011 Blog Header

Assignment:  to create a header using fonts and a drawing that describe you (ME) as a designer.

-I'll be honest.  It took me a long time to decide what I AM as a designer.  It has been one semester...was I already supposed to have my own developed style?  After thinking of several possibilities that I thought would be appealing to everyone, I decided that this is suppose to be appealing to ME.  What do I personally enjoy in design?
So I decided that I am definitely the modern type.  And then I changed my mind and decided I'm traditional.  Okay- I'll be both.  This did not help me much, other than I knew that I wanted my look to be mostly modern, although not completely denying tradition.  This is how I chose my fonts.  First, I chose "Rough Draft".  It's traditional in the sense that its like our original drafting letters.  However it has a different, less "perfect" spin on the letters.  Secondly, I chose "whiteboard modern"  This look appealed to me because it also looked like drafting letters, being capital and all, however it had it's own spin as well.  And thirdly, I chose "Evolution".  This font was lowercase and appealed to me partly because it was called Evolution, and partly because it..well, appealed to me.

Once I chose my fonts, I still needed to add my own style to it.  In class we were told that if we wanted to use the computer and find a photograph rather than draw it, we could.  But I figured if this was really going to show my style, I, MYSELF, would have to do it.  This was another hard part.  What was my style, once again?
For some reason my mind kept wandering back to something I read in my "Textiles" class.  It was a term called "greige goods".  Greige goods is any fabric that has not been finished.  We, the consumers, rarely see it because it is usually "finished", where a process is applied to the fabric that changes the appearance to something more appealing to customers.  After reading this (almost two weeks ago), I wondered what it would be like if everything was just greige goods, if all of our fabric wasn't perfectly finished and colored and changed.  After all, the fabric is still just as useful.  I decided it would be cool, and modern, and the actual shapes and textures and uniqueness of the stylized clothing and fabric would stand out rather than the graphics and colors.  This is how I decided that I like a RAW look...or maybe in some way an unfinished look...that is indeed finished.
       In my header, I left several drafting lines,  I used both pencil and ink, and I did not use perfect lines. But to me, it still produced it's own somewhat finished look.  This is also how I came up with my picture.  I've always enjoyed drawing fashion sketches, and since I was inspired by fabric..well...here was a perfect opportunity :)