Collection Project: Part 2

The Collection for One: Shavings Edition is moving swiftly towards the due date of Tuesday 10/26. Originally the scientist persona I developed was studying the increased surface area created when shavings are removed from a larger object. This has changed a bit to focus on the preparation and cataloging of a shavings library in conjunction with a think tank library sharing the same space.

I need to post some pictures of the existing site here - I missed class the first day we visited so I need to beg some pictures off classmates. Here's a look at the floor plan.



It's a fifth floor edition to the Providence Journal building in downtown Providence. The interior space is basically empty with some temporary partition walls creating offices. Our class divided into teams to measure up and photograph the interior and exterior spaces. From there we created plans, sections and keyed photo diagrams. Once the plan set was established, we moved into design.

For my initial parti diagrams and sketch models I worked with circle and rectangle shapes - corresponding to the two forms created when looking at the shaving cylinders from different viewpoints. This led to researching patterns in morse and binary code. Both of these diagrams express the word "shavings". I glued them onto chipboard and punched holes through the zeros to see how light would move through the void pattern. This was last weekend.



On Tuesday our 8 person grad class sat in a room without windows for four hours and ran through each person's concept. These critiques are incredible. They also have a tendency to lead us in completely different directions, quickly. For mine, we discussed how surface area could be increased within the space (relating back to the shavings) by having the space create it's own volume. I'm not explaining this well. Think of a museum storage hold that's a system of bookcases stacked horizontally, running on a track. When all the bookcases are smushed together, a single surface area exists. If you pull them apart along the track, the surface area increases exponentially.

This new idea halted me in search of a fresh approach after the Tuesday class and on through my two classes on Wednesday afternoon and night. Guess what brought down the floodgates? A trip to IHOP close to midnight - all it took was pancakes, a sketchpad and a sharpie to get the create syrup flowing.

From those sketches I revisited my parti models and came up with these:









After meeting with the professor today, I have a definite direction! On to floor plans. Final materials due are a plan set with sections and elevations, concept summary and a final model.