Lifestyle note

Though not pictured here, every week we also need to make a floor plan and section drawings for the Architecture Design classes. Since I am not very skilled in autoCAD and Illustrator it is really hard to keep u with the pace. There are also other classes with (some) homework and in a few weeks there will be tests and reports to make.

At the moment it has become normal for me to go to bed  between 01:00 am and 04:00 am. Most of the days I have to get up before 07:00. In the Netherlands I have never done that before and thought I would not be able to do that, but I realized that my body is quite strong.

Paying attention to what I eat is difficult since eating outdoor is very cheap and the vegetables and fruit in the supermarket are expensive. But I think it helps and sporting 2 or 3 times a week is also good for relaxation.  

Architecture Design: Project in Murwillumbah

After 7 weeks working in the class of Architecture Design, here is some progression.

The assignment is to design a Visitor Center at Wollumbin Street in the city of Murwillumbah in Australia. The site is around 19 x 51m and is located near the center of the city. Nearby is a river and next to the site are a park and parking spot.

The environment.

At first we did research about the functions, contents and possibilities of visitor centers by looking for existing references. Other information, such as the history, climate, culture, tradition and typical architecture of Australia was also gathered by everyone.

Discussing the information.

A large part of the class actually went to Australia to examine the site and the location. Based on their findings and information from the internet, we built a scale model of the environment.

The working space for the architecture students.

A series of cars.

For the design of the Visitor Center, a number of requirements were set:

- Reception Area
- Orientation Space
- Exhibition Space
- Cafe
- Kitchen
- Kitchen Store
- Staff Room
- Shop
- Art Gallery
- Meeting Room
- Offices
- Store Room
- Garage
- Public Toilets

First plan: playing around with connections between each space.

After the first plan, I decided to separate most of the spaces and create small buildings that are connected with bridges. The concept is to make a passage between the park on the front and the shopping street at the back. By elevating these island-like buildings on poles and creating a lot of spaces with sunlight, the area will be more inviting to enter. The poles are an important element since this area of Australia floods almost every year.

My rough, second design (in blue) placed in the scale model 1:100.

The bridge that connects the park with the back street. The buildings are along that path.

Third model in which some roofing is added.

For the next time, research must be done about the angle of the light coming in and the difference in height since the area is sloping and has a small hill. Other details are the construction and the style (decorations) in which the buildings will be made.

4th week in class

At the moment the fourth week of my study has ended already.
In a few classes there has been some progress.

Glass
1. Make a clay model that you want to make in glass. The clay is on oil basis.

My model: a lizard

2. Make a mould by pouring plaster over the clay model. Before pouring the plaster, a leak proof wall must be made.

The teacher explaining how to build a wall.

3. Get the clay out of the hardened plaster and put pieces of glass into the mould. It is important that the weight of the glass is 1,7 times heavier than the weight of clay that has been used.  

My mould

Blue and Amber coloured glass.

This is the oven in which the moulds with pieces of glass will be baked. 

Maybe 5 people can fit in it if they sat down on the bottom.  

Sculpture Drawing

For the first time in my life I took the challenge to draw a sculpture. If I remember correctly, the sculpture I did was of David (from David and Goliath). Charcoal was the main tool I used, together with a piece of cloth, a gummy eraser and a plastic sheet with a printed framework for measuring different distances. 

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3: finished!

Sculpture of David

In the big drawing room is a high ceiling with large and small sculptures. Since they are white and walls and ceiling are also white, the statues are sprayed dark on a few places.

One of the large sculptures.

Some students use pencils. 

An important note is that all the students in this class will become professionals at realistic drawing. So there is a big difference in their work and mine and I should not be comparing mine to theirs. But it is great to see how well they can draw!

First week at University of Tsukuba

My short term exchange study at the University of Tsukuba has started this week. 

It was very exciting to explore the huge campus with big research buildings, food courts, and a lot of greenery with moskitoes. 

The first week the weather was great (28-31 degrees with huge amount of humidity) but these last few days have been less (18-24 degrees with rain). The turn of the weather was quite extreme.

Central square near the library. A food court is in the building at the back.

A park near the square. Everyday I traverse this park when cycling to the Art & Design Tower.

The school territory has three residence areas: Oikoshi, Hirasuna and Ichinoya. As a foreign student, I am staying at the Ichinoya residence area. It is said to be the cleanest spot with toilet and shower/bath tub in each room and a shared kitchen and coin laundry. 

My front door.

My room upon entering.

There is a small balkony in the back.

A bed, closet, chair and table are already present.

The small bathroom.

When I first looked at the syllabus, there were too many subjects I could choose from. But when attending the classes, from half of them I was told that they were only for the fourth years (I am third) or that they were on another day at another time during another class I had already planned. My University in Holland had told me to get 20 credits, but in Japan 15 will do. Never imagining that it would be this hard to scrape interesting subjects together, I finally managed to get a working schedule for 20 credits. And after that I got a message from my home university that 15 credits would be sufficient... What was I doing?

641 paged syllabus from which I had to choose my subjects.

Most of the courses are given in japanese. Sometimes I have some trouble understanding certain words, but during artistic classes like sculpture drawing or colour understanding it is not a big hindrance.The powerpoint presentations of most of the theoretical classes are in english and some teachers speak english and that makes it easy for me to understand the classes. 

During the first colour lesson the teacher showed a few examples of compositions with colours. The excercises where based on optical illusions, systematic arrangements, dividing in equal surfaces, etc. The examples were all drawn by hand because the intention was to learn to use colours without the help of a  computer. 

Colour lesson

The classroom for Sculpture drawing has a lot of white sculptures varying in different sizes. Almost forty  students gathered around three sculptures to draw them with pencil or charcoal. For the first time I used a scaling window (plastic sheet with horizontal and vertical lines) and a scaling stick (piece of metal wire for measuring). Another experience of that day was that although the ceiling of the room was very high, everyone was sweating because of the heat. 

Sculpture drawing

 Often after lunchtime, I have an "after dinner dip" which means that I fall asleep at around 1 pm or 2 pm. It happens especially now because I have not yet fully adjusted myself to my new environment and lifestyle. I feel really guilty towards the teacher and find myself stupid each time it happens. But when I look around, it seems that I am not the only person dozing off during class!

A small relief that there are others like me!

Blok 4, year 2, (Apr - May 2013)

TKO

Technische ontwikkeling: Kennis en Ontwerp -  Technical development: Knowledge and Design

Assignment: 1. Create a series of tiles with patterns. 2. Create a 3D ball consisting of tiles.

Product: 1. Multiple tiles that are made out of gips and have a shape like a bird with a small pattern. These are made by laser cutting them out of wood, creating a mould by vacuum packing and then pouring gips.
2. Multiple triangular tiles of gips that are glued together. The shape is formed by making a ball out of pyramids and cutting away some parts. The gips was poured into foam moulds.  

Reflection: Making patterns in AutoCAD was a new way of using this software. 

ABO

Algemene Beeldende Ontwikkeling - General Expressive Development

Assignment: To do research about colour and composition.

Product: a series of paintings.

Reflection: Perspective can be created by letting the colours fade out to white at the horizon. Also placing large (close by) and small (far away) objects gives a sense of deepness.

Paprikas, my favorite

Composition

Collection

PRO

Project

Assignment: Design a cemetery with the measurements of 15 x 17m for the village of Boskoop. 

Product: A cemetery in which the experience of the longness of the site is important. Because of the limited space, the environment should be felt already when entering the parking lot. Ancient japanese and italian graves have been the inspiration for some of the forms. There are family graves, ponds with urns and individual graves.

Reflection: To be sure not to focus too much on one aspect or detail of the design and keeping an eye on the whole picture was very difficult. Even the slightest changes have an effect on the rest of the site. The context (the environment) is also playing a role in the design process. In this case the village has a lot of orchards.

Entrance with family graves

Second halve of the cemetery

The far end with urns and individual graves

Map of the cemetery

Blok 3, year 2 (Feb - Mar 2013)

TKO

Technische ontwikkeling: Kennis en Ontwerp - Technical development: Knowledge and Design

Assignment: create a 3D object with double curved surfaces out of sheet material using 3D software.

Product: round sitting element made out of polypropylene (PP).

Reflection: a form that is too complicated can not be made 

Model printed on paper

Paper model

Simplified product in PP

AKO

Artistieke ontwikkeling: Kennis en Ontwerp - Artistic development: Knowledge and Design

Assignment: create layers with information about the school building. 

Product: An open box with layers consisting of different types of materials. 

Reflection: information can be divided in two types: hard (something visible, measurable) and soft (to sense it, a mood or a feeling). 

Poster presentation

ATV

Artistieke ontwikkeling: Techniek en Vaardigheid - Artistic development: Technics and Skills

Assignment: create a scale model of one of your existing projects with a maximum of two types of materials. 

Product: the Transformatorhuis from Blok 1 has been made out of plexiglass. The walls are completely translucent and the furniture (three blocks) is matte. 

Reflection: this type of material seems to be quite hard and cold. Depending on the purpose of the model, adding colour or another type of material could soften the mood.

Model of plexiglass

PRO

Project

Assignment: create a working space for your idol. You must make a route which takes the user from the entrance to the working area. The size of the available space is 7x11x7m.

Product: The japanese animator and film director Hayao Miyazaki is my idol. His love for nature and sarcastic view on the humans and their industry/technology are the base of my concept: the nature is freeing itself from the humans' grasp. 

Reflection: getting carried away with the steel plates and lighting, I forgot to pay attention to the route and the interior. Next time I should make the sketching models bigger to have a better look at the space.

Miyazaki Atelier

Steel plates control the incoming light

The tree frees itself

Schouw 3, Blok 1 + 2, 2012

At the end of December was my second Schouw at the Spatial Design department.

A few reflections and advises I got from my teachers to break my head on.

AKO: when making compositions try to use more different types of materials. It will deepen your knowledge of expression, colour and space.

TKO: even if the assignment is a technical one, do not forget that there is always a conceptual part as well.

PRO: When designing something, do not focus too much on the details, but try to look at the whole picture. Even when the concept and form studies seem fine, try to experiment more with them, just to make sure why this is the best solution for your idea. 

My work seems to be played a little too safe. By searching and experimenting with abstract pictures and objects, the concept gets a very good base to start from. The form follows naturally from a good substantiated base. It has to start a discussion. 

The Schouw presentations are held in classrooms. Usually there are two students per classroom. Because of the limited space, it is quite difficult to arrange your work properly and often we help each other make the preparations. During our first year we had to show literally everything we made, but from the second year we had to make a selection by ourselves. 

Presentation, PRO blok 2 in the front 

PRO blok 1

Technical and artistic excercises