WI 10

Over the course of this semester I feel like I have grown tremendously not only as a designer but also as an individual. At the outset of the semester one of my main goals was to figure out how I was able to best communicate my design ideas and design process. While exploring through a number of ways to communicate my thoughts and ideas, I feel like I have arrived to the conclusion that digital rendering is one of the means of communication that I feel most comfortable with. In each of the Jenga assignments I have made an attempt to include some form of digital rendering and alterations to shape my presentations as an individual and in group work.

This semester has also taught me a lot about myself as an individual. One thing that I have learned is that I do have the capability of being a positive leader, as I served as group leader in our groups of 6, and the co leader in our groups of 12. This role was a complete 360 from the role I normally play in group projects where I simply go along with everything just for the sake of “getting it done”. The reason why some of my group members nominated me as leader was because they felt that I strengths when it came to time management and making sure that things were completed in a timely fashion. This was a large step for me as time management was one of the goals that I aimed to conquer at the beginning of the semester. I learned that while I cannot expect others to have the same work ethic I can lead by example and set a pace for others in the group to work at.

When evaluating my design process and how I work I personally feel that writing itself is not as important to the design process but there does need to be a form of documentation to help record ideas and designs. While the end product is what everyone is interested in and wants to see I also understand that the process work is equally as important. This could be writing, digital documentation, or even photography, however I think it depends on the designer’s process and way that they work. When starting out with a design I found that sketch models and exploring my ideas physically is an important initial step in my design process because it gives me an understanding of how one would experience the space.


At the end of the semester I felt that not only did I achieve the goals that I had set out to accomplish, but I also leaned more about the technical side of designing, for example placing a ramp in a 22’x32’ space is a terrible idea, and that trap doors should only be included in a design if they are relevant to the concept. In light of these lessons I also leaned that you can’t be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone and become a designer who is confident in their work.

Jenga 7.0

In Jenga 7.0 we found ourselves being merged into even larger groups of 12, with Symbiosis and Pinnacle. When combining the concepts behind each group in order to create a new structure we wanted to maintain the curved motions from team symbiosis, and the stratified upward motion that lead to the Pinnacle from our group. At the outset of our design process it was tough to come to a consensus with 12 different design voices speaking at once. However I feel that as co leaders Justin Mcnair and myself were able to help mediate the different ideas so that the group could come to a clear decision that allowed everyone’s voice to be herd. Our structure was a complete inclusion of each individual’s concept word. My concept word Tilt can be seen in the upward slanting motion of the building with each floor tilting off of its axis by 15 degrees. While each concept word is evidently seen on the exterior of the building we also wanted to intertwine the use of our concept words with in the site itself. For example the manor in which the rolling cliffs and hills tilt along the countryside was taken into consideration when placing our building in this location. Our building was meant to stand out through color and materiality, while speaking to the site itself structurally becoming a continuation of the tilting hillsides and stratified cliffs.

First year review

While sitting in one the first year’s presentations one of the student’s work that stood out to me was Kristy Stroud’s project. I felt like her use of line weights in her plans and sections gave a good sense of depth to her technical drawings. I also think that her technique that she used for her perspectives gave them a dynamic quality that brought them to life. The only thing that I would have liked to see was more information shown in her perspectives, or more perspectives overall. This would greatly improve the relationship between what her concept was and what was being communicated to the audience.

Practicing with Podium

Over the course of the semester I feel like I have began to grow in the digital field of rendering between Rhino, Podium, and Photoshop. Here were some of the individual renderings that I have done this semester. While I still have room to grow and more to learn I feel like this is a strong start because technology is a gateway to the future.

Schroder House Competition board and Model

Rhino Model

While learning to use Rhino for the first time I was able to use the rendering software V ray as well.

Top 10 useful Tips for the Semester

While I found several of the the tips that my classmates gave me helpful there were 10 tips that I felt stood out to me the most and could help me in areas that I can improve on.

No Particular order
10. Use a layout that speaks to the design language of your overall project. (Cassandra&Jasmine)
9. Be patient, focus your attention, allow plenty of time, and take breaks. (Justin & Sharon)
8.Diagrams are not technical drawings (Faith & Leslie)
7. When an idea comes to you write it down!(Alyssa & Blakeni)
6. Organization makes a system of many seem fewer (Corry & Kacie)
5.Keep your presentations simple and to the point (Audra & Jamaan)
4.Always purge your unused data in sketch up (Brian & Phill)
3. Printing a section cut from sketch up is the only way to keep it to scale (Anna & Austin)
2 Don't over use a word in your writ ting (Kara & Kathryn)
1. Make time to take a break from your work and sleep. (Abigail & Nikki)

7.0 Merger

For the next part of this Jenga series of projects our group of 3 which became a group of 6 is now a group of 12. Our team which was team Pinnacle merged with team symbiosis in order to form team synergy. When merging our two buildings together one of our concepts that we wanted to focus on was the idea of shelter and enclosure. This heavily influenced our design with our building being separated to give an open feeling as one would approach the space, in contrast to the other building which was closed off. Our group will continue to experiment and push this design further as we collaborate under the leadership of Justin and myself.