Final Learning Portfolio Samia Rashed Arch 20 Paul Nowicki & Jerry Lum City College San Francisco 6 May 2015

Introduction

Excitement, eagerness, and anticipation were all the emotions I was feeling on the first day class. I had an idea of what the semester entailed but I never knew that it would push my creativity this far. I’ve had experience hand drafting in high school and I loved it. Just being able to do that once again was pure nostalgia. Once I began to learn Sketch Up, I took off almost instantly. I’m quite the fast learner and having a background in AutoCAD really helped me in the second half of the semester. Sketch Up helped me in various ways by assisting my in designing models much faster than I would have by hand. Sketch Up also assisted me in stumbling upon methods and new designs I never knew where possible. There is one thing about Sketch Up that I do not enjoy, as with any other computer program, if I don’t know what I want to be done my work process becomes mindless clicking of the mouse. But all in all, I'm so happy to have learned how to use Sketch Up and I plan to use it for anything and everything in the future.

Week 1: 3 Dog Houses

Week 2: Array Exercise

Week 3: Dog House 2.0

Week 4: Circular Stairs

Week 5: Malevich Inspired Construction

Week 6: Paper Airplanes o. Paper Airplane Flotilla

o. Paper Airplane Flotilla over landscape

Week 7: Rotate and Sandbox Exercise o. My personal design

o. Class design

Week 8: Interior Studies o. Iteration 1 o. Iteration 2

Week 9: Photo match Rin’s Pic

Final Project

Table of Content  

Week 1: 3 Dog Houses “Learning success essentials & icebreaker: ‘Dog House 1’- We start from the familiar and simple.”

Reflections on 3 Dog Houses

Strengths: •  The amount of time it took me to complete it. •  The use of shadows to create a realistic look and feel to my model. •  The use of Lucy the Giant Dog and Steve for proportion of my model.

Weaknesses: •  The colors I chose aren't exactly harmonious. •  The lack of design creativity in this first attempt. Discoveries: •  How Sketch Up interprets your model, for example, it doesn’t create

solids but rather planes that can be connected to make solids. •  Certain lines cannot be deleted because they will also delete a plane. •  Getting a dramatic view to portray exactly how you feel about your

model. I feel like the images of my model do not have that “wow” factor I was looking for, and I tried various times to achieve that “wow” factor.

Week 2: Array Exercises “Copy, components, layers, 3D Warehouse, move, scale, rotate, and follow me tool.”

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Reflections on 3 Dog Houses

This assignment was fun. I was able to figure out how to create something fairly simple and turn it into something fairly complex. I was able to play around with shadows and find cool patterns my model created when I applied shadows. I was having a hard time with this model because for some reason p a r t s o f m y m o d e l w o u l d disappear as I would orbit, pan, and zoom. I later figured out that it was the “viewing mode” I had it in. I thought I was in perspective view but I was actually in parallel view!

Week 3: Dog House 2.0

Reflections on Dog House 2.0

I was really able to experiment with this model. I initially began to follow the directions but then I began to question my choices in my model. I made a few rectangular platforms and rotated them at approximately 30 degrees to create more of a dynamic affect and to make my model more visually appealing. As for the colors, I think this was my most successful in harmonizing exterior finishes. I'm not exactly the person who can pair things together and make it work, but when I do, I can make some pretty neat things.

Week 4: Circular Stairs

Reflections on Circular Stairs

This model was slightly mind numbing to create. There was a lot of “copying and pasting” going on. After a while I realized this was an efficient and effective way to create the simplest of things, like this set of stairs! I really did learn to appreciate the repetition in design a little more when creating this model.

Week 5: Malevich Inspired Construction

Reflections on Malevich Inspired Construction

This was on of my favorite models to create. Although it doesn't’t follow Russian constructivist styles, I was able to recreate a model I had created in Arch 101. This time I was able to achieve almost exactly what I was trying to achieve before and I was able to add color. My favorite part of this model was using the push/pull tool because that’s how I was able to achieve those angles. I simple selected a line and moved it until I was happy with its placement.

Model from my Arch 101 class

Week 6: Paper Air Planes

Reflections on Paper Air Planes

This model was interesting to construct because I actually had to construct a paper air plane by hand before I jumped into Sketch Up to model it. Before I would just open up Sketch Up and begin to model something before actually thinking about what I was going to do. Folding played a big part in creating this model. It was almost like mark your fold, orient your rotation tool correctly, then fold your “paper” into an air plane.

Video: https://youtu.be/LJqRyNnn3f8

Week 7: Rotate and Sandbox Exercise

Reflections on Rotate and Sandbox Exercise

At this point in the semester, I’ve noticed that there is plenty of repetition in design. Making a few simple elements can result in a complex compound of a structure. By now I’ve become a pro at the push/pull tool, the rotate tool, and the line tool. I’ve just begun to experiment with sandbox and at first I could not get the hang of it. After a few failed attempts I finally understood how sandbox works and I successfully made a landscape that my model can inhabit.

Week 8: Interior Studies

Reflections on Interior Studies

In this week, we created 2 different models exploring 2 different things. In the first set of photos, we used repetition again but this time we enclosed a space. We also used the push/pull tool to create vaulted arches ina cube. The second set of images was used to study the different feelings of a space if it has more or less furniture and or windows. I felt like the structure with only 2 windows was far more “comfy” that that of the structure with 4 windows. The one with 4 windows felt more like a public space; less personal.

Week 9: Photo Match Rin’s Pic

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Reflections on Photo Match Rin’s Pic

When I first began this model, I thought it was going to be extremely difficult to use “photo match”. Also because I had no idea as to what this location really looks like. All I had were images of the location but even then there were missing pieces. After sitting and absorbing this assignment, I was able to move the uncertainty and I began to experiment once again. I really like the freedom that Sketch Up gives its user to experiment with.

Final Project

Reflections on Final Project

This project was extremely fun to model. I was given parameters but then I was allowed to do whatever I wanted to do with my cabin. I kept the design of the cabin extremely similar to the handout but I did switch up a few things as pictured in the images. I went for a more modern feel in this cabin, I tried to keep things simple inside and out. The feelings (I feel) that this cabin give off are calm, cool, and serene.

-Reflections- This class was extremely fun!!! I loved being taken out of my comfort zone in hand drafting and in computer modeling. After a while I became extremely comfortable with Sketch Up and I learned that many design elements come from simple elements and with a little repetition and maybe some rotation here and there you could really get something that is interesting in both architecture and supports. I'm glad I learned Sketch Up this semester because I now will use it for everything I do!

SLO 1: Create accurate drawings that communicate simple architectural design intentions.

Apply graphic conventions and standards appropriately

4

Relate each drawing within a set to each other to fully describe significant aspects of a design from the general to the specific

3

Demonstrate a correspondence between the design intentions to be communicated and the graphic representations produced to communicate them

3

Produce drawing that are readable and meaningful to others 4

SLO 2: Analyze the specific intentions communicated by analog and digital modes of graphic communication.

Identify the intended message(s) behind the graphic communication, whether produced by analog or digital means

3

Assess the integrity of the message(s) – identify the strengths and weaknesses of the represented intentions

4

Assess the efficacy of the related graphic representation(s) 4

Propose enhancements to what is being graphically communicated 5

SLO Progress Report scale: 5 (highest) - 0 (least)

SLO 3: Apply use of scales, line quality, graphic conventions, and drawing systems and techniques.

Create clear and appropriately ordered hierarchies of visual information 4

Compose elements of a drawing in a clear organized manner that relates visual information on each drawing and between sets of related drawings

3

SLO 4: Demonstrate an understanding of the purposes of various architectural graphic techniques.

Identify the similarities and differences between:

Orthographic projections: plan, section, elevations, and details 5

Paraline drawing: isometric and oblique 5

Perspective drawing: 1-, 2- and 3-point 5

Compare and contrast the graphic systems describe directly above 4

Demonstrate an integrated use of analog and digital tools in the process of developing a set of design intentions

4

SLO Progress Report – continued