ryan luke johns portfolio 2005-2009 · 1 projector 2 central material bin (4) 3 retractable touch...

RYAN LUKE JOHNSPORTFOLIO 2005-2009

Roving Library Unit 5

Chinatown Branch Library 13

Bike Share Station 25

Mid-Block Refuge 39

Fondue Abstraction 47

Vision Construction 55

Lerner Hall Study 67

Wallas 73

Putt-Putt Partition 79

Fabricated Chair 83

Electronics 87

Brother 93

Drawings + Collage 99

Model Construction/Craft 109

The Grand [Run] 119

NAME: RYAN LUKE JOHNSBORN: 8/16/1987, Hong KongSEX: MHEIGHT: 5’9”WEIGHT: 137 lbsEYES: BRN

EDUCATION: Columbia CollegeBachelor of Arts 2009Honors in ArchitectureMajor: ArchitectureConcentration: MathematicsMajor GPA 3.9 GPA 3.6

WORK EXPERIENCE: INTERN

Diller Scofi dio + RenfroMay-August 2008Tasks include model construction, material research, on-site assembly, 3D modelling, rendering

Kohn Pederson Fox Associates, May-August 2007Tasks include model construction, Photoshop renderings, Rhino modelling, CAD drafting

RANCH HANDOver 10 summers of work experience on family owned ranch. 11 hour workdays, 6 days per week. Tasks include home and barn construction (all stages), log, stone, and wire fencing, haying (alfalfa), processing of cattle, and installation of irrigation systems

SKILLS: Adobe Creative Suite, AutoCAD, Rhino, Processing, Arduino, Maya, Solidworks, MS Offi ce, Model Construction, Hand Drafting, Circuitry, Drawing, Printmaking, Collage, Italian (intermediate), French, German (basic)2 3RYAN LUKE JOHNS

Portfolio | 2005-2008 Contents

The Roving Library Unit explores the dual functionality of a library: that of providing information and that of collecting information (GIVE vs. GATHER). It takes the retrieval of information into its own hands, while simultaneously providing a greater amount of easily accessible information to its users. It is both bookmobile and briefcase laboratory.

It combines the tactile solidity of books with the fl uid intangibility of digital media. It is both boulder and balloon (information=helium).

It understands the role of the library in collecting/cataloguing/containing local life: by recording the everyman and by recognizing his everyword, it shall become a mechanized outlet of emotion in a city of emotionless mechanisms. It will encourage a new voyeurism–capturing in turn a greater girth of information on the psychology of Manhattanites.

It will gather as much media as possible: just as man’s capabilities in storing information have increased,

stone→paper→books→ … →kilobyte→megabyte→gigabyte→terabyte

so must he expand the genres/amounts of data which he is willing to collect:

basic rules→great events→political policy→census data→daily news/temperature→ … →EVERYTHING

Information is everywhere. It must be gathered on site.Information is needed everywhere. It must be given where it is wanted.

5ROVING LIBRARY UNITStudio: Design II | Critic: Janette Kim | Spring 2008

6 7ROVING LIBRARY UNITStudio: Design II | Critic: Janette Kim | Spring 2008

ROVING LIBRARY UNITStudio: Design II | Critic: Janette Kim | Spring 2008

8 9ROVING LIBRARY UNITStudio: Design II | Critic: Janette Kim | Spring 2008

ROVING LIBRARY UNITStudio: Design II | Critic: Janette Kim | Spring 2008

1 Projector2 Central material bin (4)3 Retractable touch keyboard4 Camera armature5 Collection armature6 Small sample collection armature7 Tread with embedded sensors8 Structural frame9 Variable-opacity glass membrane

10 Door11 Interior camera12 Photovoltaic collectors13 Seat14 Headrest15 Back View (“Gather”)16 Sliding armature portal17 Antenna18 Hinged material bin cover19 Digital data storage and processing unit20 Fluid storage containers

21 Battery unit22 Sample view from camera23 View from interior (variable opacity glass)24 Means of movement diagram25 Inner wheel26 Electric motor27 Sliding weights28 Tilt (turning) diagram29 Front View (“Give”)30 Satellite View

11ROVING LIBRARY UNITStudio: Design II | Critic: Janette Kim | Spring 2008

As with the Roving Library Unit, the Chinatown Branch Library recognizes that as texts become increasingly digitized, the library must revive its necessity by supplementing this textual information with that that cannot be accessed digitally—the information of objects. In curating and combining written information with that of informative objects, the library enables a kind of research unobtainable via private PC.

In the search for information, scales shift from large to small as the desired material is pinpointed. Each stage presents its own information as we index and re-index from city block to paragraph. An enormous amount of information is parsed in order to obtain a specifi c piece of knowledge: information is not merely found in the result, but exists everywhere in the search. The Chinatown Branch Library suggests this universality of knowledge by paralleling its containers of information with its containers of program and in turn, the city.

13CHINATOWN BRANCH LIBRARYStudio: Design II | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2008

14 15CHINATOWN BRANCH LIBRARYStudio: Design II | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2008

CHINATOWN BRANCH LIBRARYStudio: Design II | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2008

CITY

LIBRARY INDEX

INDEX AREA

STACK SHELF

SITE

BOOK INDEX PAGE LINE

(map)

(catalogue)

(contents)

The site is examined in the context of its surroundings in a fl ash video (made in collaboration with Alyssa Yee, Gabriel Schama and Aanya Chugh). The video examines the rapid evolution and reprogramming of interstitial spaces in Chinatown through the lens of a game of Tetris.

Changes in Scale and the Search for Information: Indexing and Re-indexing

INITIAL PROGRAM CONSIDERATIONS:

NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY Program Net SFAdult Collection/Seating 1,000Young Adult Collection/Seating 2,000Children’s Collection/Seating 1,000Computer Access Area(s) 1,000Media 500Meeting Room 500Non-Public Work Area(s) 750Staff Offi ces 500LIBRARY PROGRAM AREA 8,000

CENTER FOR URBAN PEDAGOGYProgram Net SF Gallery/Presentation 750Archive 500Meeting/Work Rooms 1,000Training Workstations 600Editing Rooms 300Equipment Loan/Storage 500Staff Offi ces 500CUP PROGRAM AREA 4,150

Additional Considerations: Delivery, Restrooms,Information, Outdoor Programs

1716 CHINATOWN BRANCH LIBRARYStudio: Design II | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2008


In this branch of the New York Public Library, information is categorized and organized into eleven-inch cubes by commissioned experts, authors and artists. These cubes contain not only textual information, but a diverse range of hand-selected media which most precisely conveys their subject. The design and concept of the Chinatown Branch Library is presented as one of these cubes.



1/8” Scale Model

Opposite: View from Eldridge St; Program Blocks Become Signage



Roof Plan Level 5 Level 4

Level 1

Basement

Level 2Level 3

OUTDOORSTAFF OFFICES TRAINING

MEETING2

EDIT 1

EDIT 2

LOAN / STORAGE

OUTDOOR LIBRARY STAFFCHILDREN

ARCHIVE MEETING 1

OUTDOOR

YOUNG ADULT

OUTDOORPUBLICMEET

TEENSTUDY

COMP. ADULT BOOTH

OUTDOOR GALLERY LOAD

PROCESSING AND STORAGEWC

WC

COPY

2322 CHINATOWN BRANCH LIBRARYStudio: Design II | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2008


This project calls for a central hub of a NYC bike-share program, situated on a new pier off of Riverside Park between 72nd and 79th street on the west side of Manhattan.

The site is surrounded by lingering elements of its industrial past—ruined and rusting loading docks are scattered upon the water, while traces of the old railway are strewn upon the land. In a way, it is the environmental impact of these past industries which has mandated the necessity of a bike-share program.

The users of the station are inspired to understand the signifi cance of the site—its layered history, its placement upon the waterfront, and its position on the periphery of Manhattan.

Just as the use of the park has developed with roots within the rich soil of its historic surroundings, so are the functions of the station anchored and burrowed within these layers. The layered landscape of the proposed bike station rolls like waves away from the city—expanding outwards as New Yorkers pour their spatial needs upon the periphery.

25BIKE SHARE STATIONStudio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 2007

1800

2007

1885

SITE MAPHighlights land expansion, accessible bike routes (blue), and historical use.

26 BIKE SHARE STATION: SITE ANALYSISStudio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 2007

A fl ash video (made in collaboration with Alex Cook and Daniella Zalcman) explores the rich historical development of the site. Examining both the site’s industrial past and the changing cycling community which it fosters, it emphasizes the interesting and often awkward overlap of new developments with the lingering layers of the past.

2928 BIKE SHARE STATIONStudio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 2007

BIKE SHARE STATIONStudio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 2007

Model Sections

30 31BIKE SHARE STATIONStudio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 2007


Section I

Section II

North Elevation

West ElevationEast Elevation

Plans



In order to remain useful during inclement weather, the bicycle racks serve the secondary function of an enclosed space for stationary-bike riding. A retractable enclosure is lifted using the pedal-power of the rider, allowing the space to be converted instantaneously. When the user stops pedaling, the cover retracts and the bicycle becomes available once more.

Rainy Day Rendering

Opposite: Retractable enclosure diagram and model

35BIKE SHARE STATIONStudio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 200734 BIKE SHARE STATION

Studio: Design I | Critic: Bill Arbizu | Fall 2007

Whereas public piers often engage the waterfront by directing the user’s gaze outwards, the bike station encourages the user to look upon the city—causing him to recognize his position of periphery.

Below: View from Southwest

Opposite: View from East End of Pier



The desire for “escape” is often felt within the mechanized repetition of a monotonous metropolis—in seeking refuge/relaxation/recovery, city citizens attempt to temporarily remove themselves from the urban environment: they hide themselves in artifi cial shrubberies or travel across the bridges at the city’s periphery to seek an area which has not yet been tarnished by the urban sprawl.

Escape from the metropolitan machine, however, is not only attained beyond the urban fringe: the most effi cient getaway is one which can be attained instantaneously, within the walls of the city. This relaxation is gained by perceiving one’s own stationary position relative to the ceaseless fl ow of the city: It is resting within an eddy as a raging river goes by. It is stopping for conversation or walking against the grain within a massive crowd. It is watching people run about their daily lives while sitting within the confi nes of a comfortable café. It is schadenfreude.

The Mid-Block Refuge creates an instant retreat within the city—it is a shell of safety within a torrential metropolis. While its walls provide a sense of solitude, this protection is drawn from the chaos of the surrounding city.

39MID-BLOCK REFUGEStudio: Design I | Critic: David Smiley | Fall 2007

Sec

tion

Dev

elop

men

t

p. 31

A Break in the City Individuals Among the Masses An Eddy in the Metropolitan Flow

CONCEPT SKETCHES

41MID-BLOCK REFUGEStudio: Design I | Critic: David Smiley | Fall 2007

Concept Comparisons

Plan Section

Roof Plan

40 MID-BLOCK REFUGEStudio: Design I | Critic: David Smiley | Fall 2007

Rendered Section

Below: Exterior View from North (Right)

View from Interior (Left)

Panel Development (3 views x 3 stages)

42 MID-BLOCK REFUGEStudio: Design I | Critic: David Smiley | Fall 2007

Piezoelectric Tile

One-way Glass

Photovoltaic Panel

Piezoelectric tiles harness the energy of the bustling metropolis during the day, providing power for an illuminated haven at night.

44 45MID-BLOCK REFUGEStudio: Design I | Critic: David Smiley | Fall 2007

MID-BLOCK REFUGEStudio: Design I | Critic: David Smiley | Fall 2007

In architectural practice, it is often impossible to transfer idea into building instantaneously; rather, that idea must be converted through several mediums before it is able to exist in its fi nal physical condition. In order to ensure a lossless conversion process, it is essential that this procedure is practiced and refi ned.

The fondue abstraction is a practice in this procedure, evolving as follows:

preparation/cooking process (fondue)→photography→photo-manipulation/collage→line→vector fi eld→model

Each stage of this evolution deals with the act of mixing and combining, recognizing that any process of food preparation is not a fi nite event: things have been mixed before you purchased them, and they will be remixed internally once you have consumed them.

In converting this concept through several means of representation, this “continual mixing” principle was not lost before reaching its fi nal state as model, but rather, was enriched by the multiple mediums through which it passed.

47FONDUE ABSTRACTIONStudio: Abstraction | Critic: Monica Tiulescu | Spring 2007

Drawings and Photocollage: Mixing/Remixing/Cooking/Combining (Fondue)

Vector Diagram

48 FONDUE ABSTRACTIONStudio: Abstraction | Critic: Monica Tiulescu | Spring 2007

Collage Line Drawing

51FONDUE ABSTRACTIONStudio: Abstraction | Critic: Monica Tiulescu | Spring 2007

MIXING + REMIXING{INFINITE CONTINUITY}

Model Perspective and Section Drawings

Opposite: Fondue Abstraction Model

52 53FONDUE ABSTRACTIONStudio: Abstraction | Critic: Monica Tiulescu | Spring 2007

FONDUE ABSTRACTIONStudio: Abstraction | Critic: Monica Tiulescu | Spring 2007

The Vision Construction is an exploration of vision through the appendages, and the effect of this alteration upon our perception. It proposes an evolution of the human body—an inner gutter system which transports the eyes to new sockets in the extremities.

The model seeks to understand the effects of having the eyes in two completely different areas at the same time—testing whether this vision would heighten our perception, or if instead, the effects of our inner parallax would render these images incomprehensible. The model creates, through a series of angled mirrors, the impression of sight through the hand in the left eye while maintaining regular vision in the right. An electronic motor system allows the user to see in multiple directions through the hand (posterior, lateral, and inferior) by redirecting the path of light with a change of mirror angles.

55VISION CONSTRUCTIONStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

57VISION CONSTRUCTIONStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 200656 VISION CONSTRUCTION

Studio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

6160 VISION CONSTRUCTIONStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

VISION CONSTRUCTIONStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

62 63VISION CONSTRUCTIONStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

VISION CONSTRUCTIONStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

In studying Bernard Tschumi’s Lerner Hall, an interpretation of “vectors” is unavoidable. Our perception of this vector-space is rendered two-dimensional by the large, fl at façade of the building. As the ramps run parallel to the curtain wall, and the student mail services run along these ramps, the façade assumes the role of screen, presenting student activity as an ant-farm of sorts.

In this space, the head-on crisscrossing of paths becomes much more likely, and likewise, more apparent. The interaction of individuals in this two dimensional realm therefore becomes dependant upon the time period in which these paths are traced.

This project traces the paths of eleven individuals through the space, in terms of the two spatial dimensions (X, Y) apparent in the façade, over a four hour period.

In this study, we begin to see that the interaction of individuals within the hall is much less dependant upon intersections in standard 3-space (X, Y, Z), but derives, rather, its value from its placement in a system dependant upon time (X, Y, TIME).

67LERNER HALL STUDYStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

Path Models (extracted from collage)Collage illustrates the paths of 11 individuals through Lerner Hall over a 4 hour time period.

69LERNER HALL STUDYStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 200668 LERNER HALL STUDY


→→→

TIMEY

X

The model compresses the paths of the eleven individuals presented in the collage into one space-time display. Colored squares and thread key these paths with the collage, indicating which individual is represented, and when their path began in the four-hour time-spectrum.

→→ TIME

Y

→→ X

Y

70 71LERNER HALL STUDYStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

LERNER HALL STUDYStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

“He walks on and gradually unrolls the uninterrupted ribbon of his own passage, not a series of irrational, unrelated images, but a smooth band where each element immediately takes its place in the web, even the most fortuitous, even those that might at fi rst seem absurd or threatening or anachronistic or deceptive; they all fall into place in good order, one beside the other and the ribbon extends without fl aw or excess”

-Excerpt from Alain Robbe-Grillet’s The Erasers

Everything is connected. Our own existence is entirely dependent upon the infi nite web in which we are emeshed; we are nothing without our surroundings. This is the world of Wallas, the protagonist of Alain Robbe-Grillet’s The Erasers–his existence is composed of fragmented memories and strands of interconnected information. The text itself is bound together with words that thread and tie themselves throughout its pages. Textually, Wallas holds a central role in the massive conglomerate of ideas which is the story. He is defi ned by the linked ideas which surround him, and when these pieces are pulled away or rearranged “his existence loses shape.”

73WALLASStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

TEXT SAMPLES

“His existence loses its shape.”

74 WALLASStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

WALLASStudio: Perception | Critic: Madeline Schwartzman | Fall 2006

}MOST→LEASTFROM CENTER

WORD FREQUENCYLINKS TO OTHER WORDS

77

The traditional folding partition has two functions:

1. Divide/Conceal (Unfolded)2. Open/Reveal (Folded)

The latter function however, is simply a position of neutrality—were the wall not to exist, the room would remain “open.” The Putt-Putt Partition seeks to break the neutrality of the “open” function: rather than simply opening the space, it encourages social exchange. By becoming a surface for putt-putt golf, it functions in opposition to the idea of “division,” actively bringing the room together. By using found objects as obstacles for the game and roommates as players, the wall becomes a gravitational center for the room, depolarizing both object and individual.

79PUTT-PUTT PARTITIONPartner: Christopher Macies | Summer 2006

Stand for Privacy Down for PlayFold for Storage

80 81PUTT-PUTT PARTITIONPartner: Christopher Macies | Summer 2006

PUTT-PUTT PARTITIONPartner: Christopher Macies | Summer 2006

As an introduction to CNC milling, a two-week / three-session workshop was offered by the Columbia Architecture department in collaboration with Tietz-Baccon Fabrication. The result was the following transformable laminate chair. Designed and produced with Alex Cook and Doreen Lam.

83FABRICATED CHAIRCritic: Hye-Young Chung | Fall 2008

84 FABRICATED CHAIRCritic: Hye-Young Chung | Fall 2008

Above: Potential Uses / Chair designers

(Doreen Lam, Ryan Johns, Alex Cook)

Right: 3/4” Scale CNC Milling Plan (x4)

Opposite: Chair Arrangements

85FABRICATED CHAIRCritic: Hye-Young Chung | Fall 2008

Electronic Development : Architectural Design

Both forms of development involve an untangling of plans and a manipulation of path. In both realms, one must consider the desired function of a project and effi ciently direct an internal energy (electrical/human) to achieve this purpose.

The following projects are examples of electronic design, and in turn, displays of architectural understanding.

87ELECTRONICS2005-2006

“Ryan’s mod is just beautiful.”

“The most badass ipod case ever.”

.com-

.com-

HOLD INDICATOR LED

VOLUME UP

SEEK FORWARD

SEEK BACK

HOLD SWITCH

VOLUME KNOB

PREVIOUS TRACK

NEXT TRACK

VOLUME DOWN

PLAY/PAUSE

SPEAKER

The iBoy is an iPod case with an internal dock connector—allowing the user to control the iPod with the buttons of an outdated Game Boy. Complete with a functioning speaker, hold switch, and headphone port, the iBoy is a user-friendly theft-deterrent.

88 89iBOYFunctional iPod Disguise | Spring 2006

iBOYFunctional iPod Disguise | Spring 2006

Designed for the 2005 Olympia HS Parade of Nerds, this “Calculus Hat” displays the graph of the sphere X²+Y²+(Z-5.25)²=12.25 and the parabola Z=(-1/4)Y²+12.5.The elliptic parabaloid Z=(-1/4)Y²+(-1/4)²+12.5 is drawn via light path by the motorized rotation of the LED illuminated parabola about the Z-axis.

CALCULUS HATCritic: Jan Stuckey | Spring 200590 91CALCULUS HAT

Critic: Jan Stuckey | Spring 2005

As many humans look towards the fantasies of science fi ction they often forget the magic of the everyday object. They constantly disregard and discard the obsolete as they struggle to own the most recent technology.

Brother encourages a revision of this philosophy. Part obsolete-electronics and part science fi ction, he is a re-engineered electronic typewriter that can understand and respond to human speech. Internally overhauled and programmed with Processing, brother utilizes speech recognition and an AI response database to hold complex conversation. You speak, he types.

93brotherStudio: Independent Study | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2009

brotherStudio: Independent Study | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 200994 95brother

Studio: Independent Study | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2009

brotherStudio: Independent Study | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 200996 97brother

Studio: Independent Study | Critic: Karen Fairbanks | Spring 2009

Arduino

Switchboard Circuit

TypewriterCircuit

TypedResponse

Microphone Speech Recognition

ResponseDatabase

Application

Processing Code

With the increasing ease and availability of digital design mediums, the importance of hand as tool is often neglected. The hand, however, has an inseverable alliance with human perception and imagina-tion—it is the most honest and expedient means of channeling spatial fi gures and imagined ideas onto a two-dimensional surface. Unbiased by binary decryption, it is an essential element in the true translation of imagination.

99DRAWING + COLLAGE2006 - 2008

Above: Drypoint Stg. 1

Below: Zinc Plate

101Abstract CollagesStudio: Basic Drawing | Critic: Thomas White | Spring 2006100 Drypoint, Etching, Aquatint

Studio: Intro to Printmaking | Critic: Jomar Statkun | Spring 2008

103AUTOPSY IN THREAD (Thread, Ink, Pencil, Tea on Canvas)Studio: Basic Drawing | Critic: Thomas White | Spring 2006

105VICE WALLPAPER (Tricolor Woodblock Print)Studio: Intro to Printmaking | Critic: Jomar Statkun | Spring 2008

106 107Watercolor, Pencil / Collage / Charcoal2007

Charcoal, PencilStudio: Basic Drawing | Critic: Thomas White | Spring 2006

Buildings must fi rst exist in the form of dollhouse. It is only in this manner that we can play out our architectural fancies in their entirety before they are converted from imagination to reality. Without the aided decryption provided by good modelling, this conversion process results in a massive loss of information.

Craft and intricacy in building fi nds its roots in the intricate craft of transferring ideas into models.

The following models were built during summer internships at Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates and Diller Scofi dio + Renfro.

109MODEL CONSTRUCTION/CRAFTInternships | 2007-2008

111X3-2 BASE MODELKPF Internship | Summer 2007110 X3-2 BASE MODEL

KPF Internship | Summer 2007

113112 X3-2 UPPER MODELKPF Internship | Summer 2007

X3-2 UPPER MODEL: SOLAR STUDIESKPF Internship | Summer 2007

Foam topography carved by lofting between laser-cut sections at 1” intervals

Model surfaced in fi berglass with voids for laminated terraces

Painted model with inset terraces and program elements

From Top Right: Material/form studies, Fitting of laminated terrace elements, Model split for shipping, Cutting templates before surfacing with fi berglass, Hand-carved/painted plexiglass component, Material Samples, Filling Seams, Studies in surfacing options, Examining the fl exibility of the laser-cut mesh

114 115TAEKWONDO PARK MODELDS+R Internship | Summer 2008

TAEKWONDO PARK MODELDS+R Internship | Summer 2008

116 117TAEKWONDO PARK MODELDS+R Internship | Summer 2008

TAEKWONDO PARK MODELDS+R Internship | Summer 2008

Upon my graduation in May 2009, I began a 2,542-mile adapted version of the classical Grand Tour.

Combining my passion for architecture with my love of distance running, I ran from Amsterdam to Athens over the course of 130 days. Extensive planning went into the trip, and the end route brought me through 7 countries: the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Greece. I averaged 20 miles per day.

The objectives of the trip were multifold: to see and experience art and architecture fi rsthand; to perceive distances on a human scale; to expose myself to new cultures; to improve my abilities in French, German and Italian; and to test my own limitations.

Over the course of the trip I obeyed two simple rules: maintain an unbroken line on foot, and never pay for a place to sleep. In this way I was able to see each destination for what it really was and learn about local life by entering the homes of the complete strangers who offered me hospitality.

During the trip, I updated a daily online journal of my experiences which was followed consistently by a thousand readers. The story was featured in several newspapers and radio interviews, including the Italian “l’Unità” and “Ecoradio.”

More information on my journey can be found online at:www.ryanlukejohns.com/runseurope

119THE GRAND [RUN]May-September 2009

Opposite: Screenshots from the website made for the run – 1. An embedded interactive map allows people to explore the route and points of interest. 2. Daily blog featured geotagged photos, mileage totals and a description of each day’s events, including the search for a place to sleep. The blog held a thousand followers. 3. Route diagram identifi es the 7 countries and the largest city passed through in each.

Above: Day Fifty-Five, Running between Zug and Altdorf, Switzerland. A 54.8 Kilometer day.

1

2

3

120 121THE GRAND [RUN]May-September 2009

THE GRAND [RUN]May-September 2009

Above: Shirt with silkscreened route enabled me to quickly explain myself to potential hosts during the run

Left: Silkscreened “Thank You” Postcards

Opposite: Selected photos from the runShipping & Transport College, Rotterdam, NetherlandsAmiens Cathedral, Amiens, FranceVilla Savoye, Poissy, FranceView from the Tour Eiffel, Paris, FranceChâteau de Blandy-les-Tours, Blandy-les-Tours, FranceNotre Dame du Haut, Ronchamp, FranceETH-Dfab Studio, Zurich, SwitzerlandS. Maria degli Angeli, Monte Tamaro, SwitzerlandLeaning Tower, Pisa, ItalyDome of St. Peter’s Basilica, Vatican CityTempio di Nettuno, Paestum, ItalySassi, Matera, ItalyMeteora, Kalambaka, GreeceParthenon, Athens, GreecePanathinaiko Stadium, Athens, Greece

122 123THE GRAND [RUN]May-September 2009

THE GRAND [RUN]May-September 2009

RYAN LUKE [email protected] 6 0 . 4 0 2 . 7 5 3 3www.ryanlukejohns.com

ryan luke johns portfolio 2005-2009 · 1 projector 2 central material bin (4) 3 retractable touch...

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