Architecture is construction of ideas and experiences in built space. It is also sculpture of natural light. Taking these two ideas, you will explore single spaces and forms that allow natural light to enter in different ways. In addition you will explore creating these spaces under ground, in the ground, on top of the ground and above the ground- all places architecture is built! Create 4 models that allow light to enter in different ways while responding to connections to the ground in different ways. Draw your four spaces from above, in section and in plan. Move your ideas around in your imagination, on paper, in construction and !

Design a pavilion for eating, playing games, doing homework, talking with friends. Design the floor plan of your pavilion at ¼"=1’-0" scale. Calculate square footages associated with the design. Include major features like doors and windows. Print the graph paper and draw the exterior elevations of your pavilion. Align them with your floor plan.

Models are additional tools that designers use to study solutions and to communicate their ideas to others. Begin building your model by gluing a copy of your original floor plan drawing to a piece of cardboard. Use your elevation drawings to measure out the exterior walls onto cardboard to be cut out. Glue together one corner of the exterior on the model base. Build up the rest of your exterior walls and your interior walls using your elevations and floor plans as guides. To finish your model, build a removable roof. Photograph your pavilion. Submit your pavilion.

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Think balance. Think parts to whole, top to bottom, inside to outside. This pavilion should express the idea of balance. How you do that is up to you. Explore the word balance. Try to look at buildings and see if they are balanced. Can imbalance suggest balance? Define balance and create a pavilion that expresses a static quality. Give it a local or global topic.

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This time, think like nature. Start by doing a series of line drawings that demonstrate one of nature’s verbs. Use a word like grow, flow, wrap, radiate, mirror, multiply, etc. The movement and expression of your lines should exemplify nature’s verbs. Then think about making your drawn expression a spatial experience. Turn your 2-D lines into 3-D form studies. Make five different study models out of stiff paper. Make the models quickly. These are called working or study models. Put your lines and models together out on a table or pinned up on a wall. Evaluate them. Choose a direction from one or more of your conceptual ideas. Develop the design in a 1/4” finished model. Photograph your model and submit it to the gallery!

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Working with models is different than modeling digitally. Physical models allow us to study views and form in tangible perceptible ways: turning the model over, adding parts, subtracting pieces. Digitally modeling a project allows us to rotate our design, set time of day, apply sunlight and shadows, apply materials and give us an experience of walking up, to, and through the building. We can learn and understand different things with these different ways of making space and form. Working in both ways is the best of both worlds! Design an earth day pavilion. Make physical study models and then digitally model your creation in SketchUp!. Be a well rounded designer!

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