Exercise One: Alanna

In ten years from now, I will have completed my Bachelor of Design at OCAD, and should be well on my way to having a successful career in interior design. I also hope to have travelled to at least a few different countries by then, as it has always been my dream to see the world. I think that travelling would not only allow me to gain experiences, but would also have a big impact on my design work.

I find that the most interesting aspects of interior design are the relationships that exist between different forms, appropriate lighting and the importance of choosing the right colours for a space. Aside from becoming an interior designer, I hope to have maintained and further developed my interest for drawing, painting, fashion design & dancing.

Exercise One: Nathan Albion

Nathan Albion

 

It's difficult to really tell where I will be in ten years.  Hopefully by then I will have completed my post-graduate degree in Architecture.  I have always been interested in architecture, so becoming an architect just makes sense to me.  But I am always willing to adjust my final goals, so it will be interesting to see where my life ends up.

 

Exercise One: Katie Felton

It is difficult for me to imagine where I will be in ten years, because my understanding is that there is just no way to know. Even three years ago, I did not know with absolution that I would be here now and that I would discover architectural design was my passion. I am fascinated by building structures, but as a designer, I feel I can work better with implementing interior and exterior detail to a location.
I have a particular interest in green roofing in places rich with industry and residential neighborhoods. I am an avid gardener and green thumb and I view plant life and foliage as a medium I am eager to work with conceptually.
In terms of my life; in the next ten years, I plan to finish my Bdes, work a little while in Toronto, then do some traveling to see what other designers are doing and draw inspiration around the world. I will most likely land in Australia where I am a citizen, and live and work for a while and possibly apply for a master's program there that is relevant to architecture or the science of sustainability. As I said though, I really don't know anything for certain. There are so many things I need to know more about that basically, I plan on chasing knowledge for the next ten years.

Exercise One: Eve

Eve Zorawski


















I could not really predict what I would be doing ten years from now, since I currently find myself only at the exploratory stage. Nevertheless, I could definitely see myself having completed a postgraduate degree in Architecture and hopefully creating some kind of avant garde havoc in this realm.

Vandkunsten's low cost housing project BOKLOK Sophienborg in Denmark























Zaha Hadid's Ordrupgaard Museum Extention in Denmark














Jo Coenen's Openbare Bibliotheek (interior) in Amsterdam

Field Trip: Fringe Benefits @ The Design Exchange

Next Thursday, we will be beginning the class with a field trip to a free show at Design Exchange entitled Fringe Benefits: Cosmopolitan Dynamics of a Multicultural City.

Fringe Benefits: Cosmopolitan Dynamics of a Multicultural City is an exhibition curated by Ian Chodikoff, urban designer, architect and editor of Canadian Architect magazine. The exhibition explores questions and ideas that will influence the future identity of our suburbs — a geography constantly evolving into something much more dynamic than big-box retail outlets and housing subdivisions. Through photography, video, maps and art, the exhibition explores the surprising ways in which diverse contemporary multiculturalism is shaping our suburbs and improving the quality of our cosmopolitan city.

Please meet at 245 Bay Street at 8:45AM on Thursday, September 18.

Click here for directions.

Do not be late.

We will be walking back to OCAD together at the conclusion of our field trip for the launch of Project One.

Exercise Marking Scheme

As discussed in class, Exercises will be marked as follows.

1) Each Exercise will be marked out of 3. Exceptional completion of an exercise will result in a mark of 3; adequate completion of an Exercise will result in a mark of 2; inadequate completion of an exercise will result in a mark of 1, and non-completion of an Exercise will result in a mark of 0.

3) Exercises will be weighted at the end of the term, to reflect their relative time commitment. For example, an Exercise that takes most students 4 hours will be assigned approximately 4 times as much weight as an Exercise that takes most students 1 hour.

4) Exercises constitute 15% of your final grade.

5) Exercises may not be submitted late for any reason other than a documented illness.

5) You will not receive regular feedback on Exercise results. An anonymous list of marks to date will be posted peridocially throughout the term.

Exercise Two: Three Analytical Plans

Generate three planametric drawings at different scales which analyze the social spaces of your home environment. Obey the following constraints.

1) The three scales should be chosen so as to reveal different qualities within and around your home environment. For example, you might choose to draw a plan of your house, a detailed map of your street and a less-detailed map of your neighbourhood, and analyze the different social qualities that exist at each of these scales. Please graphically indicate the scale on each drawing.

2) Represent spatial information first, with black line on a white background. You may choose to vary your lineweights to emphasize certain spatial qualities over others, or you may choose to maintain a single lineweight so as to not create a visual hierarchy.

3) Represent analytic information second, with colour line, wash or block. Provide a legend for your this information. Remember, colour can have powerful associative qualities that may override your legend definitions.

4) Upload your three drawings to the blog. Upload the drawing as large as possible (Blogger will downsize all images to 1600 pixels on the largest side). Remember to title and label your blog post correctly, and to curate as necessary.


This exercise is deliberately open to interpretation. The drawings should be reasonably accurate, but need not be measurable or hard-line: scanned free-hand drawings are perfectly acceptable. Your spatial information should include all objects that are spatially affective at the scale in question. Your analytical information should represent the qualities of the social spaces that exist within and around your home environment, again at the scale in question. These qualities could include, but are not limited to: vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic, pet traffic, weather conditions, light conditions, perceived safety, cleanliness, fun-ness or any other variables of your choosing. It is expected that the spatial information you record will be primarily objective and descriptive, while the analytical information will be primarily subjective and interpretive (though this is not necessarily always the case).

Click here to download the partial example that was shown in class. Note that this example is at one scale only.

Exercise Two is due at 8:30AM on Thursday, September 18.

Exercise One: Introduce Yourself

Your first Exercise is to perform a number of administrative tasks that will help our section of Research Studio: Social Space run smoothly.

1) Join the blog. I have sent a message to your OCAD email account inviting you to join the blog. You will need to set up a Google account if you don't already have one.

2) Make a post to the blog. Include the following:
-Your full and (if different) your preferred name.
-A photograph of you, that clearly shows your face.
-A brief description of where you see yourself in 10 years. You may want to be the next great starchitect, a town planner in northern Ontario, or a designer of virtual landscapes for computer games - or perhaps you don't see yourself as a designer at all. Be honest, be bold, and be concise.
-1 to 3 visual examples of constructed environments you find inspirational. These may be drawn from architecture, landscape, the cityscape or a perhaps a virtual world. Do not provide any identifying or explanatory text, but be prepared to discuss your selection(s) in a future class.

3) Curate your post. Presentation is always important in design. Publish the post, and see what it looks like. If you're not happy with the spacing, the image quality, or the graphic composition of your post, then revise it.

Please title your post "Exercise One: [your preferred name]." For example, my post would be called "Exercise One: Jesse Colin Jackson." Please label your post with the Exercise One label provided. Please consistently follow these conventions for titles and labels in the future.

Exercise One is due at 8:30AM on Thursday, September 18. Exercises will typically always be due at the beginning of the subsequent class.

On to Exercise Two!

Course Outline

Click here to download the course outline as a PDF


RESEARCH STUDIO: SOCIAL SPACE

ENVR 2B12
FALL 2008

Jesse Colin Jackson

jjackson@faculty.ocad.ca
647.201.4255

Section 03
Thursdays 8:30-11:30
September 11 – December 11
Room 556
http://ocad-envr2b12-f08.blogspot.com/

COURSE DESCRIPTION

In this course, students will research, investigate and interpret large-scale social spaces including architecture, urban design and landscape. Students will examine existing public projects through a formal series of studio assignments utilizing various documentation media and techniques. Existing spaces will be analyzed using traditional research methods, and students will formulate critiques and propose new conceptual, structural and elemental interpretations. They will investigate the spatial language of plan, section, elevation and their implied volumes. Beyond interpretation, students will form an approach to design at this public scale, which will be applied to projects in the core studio course in the winter semester. The course will be delivered using lectures, in-class discussions and one-on-one consultations and critiques. All assignments require research and presentations that include verbal, written and visual components. Student performance will be evaluated on the basis of successful completion of assignments

The course load for the course consists of three hours per week of class time, and an average of six hours per week of out-of-class time to complete assignments and exercises.


COURSE DELIVERY

Classes
September 11: Introductions
September 18: Field Trip
Project One Launch
September 25: Project One Support
October 2: Project One Support
October 9: Project One Presentations and Critique
October 16: Field Trip
Project Two Launch
October 23: Project Two Support
October 30: Project Two Support
November 6: Project Two Presentations and Critique
Project Three Launch
November 13: Project Three Support
November 20: Project Three Support
November 27: Project Three Support
December 4: Project Three Presentations and Critique
December 11: Individual Meetings

Projects
Project One: Suburbia: Social Space in the Planametric City
Project Two: Urbia: Social Space in the Sectional City
Project Three: The (Sub)Urban Intervention: Effecting Affective Social Space

Exercises
Exercises will consist of topical mini-projects to be completed either within class time or as a deliverable for the beginning of the following class.

Classes, Projects and Exercises are subject to change as the course progresses.


EVALUATION

Grading Scheme
Project One: 25%
Project Two: 20%
Project Three: 30%
Exercises: 15%
Participation: 10%

Evaluation Criteria for Projects and Exercises
A diverse variety of methods will be used to evaluate student progress, and criteria will depend on the method in question, but will always include the following elements: an analysis and understanding of the project brief; the pursuit of original thinking and research from a variety of different resources; an appropriate level of questioning and enquiry into the issue under scrutiny; and the content, craft, quality and impact of the deliverable. Specific evaluation criteria will be detailed when the Projects and Exercises are launched.

Evaluation Criteria for Participation
Participation may include some or all of the following: arriving on time; listening to lectures and instruction; being prepared and working in class time; sharing and co-operating, and listening to and being an active participant in critique and discussions.

Grades
Grades will be assigned to each assignment and exercise in accordance with OCAD policy. Available letter grades and their numerical and descriptive equivalents are as follows:

A+ (90-100%): Exceptional
Exceeded expectations in demonstrating knowledge of concepts and/or techniques, and exceptional skill in their application in satisfying the requirements of the course.

A (80-89%): Excellent
Demonstrated a thorough knowledge of concepts and/or techniques, and with a very high degree of skill in their application in satisfying the requirements of the course.

B (70-79%): Good
Demonstrated a good knowledge of concepts and/or techniques, and considerable skill in their application in satisfying the requirements of the course.

C (65-69%): Satisfactory
Demonstrated a satisfactory level of knowledge of concepts and/or techniques and competence in their application in satisfying the requirements of the course.

C- (60-64%): Low Satisfactory
Demonstrated a level of knowledge of concepts and/or techniques and their application to the requirements of the course that was minimally satisfactory in an elective or non-major subject, but unsatisfactory in a core course of the student’s major subject.

D (50-59%): Pass
Demonstrated minimal knowledge and ability to apply concepts and/or techniques in satisfying the requirements of a course.

F (0-49%): Fail
Failure to meet minimum course requirements.

Grades at the level of C (Satisfactory) are anticipated to be the average for this course. A complete description of OCAD’s grading scheme and grade distribution policy can be found in the Calendar.

Late Work
Late work will not be accepted without prior permission, and permission must be requested before the beginning of the class in which the deliverable is due. Late work as a result of documented illness will be without penalty; late work as a result of other extraordinary circumstance, accepted at my discretion, will be subject to a penalty of 25%, and will be due at the beginning of the following class. No late work will be accepted beyond the beginning of the following class, and no make-up work will be permitted. Please contact me right away if you are having trouble meeting a deadline for any reason.

Mid-term Standing
An evaluation of your work to date will be provided at least one week prior to the final deadline to withdraw from the course without academic penalty.

Academic Misconduct
Academic misconduct, broadly understood to mean behavior that interferes with or attempts to interfere with the integrity of the learning environment, including plagiarism or misrepresentation of any kind, is unacceptable and is subject to serious academic penalty. A complete description of OCAD’s policies with regards to misconduct can be found in the Calendar.

Attendance Policy
Since you benefit from an active involvement with faculty and with their fellow students, you are required to attend and participate fully in classes on a regular basis. A student with three or more unexcused absences may be assigned a failing grade for that course at my discretion. Arriving more 30 minutes late for a class may, at my discretion, constitute an unexcused absence.

A student who foresees a conflict between a religious obligation and any scheduled class assignments, including the final examination or critique, must notify me within three weeks of the first class.


THE COURSE BLOG

The course blog, which will be introduced in the first class, is integral to all aspects of the course. All course materials will be made available on the blog, and all Projects and Exercises will require submissions to the blog. You are expected to check the blog for new posts every at least every 48 hours.


DISCLAIMER STATEMENT

This course outline may be amended as the course proceeds. The class will be notified and consulted about all changes. See the Calendar for details.