Project Five Groups

Your Project Five group selections (or assignments) are shown below.

Project Five: Functional Construction

Click here to download Project Five as a PDF.

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Project Five: Functional Construction

DESCRIPTION

In teams of two or three, design and construct a chair out of a prescribed material that is capable of being assembled un-aided and of supporting my weight. The prescribed material is reclaimed 1/4” Coroplast fluted polypropylene. I will provide two 48” x 96” sheets per team. You may not introduce any other material, with the exception of fasters, packaging and assembly instructions.

The chair must be delivered disassembled and packed flat. You must provide any required packaging, along with instructions that permit another team to assemble your chair without aid. The chair will then be tested for strength and ergonomics by me, and critiqued by the entire class.

Note that the packaging and the instructions are a design opportunity equal to the chair itself.

IKEA furniture provides an obvious precedent for certain aspects of this project, but you are encouraged allow your design to be influenced by the functional, formal and conceptual characteristics of other precedents. Several possibilities will be presented and discussed in class.

There are no specific process requirements for this project. You are responsible for ensuring that your design is progressing adequately and for maximizing your time with me. It is highly recommended that you construct a full-scale mock-up of your design out of a comparable material (such as corrugated carboard) prior to constructing your final artifact.

Part 1: Due Monday, December 7 at 4:30PM

Your Coroplast chair, packaged for distribution to another team to assemble without aid.

Part 2: Due Thursday, December 10 at 4:30PM

A single blog post, containing: a curated selection of process material; three representative photographs of your Coroplast chair, and at least one image each of your packaging and your assembly instructions.

EVALUATION

Part 1:

Functional Construction (load-bearing ability; ease of assembly; quality of construction; ergonomics): /8

Packaging and Instruction (graphic design clarity and style; conceptual consistency and interest): /8

Impact (physical and rhetorical presentation; subjective and transcendental qualities): /6

Part 2:

Blog Post (comprehensiveness and curation): /3

Total: /25

Project Four: Found Structure

Click here to download Project Four as a PDF.

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Project Four: Found Structure

DESCRIPTION

I was invited to create an installation about urban garbage and recycling. I collected twelve discarded and broken chairs as positive resources. I repaired the furniture using common materials and invented a variety of solutions for the patches and restoration. New solutions emerged and the furniture became more interesting than the original.

-Allan Wexler

Find your own broken chair. Rehabilitate the chair: drawing inspiration from the nature of the site, the chair, and the damage, create a new “more interesting” form. Employ a narrative strategy, from the inital discovery through the final proposition, to bring your chair back to life.

Part 1: Due Monday, November 16 at 4:30PM

Locate a broken chair. Document its condition as found. Begin to develop a physical and existential proposal for your chair’s rehabilitation. Be prepared to present structurally plausible solutions to your chair’s physical rehabilitation, and a compelling narrative trajectory culminating with your chair’s existential rehabilitation.

Part 2: Due Monday, December 7 at 4:30PM

Physically and existentially rehabilitate your chair. Ensure that the chair is returned to a fully functional state, and choose repair techniques that support your narrative. Employ metaphor, symbolism and allusion in support of your narrative, animating it through reference, analogy and suggestion (perhaps to its past, present and future life, role and experiences). Illustrate your narrative through a single composite drawing that incorporates a photograph of your chair in its as-found condition, as well as orthographic and isometric information describing your intervention.

Part 3: Due Thursday, December 10 at 4:30PM

A single blog post, containing: a curated selection of process material; three representative photographs of your rehabilitated chair, and a scan of your composite drawing.



EVALUATION

Part 1:

Discovery and Ideation (location of suitable chair; visual and verbal evidence of process and evolution): /4

Part 2:

Physical Rehabilitation (quality, suitability and expressivity of the intervention): /6

Existential Rehabilitation (creative use of a narrative strategy to bring meaning to the artifact): /6

Impact (physical and rhetorical presentation; subjective and transcendental qualities): /6

Part 3:

Blog Post (comprehensiveness and curation): /3

Total: /25

Project Three Buildings and Meeting Location

Please meet me at 10:00AM on Saturday, October 24 in the plaza on the south side of the CN Tower. Your building selections (or assignments) are shown below.

Note that midway through our tour, we will be visiting the University of Toronto Art Centre. The curator there, Matthew Brower, will be speaking to us about their Gord Peteran exhibits, which are topical for Project Four (to be launched next week).

Project Three: Case Study

Click here to download Project Three as a PDF.

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Project Three: Case Study


DESCRIPTION

On Saturday, October 24, you will take me on an architectural tour of downtown Toronto. Subsequently, from the research undertaken to deliver this tour, you will collectively create a guide to Toronto's architecture.

Our tour must stay within the following boundaries: the Gardiner Expressway to the south, Spadina Avenue to the west, Bloor Street to the north, and Church Street to the east. These boundaries contain many of Toronto’s architectural landmarks. Select one of these landmarks. Possibilities include:

Art Gallery of Ontario
Bata Shoe Museum
Canada Life Building
CBC Building
CN Tower
Commerce Court
Convocation Hall, U of T
EJ Pratt Library, U of T
Fairmont Royal York
Four Seasons Centre
Gardiner Museum
Gooderham (Flatiron) Building
Graduate House, U of T
Hart House, U of T
Imperial Oil Building
Leslie L. Dan Building, U of T
Massey Hall
Massey Hall, U of T
McKinsey and Company Building
New College, U of T
Old City Hall
Ontario Parliament Building
Osgoode Hall
Robarts Library, U of T
Royal Conservatory of Music
Royal Ontario Museum
Scotia Plaza
Sheraton Centre
Terrence Donnelly Centre, U of T
The Bay Queen Street
Toronto City Hall
Toronto-Dominion Centre
Umbra Flagship Store
Union Station

This is not an exhaustive list: feel free to pick any significant building that lies within the boundaries of the tour. Once you have made your selection, visit it, research it, and establish a reasoned position with regards to it. Don't compile a list of facts: be a critic. Again, the first question in criticism is always one of like or dislike: your responsibility is to deconstruct this first response.

Part 1: Due Sunday, October 18 at 11:59PM
Your building selection, emailed to me. If you do not pick a building, you will have one assigned to you.

Part 2: The Tour. Saturday, October 24, 10:00AM-5:00PM
Meet me at the first location on the tour (TBA). You must have researched your building and established your position by this time. You will present your findings and thoughts to your colleagues and I during the course of the tour.

Part 3: Due Monday, October 26 at 4:30PM
A document about your building, prepared on one side of one sheet of 8.5” x 11” paper. The format is open, but must include both text and graphics. We will compile your documents into a guide to Toronto’s architecture.


EVALUATION

Part 1: Spoken Presentation (knowledge, articulation): /5
Part 2: One-page Submission (creativity, clarity, impact): /5

Total: /10

Reference Material: Concept (and Project Two Tips)

What is a concept?

Three definitions are as follows:

• Something conceived in the mind
• Organized around a main idea or theme
• “The idea becomes the machine that makes. . .” -Sol Lewitt

With regards to Project Two, there are two primary conceptual approaches. The challenge in both cases is to develop a consistent and coherent interpretive strategy that allows you to resolve a convincing artifact. A literal approach would interpret the Proun as a technical drawing, either orthographic or isometric, or a combination of the two -- all of the Prouns contain suggestions of both systems. A figurative approach would interpret the Proun as an abstracted representation of an object or an idea. A successful transcendental response would likely combine literal and figurative interpretive strategies. The purpose of the mock-ups and the technical drawings is to create an iterative process by which transcendental results can be achieved. I strongly recommend that you continually refer back to your original Proun throughout your process.

Project Two

Click here to download Project Two as a PDF.

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Project Two: Planar Artifact


DESCRIPTION

You have been assigned a Proun.

Proun begins as a level surface, turns into a model of three-dimensional space, and goes on to construct all the objects of everyday life. In this way Proun goes beyond painting and the artist on the one hand and the machine and the engineer on the other, and advances to the construction of space, divides it by the elements of all dimensions, and creates a new, many-faceted unity as a formal representation of nature.

-El Lissitzky, 1920

From an interpretation of the image assigned, construct an artifact entirely of planar materials, capable of reconfiguration through translational and/or rotational movement.

Your interpretation may be literal or figural, functional or abstract, but it will be derived from thoughtful and thorough consideration. You are not expected to research Lissitzky’s intentions. Instead, you will develop and implement your own interpretation of one of Lissitzky’s images. You will be expected to discuss your interpretation during your critique.

Your final artifact must be constructed entirely of planar materials, and your material palette must be carefully chosen in accordance with your interpretation. Craft is extremely important for this assignment, and you are strongly encouraged to make extensive use of the First Year Shop.

Your artifact must be sturdy, and its reconfiguration must be operable by the uninitiated. The connections in your artifact will figure prominently: consider them carefully, both in terms of their operability and in terms of their visual impact.

Part 1: Due Monday, September 28 at 4:30PM
Prepare a minimum of three mock-ups of potential artifacts, constructed of corrugated cardboard only. The mock-ups may be of any scale, and they are not required to be capable of reconfiguration. The purpose of the mock-ups is to explore possible interpretations and obtain feedback from me: appearance is not important. Create as many mock-ups as you need to fully develop your ideas.

Part 2: Due Monday, October 5 at 4:30PM
Prepare a set of accurate free-hand orthographic and/or isometric drawings of the final mock-up of your proposed artifact. The drawings should be on white 11” x 17” paper, and should all be the same scale. The drawings should represent materials, specify connections and indicate translation and/or rotation through the use of line only: do not employ colour or shading. The purpose of the drawings is to detail your interpretation and obtain further feedback from me. Create as many drawings as you need to fully represent your artifact.

Part 3: Due Monday, October 19 at 4:30PM
Your completed Planar Artifact, displayed as appropriate for critique, along with a curated selection of your cardboard mock-ups, technical drawings, and any other critical process work, posted to the course blog. The presentation and critique of Prouns 1-6 will be begin at 4:30PM, and the presentation and critique of Prouns 7-12 will begin at 6:00PM.

Part 4: Due Thursday, October 22 at 4:30PM
Three photographs of your completed Planar Artifact, posted to the course blog. Append these photographs to the same post as your process material.


PROUN ASSIGNMENTS

EVALUATION

Part 1:
Exploration (cardboard mock-up ambition and rigour): /3

Part 2:
Representation (technical drawing quality and accuracy): /3

Part 3:
Material (suitability, creativity and ambition): /2
Craft (suitability of technique and skill of execution): /3
Operability (suitability and functionality): /3
Presentation (physical and rhetorical): /2
Formal Impact (subjective and transcendental qualities): /2

Part 4:
Blog Post (comprehensiveness and curation): /2

Total: /20


THE PROUNS

Proun 1

Proun 2

Proun 3

Proun 4

Proun 5

Proun 6

Proun 7

Proun 8

Proun 9

Proun 10

Proun 11

Proun 12

Project One

Click here to download Project One as a PDF.

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Project One: Linear Form


DESCRIPTION

Define a form using a structure of repeated linear elements. Consider your choice of linear element carefully and creatively.

The form must be at least as large as a human head, with no measurable dimension of less than fifteen centimeters. The structure must consist of a minimum of twenty-five identical linear elements. You may require another material to connect the elements: choose this material carefully and creatively as well.

This is a purely formal exercise: no consideration should be given to function or meaning. Instead, concentrate your explorations on the following questions:

• How are the linear elements connected? How do these connections affect the composition of your form? Do your connections take advantage of the innate
  qualities of your linear element, or do they challenge them?
  
• Do your linear elements fill your form? How densely are they packed? Are they packed homogeneously or heterogeneously?
• Is your form symmetric or asymmetric? Does your form have a preferred orientation? How should your form be displayed?
• How do the volumetric qualities of your form relate to the linear qualities of your element? Are they concordant or discordant?

Your Linear Form is due on Monday, September 21 at 4:30PM. Be prepared to present, discuss your submission, especially in response to the above questions. You will be receiving direct feedback from your instructor and from your colleagues. This will likely be your first formal design critique; we will discuss the nature and the format of this event at the beginning of the session.

You must also post 3 images of your Linear Form to the blog by Thursday, September 24 at 4:30PM. We will discuss documentation strategies subsequent to your presentation and critique, but please take provisional photographs of your submission in advance in case it suffers any damage in transit.


EVALUATION

Material and Craft (originality and creativity of selection and utilization; quality and suitability of connections): /4
Presentation (physical, rhetorical and virtual): /4
Impact (subjective and transcendental qualities): /2
TOTAL: /10