Midterm Learning Portfolio

Sara Alsop Arch 21 Spring 2009

This was my original drawing and intention behind the section plan project that I never completed. After you encouraged me to come back to class I began doing plan/section drawings by hand, but never used them. Here they are…

Notes on plan section assignment…

I almost quit the class in the first few weeks. You and Derek convinced me to come back. Derek told me that you had said to “make a model”. Not really knowing what exactly that meant, I took one of my plan/section drawings and made a model out of it. This was the result (it has been sitting in the trunk of my car since its first day in class and it did not survive fully intact). Even though this is not exactly what you meant, it made me excited to start building and creating these little guys nonetheless.

This was one of my first iterations. After making a recreation of “peewee’s playhouse opening credits” for my very first iteration I wanted to over simplify the feeling of the forest. This was the result of that simplification.

Obviously, craft was (is) still an issue. I was trying to create a space that felt precarious, by using the jagged overhanging, but also to create a feeling of safety with the small over hanging wall. There was frustration over trying to create my idea physically, but not having the technical skill to build a nice , clean iteration.

These are sketches for an early iteration that I apparently misplaced. It had two opposing pieces, one a grid-like basket, the other piece was two intersecting walls, also in a grid pattern. These sketches look very much like the outcome, which was a little unsuccessful due to my heavy-handed use of a can of spray paint.

This was the beginning of my love affair with the arch. I also began to experiment with pattern and texture. I wanted to create a space

that felt awesome and monumental. I created this long walkway, but enclosed it on three sides. This made it only interesting from one viewpoint. I relied heavily

on the large arches to create an expected sense of

the grandiose.

This is the initial sketch and idea for the following iteration. Pay no mind to the fat guy with his mouth open. That was a sketch made in another class that is completely irrelevant and should be ignored.

This is my most successful iteration to date. I finally began to understand how to craft them with a little more success. This is in thanks to Kent’s many tips and suggestions. It has been an uphill battle to create them at this level; time has definitely been an issue. In this iteration I think I managed to create a sense of comfort in a monumental space. It creates movement and a sense of adventure. The notion of floors and walls has started to take shape, but is not fully developed. All in all, I think it is a simple yet interesting space.

Then illness struck.

This is an iteration that was based off of the stories we wrote in class. I wanted to create two very separate areas, one leading up to the dangerous precarious edge. This led into the chaotic “forest” which led to, then ended, at the “river”.

Random excerpts of my sketchbook in action…

Just for good measure:

This is my tiny “workstation” on the floor of my tiny living room in my tiny apartment where I live with my tolerant roommate. He is looking forward to my semester ending.