Art in San Francisco

Andy Goldsworthy's addition to the Presidio Park in San Francisco has brought grace as well as historic significance to the forest. His sculpture is created from fallen Eucalyptus trees and turned into a winding trail that curves throughout the forest. Goldsworthy's "Wood Line" project is not a permant feature of the park but like most of Any Goldsworthy's work will eventually decay over time.

The historical significance comes from the fact that Presidio Park started out as a military base. Soldiers omce planted an array of trees that are beginning to die out. the fallen trees provide Andy material and open space for his work.

WEEK 10

For the final lecture of the semester, Professor Amily Huang introduced us to the wonderful work of Rael San Fratello Architects based in the city of Oakland, California. Rael San Fratello Architects was established in 2002, is an internationally recognized firm that focuses on combining technologies, and ecological design lies at the intersection of architecture and the environment.

This "Seat Slug" is a innovative design by the Rael San Fratello Architects. This is a unique and one of a kind building component. This innovation is a product of 3D modeling software that finally provides an example of a useful bench that does not lack on style.

WEEK 9

The major theme that Professor Huang introduced to our class this week was the importance of Urbanism and Context. She explained that it is necessary to not ignore the history, classical elements and the old but rather embrace it and combine it with the new generation and moderation.

An example of Urbanism and Context at its finest is the High Line park in New York City. This historic freight line has been remodeled and transformed into a beautiful public park that the city can enjoy.

 

WEEK 8

Our class was lucky enough to have Edward Westbrook from Quarry House make a visit this week and talk about stone masonry. Edward is a stone mason and what I was able to pick up a few things from his presentation. He wanted to make a point to tell us that there is a serious lack of sketching skills in todays world.  He wanted us to look up his good friend and one of the most well known landscape architectures, Lawrence Halprin. A few of Quarry House's project include the Stone Walls of New England, The Chinese Walls of Northern California, Stern Grove Festival in San Francisco, and Yosemite National Park.

The main message Edward Westbrook wanted to make was for us to STOP, THINK, ABOUT THE QUALITY OF MATERIALS. He even read a moving poem call To The Stonecutters. The Stern Grove Festival was one his favorite projects and one that i have got the chance to visit. They complete remodeled it and did a great job creating a modern but natural feel that invites people to stop and appreciate its beauty.

WEEK 7

Paul Miller was our guest speaker this week, he came to us from Grace Construction. Grace Construction products offers many innovative products such as concrete amixtures, fibers, concrete masonry and much more. As a worldwide leader in the construction products industry, Grace products are specified by architects and engineers.

Paul Miller also talked about waterproofing and air barriers for the protection of homes.The water barrier being applied in the photo is designed to keep the home waterproof.

WEEK 6

This week's topic was all about SUSTAINABILITY. Sustainable architecture seeks to minimize the negative environmental impact of building by enhancing efficiency and moderation in the use of materials, energy, and development space.

The goals of sustainability are as follows:

Goal #1- Harmonize with the site
Goal #2- Build as little as possible
Goal #3- Buildings should heat and cool themselves, generate own electricity
Goal #4- Maximize resource efficiency
Goal #5- Ecological design should be beautiful and lyrical.

Professor Huang also discussed LEED and USGBC. LEED stands for Leadership, Energy, Environmental, Design. USGBC is a national non-profit organization that is the developer and administrator of the LEED Green Building Rating System.

The vertical farm or vertical garden is one of the latest sustainable projects that has been rumored about and is trying to find a perfect prototype. This is a rendering from the vertical farm website.

WEEK 5

In this week's lecture Professor Huang emphasized Patterns and Systems. There are many ways that patterns and systems play a role in architecture and in the process of design. A system of patterns can be transformed into a structure for a building, a piece of furniture, or practically anything. One pattern can be viewed as a "part to a whole".

Skidmore Owings and Meril (SOM) created the Beineke Library of Rare Books and Manuscripts (above photo) in Yale University, New Haven.The building is built like a cage, the pattern displayed is designed as a "part to a whole" that creates the entire side of the building.

Another interesting part of this building is the base of the library. The cage-like structure is sitting on a column in the center. the corners of the library are being held up by 4 concrete bases to appear as if it were floating.  

WEEK 4

In this week's lecture the class discussed the meaning of ordering principles, how they are used , and how they can be identified. There are 6 ordering principles that help define architecture. Those 6 ordering principles are AXIS, SYMMETRY, HIERARCHY, DATUM, RHYTHM, and TRANSFORMATION.

The building above is the SF MOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts) it was designed by a Swiss architect named Mario Botta. the SF MOMA is also a perfect example of ordering principles. This building has symmetry, if the photo above could be folded in half the two side would look almost identical. I also see datum in this structure, the building has many elements that are involved but everything is branched off of the center line. The other ordering principle present is hierarchy, the structure of the building is sort of formed like steps and the structure located in the center is the highest and draws the most attention from the eye.

WEEK 3

This week Professor Huang invited Andrew Chandler, the Head of the Architecture Department in City College of San Francisco to speak to us about entering the world of architecture. He discussed a lot about the road it takes to go into a field of architecture. He mentioned that the available majors at CCSF for architecture are architecture, construction management, and interior design.

The second half of the class Professor Huang introduced the class to Framing Space and how it is used by architects. One must use different types of approaches to seeing space in order to create the best product and/or experience for others.. 

This is a chapel in Valleaceron that was done by the firm Sancho-Madridejos. This chapel is great example of framing space. One must look at architectural structures as a painting or a picture, the architect has thought about every detail and knows the ways people will view his work.

SMAO is a unique firm in which they like to work with a box fold concept. The chapel in Valleaceron is inspired by this origami above.

WEEK 2

Today Professor Huang wanted to clear up the misconception of Architects and what they really do. In the world of architecture there are the perceptions, myths, and then there is reality. She said that when most people think of an architect they think they are in an office working with a t-square or they are on a construction site giving orders and pointing to blueprints. 

                                                  

The reality is that is not very common at all and most architects are more like an artist, an engineer, an inventor and more. An architect must be good at multiple things and be like a jack of all trades. She discussed more about what aspects actually go into an architects job.

Professor Huang showed us many pieces of work from the Spanish architect, sculptor, and structural engineer Santiago Calatrava. Santiago Calatrava is well known throughout the world for buildings, bridges, train stations, and much more. This is the Turning Torso in Sweden by Santiago Calatrava.

WEEK 1

First lecture of the semester, I met my Professor Amily Huang, she talked a bit about herself and I learned a lot about her. She also talked about inspiration and what inspires architects. Amily's 5 sources of inspiration for architects are MUSIC, NATURE, BIOLOGY,ART,LITERATURE.
She showed us some work from a few architects such as I.M Pei and Andy Goldsworthy.

This is a "leaf sculpture" created by Andy Goldsworthy. Andy is an artist that creates his art in nature, with nature.He takes natural materials and transforms them into a piece of art then sets them free in their environment. Although his work may go unseen, all of them still exist on this Earth in some type of way.  His goal is to place his "touch" into the heart of nature.

This work is called Dandelion and the Valiant Flower by Kara Cusolito, I found this inspiring I took and took a snapshot on 7th and Market in San Francisco. I was intrigued and thought just how Andy Goldsworthy brings his creation into nature, this artist brings nature to the city.