studioblock pre-project ug4

the studioblock was the first project, set up to get us to begin to start thinking about infrastructure. particularly infrastructure of an individual piece in the context of a whole or to a community. the idea of one piece to a whole or as an individual to a community brings up many concerns to be considered in the design process including physical and visual connections/isolation, and functional and conceptual support/interruption.

the studio randomly drew one position of the 12 unequally divided from the block. some were given corners, some side pieces and others the middle surrounded by others on four sides.

immediately, i began thinking of my roll to the block as a whole. to the whole, my roll is to support my neighbors of their intentions and goals; to make way for the individual of all to succeed in a harmonious natural flow (to enter undisturbed and whiling). however, my individual block also has needs of its own. as a corner block i am in prime location for collection. i imagine marbles stop moving at the corners. with two exterior walls it is an easy place to rest. i can also see this as a potential problem. as the smallest block of the studio, i find myself susceptible to crowding and pressure. this brought on the idea of flood gates or the ability to control the flow of marbles coming in and going out.

by designing pull tabs on all sides of my block to allow relief, an internal infrastructure was constructed to unsure the tabs perform correctly. tracking and structural columns were built on the inside of the block. this is an interesting concept to me. the idea of a smaller form of infrastructure in relation to a larger community of infrastructure.

the next step, i began trying to think of the studioblock to have no top or bottom but rather as an object to be picked up played with and rotated. with this in mind i imagined pressure release is needed on all sides. it is now as well that i begin thinking of connections to my neighbors. however as concepts are shared between my neighbors and me, i find my internal logic of marble build up and community self assignment as the flood gates of the studioblock, has been proven unnecessary. my neighbor kyle does not wish to pass marbles between me or any of his neighbor in his concept of deception, and bethany is more interested in an experimental idea in which all if her marbles remain still.

a twist was added to the project later. we were to now begin to think of how the studioblock could house marbles as well as ice. this is to signify a change in program much like how it would be to take over a stalled construction site which was intended for one use and then being challenged by our own design and program ideas. some chose to address the program change while others did not.

what interested me most about the studioblock project was not only the plugging of one piece into a larger whole, but the insertion of one conceptual idea into a social community of other idealogical notions. i enjoyed how a social overtone came to the forefront. i imagine the same sociological ideas will come up in new york with the construction sites of williamsburg.