Project 1: Box Construction

Introduction to Box Structure ProjectVolume and Mass Box Construction

IntroductionOrganization

Portia Munson. Top: Pink Project: Table. 1995. 2' 6” x 8’ x 14'.Center: Pink Project: Vitrines. 1995. 5' 8” x 2' 8” x 1' 1⁄2".Bottom: Pink Project: Mound. 2006 – ongoing. approx. 6’ x 12'.

Organization, the act of bringing separate elements together to form a unit or a structure, is a foundational component of the design process.

Organization implies order, or at least an ordering, but this is not to say that design must be orderly.

Is one version of the pictured Pink Project better than the others?

BalanceActual and Implied

Balance, in the realm of three-dimensional structure, has two faces:

•Actual balance is a phenomenon of nature ruled by gravity, operating in real space.

•Implied balance is a virtual or implied condition involving one’s awareness of actual gravity and balance, but remaining a strictly visual experience that has more to do with the organizational and aesthetic factors of visual weight.

Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The Apparition. 1984. Color photograph, 18 1⁄2“ x 14 1⁄2".

SymmetryCorrespondence Across A Divide

Symmetry occurs when there is formal correspondence on opposite sides of an object’s central dividing line—in simpler terms, when left and right sides are mirror images.

Bilateral symmetry •humans and animals, classical architecture, automobiles.

•However, it is usually only seen from one perspective. When seen from the side, most of these objects are no longer symmetrical.

Pierce-Arrow. Silver Arrow. 1933. Design concept Philip Wright, bodyengineer James Hughes. Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.

SymmetryCorrespondence Across A Divide

Radial symmetry is based on symmetry around a central axis. Trees, flowers, many circular patterns, and most cylindrical configurations are radially symmetrical.

Spherical symmetry is the condition of having similar form arranged regularly around a single point.

Ettore Sottsass. Transparent turquoise and yellow vaseAlioth. 1983. For Memphis, executed by CompagniaVetraria Muranese.

Knotweed pollen. Microscopic view.

AsymmetryDynamic FormEvery balanced configuration that is not symmetrical is asymmetricalAsymmetry is off center, out ofwhack, confrontational and dynamic.

Daniel Libeskind. Extension to the Denver Art Museum, Frederic C. Hamilton Building.

HarmonyUnity, Balance and Order

The following are some traditional definitions of harmony:• Unity; its elements form an integrated whole.• Balanced proportion.• A pleasing or orderly arrangement of parts.

Harmony has a diminished, but not non-existent, role in contemporary art and design, partly because of the numerous competing ideas and principles in modern and contemporary design culture that are increasingly useful and compelling.

Kay Fisker. Decanter. Silver (also octagonal tobacco jar). 1926. Manufactured by Anton Michelsen

HarmonyUnity, Balance and Order

Plato believed that objects in the world were flawed reflections of forms that were true and ideal, and these perfect forms could exist only in the mental realm of ideas. Idealism within art and design, strives for a perfection that seeks deep, essential form.

Bronze statuette of a horse. Greek,Late Hellenistic, late 2nd–1st centuryBC. Bronze, 1' 3 13⁄16" high.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Dieter Rams and Gerd Alfred Muller, designers. Braun record player. 1957.

Homework

• Brainstorm the designs for box structure• Sketch ideas in your sketchbook• Bring materials: cardboard, measuring tape,

brown packaging tape or masking tape, glue gun, glue sticks, box cutters.

• In progress critique, final critique