Final Learning Portfolio

Moises Garcia Architecture 101Jerry Lum

IntroductionThe second half of the semester I found out how important is

teamwork, especially in an architectural project. Building and designing at the same time was not an easy task. I joined a team of four, the smallest team in the class for the final project. I was open minded with ideas of design options, but the only problem was that not all in our group had previous iterations to come up with a final design. We decided to build and design at the same time.

Iteration One

This First iteration I was trying to evoke mystery by having a single wood in the middle of my iteration, so if one stands on either side they would wonder what will be on the other side. With a circle in the middle that will just give a sneak preview on what could be on the other side. I would have added more to my design to fit the program if my team would have chosen this iteration to work with. As I learned in one of the critiques in class was that it looked too symmetrical so I needed to improve on that

Iteration Two

For my second iteration I wanted to be more asymmetrical so I involved more meaning to it. I wanted to create a pathway that would lead up to an area of Isolation. Which would lead up to a circle that represents the the sun and the strings connected to the circle leading to the posts would be sun-rays. The circle would be blocking partial of Batmale Hall. The repetition of the post going from tallest to shortest would just form a frame view. I had to create a place of accidental encounters but did not know how to add a design that would integrate to what I already had.

Iteration Three

Summary of Iteration Three

In this iteration I created more accidental encounters, but still had some symmetry in it. I had been having difficulties in losing symmetry in my design, but slowly have been improving in not using it. With the critiques in class about our iterations based on the program requirements. With the personal critiques coming from Jerry his lectures had changed the way I seen my designs and by improving on the requirements. Which it did help a lot with the way I designed and how it responded to the site.

Iteration Four

Summary of iteration Four

For this iteration I had incorporated a tree with a slope since this is when I joined my team and we had chose the site. All my previous iterations were for a flat surface area. I tried to incorporate a tree in this iteration in a way so my design can be connected with nature. In this iteration I created more pathways, accidental encounters, and also a place of tranquility. The ceiling of this design are like arrows that would lead the eye to see towards the soccer field and beyond, and that is where you can say it is a nice view. This was my first idea of design, trying to fit the program due to the site we chose.

Iteration Six

Summary of iteration SixI took my last iteration, number 5, and added more detail

and better design concept. I was trying to add more tranquil spaces since I felt like my last one did not have enough. In this iteration I had a framed view with the sticks, or 2x2 pickets, in my design that obscures the view looking out towards the soccer field, to someone that is inside of my design.

Starting the Construction

Although my team did not pursue to continue any of the designs I created I was excited to begin construction and wanted to see the end result. I thought it will be a piece of cake to do the construction. It actually took a very long time where we ran out of time! We chose to construct one of the design Marvin created. He was the design director. I was the site coordinator, and we picked a specific tree to integrate to our design. We chose this specific tree because of the essay access it has.

Marvin’sIteration

Site and Analysis Here as you can see the landing of the stairs has no railings so there would be easy access to our construction.

We also decided to build a platform/deck. It was part of Marvin’s iteration. I thought, as well as my other teammates would be different from other groups.

First Home Depot Trip

We met up in Home Depot and we were still discussing about our iterations. Marvin brought his and I brought mines. We were thinking about combing our design, but that would mean more time and money.

Here teammate UK, was taking pictures of the price for a plywood as he was the book keeper. We handed him all the receipts. In the first Home Depot Trip we did not buy anything it was just went for a clarification of what materials we were going to use

Second Home Depot Trip

In the second Trip everyone in the team was able to meet and here we bought materials for the construction of the platform. The platform of our construction was a sure thing that we all agreed we were going to have in our design. I had to borrow my dad’s truck to haul all the lumber to CCSF. I was glad he did not need his truck that day.

Here we built the frame of the platform on a flat surface, so every 2x4 can be straight. I was trying to explain to Marvin how we could just build it on the site like a contractor would to build a deck, and use use a level to make sure all the 2x4’s were straight. Marvin did not understand what I was trying to explain, so to not make things complicated I just agreed with Marvin and did the frame on a flat surface .

Heavy Lifting!

After we built the frame on the flat surface I was chose to bring the frame to our site with no help! It wasn’t really heavy but it was a struggle.

Excavating

We excavated two wholes approximately 12” deep for the two 4x4 post we used to support our platform. We put the post into the ground and compacted the dirt so the post will remain in a vertical position. We were hoping to dig a little deeper but as we excavated the ground got harder. So we stayed at 12” and hoped that was deep enough to hold up our platform, and it was!

Here we have installed the 4x4’s into the ground and put the frame on top. At first we I was not sure how table it would be but once we put on the other 4x4 and the plywood we tested it out and it was really sturdy. I had no doubt about it falling apart when people stood on it.

Here teammate UK, was flatting down the ¾” plywood on the frame. We chose this thick of a plywood so it would not break and would be strong enough to stand on. Building the platform took a while because of the concerns on how to build it and keeping it safe to walk on. I had to borrow my father’s circular saw to cut the plywood across in an angle. I knew how to use it so it was not a big deal nor worrisome about safety. When we finished with the platform it was really secure and did not have me worried. The next step had me worried.

Marvin created a design on sketch up. I saw it and I immediately thought what materials we were going to use. I liked the design, so we just talked it over and we decided what materials we were going to use. Rope, cloth, and just four 2x2’s . It seemed to0 easy, but we continued with that idea of the chosen materials.

We installed the 2x2’s and used the same concept as we did with the 4x4’s. we excavated a little, then we cut one end of the 2x2’s in a sharp form so we can hammer it down deeper into the ground. When hammering it we needed it to be careful because the end would get damaged

Once the 2x2’s were in we started adding the rope and were figuring out how do we connect the rope to the tree.

We decided to wrap the rope around the tree trunk and use the branch to prevent the rope from lowering. We connected to rope to the 2x2’s creating a sense of ceiling. We wrapped the rope twice and then tied down cloth. Then we realized how we needed another idea because the cloth was not looking so good.

Plan BWe had to think of something that would not make our

construction look flimsy. The only problem was we did not have a plan B. Jerry gave us some suggestions about how we can make our cloth look more sturdy. There was a lot of wind, and it was not helping us. We came up with an idea of replacing some rope, the rope that connects the 2x2’s directly, with more 2x2 wood. We had to make a serious decision and removed the cloth. We decided to just add more rope and use it as a sense of a ceiling. This all happened two days before the project was due and the juror's came to critique our work. I was really nervous if we would have something good to present!

Once we installed the 2x2’s it immediately looked better than the simple rope. We had to get two 2x2 sixteen footers in order to replace the rope and not waste wood. They did not have any sixteen footers at Home Depot so I went to a place called Sierra Point Lumber. They had only Redwood which was expensive, but worth it.

We positioned the rope on the same day we got the 2x2’s, cut them, and drilled them to our project. Like I said we were running out of time so we had to hustle. This was the last day we had because the next day it was due.

With the re-enforced 2x2’s it created more tension on the ropes and created a sense of rhythm. The repetition of the rope it had a sense of sun-rays which we wanted to create a sense of tranquility.

Finished product

We finished right on time! We would have liked to add more, but there was not enough time with all the problems we ran into. We still added cloth to one side because it was needed. It blocked the sun to whoever stood or sat down and it also blocked the view of Batmale hall.

The morning of our critique I saw this student sitting down reading a book. She said she needed a place to sit down. She was not a part of the architectural program. When I saw her I was glad that our project was able to provide some use to other students besides the jurors.

Jurors

When our team gave the presentation , we really did not impress the Jurors, but once they came out to see our project they were really impressed to see what we had constructed. That changed the mood I was in! The sun was out and the flimsy cloth was not flapping around but providing shade.

Conclusion

It was really interesting on how easy it is to destroy our project that we worked in the freezing weather, but how hard it was to construct it.

This last part of the semester was a real big challenge for me as I joined a group with people who I never interacted with before. I got to know them more and the kind of people they are. It was a great experience working on a team project and would love to do it again. This class was the most difficult class I had this semester! It made me do a lot of extra work in school and out. I would like to pursue the career of architecture because this class really showed me what architecture is about and it something I liked to do. It always had me thinking outside the box.