Hunting Down Design: Scavenger Hunt

Team: Nina           http://sayithot.tumblr.com/
            Brandon    http://bmreed330.blogspot.com/

Before rushing out of the room like our fellow classmates, Nina and I looked over the entire assignment.  We used our Droid phones to look up the clues, and I wrote down our results in my mini-notebook.  Once we knew where we needed to be we started with clue #5 (Thompson Library), proceeded to clue #2 (Knowlton Hall), clue #4 (SEL & Math Tower), and finally we hit clues #1 and #3 (Wexner Center).  Each photo was taken by the opposite team member with their respected Droid phone.

Clue #1: There are several places on OSU campus where you can find the Barcelona Chair. Take a picture of one of your team members sitting  in the chair, but still compose a good picture showing both you and the chair. Also note the name of the designer and something interesting about the chair or the designer in your comments.




We found the Barcelona Chair in the lobby of the Wexner Center. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe and his partner Lilly Reich designed the chair after the chairs of the Romans and Pharaohs.  The original chair was designed to be bolted together, but in 1950 stainless steel allowed Ludwig to redesign the chair with a seamless metal frame.

Clue #2: Find the Knowlton School of Architecture’s Library and explore the space noting the various chairs from design’s history. Pick a chair that you find interesting (not the Barcelona chair) and compose a picture of you in the chair reading a design-related magazine. In the comments, tell me who the designer is, something about the chair, and what magazine you are reading.

In the Knowlton School of Architecture Library, we found the awesome Red & Blue Chair.  I really like the use of the primary colors in this chair.  It was designed in 1918 by Gerrit Reitveld.  This piece was influenced by Frank Lloyd Wright, my favorite designer, and Piet Mondrian.  In the photo I am looking over the very cool magazine entitled "domus."  This is a home and interior design magazine that had some very cool pictures inside of tastefully colorful rooms.

Clue #3:Take a photo of one of your team members in front of a building on campus that was designed by Peter Eisenman. In the comments, tell me something interesting or controversial about the construction of the building on campus.

This is a photo of me hanging from part of the Wexner Center.  This specific part of the building is my favorite at night in the winter.  Right above me are an abundance of large lights that light up in different sequence, very cool.  A few interesting things about the building are that the white metal girders represent the street layout of the campus and City of Columbus.  An interesting controversial situation that went into building the center was that the skylights let in too much light, possibly ruining the art work inside...

Clue #4: A famous architect by the name of Philip Johnson designed the Sony (originally AT&T) skyscraper in New York City which is a great example of post modernism. He’s also responsible for two buildings on the Ohio State campus. Find one a get a picture of both the building and an architectural detail that you find interesting.

The two buildings on campus that Philip Johnson designed on the Ohio State Campus are the SEL (Science & Engineering Library) located in the far back of this photo, and the Math Tower located in the front. I really like the curves built into the sides of the buildings around the windows.  The buildings are brick so curves really stand out.  The buildings also look 'industrialized' in that they could almost look like old factories.  

Clue #5:Take a photo of one of your team members in front of a building on campus that was designed by local architects Acock & Associates. In the comments, tell me something interesting or controversial about the construction of the building on campus.



Here we found a building on the campus designed by local architects  at Acock & Associates.  This is the main Ohio State University Library otherwise known as Thompson Library.  The library was build in three main phases.  1st we have the original design,  a 'Second Italian Renaissance Revival Style Structure' that opened in 1913.  After this the 14 level tower with side wings and pavilions was completed in 1951.  Finally we have the modern addition on the west side of the building, finished in 1977.  

Influential Designers

Frank Lloyd Wright

   Frank Lloyd Wright is a very famous designer.  He is known to have designed 1141 works. One cool fact; Wright is American (which was greatly shown in his works. He didn't believe in the Greek or Renaissance designs, he believed in democracy).  Born in Richland Center, Wisconsin.  Frank first began to realize his love of architecture after working on his uncle's farm in the summers of his youth.
   While working under architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee, Wright drew up the design for his first building, the Lloyd-Jones family chapel.  Working for Silsbee led to Frank to his eventual working with mentor Louis Sullivan.
   Frank's abilities and talents are credited to his own philosophy of "Form and Function are One", after adding his mentor Sullivan's philosophy of "Form Follows Function."
   Wright opened Taliesin in 1932 so that the young designers with aspirations of working with him could do so, for a fee or course. This building was first lit by gas lamps.  While working at the Taliesin Fellowship, Frank Lloyd Wright created my favorite of all his works, Fallingwater in Mill Run, Pennsylvania. 
   The American Institute of Architects recognized him to be "the greatest American architect of all time."
   The man did not only design.  He was known to be a great writer and philosopher.  He authored twenty books, and also authored many many articles.  Although he is best known for this building designs ranging from homes to offices, to churches.
    I am sure there is an abundance of people, like me, who would absolutely love to one day own a house even similar to the ones designed by Wright.  His work is really impressive in my eyes and I love all the straight lines involved in his work.  Not only is the Falling-water House (pictured below) is my favorite house that I have ever seen.  The location in the woods right on the water is amazing.  It could not have been designed better in my mind.  I love all the balconies looking out into the woods, and the multileveled features.
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/flw/bio.html
http://www.franklloydwright.org/fllwf_web_091104/Wrights_Life_and_Work.html

A02

Henry Dreyfuss

Henry Dreyfuss  was born in New York, New York on March 2, 1904.  Like Luigi, Henry was also an industrial designer.  Instead of cars though, Dreyfuss started out designing for Broadway.  When he was doing his work for Broadway he was only 17 years old.  Eight years later, he opened his own industrial design office.  At this office he had clients such as Bell Telephone, AT&T, American Airlines, Polaroid, Hoover, and many more.  In the late 30's Dreyfuss worked for John Deere designing farming equipment.  What caught my eye the most about Henry was his work with Lockheed Martin.  Lockheed Martin makes the C-130, which is the aircraft that I work on in the Air Force.  Henry Dreyfuss worked with them to convert military planes to civilian aircrafts.  He worked my my rival company Boeing and designed the interior of the Boeing 707.  Interestingly enough as well, Henry Dreyfuss was a founding father of the American Society of Industrial Design.
Tragically, Henry and his wife committed suicide together in 1972, two years after my parents were born...

http://www.biography.com/articles/Henry-Dreyfuss-9279245
http://www.henry-dreyfuss.com/

A02

Luigi Colani

Luigi Colani was born in Berlin on August 2 1928.  He is known to have over 5000 industrial and consumer products. In his early years he studied sculpture and aerodynamics.  I can see a lot of the aerodynamic influences in his works.  There are many accented curves which make his pieces very pleasing to look at.  Taking a look into the car world a bit, he was very influential to the company Fiat.  I am a bit of a car fanatic, so when I learned that the Colani Alfa was the first sports car to drive around the Nurburgring in under 10 minutes, I was very impressed.  in 1984, Luigi was considered to be the number one industrial designer in Japan.  In the year of my birth, 1989, the Museum of Modern Art featured Colani's SONY headphones.  A few years later, he got into computers and had a lot of success there as well.  In overview, Luigi Colani is a very versatile designer.

http://www.colani.org/luigi_colani_Product_design_museum/Introduction.html
http://www.colani.ch/historie.html

Survey

For my survey I asked my peers some opinionated questions based on cars. What fueled my questions was the curiosity of what the general public thought about these cars. Cars are of very big interest to me and so this was an easy survey to ask people at random. I asked people who came into the place I work, people in the union, and the student organization I am involved with.

Questions:
1. Disregarding performance, which car has the best design?
    a. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro
    b. 2010 Ford Mustang
    c. 2010 Dodge Challenger
    d. 2010 Nissan 370Z

2. Disregarding design, which car has the best performance?

    a. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS

    b. 2010 Ford Mustang GT

    c. 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T

    d. 2010 Nissan 370Z

3. Which car is more popular?

    a. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS

    b. 2010 Ford Mustang GT

    c. 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T

    d. 2010 Nissan 370Z

4. Which car is the most luxurious?

    a. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS

    b. 2010 Ford Mustang GT

    c. 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T

    d. 2010 Nissan 370Z

5. Which car would you buy if you could afford any one?

    a. 2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS

    b. 2010 Ford Mustang GT

    c. 2010 Dodge Challenger R/T

    d. 2010 Nissan 370Z

Results:
The results surprised me to be honest.  I really thought that everyone would just pick their favorite and answer it for every question.

Reading Response & Course Reflection

Haskett Ch 4-6

The term 'object' is a infinitive defined word.  An object literally could be anything.  Social and cultural status form the basis of the design of objects at any given place in time.  One aspect is to 'give the user what they never knew they wanted.'  Take what you see around you and solve a problem that has such an obvious solution.  Design isn't all about what society is currently doing.  Design has many smaller inputs for the designer themselves, a touch of personal flair.  Many times we come across objects that need very little or no improvement what-so-ever.  Haskett uses the iron as an example of an object that's design is just simple fine the way it is.

Communications have been widespread across today's general media.  Objects and communications are different in that some objects can exist without a visual instruction or reference. Although communications and objects can be seen similarly in the design world.  The same design process happens for communications as objects, and the same things influence them.  Company's use design for their products, but at the same time they use design to communicate their product to the general product.  These communications come in the form of the internet, TV, and logos.  Illustrations and photography are specific kinds of design in communication.  These along with other aspects go into the persuasive design in product exposure.

Space, light, form, color, pattern, and texture are all forms of design of environment. The obvious of all environments are the general interior and exterior.  Interior design is crucial to make a indoor space functional for it's intended purpose.  Interior design is unique in that your home is something you can make your own.  The objects within your home may have been designed by someone else, but how they are displayed are up to you.


IDEO Video

I enjoyed the video we viewed in class.  The concept of getting a bunch of groups to make their own ideas is a nice way to get as many different views of design.  In the end putting all the best parts of everyones ideas actually made a pretty cool shopping cart.  I didn't really realize how much this probably goes on for just about everything we use everyday.  Basically this class is broadening my view of absolutely everything inorganic.  The keyboard I am using, the car I drive, ect.  Another thing that I really liked about the video was the mass disorganization in the beginning to slowly build some structure to not only the working space but also the discussions going on.

J02

((J02))

((1))

This is a picture that I took of my roommates awesomely ugly couch in our living room.  This stuck out to me because this is hideous.  The blue is unique and really sticks out along with the random array of flowers and wheat.

((2))

Whenever I am at my desk and look up, this is what I see.  Wood is very unique, in that it is always different.  Somehow the visual of a wood design feels familiar or normal.  This could be because it is just about everywhere.

((3))

The floor tile in my kitchen is a very plain pattern.  Very uniform in size and shapes.  This is why it stuck out to me.  I spent the week looking for crazy and different patterns.  This is a nice simplicity, even with the cracks in the lower left. 

((4))

My 10 year old cousin Maddie bought this scarf for me.  She told my aunt that she liked the colors in it, and I completely agree.  The diversity and abundance of colors in this scarf make it one of a kind.  They are all warm colors and not flashy, which is nice. 

((5))

This is a design that I see everyday.  Not only is it on just about every building everywhere, but this is the view from my bedroom window.  While brick is meant to look classy in todays world, it can look otherwise.  I would like to say the view from my bedroom is a 'classy' one, but it honestly is not..

((6))

I really like this one.  It is the distorted glass from a bathroom window.  It lets enough light in to be pleasing to the eye, but it blocks out the cruel outside world. The bits and pieces of the window are all different sizes so it really stood out to me. 

((7))

This design is special to me because my mother made this quilt for me.  Even beyond that it is special because my grandmother had the design and material cut and laid out before she passed away while I was at Air Force boot camp.  My mom finished the quilt for me and gave it to me when I returned home.  As for the design itself, blue is my favorite color and the material is denim so it looks cool. 

((8))

This is the carpet at my buddy's house.  The cream colored stripes stuck out to me.  Most carpets are uniform in color or have similar colored stripes, but this carpet has that cream.  

((9))

Obviously this design stuck out to me because of school spirit.  This is a picture of my shower curtain.  Anything and everything having to do with Ohio State is good with me.

((10))

This is also a design I see everyday.  This goes along with my desk, the picture is of the fabric on my desk chair.  It always reminded me of a picnic blanket.  The chair is very uncomfortable, but the design of the fabric is simplistic.