Gregory Grandparent's Apartment

This project is an accessory dwelling unit attached to a family apartment. The people living in this apartment are the grandparents. They are not in wheel chairs, but their daughter is so the apartment was designed to meet her needs, too. The color palette was inspired by the palouse, which are reds, greens, golds, and browns. From my concept I derived the elements and principles of repetition, movement, and gradation. I employed those in the design of this apartment in the furniture, finishes, and layout of the apartment. These presentation boards are organized in different board sizes that fit like puzzle pieces and complement each other. The orange striping bring one from the first board to the last. The title first jumps out and should because it is the starting point of my process, the title of my inspiration song. The critiques I received from this project will be taken to my future projects.

Meeting with an interior designer

Over Thanksgiving break I met with an interior designer to discuss a project I was working on. This meeting was very insightful. She gave me many ideas of how to fix some layout issues. I took her advice and I do like the final project even more than I did before we met. I enjoy having others take a look at my work to see how they perceive them, and see how they could be done differently.

Gregory Kitchen Design

This kitchen poster is not a very final poster, but it is to give me an idea of how I would layout a final poster. That is why pieces are taped on. The kitchen on this poster is for the Gregory family who has a handicapped family member. From the beginning of this design that aspect was kept in mind, to make the kitchen useful for every member. The concept focus' on movement, repetition, and gradation. The "L" shape of the kitchen creates movement in and out of the kitchen. The existing brick shape of the exterior walls was repeated in the kitchen backsplash. Gradation is present in the slanted wall and then in the slanting ceiling height getting taller. I organized my poster boards so that their was a good balance between the larger plans and the smaller elevations by not putting all the large ones at the top or bottom of the poster. For future posters I will make them less draft like and more professional.

Gregory Master Bathroom

This is the poster of the master bathroom I designed for the Gregory Family Project. From this project I learned to try new layouts of how to organize my work. I started out with three columns. I kept this idea then made a circle of colorful pictures and diagonals of the black and white pictures. I coordinated the fixtures that are seen in the pictures to be below those pictures. Another option I tried was to have the fixtures in their own section, but this left too much white space. Designing this bathroom was based off of the painting "American Gothic". I chose elements and principles such as prominence, repetition, and contrast from the painting to employ into the bath design. The bathroom has a sink that is ADA accessible and a transfer/roll in shower for the clients needs. From this project I have learned that the more annotations on a technical drawing the more understandable it is. And I improved on my perspective drawing skills, though they still need more improvement.

Common Reading Lecture by Michael P Woleott: WSU Sustainable Design and Engineer Professor

This speaker talked how he got interested in being an engineer. He was fascinated with outdoor natural beauty and how the energy crisis needed to be solved. A graph he showed was about how when we have war it is usually been over energy sources. He explained that energy is what makes us move forward, without it we do not. Another graph he showed was that to keep using as much energy as we do now will not always be an option. We will have to cut back at least 70% to sustain ourselves for the future because the population is constantly growing. Then he went into defining sustainability and how it is an economic, social, and environmental issue. He is teaching sustainability through actual problems to be solved by his students. I think that this is a great concept to teach sustainability because it has not always been around and needs to be for the future generations.

WSU Architecture and Construction Management Integrated Education Symposium Lecture

This was a lecture given by the Collins Woerman Architects and some of the people who helped them bring their design process to life. The first architect talked about how when he was in architecture school design and construction were two separate worlds. Today though, that is beginning to change. They brainstormed having the design fields collaborate and produce extraordinary results. This idea also evolved when there was an economic down turn. They wanted to try and produce a structure that would last a long time and not take a long time to build. With all the people from different fields ready to collaborate they all worked together and made the building happen in half the time it should have. A line that the one of the speakers said was, “do not tack on beauty in the end”. I enjoyed hearing this because I think that if collaboration of every field is not consulted till the end then there is not enough money for the project to feel complete. The structure they created was about natural light and I thought it was interesting that people in housing complexes will pay more to have a room with the most natural light. I will employ this concept in my future designs. The second speaker talked about why collaboration has not worked in the past and how it worked in the benefit of this project. He said that people for other disciplines do not tell other disciplines what to fix or change because if something goes wrong then it is someone’s fault and will cost them more money. The way this structure was built was about collaborating, so if one discipline did not suggest an idea of how to build a part of the structure it would have taken twice as long to construct. Another line I liked was, “just because industry doesn’t do it doesn’t mean it can’t happen, if you collaborate new ideas will emerge”. I thought this was the key to success, because in our studios we collaborate and critique each other’s work and it helps us evolve our ideas and grow.

Job Shadow at Callison

I went on a job shadow with an interior designer in the healthcare department at Callison architecture firm. At the job shadow I was able to see what it is like to work in a studio with a bunch of professionals. I got to see integration of architects and interior designers, which was interesting because the WSU school of design will be collaborating like what happens in a real studio. I got to see lots of materials that were cutting edge, too. Their materials room had many different types of lighting so that materials could be seen in the type of lighting that would be on site. I went to a job site with my designer and it was interesting to see something that she had in floor plans and elevations in person.

Here is a link to the Callison healthcare department website to see some of the projects they have done.

St. Ignatius Church Sketches

This is a church in Seattle, Washington that I was able to sketch. It was built by an architect that had the concept of St. Ignatius' writings. I do not know the writings of St. Ignatius, but I heard they had to do with light being God. The architecture of this church captures lighting in many different ways through windows and ceiling heights that create shadows. From these sketches I strengthen my sketching abilities, and I learned what can be done with lighting in a space.

This is an exterior view of the entrance into the church. The windows on the door let light into the structure at different angles.

This is a sketch of a wall that had a protruding wall coming out of it. This wall let light into the church through different size openings. My note says that their are 6 windows and the 7th is God, which is light. This has to do with one of the writings St. Ignatius wrote.

This is a view of the entry lobby of the church. Here the texture is seen on the walls which casts shadows because of all the light shined on them. All of the walls were curving and seemed to be connected as on and not different pieces put together. The texture on the wall makes the building look seamless.

This is a view from in the church and the ceiling heights are seen here. The different openings and how walls are lit from behind shows how God is shining into the church. As I sat in this church it was interesting to see how the lighting changed when the sun changed position.

Some of these figures I was not clear behind their meaning, but I am sure it is based on St. Ignatius. I thought that lots of the figures were organic in shape which was bringing in nature and light from outdoors.

Jim Olson Lecture 2011

Jim Olson is an architect in Seattle, Washington. His lecture was based on how he has been inspired throughout his life by nature and how he brings that inspiration into his architecture. He grew up working with his hands and wanted to do something that made him happy, so he chose architecture. He started out with his family cabin on the Puget Sound that had a window which framed Mount Rainer. This mountain is a symbol of accomplishment to him because his grandmother climbed it twice. This area of the Puget Sound is significant because Olson designed himself a cabin that he still goes to when he wants to relax. He showed a picture of a flower that you can see in the woods around his cabin. They are visible because they are light and contrast to the dark green tree backdrop. This is because flowers want to be noticed by bees so they will be pollinated. The flowers came back into his lecture when he talked about a painting that was hung in a home. The wall was dark and the painting was light. This made the painting become the focus on the wall like the flowers in the woods. He did a lot with windows that were almost invisible to people because the nature on the outside was so beautiful that it became apart of the design. He made a statement I enjoyed which was, "let the nature frame the home and the home frame the art". This is displayed in the architecture of the home with the large women statue. From many angles when looking into the home the nature is first what is noticed, then the home's architecture, and then the art figure is seen through windows. I was inspired by this mans passion for his career. I enjoy people in the design field who can be successful in their career and have a family. He was very good at explaining the concept and meaning behind his work. I think that design should always have meaning or else your design can not seem valid to everyone.

This link is to the Olson Kundig website for a photo of the house with the statue in it. http://www.olsonkundigarchitects.com/gallery_cache/2038/800_600/WSU-Postcard.jpg

Wheel Chair Experience

My partner and I experienced what it is like to be in a wheel chair. Our experience is only a little of what someone in a wheel chair deals with every second of everyday. I have to say design should revolve around them. Not every person will be in a wheel chair in their life, but may know someone who is in one. To watch them suffer in their day to day activities is not okay. From my wheel chair experience I learned that rooms should have enough turning radius, which is five feet. It is also very hard to open doors or a refrigerator. Some are too heavy, while other have are hard to reach spaces once the door is open. You also need lots of upper body strength to pull a door open and move the wheel chair back. I would highly recommend automatic opening doors. Ramps are another issue because they are not always pointed out to people not in wheel chairs. It would be time consuming to go between classes and not be able to find the elevator or ramps fast enough. The hills in Pullman are hard to avoid and are scary when that is your only option. Reaching for books in the library was difficult and the copy machine was hard to reach into. The restrooms were a plus because there was enough space for toilet transfer. The sink, soap dispenser, and paper towels were also very accessible. My partner had issues with the wheel chair in the restroom she entered, it had no turning radius. She also went to a coffee stand and the counter was so tall she could not reach the cashier. From this experience I learned that good design is not just about whether something looks good, but that it needs to be functional for every person.

Reveal Expo 2011

The Reveal Materials Expo was a real good experience for me. Learning about products is one thing, but being able to talk to representatives for the product and seeing the new items is eye opening. These photos are some of the products I found interesting.

These are both chairs from Knoll. I did a presentation of furniture last year and these two chairs were in our presentation. The top is the womb chair and the bottom is the diamond chair. It was interesting to see these in person and to feel the fabrics used.

This mosaic of tiles is actually has different grout on both side. on the left is a normal grout and the right side uses grout with pieces of glass in it. The grout with glass looked good with the glass tiles because they were both shiny.

These were cabinets on display and the representative was not at the table, but I really liked the quality. I read on their sign that they were from the Seattle area, which would be somewhat local to people in Washington state.

These are counter tops that are LEED certified eco friendly by Cosentino. I was thinking about using these eco counters for the bathroom in the residence I am designing in my studio. I thought that their slabs of stone were pretty, too. They are located in Spokane and I would like to visit their show room and slab yard, eventually.

This is my friend Green and she is sitting in a chair by Herman Miller. It was design with students in mind, because when you study sometimes your legs want to hang over the edge. I think these would have been nice to have in the CUB. I also am considering this chair for my residence design in studio.

The hanging glass on this table is for privacy and folds up. I thought it would be nice to have these beautiful pieces of glass in a library setting as a privacy curtain.

This is a curtain used in a hospital. The rep explained that her company has developed the top part to have the pattern on it. Most curtains in hospitals, she said, have not been extending the pattern to the top of the fabric. I found this interesting because I am job shadowing an interior designer who works with hospital design.

This seat has an easy clean fabric and is used in waiting room settings. I thought that the easy clean fabric was actually good looking. It's good that technology has come this far to develop pretty fabrics that have good qualities, too.

Habitat For Humanity 2011

At Habitat for Humanity I helped insulate the frame of the house. This home is going to have three layers of insulation so the heating bills will be less expensive and energy efficient. I only put the first layer of insulation in because the plumbing and electrical needed to be inspected, so we couldn't put all three layers up. Because the walls are going to be so thick the window wells will be pretty large and I thought that was interesting. I used measuring skills to cut the insulation that did not fit in the framing as is. I also learned how to use a drill screw gun. I drilled screws into the sub floor so that the sub floor was not popping up on the seams. I was not very good at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. The experience of being in a construction site was beneficial because I was able to see what I will be specifying when I design. I got to see how big bed rooms and bath rooms are in a home to compare to my studio project I am working on.

Color in Interiors Context Poster

I made this poster with the help of my partner, Green Yang. To understand how to choose color for interiors it is essential to understand the basics of color theory. When choosing colors I found that it is not about picking one you like, it is about how that color will be affected by the surrounding colors. The colors of interiors should not be the last thing thought about for a design. It should be just as important as the rest of the design process, because colors have meanings to humans that need to be considered. We used two different case studies to show how color was used in interiors. The Cape Vacation Home uses an analogous color scheme of lighter greens and blues. These colors were to bring the outside in and create a relaxing atmosphere for vacationing. The Comic Book Studio has very saturated hues of red-orange and blue which show the energetic personality of the owner. The blue helps calm the high energy orange down because they are almost complimentary colors. I like the layout of this poster because it leads the eye from the first headline, to the second, and so on in a nice fashion. I also like how there is not a lot of white space. We tried to utilize all the space we could. If I could have done something different I think I would have less blue lines throughout the poster.

Bench Design Process Poster

From this project I gained more experience in Photoshop and InDesign. I used Photoshop to create my header and to correct images on the poster. I used skills I gained throughout this year to create my header and correct images. This poster was a great way for me to learn organization of things. People being able to understand what I am saying and not being distracted by unorganized materials was what I was striving for. The texts I chose, I think are a little safe but work well with the over all design layout. Working with negative space could have been achieved differently, but I am pleased with the final product. I also got more experience with writing in design terms with my concept statement located at the top of my poster because I have not had much experience in that department.

Outside Macro Sketchs

This one of my favorite sketches because I was able to mix in color. It is always fun to use new medias. These sketches helped me focus on details more, and was interesting because if you do not necessarily know what the sketches are you could assume they are anything.

Kitchen Still Life

I drew this sketch on Easter Sunday and found it fit to draw the bunny ears with some utensils. I was having issues with perspective, but I like the idea of this sketch. I think once I have more practice with drawing texture this sketch will be much better.

Chair Sketch

This is an older chair from my dorm lobby and I chose to draw it because it was not too complex, so I could focus on drawing in perspective. I learned more about perspective with this sketch. I could have added more detail.

Value Study in Line

I like this sketch because it taught me multiple ways to look at light casting shadows. I am still working with perspective views and I think they are getting better, but it is hard to show detail while using a pen.

Erased Negative Space

I liked this sketch because it was taking a 3D object into a 2D form. It was different drawing with the eraser, but it helps me understand the medias more. The bike shape was complex and this sketch helped me realized it can be seen in a not so complex way.

Chair Negative Space

This sketch was interesting because i learned to look at a form instead of all the details in a new way. I had to start over a few times with this sketch because I kept wanting to put in the details. I learned that This sketch turned out very interesting because it is like a white shadow instead of black.

Small Hardware Element on Black Paper

This was about what was most important in the sketch frame. The dominant element stands out before the background. This is a hinge of a window that is brown/brassy colored. I chose to use pink for the handle and lighter colors for the background, so the hinge would be the focus. From this drawing I learned more about perspective and importance.

Figure Tracing from Photograph

I am glad that I traced the figure drawings before this sketch because I was more familiar with the media. Tracing a figure is interesting because it is not about every detail, it is about the shape.

Figure Tracing from Figure Drawings

This was difficult because the media was an ink pen. I had to get used to the pressure I needed to use. With the figure tracing it was helpful to watch the paper with the figure drawn and not where your hand was moving. This was to see if the figure would come out the way it should.

Fruit Cross Section

This is a cross section of an apple and tomato. The apple was easier to draw from me because the shape was specific, but the tomato was difficult. I could improve on the line weights of pencil used, and work on my perspective. Light spots are hard for me to do because I try to draw them, but I need to think about what not to draw.

Shade and Shadow of a Room Corner

This is the corner of the lobby in my dorm building. I learned more about perspective with sketch. And the shading was a bit tricky, but you just have to keep sketching even if it looks weird at the beginning because the sketch will come together.

Sketch Book Cover and Reflection

Resume

I was glad to revise the resume I had put together because creating graphics on the resume makes it more professional. I needed to reorganize my resume because I had not done so for a while. Through the reorganizing I realized the knowledge I have about my skills and experience. It was also interesting to work with my logo on my resume I will use.

My Logo Design

I am new to using Adobe Illustrator and this logo was a helpful process of learning how to use the program. I made several logo designs and the one above is one that I perfected. I made it in Illustrator and it took a lot of time to make because I was not familiar with the program. I made this logo again and it was a lot easier to do because I started to understand all the techniques of the Illustrator program. My logo represents me because the first letter of my name is "M", and my last name is Pharmer. I wanted to incorporate the "Ph" sound in my logo instead of using just the letter "P". I also like to design with straight and curved lines; the "M" in the logo is linear and the "Ph" is a circle that signifies curvature.

Point Line Plane Manipulation

This is the fifth model of my Point Line Plane series models. This model was manipulated from the previous by making this shorter wall more pronounced with the subtle yellow and the thickening of the plane. This project was a large learning experience because I had to do many new techniques with cutting and painting.

Wucius Wong Inspired Unit Wall

This is the unit wall I created from one unit form into multiples to construct a wall.I created this idea from reading the Wucius Wong text and gathering information on unit forms. I did not want to have a linear structure of squares so I went with a sphere design. There is a dominant form of the sphere and the sticks are my subordinate structures of the unit form. I learned from this project to use different materials when needed and to explore any ideas that come to mind because you can always work from them.

Textile Design

Combination Heritage

The idea generator was heritage and the combination of Russian, German, and French heritages creates this American heritage. The form-giver was used with the colors of pink to tie all the different heritage objects together. The objects were all so different and the color pink was a unifying for all of them. The color pink was chosen as the unifying color because the dominant floral background had pink flowers. Knitting is a past time tradition of the family and is symbolically resembling how all the heritages weave together. The applications of these heritage objects to create this textile are placed on a floral pattern which represents the French heritage as a main component, because the letter “P” is for the French last name, Pharmer. The flowing curves of the knit piece show how the heritages have separate features, but are intermingled together to create a unified design.

I created a textile based on my heritage of Russian, German, and French decent. I feel like I learned more about my heritage through this design. I did this design in Photoshop and again learned many useful new skills. I do like my textile on paper, but I am not sure if it would be the same in fabric. Through this textile creation I was inspired to think that one day I could design fabrics for furniture. This was an abstract piece that I learned more about design from.