The broad variety of practical and analytical skills encouraged and indeed developed by this course has well and truly furthered my interest in the practice of Architecture. An insight into subjects to come, as well as a introduction to 'requisite real world' skills, this course has also broadened my view of the Architects' role in the construction process. From initial concepts, through development, to completion and beyond, the architect must possess both manual, creative and intuitive skills, which, when combined, are capable of producing something truly spectacular.
In essence, Architectural Communications has asked me to view my natural surrounds in a different way, to identify and imbue within the viewer the feeling of a building, and to drop any apprehension of totally distorting a pre-existing building and, utilising poetic license, transforming the mundane into something extraordinary. These three requirements were asked of me in the Fluid Thoughts (1st workshop), Architectural Drawing (2nd) and Model-Making (3rd )workshops respectively. I believe the order in which I attended each workshop made for a cumulative learning experience, as I definately drew up skills from previous weeks in the current class. Indeed, through Fluid Thoughts, my new-found confidence in drawing buildings from an emotive perspective, not one based on strict reality, proved rather helpful when conceptualising an approach to Model-Making. Evident within my drawings below, my work in Architectural Drawing was assisted by Fluid Thoughts as well, as I was more willing to experiment, more willing to forge a definite identity for my given interpretation in drawing the Rose Seidler House. In turn, Architectural Drawing helped my visualise the three-dimensional nature of buildings, and so my model benefited through my conscience visualisations of the building.
Architectural Communications, as a whole, has inspired me to look beyond the strict physical boundaries of a building, and to challenge pre-conceived ideas about the absoluteness of buildings and landscapes. The ability to take a seemingly finite structure and find some interpretation, some spirit to it, is one which I believe will serve me well in years to come.
FLUID THOUGHTS (First Workshop):
> A realistic view of the Sydney Opera House from a more peculiar angle. Immediately apparent is the towering height, coupled with the sweeping curvature of the building, that arch gracefully towards the sky.
FLUID THOUGHTS:
> A view of the Opera House from the East, this drawing tries to capture the interesting grouping of the individual arches, as well as the relationship between the different curvatures. The SydneyHarbourBridge is placed in the background for context, and the space below the building extends the 'energy-lines' that are set up above it.
FLUID THOUGHTS:
>Sydney Opera House in Charcoal. Quickly drawn near sunset, when the long shadows of day are encroaching, this drawing provides a contrast between light and dark in the majestic interval between day and night.
FLUID THOUGHTS:
> A triangular interpretation of the Sydney Opera House. By viewing the well-known sections of the Opera House as triangular, a more natural and elemental perspective is demonstrated.
FLUID THOUGHTS:
> Mud Mosques of Mali. An affront to modern buildings, predicated upon the ideal of timelessness, these mosques are rebuilt by the community every few years. Elemental forces such as wind and rain have a destructive effect on the buildings, and in the act of rebuilding, a constant facade is avoided. I felt such a dynamic and temporary approach to construction to be quite refreshing and intriguing.
FLUID THOUGHTS:
> A quick, free-hand drawing of an awkward assembly of tables, chairs and a garbage bin. Fluidity was desired.
FLUID THOUGHTS:
> Teacups Exercise. The rendering of the teacups provides the viewer with a better understanding of the roundness and symmetry of the objects. 
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING (Second Workshop):
> A more abstract amalgamation of what I felt were the key features of the Rose Seidler House; namely, the fireplace, the skeletal structure that provides a sense of both awareness and enclosure, the ramp and the stairways, and also the colours and pattern that repeat through the house.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING:
> A plan view of the Rose Seidler, with a three-dimensional extrapolation of the deck and staircase.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING:
> A sectional view of the Rose Seidler House, with a three-dimensional extrapolation of the living room space.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING:
> An elevational view of the house, with the ramp brought forward in 3D to imbue a heightened awareness with the viewer. The red and black colouring adds to the depth as well as making a comment on the buildings aesthetic.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING:
> A collage of these drawings. The implied transperancy of the image and the drawings is derived from the sense of transparency and clarity one gains upon entering the Rose Seidler House.
ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING:
> A perspective drawing of the Rose Seidler House, with some of the windows coloured in and the bricks rendered to provide greater detail and interest.
MODEL-MAKING (3rd workshop):
>Nearing completion on the final model.
>The final model. Evident here is the technique of selective removal, seen in the large gap in the wall and roof. This technique aims to expose the interior of the building, sugesting transpareny.
>More obvious here is the acetate film which simultaneously provides enclosure with arches and transpareny.
>This corner view of the black surrounding structure is intentionally left open to allow a view of the interior.
MODEL-MAKING:
>A card model of the front section of my house.
>A detachable roof allowed one to see the interior structure close up, and also to gauge the different thicknesses of interior and exterior walls.
A card model of a glue bottle. Scoring was essential to obtain the cylindrical shape. We succeeded in producing a model with quite a strong similarity to the original.
