Archinect - Marymount University (Charlotte Bell)

Furniture model problems!

2006-03-03T22:49:24-05:00

In my Furniture Design class, we are building models of our chair designs. My first efforts were quite crude and I'm frustrated with my inability to recreate my ideas and drawings in an effective 3D form. The Sculpey we used at the beginning of class to form our compositions is too soft and limp to hold a chair shape. Paper has no dimensionality and doesn't hold a curve anyway. Foamcore is too thick and awkward for the small scale of our models. Strips of wood in the correct scale are too stiff to be bent to create curves. Although I did find a material that is better than most, Architectural Taskboard (it cuts like a dream, glues together easily with white glue, can be sanded, and can be bent in one dimension over steam), it doesn't really have the flexibility to create complex or tight curves.

So, I'm casting around for things to use to create these little models. What would work to create a complex curve in a tiny seat? What can I use for the legs that would look like bent met...

3D sketches

2006-01-29T22:52:01-05:00

Our first design assignment in Furniture Design class is taken from Elements of Design: Rowena Reed Kostellow and the Structure of Visual Relationships, by Gail Greet Hannah. The book discusses the life of Rowena Reed Kostellow, who taught industrial design at Pratt Institute for more than 30 years.

Ms. Kostellow's belief was that three-dimensional designs should be sketched three-dimensionally, not two-dimensionally. The tools of her studios were, therefore, clay, cardboard, wire, glue, and so forth, not paper, pencils, and markers.

Our first exercise, adapted from this book, was to create 25 small sculptural compositions of three volumes each, using Sculpey or another modeling material. The parameters of the assignment were:

Each volume must be linear, not curvilinear.

Each volume must be different from all the others used in the exercise.

One of the volumes in each composition must be "dominant," one "subdominant," and one "subordinate." The dominant volume must be the most prom...

Furniture joints

2006-01-22T23:23:56-05:00

Here's a simple summary of furniture joints: About Joints. Informative for other wood-joining needs too.

Furniture design class

2006-01-19T12:04:27-05:00

Last night was the first class of my new semester - Furniture Design. We'll be going through the process of designing furniture and learning about furniture manufacturing through a series of studio projects and field trips. Our first project is a historical overview. Our other projects will be to design seating, case goods, and a line of furniture.

I'm excited about this class because the professor is beginning with the very basics of shape and form, having us work with clay and build models. In some of my other interior design studios, we were presented with a design problem and programming information and simply told to begin - without much, if any, exposure to the basic concepts of good design. Reading even the best books on design theory just doesn't stick in my brain. I need more hands-on. This will be good.

Building a resource library in your living room

2006-01-17T23:15:49-05:00

If you're like me, you need materials for your projects - usually in the middle of the night when your school's resource library is closed Because I got tired of the paltry offerings of our resource library, I started my own student-sized resource collection in the corner of my living room.

Here's what I've done (and some tips) without spending much money:

I cleared out and repurposed a couple of bookshelves (and made a nice book donation to my local library). You can find cheap shelves at Staples or you may luck out and find some on the street on garbage day. Stackable crates and boards on cement blocks work too - use whatever is cheap and available.

I positioned these shelves to create a nook, which became my “studio,” and hung some fabric on the back of the shelves to make them look a little less junky from the rest of the living room.

I outfitted my shelves with cheap folding cardboard magazine files to hold product literature and magazines, vaguely grouped by categories. If y...

Software POLL (please participate)

2006-01-12T07:56:03-05:00

Informal software poll - to help me figure out what I need to learn next and whether I have grounds for bugging my school to teach us more. I'll post results. You can use results to lobby your school for more courses or freebies too.

(If you're out of school and practicing, please feel free to participate, but let me know you're not a student.)

1. What software do you use in your design projects? (in order of importance, most to last)

2. What software do you love? Hate?

3. What software does your school teach you? (i.e., that you don't have to learn outside of class and classwork)

4. If you've had to learn a software package on your own, how did you do it? (experimentation, bought book, took outside class, etc)

5. What software does your school make available to you for free?
Can you put it on your own computer or do you have to use the computer lab?

6. Have you ever been precluded from learning a software package that you needed because you couldn't afford it? How did this...

Architect envy

2006-01-11T21:15:13-05:00

Wow. You architecture students get to play with some cool stuff - some of your models, computer graphics, and experiments are terrific. My interior design studios can't touch it - we're pretty much limited to our markers, pencils and 2D CAD and I feel like I'm not learning nearly enough. However, my program is geared toward students who hold down full-time jobs and have families, so it's not a huge surprise that we're not holed up with our fellow students in the studio for 72 hours straight (we are holed up at home, however, by ourselves, while our families enjoy a good night's sleep).

It's going to be hard to report in this blog about Regency furniture, or whatever the heck I'm going to be learning about next semester in my history of architecture and interiors class. I'd rather be building something.

A little bit about me

2006-01-09T18:00:38-05:00

I just joined the blog project and wanted to offer some background. I'm a graduate student in Interior Design at Marymount University. Because I'm also working and raising children, I go to school part-time. I'm about half way through.

I've started my own company, BellDesign. I'm not ready for clients, but actually owning a business makes it much easier to get access to samples and information for my projects.

I've got my own blog, www.bellcr.com, which, in keeping with the rules, I'll mention infrequently. That blog chronicles not only my school experiences, but also my progress with BellDesign, thoughts on design and sustainability, my portfolio, and, eventually, some resource links.

In my past, I've been an environmental lawyer, a historic preservation consultant, the manager of an insurance agency, and the owner of a small gourmet cake business.

Spring semester starts next week. I'm taking Architectural History II and Furniture Design.