Archinect - University of Texas at Arlington (Michael Garrett)

resurfacing - an architect spy among art students

2008-01-28T02:11:28-05:00

last entry i mentioned a venture into the world of 'communication design'... or graphic design to most people. being the idiot (and possible sadomasochist) that i am, i re-entered the undergraduate arena, the BFA in communication design at the University of North Texas. it started out cool. i felt like a spy - the rogue architecture grad subversively observing art students who are just discovering the design discipline.

i laughed when the professors told us the program would kill us. "you won't sleep. you'll have no friends, blah blah." i remembered the long nights, the basswood, stabbing myself with piano wire, cutting off part of a finger with an xacto-blade, etc. i thought to myself "you kids are in for a real treat." i feel like wearing a badge that says 'get real - i survived architecture school'.

what's been really nice is having to take drawing again. i felt disconnected from drawing as i became more and more reliant on the computer as architecture school wore on. i had...

are they gonna let me keep this thing?

2007-03-14T00:43:47-04:00

i had all but forgotten about this thing until i got an email notification that someone had commented my post called 'narratives that never say the word' (by the way, that comment was quite rude, 'ajkoog').

there's an irony in what this disgruntled archinector said... that i 'are are not a graphic designer'. the irony is that i haven't posted in months because i quit graduate school, to pursue a degree in graphic design.

i found that while i'm lanky, my stretch armstrong-like appendages weren't quite malleable enough to bridge the huge divide between architectural education and architectural practice. i don't know if this is amplified by regional issues... this is texas, and they want stars and bricks in them thar parts. i don't know, it lost its appeal. i don't want to do your damn CAD drawings mr. architect. the internship process seems like the equivalent of affirmative action - quick... we gotta get someone in here that knows computers!! (again... is this a southern/regional e...

i'm not quite dead yet

2006-09-01T16:09:18-04:00

inspiration is the only thing that passes faster than time. and it sneaks up on you too. i've been watching a lot of project runway and find myself captivated by the whole process.

draping is by far one of the most intimate interactions with the body. the texture and flow of fabric, the reflection of light, the movement underneath, all in seamless cooperation.

so, fashion designer, you and i aren't really all that different are we?

liquid collage - sinewSINUOUS

2006-02-01T23:58:25-05:00

2 minute mini film in collaboration with chris hall

various fluid media

water is the mechanism of wounding

light_fixation_V02.variations

2005-12-08T14:50:09-05:00

see previous entry on assignment

classmates' entries as promised:

i still need to get all the names so i can give proper credit for the work

light_fixation_V01

2005-12-07T21:00:33-05:00

digital fabrication projects have come to a close. many schools already use laser cutters like it's second nature, but around here this is new ground.

the investigations provoked by the digital process and physical manifestions of the lighting devices proved to be quite interesting. i'll try to post images of the variations put out by other classmates.

my product involved a repetition of surface conditions, with the focus being not on the form itself but the light saturation that happens in between the contours. the model is a lightly 'toasted' chipboard thanks to the laser. overall we have found that these technologies, while adding to efficiency and precision, can be rather unyeilding... and produce some unexpected suprises.

memo::memento

2005-10-05T18:54:11-04:00

for our digital construction workshop the film memento became a resource of cinematic structure: an editing methodology that utilizes the loop and conditioned sequencing.

my diagrams break down the filmic structure as a constant repetition of reference objects. for those of you familiar with the story, objects like the telephone, polaroids, keys, coasters and the car help to anchor the viewer in time and space. then the absorption of information in a reverse pattern becomes a little less daunting.

a second layer : the underlying presence of the tattoo. this fixed condition is the source.. the originator of facts that the character assumes are true.

here's the attempt at graphic representation:

watch out for the pointy end

2005-08-28T22:10:41-04:00

"is this to say that, in life, everything is a matter of forces? yes, if it is understood that the relation of forces is not quantitative, but necessarily implies certain 'qualities'. there are forces which are now able to respond to others only in a single, uniform and invariable way: the scorpion in Mr Arkadin knows only how to sting, and stings the frog that carries him over the water, even if it means death by drowning. variablility thus survives in the relation of forces, since the scorpion's sting turns against itself, when it is directed in this case at the frog.
---------------none the less, the scorpion is the type of a force which no longer knows how to metamorphose itself according to the variations of what it can affect and what it can be affected by.----------"

arch*****ure "is a big scorpion who knows only how to sting."

five green and speckled frogs: art, cinema, science, technology, pop culture

-selections from deleuze, cinema 2 : the time image

otaku

2005-08-19T02:32:25-04:00

from urbandictionary.com:
The term "otaku" seems to have been introduced to anime fans in the US and other countries via Studio Gainax's "Otaku no Video 1985," a self-parody film.
Otaku, meaning probably "venerable house," refers to someone who has a devotion to a subject or hobby (not necessarily anime) to the point of not leaving home. For instance, an otaku fan of a particular movie star could quite possibly know all of the films s/he has been in, their birth date, time of birth, shoe size, favorite toothpaste, etc. Generally speaking, calling someone an otaku in Japan is an insult, implying that their social skills have atrophied or never even developed, due to their manic involvement in their chosen fandom.

In America, the term is used to denote a zealous fan, usually of anime and/or manga. Due to its introduction to most people's vocabulary through its tongue-in-cheek use in Gainax's film, "otaku" tends to have a much less dire definition overseas.

When dealing with Japanese...

the proud (anti)parent

2005-07-01T00:54:41-04:00

huge congratulations to jesse rodriguez and alexis flores, two alumni and friends from UTA.

third place in the urban reserve student design competition.

nicely done.

due to a lack of posts

2005-06-21T01:15:51-04:00

i'm off to frolic in the sea of stumps. (that means the working world)...

it's a job not even remotely related to architecture. go figure. but a welcome change nonetheless.

this coming fall finds me without a studio. what the hell am i going to do with myself? perhaps some outside competitions are in order. it's hard to find the self discipline, but that's better than losing the momentum of semesters passed.

i'm in a new york state of mind,
a suburbanite's state of being,
and a dreamer's state of consciousness.

one couldn't ask for more.

a notation of experience

2005-05-02T01:42:44-04:00

during a recent conversation with my friend chris, he brought up an interesting point - the possibility that design is pulled from a collection of thoughts that are already in place, that all ideas already exist. this relates heavily to all the discussion of memes in my studies this semester. what was the original meme set? the grouping of thoughts that lead to the formulation of all proceeding thoughts. is it true that we are really rearranging the same elements over and over?

neither of us fully knows the validity of that statement. we were in agreeance, however, that good design is an individual mode of discovery. even if the entire spectrum of possible ideas is already in place, it is in fact the act of personalization that constitutes design.

architecture has been, and always will be, the art of appropriation. but the nearly infinite number of combinatory possiblities keeps us from regurgitating the same things over and over. or does it?

what makes any work inherentl...

texas star

2005-04-14T14:44:00-04:00

our studio critics have offered an interesting approach to site documentation and analysis. we were asked to film our site, utilizing cinematography as a framework for the architectural project we will inflict there.

this is building in a cinematic context. the architecture becomes a character, or a prop, or a transition, in the filmic sense.

i ventured over to fair park in dallas, the home of the texas state fair and the 'texas star' ferris wheel. everything is bigger and uglier in texas.

i plan to use this large contraption as a pivot where an interchange will occur between a physical and virtual presence. since the whole semester i've been investigating robotics and the implications of such technologies, it only make sense that the architecture must support interactions with the human body. again the concept of the 'meme' (see earlier posts) will elicit the transfer of both quantitative and qualitative data between man and machine.

what is the 'architecture' here? i see...

narratives that never say the word

2005-04-07T23:00:47-04:00

the following are some layout samples for the book i had to write for theory seminar. it was a reflection of cognitive process and personal experiences with education.

-unfortunately, they're not legible at this size-

one thing i tried to accomplish was to write about my passion without giving it a name.

'architecture' is a dirty word.

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collab

2005-03-30T00:47:20-05:00

i'm trying to work up a website for digital portfolio that covers a collaborative project i participated in last year. the digital design process done by UTA and the physical milling done by UA were part of an online design initiave coined under the name 'collab'.

the site is still rather basic, but i have another week to finish it up.

COLLAB

POSTcards

2005-03-24T02:25:38-05:00

we have moved forward from our own school building to the iconographic medium of the dallas postcard. the postcard is essentially the image of dallas, that which is mailed out to the other locations of the world.

we were tasked with a series of critiques about dallas and how it is utilized/underutilized by the average user. in my case, the robot or technopresence reframes dallas as an interactive playground between man/machine, in addition to the narratives present from machine to machine.

we start by essentially 'rewiring' the urban energies in the downtown area. some redirection and mis-direction can begin to occur.

if the same is done to the suburban area, outlets or clusters begin to manifest themselves.

the city at night becomes somewhat of a feeding ground. the physical evaporation of energy can be witnessed and becomes a spectacle in the street scene.

residents and visitors alike are allowed to participate in larger scale mechanical play assemblies. the scale of pin...

dead-tech

2005-03-05T16:33:18-05:00

the dead-tech is what's left of the decay.
the ideal-tech once generated the image.
certain mechanisms escalated the rapid decline:
-bloat
-explode
-creep
-latch
-grapple
-trap
-penetrate
-probe
-rip
-scar
-incubate

next step: where did we/they go wrong?

what are you insinuating?

2005-02-27T00:27:48-05:00

studio now ventures forth using interventionist strategy. we are tasked with conducting a series of 'insinuations' within our own building. we will later move to the larger context of dallas with these concepts in mind.

these insinuations are in fact critiques of the space in which we are expected to be inspired every day. rather than signify areas of improvement, i am experimenting with rhino as a 'robotic armature' (as taken from previous robotic investigations) that in fact dismantles the space entirely. we begin by keyframing through photographic montage. i have also undertaken some diagramming in rhino, where i locate the 'control points' within the building to aid in its transformation.

the following represent the transition from storyboard sketch to photo-montage to diagram.

pentonville

2005-02-21T00:27:29-05:00

in case you secretly yearned for a glimpse of the facilities here:

this is the 4th (top) floor of the architecture building.

you only get to see the sun if you're a senior or a grad student.

the main stairwell, which suprisingly is a faster route than the 'am i gonna make it out of here alive' elevator bank.

a view from the bottom up, one of the first you get as an undergrad.

my little niche in the studio. if i'm not there, then i'm dead.

wed. afternoon picture show

2005-02-16T00:09:21-05:00

we present our films to the studio tomorrow. i have completed one of the two, dealing with the meme as a 'machine' or generator. what i am left with is a simple curvature, a spine if you will, that propagates into a complicated system. the meme infects the mind, it duplicates itself indiscriminantly, and that which begins rather simply can increase exponentially.

for more information about memes consult richard dawkins' the selfish gene. chapter 11. memes: the new replicators.

this is much less effective through still image as opposed to the filmic representation, but given the file size i suppose these will have to do.

unweaving the rainbow

2005-02-08T16:34:42-05:00

apart from a bout of illness over the weekend, things have been operating smoothly. each of my courses is serving to inspire me in ways i never imagined.

currently i am undertaking film production as a conceptualization tool in the pulparchitecture studio. our encounters with the 'meme' have been taken further to include various types of cinematic representation. we have been split up into four groups of three. our treatment of the camera differs in each group. one is dealing with a video projection installation, another focuses on time-lapse and reality television, the third is a kind of performance involving drastic scenarios. my group, as i mentioned before, conducted robotic surveillance to reveal the 'second life' of the architecture building. if all of this sounds incredibly vague, it's because it is slowly being revealed to us over the course of the semester. in essence you'll be learning about it right along with me.

theory seminar is up and rolling at an alarming ...

entry the first

2005-02-01T14:25:32-05:00

i believe it has only been two weeks since the semester began. through some type of time lapse it seems more like a month. whatever the case i currently find myself already behind.

my schedule consists of an advanced design studio with critics john maruszczak and roger connah. roger is also conducting a theory seminar entitled 'stamp out architecture' which i am taking as well. then there is digital portfolio/digital protocols under the direction of karen bullis.

i'm finding the theory seminar most enjoyable - in fact all of these courses are fascinating. this is the first semester in which i disregarded required courses like structures and environmental control systems to pursue my interests. anyway, in seminar we are tasked with mapping out our own thinking processes, convergent or divergent, and reformulate that into some sort of thesis or synopsis of our methodology. roger has already suggested a number of books [none of which mention architecture] and i have begun read...