Week Nine:

1) Allen writes, "a representational drawing that tries to simulate [light, shadow, reflections, etc.] will always fall short," but notation is better able to anticipate the experience of the real (45). Do you agree with this, or can representational drawing accurately portray these effects?

2) Allen mention that architectural drawings are a combination of autographic and allographic. Does this always have to be the case or are there times when an architectural drawing can be only one of these, or more one than the other?

3) "Drawings become notations precisely at the moment in which numerical or textural information is added" (46). Do architectural drawings need text to be added to be understood? Are there examples of architectural drawings that don't need notation to be effective?

4) Can you think of examples of when diagrams are more useful than notations, or vice versa?

5) "A diagram architecture is part of a new sensibility characterized by a lack of interest in critique or the production of meaning, preferring instead immediacy, simple forms, direct accommodation of program, and the pleasures of the literal" (53). Are there times when this type of architecture is more effective or beneficial?

Week 7: Sparklines

1. Sparklines were generally used in data-intense, high-resolution field. How can we use sparklines in architectural representation?

2. Tufte mentioned five important elements of displaying data in the article.(number,context, scale, range, parallel comparisons)  How can we apply them to architectural diagramming and mapping?

3. Sparklines are data-intense, design-simple, word-sized graphic. What is the benefit of using sparklines?

4. Aspect ratio, unintentional optical clutter, dequantification and production methods need to be considered during sparklines design. How can we apply these methods to architecture? (Diagram, Mapping, Modeling, Concept)

5. Sparklines efficiently display and narrate binary data. What kind of binary data, relating to architecture, can be displayed using sparklines?

Week 7: Parallelism

1. Tufte writes that Repton’s before and after comparison of the cottage “yields a parallelism of layered depth,” but later contradicts this by saying that “comparisons are more effective when the information is adjacent in space rather than stacked in time.” Do you think that there are instances when parallelism over time is more effective? (81).
2. Do you think that faulty parallelisms such as Repton’s embellishments and paradise-like qualities of the after images can help or hurt architectural representation? (102).
3. Parallelism is only effective when comparisons can be made. Do multiple images/comparisons make it more effective? Do too many make it lose effectiveness?
4. Which type of parallelism is most effective in architectural representation?
5. Should we try to avoid unparrallisms or can they be advantageous in certain situations?

Understanding Comics, McCloud

1. McCloud states on pg36 that when you look at a detailed drawing, you see another, however, when you simplify the face to a smiley-face cartoon “you see yourself.” Do you agree with this?
2. Now for symbols, in general, are you more likely to identify with a simple emblem or a complex one? Imagine a Peace sign or the UN emblem
3. The ability to create contrast in detail between the characters and the scene is an interesting thought (at least to me). By increasing the level of detail of the landscape while keeping the character in a minimalist state you enable the viewer to place themselves in the scene. Does this hold true for architectural renderings, how can this be applied, is it successful? Are you more likely to place [imagine] yourself in a painting/illustration or a photograph?

4. On pg 44 McCloud talks about the power of objectification of objects, the example of a sword being drawn quite minimally until we want to call attention to it, at which point the detail is significantly raised. How can this contrast be applied in architecture?
5. How do you see yourself applying these techniques of iconic abstraction and non-iconic? Is it applicable for rendering, diagramming, board layouts, building design?

Week 6

1. It stated that a storyboard is the making of a film. Is it similar to the role of architects construction documents?

2. Does a storyboard for architecture create series, even though they are line drawings & not fully graphical drawings with color or 3D?

3. When a storyboard is applied to architectural representation & has not film does it become a "silent cartoon"?

4. Would you consider the photographic storyboards be related to architecture?

5. Would you consider the Architectural digest as being a form of a storyboard? Could it be related to a form of index?

6. Do you think a storyboard & index are related?

Week 5: Krauss, Notes on the Index 1

1. Krauss mentions that there is index within photography as referenced in Duchamps Tu’m. Are there any instances where photography isn’t used as an index in art?

2. Is it always necessary to create an index in art pieces?

3. Kraus infers that language is used as index. Is there a dichotomy or a collaboration in language and representation? Example: Pieces that are accompanied with descriptions

4. How important is an index in order to create a deeper meaning to a piece? Can an index alone provoke that kind of thought?

5. Looking at With My Tongue in My Cheek by Duchamp, the title nods to the index of the composition of the piece. Do titles always have a role in art and representation? Do titles necessarily add to the overall depiction or meaning of the art itself?