Lomas, Hosler, & Murphy

Arnheim. Visual Thinking

1. What leads one to the process of abstraction?

2. What are some pros and some cons

3. Arnheim bases his thesis on the premise: One cannot have perception without thinking or thinking without perception therefore every level involves abstraction and must be examined with care.

Do you agree with this?

Is it possible to simply take something in without analyzing, dissecting, categorizing, or relating it to something else

Can you discuss an idea without picturing it or relating it to something concrete?

4. Rene Pellet says: "Abstraction is an organization of the mind that passes beyond the concrete and has freed itself from it."

5. Is it possible to completely free a thought of concrete influence? In either respect is this necessary to constitute abstraction?

6. In your own words, how would you define abstraction?

7. What do you or how would you classify home?

8. Where did you last see an example of an abstraction?

Tufte. Beautiful Evidence

1. How do the idifferences between the physical and social sciences change the way we take/measure data?

2. What are the qualities of human nature or behavior that change the way we think or understand?

3.How is Minard's Russian Campaign poster anti-war and why does he intentionally not mention Napoleon's name?

4. Why would anyone logically want to limit themselves at the very initial stages of compiling data? And how would someone layer multiple pieces of information with analytical design?

5. Why is Documentation such an important part of analytical design?

6. What questions should someone ask themselves when trying to copile data?

7. How are principles of design derived in relation to human behavior?

2010 Chicago - Discussion Leaders

Week 02 - Lomas, Hosler
Week 03 - Kaspar, Hands
Week 04 - Lomas, Hands
Week 06 - Murphy, Francis
Week 07 - Pletz, Heikkinen
Week 09 - Russell, Francis, Donald
Week 11 - Lattimore, Heikkinen
Week 12 - Pletz, Kaspar, Lattimore
Week 15 - Donald, Hosler

Because of the smaller class size, please email two dates you would like to lead. Every week should have two leaders and some will have three.

Mariano Rivera's Cutter

This is an incredible video explanation of Mariano Rivera's signature pitch, the cutter. As a baseball fan (but a Yankee hater) I found the video compelling. As a connoisseur of infographics, I was really struck by how well they explain what he does, how it differs from other pitches and how they explain what he is doing to the ball from both the hitter's and pitcher's point-of-view.

Enjoy!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/06/29/magazine/rivera-pitches.html

Final Doc Crits

I will see you in pairs for 20 minutes. Please email your selection for both dates.

05.04
6:30 Lima, Arteaga
6:50 Hoctor, Rad
7:10 Monese, Carlucci
7:30 Seniuk, Landin
7:50 Bartsch,Villwock
8:10 Petermann, Wold
8:30 Dhimal, Biwer

05.11
6:30 Lima, Seniuk
6:50 Petermann, Arteaga
7:10 Hoctor, Rad
7:30 Landin, Monese
7:50 Bartsch, Villwock
8:10 Wold, Carlucci
8:30 Dhimal, Biwer

Please bring a hardcopy of your document progress for critique.

04.27 Discussion Questions

Agrest Questions:

Tufte Reading
The Cognitive Style of PowerPoint

1) How can we improve our presentations?

2) What does Tufte describe as corruption of evidence and analysis? What should consumers of PowerPoint presentations look out for?

3) What is PowerPoint Phfluff?

4) While Tufte states on pg 169 that PowerPoint slides that accompany talks have much lower rates of information transmission than conversation, can Power points be used by the middle 80% of user in a constructive presentation?

5) Why are bullet lists unsuccessful?

1) According to Agrest, is it architectural representation or built architecture in which ideological changes (renaissance, baroque, and modernism) manifest themselves?  Why? (pg.165)

2) According to Agrest, representation "works as a shifter that allows codes of one system (science, geometry, mathematics, or physics) to be switched to another (culture, painting, or architecture)."  Because of this "there is rarely representation of a 'reality,' or even of an idea or a belief. What representation represents is another representation in a chain of signifiers that circulates from one medium to another..."  What does Agrest mean by this and whose definition of beauty does he use to explain this? (pg.167)

3) During what time period was there a distinguish made between architectural practice and theory?  Why? (pg.168)

4) What is the most pertinent form of media to be used when representing the contemporary city?  Why? (pg. 174 & 175)

5) What 2 paradoxical situations have resulted from the use of the computer in architecture?  Where is the impact of these situations the greatest?  Why?  (pg.176)

LOST character web from Wired

Any lost fans? Probably not since our class is during the show time, but Wired Magazine had a great character web from all 6 seasons.

The key for the colors is on the linked page.

Getting Lost-Wired

Discussion Questions for 04.13 (Week 12)

Allen, "Plotting Traces: On Process"

1. Does Allen's underlying argument that architecture and its context is temporal suggest that buildings should be more flexible in their conception?

OR

2. Does the notion of narrative progression rely on the existence of fixed expressions (relics of time and place) as something for new principles to be built upon?

3.How does Allen's argument for a more illusionary architecture support his goal of discovering new theories and strategies for design? Is he simply encouraging experimentation?

Bonus: Allen writes that the lack of consistency in site program and client is offset by a tendency to repeat known solutions and too often contemporary practice is stuck oscillating between mechanical repetition and shallow novelty. How does one discover new principles and theories without falling into the latter category?

Allen, “Practice vs. Project”

1. What is "techne" and how does it play into Allen's reading? Does the topic produce 'better' architecture in your mind?

2. The quote from paragraph 2 on page 3 of the pdf: "Architecture apparently needs a grand narrative in order not to be entirely consumed by these small narratives of opportunity and constraint." What is Allen afraid will happen should this 'grand narrative' not be present?

3. With regards to successful practice, why does Allen believe that such practice cannot be devoid of theory? Why are the two commonly seen as competing abstractions?

4. Surrounding the topic of Architecture, can the medium of writing aid in the design process? Does writing have the potential to reinforce any of the subjects mentioned by Allen in this reading, or potentially benefit the Architect in other ways?

Bonus: How do we as architecture students and theory readers “constantly on the lookout for new techniques” differentiate between project and process; taking a precedent and studying not what it is formally, or means theoretically, but what it does and how it operates in the world?

exercise 4.0_individual research

Your final exercise of the semester is a personal research topic. This topic may be related to your current/past studios, Master's project topic or other topic that you would like to graphically research for this course. Your topic may be directly related, tangentially related or reciprocal to architectural thought. You may critique conventions, processes or projects. You may also decide to explore phenomena that is not directly related to architecture, in that, it is not a building, drawing or other.

On 04.20 you must present your topic. A 500-word written explanation of your topic must be included. Within your presentation you must clearly state the topic as a thesis of inquiry, your methodology for research and your expected out comes. Keep in mind, this topic must be formated to fit the final document per the syllabus.

03.30 Discussion Questions

III_Terminal Velocities
[The Computer in the Design Studio]
Stan Allen

1. Do you believe that the introduction of computers in the design studio has resulted in better architecture and/or more efficient work methods as advertised, or has it created a greater disconnect between the designer and the architecture?

2. Allen talks a lot about the instrumentality of the computer and its function as a tool in the field of architecture. Do you feel that the computer is more of a tool or a hindrance in your design work? (p. 72-73)

3. Allen states that new “techniques of visualization ignore what has traditionally given architectural representation its particular power of conceptualization – its necessary degree of abstraction.” What is it about abstraction that allows an architect to visually communicate more effectively and why are computers often incapable of achieving this? (p. 75)

4. According to Allen, architecture and planning have traditionally been committed to control separation and unitary thinking. How do you think viewing the city as an information landscape can create more transparent, shared, and unified city? (p. 80-83)

5. Allen points out that well known designers like Greg Lynn and Preston Scott Cohen were already interested in “formal complexity and descriptive geometry” before they had access to computers, and as a result their prior research helped guide/inform their digital design techniques. Does this suggest that the training of a young architect should still begin with the development of manual design skills, or should we begin with computer aided design training? (p. 85)

Picon Questions:
1. How do new computer techniques differ from older ones? Can they both be considered virtual reality?
2. When do architects figure out the best possible solution? Can it ever happen?
3. Should textures be used in digital models?
4. What do you think is the future of technology in architecture? How can it improve the field?
5. "The aim of the architect is no longer to propose an alternative, and allegedly better, world but to take the world as it is, to contribute to the further actualization of its potential rather than bring about the advent of remote utopia." (p.307) Do renderings help to create this alternative world?

Example Work for Poster Project

Here are a few examples of similar work that should inspire you for your poster project.

Design Density:
Jules & Jim
Italian Social Condition - Poverty
A.Y. 2008-2009
Environmental Report 2008

Other:
Good Transparencies Archive
50 Great Examples of Infographics

Added New Links Section

I have added a new section to the links portion of the blog labeled "tools/software." These are online or stand-alone software that may be utilized for data visualization or other related media. I have tried a few of these, not all. I have also taken out some of the "useful/inspirational links" and moved them to this new section where appropriate. Enjoy!

Discussion for March 09

BEAUTIFUL EVIDENCE
1. The most common data display is a noun accompanied by a number. How can Sparklines increase their visual effectiveness?

2.Tufte gives some examples of Sparklines used in a linear fashion ..... medical monitorings, Baseball wins and losses, and Mouse neurons. How can Sparklines be used in non-linear way?

3. Why the construction of Sparklines require thinking about their design and production?

VISUAL EXPLANATION
4. How does Parallelism connect visual elements? How are visual elements disconnected by parallelism?

5. In What ways can parallelism be experiential? Interpretive?

6. How can Parallelism increase the visual effectiveness in Mapping?

7.How can faulty Parallelism lead to misinterpretations?

8.How can we integrate Sparklines and Parallelism into architecture? What are the possibilities and benefits?

By. Blake & Umesh

Great Moments in Sports Diagrams

I love these! There are a series of them here:

Cassius Clay
Pete Rose
Michael Jordan
Bjorn Borg
Walter Payton

While these are done with a tongue-in-cheek approach, I do believe they are great examples of the dynamic diagram that Arnheim speaks of in his essay "What Abstraction Is" from the week 2 readings.

Exercise Two - Paintings

El Lissitzky - Landin, Lima, Arteaga, Biwer, Petermann
Le Corbusier - Seniuk, Bartsch
Malevich - Villwock, Carlucci, Dhimal, Wold, Hoctor

Discussion Questions for 3-2-10

Part 1:

1. If an index is the connection piece between a real object and the symbol we use to represent it in language, do the meanings of pronouns become ambiguous if the index does not reference one thing? Does this ambiguity add confusion or interest?

2. In Duchamp’s works "Tu m’" and "Rrose Se`lavy and I" is it the play on words that makes the piece interesting or the graphic interpretation of the play on words?

3. Andre Bazin describes painting as an "inferior way of making likeness" and an "ersatz of the process of reproduction" and says the photograph is always a reproduction of a model. Is this true of all photography?
Follow up: With new digital photography and editing techniques, do you think Bazin would still stick to his original statement that photographs are always just reproductions?

4. Explain the "verbal doubling" in Duchamp's With my Tongue in My Cheek

Part 2

5. What is your understanding of this statement? (Page 5 (216 in actual text)) “Paintings are understood, instead, as shifters, empty signs (like the word this) that are filled with meaning only when physically juxtaposed with an external referent, or object.”

6. How do indices relate to mapping?

7. In the sense of mapping versus tracing is photography a form of mapping or tracing?

8. In comparison of a traditional dancer and a photograph, why does Krauss call the photograph a message without a code?

9. Consider cinematography: Why were the first silent movies successful as a narrative while photos have a need to link text and image through a caption?

-Dave and Wekeana