In the white room

WEEK7- DAY2

1. SOUNDTRACK OF THE DAY

Cream - In the White Room


2. PLACES TO KNOW

Venice, Gallerie dell’Accademia

3. PEOPLE TO DISCOVER

Roman architect-engineer Vitruvius Pollio (1st century B.C.):

“... Vitruvius declares that Nature has thus arranged the measurements of
a man: four fingers make one palm. and four palms make one foot; six palms
make one cubit; four cubits make once a man’s height; four cubits make a pace,
and twenty-four palms make a man’s height...”

4. QUESTION OF THE DAY

5. INSPIRATION


Leonardo’s Vitruvian Man.

“Man is the measure of all things,”

Pythagoras

Your Body Ruler - A User’s Manual.

Design needs measures. Without them, it is very difficult to get into any project. I measure therefore I am. This is today’s motto. Something to remember: I measure therefore I am.

Room 101- George Orwell’s “Nineteen Eighty-Four.” It is a torture chamber in the Ministry of Love in which the Party attempts to subject a prisoner to his or her own worst nightmare, fear or phobia.

Three special rooms:

Le Corbusier’s Terrace Room on De Beistegui apartment in Paris

Antonello da Messina’s St. Jerome in his Study

The Chashitsu (the Japanese Tea House)

Leonardo’s painting “Lady with an Ermine” and his quite fascinating helicopter.

A series of drawings Martin Kippenberger made of the floor plans of all the places in which he worked and lived that he could remember since he was five years old. All the drawings were made on invoices of a hotel.

“If you want to become an architect, you have to learn how to draw freehand… the computer is a useful tool... you can use it when you finally understood what you want to do...”

Enzo Mari

6. HOMEWORK:

Today’s exercise is made in three steps. 

Step one: you have your room, you have your body, measure your room (and the relevant things in it) using your body.You choose which part of the body (or which parts), and what is relevant to be measured. Then you have to transform your measurement into something easy to be communicated to us. 

Step two: you have to draw a floor plan of your room. You can use the technique you think to be best. Only requests: the floor plan should have measures in it.

Step three: you have to draw an axonometric view of your room.

I choose my foot! One foot equals 21,5 cm!

The last time I did this I was in highschool. It was eighties. I have to say I enjoyed the Visual Arts class but all the way I always thought we did so little. I was never told about any artists, painters, anyone. I learned about it in the library when teachers missed class as I did not have any books about artists in my house neither. As student I hardley visited an exhibition or a museum. I have to say that after April 25 Portuguese Revolution everything was changing. So maybe the following years teens had better chances than I did. But we did a lot of perpective work, isometric, axonometric...I used software this time and it was a mistake because usually I go freehand with vectors or brushes. So I experienced some difficulties that I would not have if I have sticked to my old set of square and rulers, pencil and paper...Silly girl.

And something to try - a nice online software (Contribution of Samantha SSVSTUDIO student)

7. Measures with our body! The pedometer!

When I was reading this letter I immediatly remember my pedometer. Last summer I bought a pedometer. First thing to do after buying it is the  calibration process. 

- you will need some place where you can measure out a distance of about 60 to 70 feet (18.3 to 21.3 meters). 

- you will need a measuring device, a tape. Use the same procedure weather you are walking, jogging or running. It's different measures thow.

- you must select a starting point and mark it; then walk normally for ten paces and mark the end. 

- then measure the length with the tape measure. Divide the result by twelve to give you the number of inches in each step. 

- if you want to be precise you can drive your car along your route to determine the correct distance with your car odometer. Use the pedometer on that route and check the result.

-- If the distance is longer than that measured with your car you must reenter a stride length a few inches shorter. 

-- If the distance is shorter than your car’s odometer you must add a few inches to the stride length.

I use the pedometer to measure the distance traveled during my routine. I use this information as a motivator when I am walking. I check it frequently and as I establish more or less distance for daily routine in order to achieve my monthly goals! I have a little book where I keep the distances I made. November was a bad month. I was ill and the cold came. I started doing this in the summer and the cold weather is a major problem for me...!