Shadowless Box

Project:
Lurdes Bergada Flagship Store

Firm:
Deardesign

Background:
680 square feet – Barcelona, Spain – 2009

Analysis:

The principle idea behind the Lurdes Bergada flagship store in Barcelona is to provide clients the sensation of shopping at a street market. To allow for maximum penetration of daylight, the space is divided into two clearly defined areas. The first area, including the technical spaces such as fitting rooms and storage, is stowed behind a beachwood divider, leaving the rest of the store available for the main shopping floor. People can enter from both the street side or the park side.

The store’s design intends to reinforce the Bergada brand identity of simplicity, purity, and industry. Materials such as concrete and cement simplify the architectural reading of the store. The natural beachwood skin stands in contrast to the surrounding cement, lending the wooden structure a contemporary, cavelike appearance.

Reflection:

At first glance, the Lurdes Bergada flagship store’s industrial appearance echoes the brand’s promise of simplicity and purity. Unfortunately, the store’s staunch adherence to minimalism results in minimal answers. Based on the design of this store, one would assume Lurdes Bergada is more interested in projecting the image of simplicity than in uncovering the nuances of functionality. The space fails when you consider basic design ideas like acoustics and lighting.

In terms of acoustics, the only soft surfaces in the space are the clothes, which are sparse. Sounds may be shrill in this space, bouncing from one hard surface to another.

When you consider the lighting, which is central to the design concept, you discover how
Deardesign missed their target. Their attempt to incorporate as much natural daylight as possible was supplemented with eight foot, 5000K, fluorescent strip lights mounted on the ceiling. These lamps mimic the color appearance of natural daylight. The unintended effect is a vast, shadowless space with hardly any hierarchy of light levels. The diffuse fluorescent lights wash out shadows, poorly modeling the clothing’s textures. More light is landing on the huge, boring cement wall than on the merchandise. These lighting design flaws may be overlooked elsewhere, but they are near suicide in retail.

Sure, the solutions are simple, but they are superficial too. At the Lurdes Bergada flagship store, simplicity takes precedence over nuance, and image over comfort. The result? Indifferent, insecure, and impersonal architecture, highly stylized in clichés.

References:

“Lurdes Bergada / Dear design” 02 Feb 2011. ArchDaily. Accessed 03 Feb 2013.

Deardesign (2009) A Contrasted Space. Retrieved February 3, 2013 from 

When the West Won

Project: Wadi Rum Desert Resort, 2013

Firm: Oppenheim Architecture & Design

Background: 80,000 SF – Wadi Rum, Jordan

Chad Oppenheim and his firm’s design for the Wadi Resort will carve 47 minimal lodges out of the sandstone and granite rock formations found in the desert in Wadi Rum, Jordan. Using existing geological geometries and rammed earth structures, the design will harness the land’s natural beauty to create a luxury guest experience. Renderings provided by Oppenheim Architecture & Design depict minimal spaces that weave in and out of the rock formations, revealing expansive desert vistas.

OAD’s background in sustainability will permeate the project. Designed with a passive means of cross ventilation, the resort takes advantage of the natural cooling effects of the rocks, minimizing energy consumption. The structure will consist primarily of local materials. To mitigate the disruption of natural habitats, existing plants and animals have been surveyed. Water conservation measures will be established for both human use and for site irrigation.

In regards to architectural form, the design for the Wadi Rum Desert Resort represents a reinterpretation of the relationships between context and structure. Describing the project, OAD wrote, “the conceptual point of departure has its roots in the tectonic and geological histories of the region.” Demonstrating how spaces can be created through subtraction, cavernous rooms carved amongst monolithic rock formations blur the lines between architecture and the environment. The resort is a symphony of form, space, and light. This integration with nature is the project’s most outstanding quality, leaving no doubt about OED’s attention to environmental considerations.

From a cultural standpoint, however, little about the Jordanian culture is reflected in the interior of the space. Due to its highly westernized, minimal styling, the resort appears as if it could have been built in any desert, anywhere. It does not seek to make statements about local culture, music, art, and cuisine, instead it offers a neutral, retreat-like atmosphere. In spite of the dramatic views and imposing angled planes, the interiors lack vibrance.

All in all, the resort responds beautifully to local geological conditions, but falls a short on delivering an experience unique to Jordan.

References:

Moore, A. (2012, March) Wadi Resort by Oppenheim Architecture & Design (Electronic version) Interiors & Sources

Oppenheim (2012) Wadi Rum Desert Resort Retrieved January 26, 2013 from http://www.oppenoffice.com

Architectural Tour of Austin City Limits Live

This music venue has hosted acts as diverse as Willie Nelson, Jay-Z, Elton John, and Diana Ross. The building is LEED-certified and boasts one of the most advanced lighting systems to date.

PS: Thank you to Kassandra Gonzales, Jennifer Jaques, and the Illuminating Engineering Society for organizing the tour.

Create Unity from Variety

“Architecture of complexity and contradiction has a special obligation toward the whole: its truth must be in its totality or its implications of totality. It must embody the difficult unity of inclusion rather than the easy unity of exclusion. More is not less.”

Robert Venturi, 1966

Vanna Venturi house

Conversation with Corey Davey, Interior Designer

I interviewed Corey Allen Davey, President of Texas State University’s American Society of Interior Designers, about a recent TOMS Style Your Sole event held in San Marcos, Texas. SYS is an event in which students create custom TOMS shoes using paint, sequins, ribbons, and other decorative supplies.

Th interview was submitted to Plinth & Chintz, online magazine, for publishing. Read the full story here: Learn, Baby, Learn

Punks Do Stunts on Iconic Architecture (Video)

Have you heard of parkour? It’s an extreme sport, only requiring your body, in which you do stunts and tricks in cityscapes. Here is an awesome parkour video of some punks stunting at Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier.

Structures in Process: Commercial Interior Design

This was my final commercial interior design project for the semester. It was worked on with a partner, Julia Dinh.

Commercial Interior Design Perspective Drawings

Stayed up all night drawing perspectives for the office design I’m working on. Check them  out.

 

See more perspective sketches.

Office Interior Design Drawings

Rendering perspectives for an office interior. What do you think about these drawings?

Image by Edward Bedinghaus

Mistakes I Made Thinking About Design

I hear and read an avalanche of contradicting philosophies about architecture and design. This does little to lend the profession the credibility that other disciplines like engineering and science have earned, which are based on a unified body of knowledge. In design, I feel pressured to endorse one view or the other, but that’s difficult to do when I see merits and weaknesses in all of the design styles, from the historic to the modern.

To remedy this, some researchers are conducting evidence-based design, which is an empirical approach to design solutions. So far, this looks promising, with studies revealing or reinforcing the benefits of age-old design solutions such as bringing plants indoors, utilizing daylight, and applying ergonomics to furniture.

Ultimately, a design should not be judged for how well it does or does not fit into a particular style, but for how well it meets the design criteria. Looking back on things I have said and written, I find that I held ideas about design that were inhibiting me from being able to analyse design objectively. Moving forward, I hope to identify and remove these barriers, and to conduct truly empirical work. This will be hard for me to do. I have grown accustomed to using grand generalizations and hyperbole as a crutch for good content. It’s time to get real, to get specific, and to start running case studies.

Please, hold me to it.

Entwined, Turkish Restaurant Design Boards

This gallery contains 2 photos.

Dinner for two?

Entwined, Hand Rendered Drawing 2

This is what the restaurant will look like when you are sitting in the lounge:

Image by E.P. Bedinghaus

Entwined, Rendered Façade

Today, the design for the façade of Entwined, a turkish restaurant, was completed. Click on the hand-rendered drawing below to zoom into the details.

Image by Edward Bedinghaus

Read more about the restaurant concept Entwined.

See the early planning phases of the restaurant.  

Art History: Early Modernism

I have a fast approaching Art History exam on Early Modernism; the terms to know are enlightening and enriching, so I thought I’d share:

academic art – a style produced under influence of European academies of art; depicts myth, history, religion; illusionistic, hidden brush strokes

Orientalism - Term used by art historians for imitation or depiction of oriental culture by Western artists. Due to more contact with East through trade/globalism, Western culture was heavily influenced by things perceived as being “oriental”.

Realism – middle 19th century movement in art characterized by positivism and direct observation. Subject matter shifts from mythology to common people. Sets itself against academic art in style and subject. Uses style to convey subject matter.

Bonjour, Monsieur Courbet, 1854. Realist painting by Gustave Courbet.

Haussmannization – Napoleon III wants to seem like he supports Realism, commissions Haussmann to rebuild Paris to have wide/straight blvds., raising old neighborhoods and hurting the poor.

bourgeoisie – growing class of property owners, generally conservative, trying to fit in with the aristocracy. Attend things like the Salon de Refusé.

Salon – official art exhibition of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. Between 1748-1890, it was the greatest annual art event in the world.

Impressionism -  middle/late 19th century art movement, originating in Paris in independent exhibitions, harshly opposed by conventional art community in France at the time. Loosen up details, visible brush strokes loss of defined focal points, less composed; less confrontational subject matter, depict leisure, nature, landscapes; many in series.

Claude Monet; Impression, Sunrise, 1872.

plein air - painting outdoors

impasto – thick paint application

ukiyo-e – Japanese woodblock prints characterized by flat areas of strong color, free compositions, and low/diagonal horizon lines.

Japonisme - the influence of the arts of Japan on Westerners. Specific French style.

Post Impressionism – extended impressionism while rejecting its limitations: continued to use vivid colors, thick application of paint, distinctive brush strokes, and real-life subject matter, but they were more inclined to emphasize geometric forms, to distort form for expressive effect, and use unnatural/arbitrary (rather than local) color. Pluralism in painting, many isms. Objective school (Cezanne) versus Imaginative school (Van Gogh, Gauguin)

Henri Rousseau, Self-portrait of the Artist with a Lamp

shifting perspective – in art, depicting objects from multiple viewpoints rather than one viewpoint.

facture - attention to the application of paint, the way in which an artist applies the paint

passáge – no strict boundaries, forms bleed into eachother

Expressionism – distortion of form to express feeling/emotion, characterized by thick application of paint.

The Scream by Edvard Munch (1893)

Symbolism - not just in art, the idea that things have deeper underlying meanings or essences. Belief in archetypes.

eternal feminine - idea in symbolism that female embodies creativity and destruction. Remember the femme fatale? Again, archetypes.

Primitivism – idea that uncivilized is closer to nature or more essentially spiritual/connected. Conveyed by Gauguin out of modern criticism.

femme fatale – recurring archetype, mysterious and seductive woman whose charms ensnare her lovers, leading them into deadly situations. Often seen as enchantress, seductress, vampire, witch, or demon.

Chicago School of Architecture - modern architectural style, aka Commercial Style. Used new tech, like steel-frame construction. Developed a spatial aesthetic parallel with European Modernism.

Chicago Building, Chicago, IL, USA

I-beam – eliminated load bearing walls.

Curtain Wall – does not support weight, it’s just there as a separator for privacy, aesthetics, or function.

Functionalism – “Form follows function.” Louis Sullivan

World’s Fair – Large public exhibition, always in different places.

Arts and Crafts - lead by William Morris in 1859, reaction against modernism that advocates a return to older styles and craftsmanship. Gothic/medieval influence.

William Morris design for “Trellis” wallpaper, 1862

The Firm – William Morris’s group of craftsmen and architects

Aestheticism – things that are beautiful and bring joy are best. Reaction against ugliness of modern buildings.

bohemianism – living outside of mass culture with few permanent ties, involving musical, artistic, or literary pursuits.

Panneaux – artistic panels to decorate your house with

Fauvism – French expressionism, emphasizing emotional content that is uplifting and joyous. Uses bright colors, no attention to “local color”. Tension between order/disorder in a tight composition.

Henri Matisse, Portrait of Madame Matisse (The Green Stripe), 1906

Art for Art’s sake – the belief that art should live outside the realm of social, economic, or political influences. Kinda escapist.

German Expressionism - more tense and anxious than the Fauves in France. More critical tone, especially in Kathe Kollwitz.

The Bridge – group of young architecture students who thinks of self as “guild”. React Against Modernity

avante-garde – refers to people or works that are experimental or innovative (forward moving), particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics.

The Blue Rider - art guild that writes manifestos and propaganda to spread their ideas. This one is lead by Kandinsky.

abstraction – a process by which higher concepts are derived from concrete concepts. Think about super-categorical nouns than have many subordinate concepts.

synaesthesia – senses bleed into eachother, stimulating one sense leads to involuntary experiences of another sense.

Analytic Cubism – Braque/Picasso Dialogue, earlier; objects are analyzed, broken up, and reassembled in an abstracted form. Uses shifting perspective, fracture, and passage, as inspired by Cézanne.

Georges Braque, Violin and Candlestick, 1910

Synthetic Cubism – bits combined to create a whole, depends less on original object.

papier collé – pasted paper

constructed sculpture – Bits combined to make a whole.

machine aesthetic – embrace of modernity and look of machines.

Orphism = cubism + color + synaesthesia

Italian Futurism = cubism + motion + less color

Umberto Boccioni, Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913)

Turkish Delight Restaurant – Floor Plan & Schematics

I completed the schematic phase of the restaurant design. Click on the images to view the design presentation:

Restaurant Lobby Perspective (Turkish Delight)

Sketching ideas for the restaurant lobby:

Image by Edward Bedinghaus

Any thoughts? See more drawings for this restaurant.

Water Fountain Perspective Sketch (Restaurant Design)

I’m sketching water fountain ideas for a Turkish restaurant design. Here you see the scalloped arch and the tulip, both timeless Turkish motifs, updated with bold mixed materials.

Image by Edward Bedinghaus

See more sketches of this Turkish Restaurant.

Learn more about why I used the tulip motif.

Turkish Delight: Restaurant Logo Design

Turkish Delight, the Middle Eastern restaurant design, is moving along (You can see the initial design sketches). However, more recently, I’ve been working with the logo design. It’s a combination of Arabic calligraphic lines and a graphic tulip. The tulip is a common motif in Turkish design (something I learned thanks to a blog reader who sent me an email upon reading the post of my initial design sketches).

I’m really not happy with the font right now, because there’s just too much curly q’s all over the place. What do you think? Should I lose the font for something more basic to make the logo stand out more? Let me know, either comment below, or send me an email.

Image by Edward Bedinghaus

Transient, Design Word 10

Transient – adj. 1. Passing very quickly into and out of existence.

Transient designs come and go. They are fads, and should be avoided like the plague. Unfortunately, too many designers specify colors, styles, and technologies that will need to be quickly replaced in 2-3 years, creating unnecessary waste of materials, money, and time. These costs are often passed onto the consumers. Not to mention, transient designs are often kitschy testaments to the pop culture of any given season, just look at the hairstyles in your high school yearbook to see what I mean.

How do we separate the designs that are here to stay from the fads? Check out these 3 safeguards:

1. Consider who you’re buying from. Large corporations that rely on stockholders need to see an increase in sales every quarter, leading to seasonal tweaks in their designs that incentivize consumers to purchase newer models. Whereas independent designers and manufacturers that rely on their reputation to increase their business prospects create designs to be remarkable and unique.

2. Resist the urge to keep up with the latest technologies and styles. ”New” doesn’t always mean “improved”. Focus on designs that satisfy real needs, rather than border on being toys. Since the 1940′s, 50′s, and 60′s, many design branches of large corporations work hand-in-hand with the marketing departments to create features you don’t need so you replace your old model with the new one. “The machine is like a toy: typewriters, phones, kitchen gadgets, washing-machines, cars, garden tools all have their serious value, but the sensual and visual functioning that is increasingly the designer’s main concern provide the pleasure of games.” (Richard Hamilton, 1960)

3. Beware of the bandwagon effect. Just because everyone else is doing it does not mean it’s okay.

Fibonacci Sequence, Design Word 9

The Fibonacci sequence is a popular theme in culture, often mentioned in books and movies. Humans have been fascinated with these numbers for over two thousand years, using them in music, art, and architecture. Thickening the plot, the sequence is found in biology and nature. Our affinity for Fibonacci numbers may be biologically hardwired from our evolutionary history, which was primarily lived outdoors.

Mathematics

The Fibonacci sequence is a series of integers; the first two numbers in the sequence are 0 and 1, and each subsequent number is the sum of the previous two:

0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144… 

Art and Music

In music, Fibonacci numbers can be used to determine the intervals between notes in a given key or to determine the structure of a composition. Furthermore, the sequence is used in art, design, and architecture to determine the length or size of content or formal elements. Below, you can see the structure of a Fibonacci spiral, and how its structure relies on the underlying sequence of numbers:

Nature and Biology

Fibonacci sequences appear in nature, such as the arrangement of leaves on a stem or the branching pattern in trees. Here, you can see the growth pattern of sunflower florets follows the Fibonacci spiral closely:

    

Conclusion

The Fibonacci sequence indicates that the human love affair with nature is more than skin deep. Timeless geometric principles underly even the most fanciful designs, in nature and in culture.

Resources: Wikipedia “Fibonacci Number”

Read more about how nature benefits humans.

Designers Need to Speak Up

In practice, by carefully documenting and presenting their design rationale, designers are in a position to educate clients on the merits of superior design. Designers are liaisons between breakthrough ideas and the general public. They build a bridge between the scientist’s research and the user’s product; designers fill the gap between the artist’s vision and the user’s experience.

Granted, designers must be knowledgeable and culturally relevant, but they must also speak up.

From AWIB.tumblr.com

Read more about the role of designers…

See infographics of specific ways design has shaped society.

Illusion, Design Word 8

“Art is a deception that creates real emotions — a lie that creates a truth. And when you give yourself over to that deception, it becomes magic.” (Marco Tempest, TED Talks)

Good design creates objects that utilize illusion. Shared by most people, an illusion is a distortion of a true sensation. Illusions reveal how sensory input is interpreted in the brain.

For example, illusion is the backbone of fashion design. Apart from providing comfort, clothes affect how others see our bodies. Most men and women invest ample time in maintaining a wardrobe that will be flattering, or at least presentable. Being aware of the illusions various shapes, patterns, and textures create can improve one’s chances of dressing well, as the slightest variations in cut can make or break an outfit.

Similarly, interior design and architecture rely on illusion. For a small bedroom, small prints and patterns–instead of large ones–make the room appear substantially larger; mirrors or lightly colored walls also provide a sense of spaciousness. In architecture, gothic cathedrals use pointed arches and vertical lines to create the illusion of height within their massive walls. True, none of these design tricks actually increase the amount of useable space, but they create the illusion of more space.

illusion something that deceives by producing a false or misleading impression of reality. Latin illūsiō - irony, mocking.

Frank Gehry is known for his use of illusion in deconstructivism.

Read more about how people process visual information.

2 Habits to Make You Smarter

We all want to be smarter, but how can we do that? Here are two simple things you can do daily to sharpen the saw:

1. Journaling improves your written communication skills and provides you time for introspection. It has the added benefits of clarifying hazy subjects and mentally forming new connections between disparate parts. Much like drawing a face would give you intimate knowledge of that face, writing familiarizes new concepts.

2. Reading has similar benefits to writing, with the added bonus of introducing new knowledge into your repertoire. This new knowledge can then become the fodder for conversations around the office or the catalyst to new insights at work. Also, reading regularly and diligently will improve your critical thinking skills, which are necessary in any prestigious position today. The expression “read to achieve” doesn’t only sound true, it is true.

How do you sharpen the saw? Share your comments below. To read more brain-enhancing tips, see “5 Brain Boosting Tips”.

Rhythm, Design Word 7

Rhythm is a succession of strong and weak elements that creates motion. For example, the beats in music are either strong or weak, creating desirable tension and release. Arrangement of elements in any design requires rhythm to create meaning and emotional value. Rhythm is essential to a design’s coherence.

There are four main types of rhythm:

Metric Rhythm (houseofdrumming.com)

Flowing Rhythm (futurity.org)

Spiraling Rhythm (wikipedia.org)

Climactic Rhythm (waxebb.com)

Design tips:

-Use rhythm to create desirable motion of the eye and body through space.

-Use rhythm to create tension and release in your designs.

Resources:

Wikipedia.org

Dictionary.com

Design Through Discovery By Marjorie Elliott Bevlin

Translucent, Design Word 6

Translucent

adjective

permitting light to pass through but diffusing it so that persons, objects, etc., on the opposite side are not clearly visible: Frosted window glass is translucent but not transparent.

Design tips:

Frosted glass is often used in commercial office spaces because it reduces the lighting’s energy load by allowing for the transmission of light between spaces while providing privacy.

Materials such as fluorite, alabaster, and marble vary greatly in their degree of translucency and must be used with caution. When properly applied to a space, these materials can add an ambiance and mood otherwise unattainable. Translucent materials are especially useful in decorative applications such as luminaires and back-illuminated wall panels.

When light passes through fluorite, objects can no longer be distinguished because the light has become scattered and obscured.

Marble cut into thin slabs and back-illuminated to provide a warm glow.

Resources:

Dictionary.com (definition)

Alshamsitrading.com (image of marble)

Separate the Word “Design” from the Word “Aesthetics”

“Aesthetics” represent only one facet of design. Consider human and environmental factors alongside aesthetics:  today user-friendliness is as appreciated as beauty is, and designing sustainably is a no-brainer. Step outside the decorator’s box to take your designs to the next level. Embrace breadth.

Ambiance: Design Word 4

ambiance

noun

1. A particular mood or atmosphere of an environment or surrounding influence.

Origin:  French

Ambiance is about the “whole place” experience:  smell, taste, touch, sound, and sight. Consider candles, music, good food, and beautiful visual displays when creating ambiance. 

Practical Intuition

Modern scientists and engineers often portray intuition as being heady, unscientific, and useless. Quite to the contrary, intuition is a practical tool that can be applied with scarce resources, immediately impacting well-being.

What scares some people about intuition is its apparent vagueness. People want facts and figures, but often happiness does not result from following the numbers. Complicating the matter, the advent of more evidence-based sciences like neuroscience, biomimicry, and robotics, increasingly emphasize physically measurable phenomenon. These sciences lead us to believe that the answers to all of our problems lie in technological solutions.

In defense of intuition, most human dilemmas remain unaddressed or unsolved by empiricism; it would be impossible to replace all of our intuitions with strict evidence. Often, when we part from the facts, the most enlivening connections are made. These speculative leaps can lead us to a deeper understanding of ourselves and our surroundings.

Here is Wikipedia’s modern definition of intuition. Notice the emphasis on problem solving:

Making Marks Responsibly

Drawing, mapping, graphing, and even writing are all acts of cause and effect:  events that happen in the real world are transcribed into visual marks, creating meaning. Drawings, maps, graphs, and essays are all visual representations of reality. It is where the marks do not correspond to reality that we aught to be cautious, for these are the places where error and deception lie.

Residential Interior Design: Fractals Concept Boards

A fractal is “a geometric figure, each part of which has the same statistical character as the whole. ” In other words, a fractal is a shape that repeats itself at progressively smaller scales. This design’s concept is titled “Fractals” because it seeks to exemplify the concept of repeating shapes.

Click on the images below to enter the gallery: