A Method to Translate Art into Architecture | Universidad Simón Bolívar

2011

Institution:

* Universidad Simón Bolívar

Course:

* Studio 2 (Freshman level).

Case Study:

* USB Gardens

Teaching Staff:

* Ignacio Cardona / Instructor

* Yacira Blanco / Instructor

* Rafael Reveron / Art Instructor

Group of 28 students of architecture.

*

This is the last course of the Basic Chain in architectural design at Universidad Simón Bolívar in Caracas. The course proposes five steps to translate art into architectural space.

First, the course starts with a multidisciplinary activity with the Art Department. In this phase, the course proposes the production of a bi-dimensional collage with a freely artistic technique-

Second, the student must simplify the collage using only the scale of grays. The drawing of the collage without colors facilitates understanding the space within the piece of art. The students analyze the collage like reviewing a figure-ground drawing or a nolli map.

Third, the student transforms the grayscale drawing into a three-dimensional model where the black color will be the highest levels and the white one the lowest levels. Gray colors are intermediate levels or even sloped levels that connect other ones.

Fourth, students introduce scale, program -an exhibition pavilion-, and site -one of the beautiful gardens of the University-.

Fifth, the exhibition pavilion emerges through iterations from the original model transformed by the input of scale, program and site.