Deserted Desert – Development – Dream it Design it

This semester supports the research needed to complete the Final Project within the Architecture curriculum at RPI. A priority was creating ornament making strategies beginning with two dimensional pattern development. Then these designs were used to modify arbitrary groupings of primitive shapes. The final phase involved utilizing the same strategy on collections of 3D scanned flowers.

Concept and thesis development were also central to this preparation.

Immersive Oasis

My Final Project will utilize architectural ornament to create an environment that is immersed in a story. Specifically, I will be using an initial set of images with a clear connection to the story, and manipulate them using pattern, color, scale, fragments, deformation and abstraction to ornament the space such that the occupants will be completely surrounded by variations of the initial figure. The application of single manipulations will create a minimal degree of departure that can be readily identified with the source figure. The application of multiple manipulations will create a degree of departure that will only be identifiable back to the source figure by those who are keen or willing to study. This multiplicity of levels will allow the environment to be mentally engaging to a broad audience and provide the opportunity for additional discovery on return visits.

Deserted Desert of Amboy, CA

How can one reconcile the juxtaposition of an oasis in a desert? How does the mind perceive the sharp contrast of what it sees and make allowances for such dissimilarity to coexist symbiotically? The objective of Amboy is to take a once thriving area that has since become abandoned and infuse it with life much like the rains bring forth new beginnings to the desert. The site and buildings will be resurrected with the figurative representations and reflections of thriving, abundant, vibrant ornamentation. Forms will mimic the surrounding plant and animal life giving the perception of renewed strength and vigor. An attractive feature to all species. And consequently, a magnet to draw people to the center of the desert. An oasis. A destination.

Professor: William Virgil
Software: Maya, ZBrush, Vray, ReMake, Illustrator