Charette #1: Lampost and a trashcan!

My group chose a site on the corner of the diag—a lamppost on a cement cube with a trashcan right next to it. We started on the ground with the tape and made our way up the side of the cube, up to the lamppost, across, back down to the ground, across the trashcan, and then back down to the ground. The tape represents the places on the objects you would cut in half to see the inside—it would give us an “inside scoop” to what is going on within the materials we chose.  If we were to cut the section in half, we would see the middle of the cube, the wires that run through the lamppost and the trash that sits in the trashcan all day. The pieces in this plan are somewhat funny; they are not typically found together in these locations, particularly the lamppost. The lamppost is perched on top of a cement cube, allowing it to gain the proper height needed to expel bright light onto the diag. The lamppost, cement cube and trashcan are all very solid objects containing little flow, each creating a certain threshold and finality to the scene.

Located next to this space is a bench. With this space, one is able to sit on the bench, lean on the cement block, or just relax. I wouldn’t exactly call this a “social” spot, but it absolutely gives leeway to an extremely social space—the diag! The different levels within the space somewhat act to balance each other out, as well as the sharp distinctions of the cement block, the round lamppost and the circular trashcan. This scene creates a fluidity and balance with one another, combining unlikely objects and turning them into a scene that is both useable and aesthetically pleasing.  

If we were to construct a plan as opposed to a section, this scene would look very differently. A plan shows the places that are open and closed; black usually represents “closed” space, while white typically represents “open” space. If we were taping the plan, we would tape from a bird’s eye view, showing the spaces we are cutting and what the interior would look like, where the solidity lies and where the openness is exposed. Due to the multitude of elevation in the photo, you would unfortunately not be able to tell how the scene flows and the major height differences between the objects, but rather would be able to decipher where the “solidity” lies and where the open spaces are.