Franciscan Church Study

black White Layout church 3D Plan section Render summer Jumpstart ucla aud

Course Objectives:

This course will introduce students to techniques of spatial representation as it relates to architectural design. Students will learn how to communicate using two- and three-dimensional drawings and digital models. Two-dimensional drawing techniques will include orthographic projection and parallel projection. Three-dimensional modeling will be introduced as an extension of these regulating projection systems, enforcing rigorous construction of complex and curvilinear forms. All drawing will be executed in a digital environment, primarily using Rhinoceros 3D, or “Rhino.” Rhino is a software package that can accommodate both two- and three-dimensional work, as well as providing an introduction to the commands and capacities of other industry standard modeling and drawing environments like AutoCAD, Maya, and 3D Studio. Additional digital work will focus on the manipulation of imagery in both raster and vector graphic forms using the Adobe Creative Suite. Throughout the term, you will draw on the geometric logic of one of several intricate ceiling vaulting system case studies as a historically significant source of material for drawn documentation and analysis.

Case Studies:

The design of vaults involved an understanding of how the whole interior is shaped through a correlation of its geometry, spatial composition and support system. The vaults have the ability visually to integrate or to compartmentalize interiors, to make them appear to expand through seamless recession or to diminish them by the presence of claustrophobic, heavily projecting ridges.

Excerpt from Diamond vaults: innovation and geometry in medieval architecture, Opacic, Zoe, AA, 2005.