The Pufferbelly Depot Final Project

For this semesters final project we were required to renovate the Pufferbelly Train Depot in town into a residence and a studio. For the beginning of the project we had to pick an artist that we could fully interview to get information on what their needs would be when designing them a studio. We faced some obstacles in our design by the visually impaired disability of our clients spouse and the building being on the National Historic Registry. This required us to keep the original facade including all doors and windows, as well as the original ticket window wall inside the train station. For my final design I created a layout based of the glass tiles outside of the Pufferbelly, which led to my concept of The Ripple Effect. My three concept words from the glass tiles were ripple, movement, and fluid. I based my whole design on these three key design concept words. For the artist part of the project I choose my father who owns a construction company. I decided to think outside of the box for this by not choosing an artist who specializes in photos or painting, but rather in wood working. For his profession it required that I give him a lot of space in his studio for big lumber pieces and the large size of each tool used. I also separated his studio and gallery from the rest of the home that way I can keep the public areas from the private residence as well as reduce noise coming from the studio.Using my artist and my concept words I finalized my parti sketch which we turned into a fabric textile that I used in the Gallery bathroom of my design. This Parti sketch used the colors from the original glass tiles and following my concept has more curves and ripples rather than boxes and straight lines. Then we went on to create a bench design based on our concept, parti sketch, and chosen artist. I went against typical bench layout and designed one with more curves rather than straight lines. I also used the same materials and structure as in my concept model, like medal and wood. The legs of my bench design are a replica to the ripples in my original concept model tiring the design together. For my final boards I used the ripple effect on the sides of my boards with toned down colors to give my boards a  sense of unity. I am very proud of this project, especially after working on it all semester. I think it turned out really well and enjoyed the challenge of having to design for a person with disabilities. I also enjoyed having to keep certain walls like the ticket window, and keeping the original facade including windows and doors. But more than anything I really incorporating the artist project into my design, especially because I choose my dad as my artist, which let me design for my family and be able to talk to him in person about what he would like in the studio and gallery. While completing it I have noticed that not only drafting skills have increase but my rendering ones as well, which I never thought I would be able to get the hang of.  I think my favorite part of the project was building the final model of the Pufferbelly. Being able to visualize my design at a small scale really helped the project come together. Overall I really think this project came together very well. I hope that I will get to do something similar next year. 

Art Gallery Experience

For my visit to an art gallery over Spring Break, I decided to think outside of the box. Since I was spending Spring Break in the backwoods of Vermont, my location hindered me from finding the typical art gallery or museum. After discussing it with my grandfather who is an avid hunter, he convinced me that the art of taxidermy would best suit my chosen artist, as well as the location of the station. During one of our trips to the outdoor emporium Cabela's, I took a variety of photos showcasing the art of taxidermy. After driving 3 1/2 hours to the nearest Cabela's in Scarborough, Maine, we found that like walking into any of their other locations, you immediately feel like your are part of an elaborate hunting cabin. Depending on the type and size of the game, certain types of material were used to display the animals in a real life form. The majority of the exhibits and animals can be moved to other areas to display different situations of the animals life. For the African exhibit, the accent lighting spotlights  established on the floor, broadcasts the right amount of light to give the appearance that the animal is alive and moving. The majority of the displayed game are on displayed on wood pedestals around the walls, except for the animals mounted on the walls from the neck up. When you walk into Cabela's you are able to go up and down and the entire store is focused around the rock and aquarium exhibit in the middle of the store. The stone floor paths and river stream running around the store, leads people to certain areas of the store, depending on what you are looking for. The mass amount of windows and skylights allow a large amount of natural light in, to give more of the appearance of the outdoors. I really enjoyed this experiment, and due to my personal likes,  and I found that my choice of taxidermy art also followed though with my chosen artist. 

Impaired Vision Experience

For the the visually impaired experience, I had to follow a set of steps to understand what everyday life for a person with visual limitations, would be like. I found that most of the steps were as expected, except for the part with the sunglasses and petroleum jelly. When wearing the glasses, I found that just walking was easy, but when it came to the stairs, your sense of depth perception is off. I might of found walking to be the easiest, but when I tried reading its near impossible to make out any of the words. All in all, I found this exercise to be very beneficial, especially because I am designing a home for some of who is visually impaired. Now I am able to design a space that will be more accommodating to their disability, rather than be a place of hazard.