graduate students: PROJECT PROFILES

This year IARc’s Graduate School had a record enrollment of students. Due to the high number of attending graduate students, the diversity of the projects also has had an impact in IARc. Projects range from several product designs to museum exhibit development to historic preservation. For several months graduate students researched and developed a topic of interest for their field of study. All projects are unique, and the grad students have kindly shared their theory, process and development with us. The following three graduate students concentrate their projects around product design.

[Brandon Jones]

Brandon Jones is currently looking at the human body and car shapes. Can one borrow back some energy from car design to reuse or reinterpret it to design and make furniture? Are cars designed to be anthropomorphic? If they are, what aesthetically pleasing forms can be reused or reinterpreted to shape a chair? So far he is finding that the scale of the automobile divided by four is human scale; the smaller the car, the smaller the human. The fronts of cars look like faces and have been studied. The side profile of most cars resembles a reclining figure. In the end his process will lead to designing a unique chair, rethinking how we recycle the junked car, both literally and figuratively.

The development of his piece is shown below.

initial sketches.

automobile scale studies.

first prototype

second prototype

prototype development

All images are courtesy of Brandon Jones

[Tracy Kalman] Nostalgia Remix: Fusing Traditional Craft and
Contemporary Design

In Tracy Kalman’s thesis investigation a design process has been developed that fuses together traditional craft techniques, such as sewing, quilting, and weaving, with contemporary design. From that ideology she developed a line of products called “cocoon”; these items help to create personal space, privacy, and comfort. This design process encompassed textile arts, or products with a textile component, in particular products that soften the environment. Tracy Kalman’s interest is in using the past and memory as an inspiration for design but reinventing these references in an innovative way, integrating traditional and contemporary. The line of products for cocoon currently include sit and Tracy is working on a second product cocoon: nest, which is a textile divider.

[Kim Wade] Urban Interaction: Supporting Social Development through Interior Products in Private Dwelling

Kim Wade explores the idea of Urban Interaction through the development of emotionally sustainable objects that stimulate traditional cookware pieces. The idea is to create cookware that is inherently more aesthetically pleasing thus providing a catalysis for people within the urban community to come together and experience cooking together. Some of the aesthetic inspiration for the pieces that she is currently working on are: the art of origami, sculptural objects, and the notion of gathering food within a napkin in order to share it with another person. In the following images you can see several paper folds which were done in order to create some initial shapes. Currently Kim begins to explore the paper forms in steel in order to finalize the details of the first piece.

call for volunteers: [us] MY SISTERS HOUSE

The “big pour” has come and gone. On February 27th, urban s t u d i o students poured, in the pouring rain, 99 cubic yards of concrete. In all, the wall system consumed 117 cubic yards. Nine months, 117 students, 5 graduate interns and many extra hands….later….My Sisters House exterior construction, lighting, plumbing and most cabinetry is at its completion. However, in order to have the house ready for its ribbon cutting and for the fortunate moms to move in, areas around the house must be finished off. One being the landscaping of the house, Robert Charest and a few student volunteers are endlessly working on having the house completed but are in need of more helping hands. On Saturday November 14, they will be working on finishing off the landscaping and have one less area to worry about, if you would like to volunteer some of your extra time please contact Robert Charest at rmchares@uncg.edu

events in IARc: INTERNSHIP FAIR/AVENUES

The success of the internship fair and the first ever trade fair for the students of IARc was outstanding.

[3rd] & [4th] year studio: CBI SHOWROOM IN RALEIGH

Tina Sarawgi’s Commercial Design Studio has been working on several different phases of the renovation of a historic building for CBI in downtown Durham, N.C. The space will house Knoll products to exhibit for large clients such as Duke University in Durham. CBI will also use the space to entertain, hold meeting, and as a workplace.

t h e s i t e :

Sara Easterling + Leah Petriccione use the concept of edge: node: vista to organize the space for the CBI showroom. Upon entering the space, it is soon apparent that the building is divided into sections with various purposes enclosed. Each section of the space, or node, is where the main activity takes place. These zones are further separated by edges; the edges define the boundaries of the spatial nodes. These edges are far more significant than mere boundaries, for they also connect the layers of the space, thus performing as a guide through the extents of the building. As the nodes and edges progress through CBI, the visual sense of a vista begins to form. As one enters the space, the branding of CBI serves as the iconic view, whereas upon exiting, the view of the Durham Post Office reigns superior.

Jayson Parker + Maiken Schoenleber developed the CBI showroom design from their concept of Flexible Identity. The identities of Knoll and CBI, while independent and different from each other share a lot of commonalities. Throughout the space they capitalized on these commonalities and integrated a flexible juxtaposition between the two.

Jon Davidson + Robert Fausset describe their project as a beacon (person, act, or thing that warns or guides a person or thing that illuminates or inspires) of light . With that, they wanted to create a space that will be self guiding, inspires it’s guest, and illuminates a part of Durham that has been abandoned. With CBI renovating this space, Jon and Robert hope that the building will become a beacon to attract more customers and business’ into the area.

Johanna Kjesbu + Micah Martin developed and organize the space based on the theatrical experience.

beyond the classroom: NEOCON EAST

A group of fifth year students took a fulfilling field trip to Baltimore, Maryland for the annual NeoCon East. The day was filled with exciting and educational moments where this group of ladies experienced more than 250 exhibitors, 30 CEU-accredited seminars and association forums, keynote speakers, new products, innovative design, building resources and for a few short hours had countless materials all at their finger tips. Among the keynote speakers was Hellman-Chang, which was founded only two years ago. Hellman-Chang is a New York based furniture design studio that’s quickly gained attention from interior designers with their innovative designs. Exceptional presenters like Hellman-Chang, among many others, has made NeoCon East the premier design exposition and conference for the mid-atlantic design community. All IARc students can use NeoCon as a resource, but if driving to Baltimore is out of the question then may I suggest visiting their website here.

Jessica Schupe, Allison Conley, Eric Chang, Dan Hellman, Sarah Craig, Rachel Pound, Marianne Mulford and Janel Graupensperger after the student keynote lecture given by the two founders and designers of Hellman Chang furniture.

a new look: HPMS WEBSITE

The Historic Preservation and Museum Studies programs recently updated their website, and this catchy new design was made possible by a donation from the Covington Foundation. The new site includes videos that elaborate on different aspects of the programs, Master’s theses, current events in the department, faculty profiles, and student views. Check it out at: http://www.uncg.edu/hpms/!

The new, fresh face of The Historic Preservation and Museum Studies Website.

graduate student profile: STEPHANIE BROOKER

Stephanie Brooker, a first year graduate student in the product design concentration, works as a TA for the visual communications studio. Her thesis work focuses on evaluating furniture in early childhood environments and how it affects learning and creative thinking processes. She has been diligently researching as well as observing preschool, first, and second grade classrooms in order to gain a better understanding of how children interact with their environments. Currently, Stephanie finds herself in the preliminary sketching and 3D modeling phases of her work to design a chair that children can manipulate in some way.

Stephanie originally hails from Pennsylvania and graduated from Virginia Tech with a degree in interior design. After graduation, she first worked from an architecture firm in Willagrove, PA and then moved to Pittsboro, NC where she worked for another architecture firm. While holding these jobs, Stephanie took a water color class in PA and a figure life drawing class in Carborro; she credits these classes with honing her creative skills, especially her drawing skills thanks to the figure drawing course. Stephanie joins us at UNCG in hopes of pursuing her goal to become an educator and researcher in interior design at the college level. Her job as a TA is definitely providing some wonderful experience, and she absolutely loves the time she spends with her visual communication students!

Stephanie working hard at her desk. photo credit: Claire Keane

beyond the classroom: PNC CONFERENCE

The UNCG IARc historic preservation program had quite a presence at this year’s Preservation North Carolina Conference in New Bern titled “The Virtue of Small: Bigger is not always Better.” Sarah Susanka, the author of the Not so Big books, was the keynote speaker and discussed her work and writing about living smaller in America. Jo Leimenstoll presented the Craft of Thomas Day in preparation of the 2010 publication of the book on Thomas Day that she co-authored. Also, three UNCG students presented research they conducted last year. Sarah Marion’s presentation, “Preserving Industrial Heritage: Rehabilitation Mills Using the N.C. Mills Bill”, discussed both the challenges and rewards of rehabilitation of mill buildings. In “archetype : prototype : hybrid : decoding images in the mid-century suburban home”, Ashley Warriner Andrews presented her research on Lowenstein homes in Greensboro. Kate Zylstra presented her thesis research on theater rehabilitation in “Visulaizing Architectural Character: the Affects of Rehabilitation on the Voice of Theater.” Historic preservation students who attended also attended interesting sessions and went on a historic house tour of New Bern. It was a great opportunity to learn and connect with preservation professionals.

from left to right: Kate Zylstra, Ashley Warriner Andrews, and Sarah Marion. photo credit: Perry McKenzie

[2nd] year studio: FOODS LAB PROJECT

Second year students have been deliberately working on designing and developing an instructional foods laboratory for the Department of Nutrition in the Stone Building. The kitchen lab is outdated and in need of an upgrade, each student proposed new deigns for the kitchen lab. Below are a select few of those proposals.

Kristien Willis took inspiration from the organization of a Bee Hive (both structural and functional), the dominant colors, and the overall purpose of a HoneyBee Hive which is producing honey.

Charese Allen developed her design from the concept of a thunderstorm weather system and channeled the top-heavy, dark quality of the storm. She also used green materials throughout the room to have less of an environmental impact.

Linsey Frost uses storage wall systems and partition systems to organize the kitchen lab.

Haley Preston’s design is centered around the HEAT transportation system. All the workstations are in rows with the teacher’s station up front, just like a bus is organized. Everything has their own area in the space, for example the sinks are on one side of the room with the cleaning area and the ovens, microwaves and stoves are grouped together on the other side of the room.

Hope Talley’s concept was a forest fire and she designed around the elements of the forest fire.

[1st] year studio: UNDERSTANDING DIALOG

Environmental designers use dialog in developing visual and physical relationships that let the inhabitants truly belong to the scene. Dialog can be used as an idea to express the interrelationships between elements in as artifact or environment. The final ideation for the first year studio consisted of creating two distinct spaces that relate to one another in a mutually supportive way with 12 rods and 12 planes. In seeking this dialog, students were asked to explore dualities of solid and void, front and back, in and out.

Dajana Nedic

Corry Mears

Kara Kooy

Cassie Bradfield