Depot Project Artist Influence

For the upcoming Depot project we chose local artisits to influence the "Art Hotel" we are looking to create within the B&B.

Stephen murray lives and works out of concrete Washington at the base of sauk mountain. He creates wood-fired stoneware and porcelain that is both decorative and functional. he Stephen uses natural glacial
blue clay found in nearby hills. and his wife run a small pottery shop out of their home and occasionally wander out for Skagit valley’s Tulip festival in April to showcase his work.

Context Poster: Art Deco

Before we started our Depot project, we researched popular design styles of the early 1900's to examine possible design throw backs to when the depot was built in 1916. I chose the design style Art Deco. This geometric based design style influenced architecture, artwork, clothing, furniture, and even jewelry. I learned that this style was based from Aztec and Egyptian influences.

Concept Model

The gridded structure of separate functioning pieces contrasted against organic colors and free moving shapes defines the direction of this design. Dictation can also be found through the interpretation of Artist inspiration, Stephen Murray’s work as well as his personal design philosophy; “You can’t look at my pieces of work individually. You have to see them as a whole to understand the bigger picture…. I’m not sure what the bigger picture is that I’m working towards yet, but believe me there’s a bigger picture.”


Application to Model:

These ideas were applied by creating an abstract structure, using the gridded design as the main object of focus. The grid was broken into pieces, each on their own sheet of transparency paper. When looked at from the side, the broken up pieces are clearly seen, acting on their own. When looked at directly forwards, the pieces become aligned to create the illusion of one whole object. The copper frame of the object represents the natural glacier clay Stephen Murray creates his pieces with. The Actual shapes of each piece within the gridded structures are organic features, imitating the imperfect shapes of Murray’s pottery.

Concept : Parti-Abstract-Module-Textile

To begin our depot project we first needed to create an inspirational abstract to work from. This abstract is a combined representation of the glass light installations found on the sidewalk of the Northern Pacific Depot in Pullman Washington and my personal interpretation of a quote from my selected artist, Stephen Murray that the depot project will be modeled after. Once I had determined my abstractions, I created it into a Module ( cluster pattern) to be applied to a larger textile pattern. I then sent in the textile pattern and had it printed on a yard of cotton fabric.

Textile Reflection:

My textile was a bit disappointing. the pattern itself was interesting but the pattern design does not match the rustic theme I am trying to apply to the Depot Project. I am struggling with where to use the fabric. if I could change the textile i would remove the blue parts and just leave the splashy copper pattern. I feel it would fit much better into my design.

Habitat for Humaity Project

For this project, Habitat for Humanity (HFH) presented us with a lot in Union Town that will be a future HFH Home site. We were given a budget and general building requirement guidelines, and then told to have it! This future home will be a 1100 sqft, 3 bedroom, 1 bath, single car garage structure. My partner and I decided to keep this home pretty neutral in it's color scheme, so that when HFH has a family lined up, their personal tastes can be accommodated nicely. We left the ceiling open over the great room with a dark truss system to create the sense of more space within the common area for the family and guests. The bathroom was designed to meet ADA requirements for handicaped visitors. The garage opening was placed to the side of the house to minimize concrete needs for the driveway as well as to keep the front view of the house visually appealing.

The Gregory Master Bathroom

For this project I designed an accessible master bathroom for the Gregory home. Three themes I tried to carry out in this design were warmth, romance, and calming. This bathroom incorporates my original concept model in the way it plays with light. The focus wall has a treatment with the paint that uses subtle gold flecks. Dimmer lights set within foe candle fixtures and lighting behind the mirrors create a soft glow when desired. Dark, but warm colors and a rustic sand stone floor give the room medieval feel. The other idea behind this room design was to create a bathroom that did not look like it was designed for a person with disabilities. I feel I created this idea successfully with there being only two telling details; grab bars around the toilet and lowered fixtures. The shower is large enough to roll in with an accommodating wheel chair and do a full 5ft. turn around with out grab bars or special seating.

One thing I feel I could have done better with this assignment was create a more appealing presentation board. It doesn't necessarily represent my design very well or interestingly enough.

Wheelchair Experience

What an eye opening experience! For this project I had to use a wheelchair to get down from one building, across a parking garage, into a library, and into an "accessible" bathroom stall. Let me start by saying no one has any idea how difficult this really is until they've had to do it. By experiencing this for only a half an hour I learned that handicap "accessible" features are not always so accessible. Doors, though wide enough for the chair to get through, were heavy and difficult to open because you were required to pull them open, not an easy task when you also have to wheel backwards! Chairs that got left out in the walk ways that would otherwise be fine for someone who could walk around them, had to be pushed in before the chair could fit around them. Some of the bathroom stalls that were supposed to be accessible did not have enough room next to the toilet for transfer and some even though they had grab bars, had a shelf right above the grab bar, making it difficult to not hit your head as you tried to brace yourself up onto the toilet. The chair was difficult to control, especially when going down the hill, at some points I thought I was going to crash or seriously hurt my had trying to brace the wheels for turning. this experience defiantly made me more aware of the accessible features I need to think about and include in my designs.