This project focuses primarily on cabins as a means of exploring domestic space in the context of small living structures by focusing on what factors constitute the relationships and dynamics that develop between a person and their living space, how ideas on the topic interact with the values that inform cabin architecture, and how to visually and musically interpret these settings in a manor that captures these values.  More specifically, this project explores what factors make the simplicity and compactness of a cabin structure so appealing, and how to assess the extent to which different cabins exploit these factors in there architectural design and furnishing arrangements.  Putting into practice these ideas by designing my own cabin structures that interpret different styles presented in my reading and online research. This project focuses on skill building of drawing techniques that were presented last quarter by completing pastel interpretations of cabin photography, both interior and exterior, which will allow me to learn the techniques that will be required to do interior and exterior pastel interpretations of my own design. There will also be an introductory drafting component in which I will design an original architectural layout .

I am incorporating Gaston Bachelard’s The Poetics Of Space (1958) as a means to inform and expand the ways in which I experience and interpret architecture, specifically that which will be presented in the other books that I will read, which will become important in the process of discerning what my own values are in terms of design.

I am reading Blueprint Small: Creative Ways To Live With Less (2003) by Michelle Kodin, which explores small living spaces and details the technical building aspects of a variety of small homes that make effective use of less space, and accounts the experiences of the people who live in these spaces, which will be read in the context of The Poetics of space, and used as a means to inform my design process from a technical perspective, as well as specific examples of how these spaces inform the lifestyles of those who occupy them.

My reading for this project also includes Compact Cabins (2010) by Gerald Rowan which a collection of 62 cabin designs, all of which are under 1,000 square feet, with floor plans and detailed suggestions of how to maximize the use of these small spaces to suit ones individual preferences, which serves the purpose of providing examples that are in the specific vein of cabin architecture that I will explore, and provide ideas for incorporating elements such as bathrooms, fireplaces, cooking areas, and lofts, and provide an introduction and exposure to the drafting process.

My project takes the form of visual art in drawing plans for structures that are informed by my readings, drawing interpretations of the structures in the readings and possibly images obtained from internet research of the language used to describe the structures in my readings.  Drawing is an appropriate and useful medium for my academic endeavor because it forces me to consider how I interpret space visually and to develop skill and technique in a medium that is relatively new to me.  This project also takes the form of reflective writing, which is a skill building task for me in this project.  This allows me to digest the material and work on my critical thinking skills. I will write reflectively on the visual work that I do, which forces me to analyze my processes when working with drawing and pastels, allowing me to reflect critically on what techniques I am employing and what did or didn’t work, which I believe will allow me to become learn form my mistakes and make progress in terms of technique and conceptualization.

The body of work that I will produce this quarter on a weekly basis  includes finished visual productions incorporating drawing and pastel, and a critical written reflection of the process and final art productions  as a whole as well as in relation to the reading material, and WordPress. For my final project I am going to integrate my previous educational experience at Evergreen, as well as my long term educational goals, by embarking on an compositional endeavor that includes lyrical, instrumental and recording production composition.  This project will be a first time experience for me in sound engineering and in composing in a manner that is directly informed by, and in study of, my course material interns of the aesthetic and sociocultural values of cabin architecture.  This is the Ultimate task I intend to achieve in order to maximize this educational experience that is A Cabin Study.