Week 01 | Unite, Combine, Associate

This semester will take a path that we cannot definitively chart. It’s a pocess of testing and decision-making. How we move from one project to another will largely rely on the way we resolved the previous project. The class focuses on accumulation and experimentation: each week will build upon information learned prior. We are required to experiment with the media provided, often not knowing where the information will take us.

The image shown below represents possible directions or ‘waypoints.’ These flight plans are a standard and give a series of possible routes to the pilots using them. When in a zone near an airfield, the possible directions of exit or entry are shown as vectors with data attached to each line. The reason for theses nodes of movement and this mapping technique is ultimately the technology in place at each airport. An aircraft would move towards a locating signal and then re-route to the next available signal based on the variables surrounding them (ie. weather, winds, traffic, etc.)


Think of this class as the transition from flat to 3D, from analog to digital, and even from static to dynamic. As a result, the way we think about architecture should be similarly expanded in multiple directions, because there are always various answers and viewpoints. If we loosely define architecture as the articulation of movement, spaces, and materials _ the methods of representing this are endless and do not always resolve themselves in a plan or even in a static image. The representation of an idea should carry as much meaning as the idea itself.

The first project is a blending of supplied photos in photoshop. The goal of this exercise is to examine the ways we can join pixel-based images with the software's tools. The 'seams' conjoining the photos are the space of investigation. These junctures should be stitched with reason and intent – shading, shapes, or any other graphic reason, not symbolic linkages. Focus on the reasons why you've linked things. Keep in mind these three themes: Unite the images, combine the images, associate the images. This is not a three-step process, but rather a syncopation of each theme acting simultaneously.

Unite: to bring things together or to come together to form or act as a unit; to adhere or cause things to adhere; to combine qualities or traits. Find like qualities in the images that graphically unite them. Use this technique while selecting the 5 from 15 images. Attributes such as tone, shading, shape, proportion, and contrast can be thought of as uniting qualities. These are graphic qualities of the images, not contextual (ie. connections should not be made based on the subject of the image – these types of connections will have a negative effect on your grade)


As an example, these two images both have an intense contrast between a strong color and black, making the subject a strong graphic. Yet, what is important to us is their qualitative contrast, not the icons which those graphics symbolize. Do not stop at the initial reading of images, zoom in, look closer, dissect the images for what lies under their meaning as a photograph.


Combine: to join or mix together, or join or mix people or things together; to undertake two or more activities at the same time; to join together or to make substances join together to form a chemical compound. Combinations will allow you to join together unlike images and properties to create a union greater than the sum of its parts. Combinations rely on the unexpected, test cases will allow you to see what results are most interesting to the composition.

Associate: to connect one things with another in the mind. To associate your images, you will use a series of selection processes to orient and crop your images. These tools will allow you to build a foundation on the page. Second, you will want to apply a series of applicable transformations to the series. Managing and labeling layers during this process will also be critical in maintaining image distinction, separating transformations, and in keeping your file organized. For quick tool reference see the Adobe help center online.

Your file should be no larger than 2250 pixels wide and 1650 pixels tall (this translates to 17” wide x 11” tall at 150dpi) saved in .JPG format using RGB Color mode. Place your file in your “mybackpack,” making sure to list your instructor as a shared user for the file. Please use the nomenclature “WS01_yourlastname_firstinitial.jpg” for the file name. If, for example, your name is “Bob Smith” you will save you work using the nomenclature “A01_Smith_B.jpg.”
All files are due to your backpacks by 6:00pm on Monday 26 January for section 002 and 6:00pm on Wednesday 28 for section 001. Late work will not be accepted. Please also print a color copy of your work and bring it to class. This will require you to convert the file to CMYK color mode in Photoshop prior to printing. The size of your file will determine the size of your print.