Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
The Hatchery | Brain storming
My concept for the Hatchery has taken me in a direction that I am SO ok with. In the previous entry, I was conceptualizing about how Greensboro is like a forest and Elm street is a small clearing within that forest that needs a little tender love and care. After sitting at my desk and sketching out different ideas, the word "Greenhouse" popped into my head. Greenhouse. It makes so much sense. It is a place where plants are grown from nothing, into thriving and flourishing organisms. This is my concept. In fact, I've even decided to change the name of the store to "The Greenhouse" instead of "The Hatchery." (The name is even perfect for it location. Think about it. It's in the city of Greensboro. Down the street from the green bean and Natty Greene's. It fits like a little happy puzzle piece.
Above is a perspective of the view of the Greenhouse from the front door. This is just the retail area. I'm wanting to utilize the second floor also, and have it be a loft area to look down into the first floor space. The tall thin structures are going to be made of acrylic, or another durable material. They are placed at random intervals in the center of the space, around the central cashwrap. They are each a different height, no more that 20' and no less than 10'. After each year, students will take big acrylic colorful beads and slide them onto the tall structures, creating a time piece within space. As time goes by, the space gets visually more and more dense with these beads that are placed on the many vertical structures. Also, the surrounding materials are all going to be white and reflective. As time goes on, the color from the light bouncing onto these surfaces from colorful beads will grow and change.
This floor plan is not to scale. I was just playing around with the spacing of the different rooms. I realize now that this is going to have to be completely reworked because the actual space is a LOT more narrow than I have drawn it. My idea for the entire space was that as someone moves back, the glass walls dividing up the rooms would become more and more dense until they get to the performance/ exhibition area, which is completely opaque. I was thinking about using 3form glass, although I'm still searching for material options.
Here are a few different logos that I thought of replacing the Hatchery's egg logo with. Personally, I like the top right one. I think it speaks best to the concept.
This is the cashwrap, for the moment. In the front of it, there is a recess that has cords strung vertically all along it. There are beads strung neatly on it, giving it the same sort of feel as the huge structures around it. It is a minuscule version of them. I'm going to try to have lots of verticalities happening throughout the entire store in different scales. Verticality helps speak to the greenhouse concept.
These panels are going to be hung from the ceiling of the second floor and pointed at the vertical structures. They are abstractions of tree limbs, and also serve as luminaires for the space. They have a strip of LED lights on the top of them, shooting the light up to the ceiling, which would reflect it softly back down to rest of space.
The upper image is of the retail area, below the hangover from the second floor. This wall is where paintings from students are to be hung, as well as merchandise that is to be sold. There are vertical reveals at varying heights all along the wall. There are little latches within these reveals that shelves can be attached to for merchandise. Hooks can also be attached to them for artwork. This allows for great flexibility, so the retail space can morph a little, depending on the stuff they have to sell. Also, there is a track system on the floor and ceiling that vertical panels can be placed into. These panels will prevent the playful colors that are emmited from the large structures from interfering with the displayed artwork. (There are track lights on the ceiling that can point towards art, making it easier to see the piece as it was originally intended by the artist.)
After researching greenhouses a little, I noticed that glass, light, and metal play an enormous role in pretty much every greenhouse. I'm still deciding what I want to do in the space, but so far, I think I'm going in the right direction. The more I design for it, the more excited I get about it.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Hatchery | Concept Research
A forest is a mass of elements that depend on one another to grow and thrive. A forest, like anything else, builds from the ground up. It starts out small and quite simple. A few trees, a few plants, a few animals. Then, with time and the help of the components within, it builds on top of itself and begins to flourish into a lush, dense mass where everything helps everything else.
Greensboro's artsy reputation is endearing to its citizens, old and new. I imagine a person, coming to Greensboro for the first time, meandering up and down the streets in between the tall buildings of Downtown Greensboro. In my imagination, this image of this visitor is taking more of an abstract form, so bare with me and try to visualize this. I see them wandering through a forest--a thriving, flourishing forest where everything is interesting, vibrant, and intriguing. The light feathers in gently through the trees as they pick their path, careful to avoid stampedes of cheetahs and monkeys (cars and bikes..heehee). As they walk into different coves (the stores), they are inspired and mesmerized by what they see. (Are you visualizing this? Bare with me, its not over.) The person sees a clearing in the forest ahead. Even though its brighter because there are less trees, it somehow seems darker. As they linger closer, they start to zero in on slight changes in the environment around them. The vibrancy of the forest dims to a dull hue. The trees surrounding the clearing look a little charred, Finally, they reach the threshhold of this strange clearing and realize that there had been a fire here--not a terrible one, but one that destroyed what that immediate area needed to survive. The person sees tiny signs of life, like baby grass growing back on the ground, and moss covering the charred trees, signifying that this poor little clearing it isn't past the point of no return. Its just a patient, desolate plane in the middle of this thriving forest, waiting for new inhabitants to help it become useful and beautiful once again.
Ok, abstraction over. Here's the translation. This person, intrigued by all of what Greensboro has to offer, stumbles upon South Elm street and notices that there isn't much happening on a small part of it. Most of the stores are vacant, and the majority of the ones that aren't, look like they soon will be. Compared to the rest of Downtown Greensboro, that area is a little dead and needs a lot of work. In order to make it thrive like the rest of it, though, it needs inhabitants that are willing to put forth the correct amount of resources that it needs to re-flourish.
That being said, I haven't though as much about the actual design of the interior of the Hatchery, which, we all know, resides in the midst of this poor, desolate, charred area of downtown Greensboro. I know for a fact that I want lots of vertical elements within it, symbolizing the vertical element within any forest that one decides to wander through. There will be a cutout in the middle of the second floor, allowing these vertical elements to shoot up very high, creating that feeling of wonderful vertigo for the people walking around the retail space. So I won't be in the risk of my space looking too much like an actual forest, I am going to adopt inorganic manmade materials. Galvanized steel? Cement? Acrylic? Lacquered walls? I'm still debating, but I know that materiality and color are going to be quite different from an actual forest. As a person walks through the space, I want light somehow to be filtered in from different places above, giving it that walking-through-a-forest feel. The bottom floor would be darker (making that perfect for hanging artwork and aiming lights at it to highlight them) and the second floor to be lighter because it is up in the "canopy" of the forest. These are my thoughts so far--nothing too concrete, but I think I'm going in the right direction...at least I hope I am.
Greensboro's artsy reputation is endearing to its citizens, old and new. I imagine a person, coming to Greensboro for the first time, meandering up and down the streets in between the tall buildings of Downtown Greensboro. In my imagination, this image of this visitor is taking more of an abstract form, so bare with me and try to visualize this. I see them wandering through a forest--a thriving, flourishing forest where everything is interesting, vibrant, and intriguing. The light feathers in gently through the trees as they pick their path, careful to avoid stampedes of cheetahs and monkeys (cars and bikes..heehee). As they walk into different coves (the stores), they are inspired and mesmerized by what they see. (Are you visualizing this? Bare with me, its not over.) The person sees a clearing in the forest ahead. Even though its brighter because there are less trees, it somehow seems darker. As they linger closer, they start to zero in on slight changes in the environment around them. The vibrancy of the forest dims to a dull hue. The trees surrounding the clearing look a little charred, Finally, they reach the threshhold of this strange clearing and realize that there had been a fire here--not a terrible one, but one that destroyed what that immediate area needed to survive. The person sees tiny signs of life, like baby grass growing back on the ground, and moss covering the charred trees, signifying that this poor little clearing it isn't past the point of no return. Its just a patient, desolate plane in the middle of this thriving forest, waiting for new inhabitants to help it become useful and beautiful once again.
Ok, abstraction over. Here's the translation. This person, intrigued by all of what Greensboro has to offer, stumbles upon South Elm street and notices that there isn't much happening on a small part of it. Most of the stores are vacant, and the majority of the ones that aren't, look like they soon will be. Compared to the rest of Downtown Greensboro, that area is a little dead and needs a lot of work. In order to make it thrive like the rest of it, though, it needs inhabitants that are willing to put forth the correct amount of resources that it needs to re-flourish.
That being said, I haven't though as much about the actual design of the interior of the Hatchery, which, we all know, resides in the midst of this poor, desolate, charred area of downtown Greensboro. I know for a fact that I want lots of vertical elements within it, symbolizing the vertical element within any forest that one decides to wander through. There will be a cutout in the middle of the second floor, allowing these vertical elements to shoot up very high, creating that feeling of wonderful vertigo for the people walking around the retail space. So I won't be in the risk of my space looking too much like an actual forest, I am going to adopt inorganic manmade materials. Galvanized steel? Cement? Acrylic? Lacquered walls? I'm still debating, but I know that materiality and color are going to be quite different from an actual forest. As a person walks through the space, I want light somehow to be filtered in from different places above, giving it that walking-through-a-forest feel. The bottom floor would be darker (making that perfect for hanging artwork and aiming lights at it to highlight them) and the second floor to be lighter because it is up in the "canopy" of the forest. These are my thoughts so far--nothing too concrete, but I think I'm going in the right direction...at least I hope I am.
Saturday, October 24, 2009
The Hatchery | Concept Research
The above three images were all from http://www.insider-worldwide.com/interior_design_london_tours/
The three images above remind me of the renaissance festival that I visit every fall in Huntersville. The top image reminds me of a castle. The two bottom images look organic, woodsy, and handcrafted. I think this might be a good concept for the Hatchery because the “Renaissance” times were filled with artisans, all collaborating and working together to create new works of art, which is what the hatchery is all about. We are creating this space to expose the very talented artisans within the walls of UNCG to the rest of the Greensboro community.
Material-wise, I want the walls to be gray brick, with predetermined shapes at regular intervals cut out in it and lights (light the picture above) will be placed within them. This might be just one band on the wall near the ceiling, and maybe angled up at the ceiling. I don’t want that detail to compete with the artwork being sold within the retail space. The grey brick walls loosely symbolize castle walls and the materiality within these walls will be a woodsy, organic feel. I don’t want this to be too renaissance-themed, but I do want it to have the same feel with materiality and shapes used within the space.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
The Hatchery | Inventory Investigation
The inventory of the Hatchery would consist of products from all of the different fine arts departments at UNCG.
The Art department could sell, of course, their works of art. This includes sculptures, drawings, paintings, and other artifacts they create. People specializing in photography can take beautiful photos of Greensboro and sell them as post cards.
Some people in the music school could sell their compositions they have written, if said compositions are particularly outstanding. Or if any students at UNCG have a CD that they have had recorded of themselves and their instruments, they could sell those there.
Students from the creative writing department could sell poems and stories they have written. There would be a great opportunity for collaboration between this and the art students. Maybe the art students could illustrate for the stories. Or the poems could written atop of a painting to make a cool piece of art.
The CARS department at UNCG can design clothing to sell within the shop. That would be a good incentive for them to design well-crafted clothing--the idea that it is actually going in a real store and going to be for sale. A good idea for collaboration between students would be that a graphic artist student could design a graphic and it could be printed onto t-shirts.
This is only a few ideas of pieces of art that can be sold within the store. I think that once we all put our heads together, many many more ideas will emerge. Once the idea was introduced that students from different departments could come together and work on pieces of art, the possibilities for creativity really opened up.
The Art department could sell, of course, their works of art. This includes sculptures, drawings, paintings, and other artifacts they create. People specializing in photography can take beautiful photos of Greensboro and sell them as post cards.
Some people in the music school could sell their compositions they have written, if said compositions are particularly outstanding. Or if any students at UNCG have a CD that they have had recorded of themselves and their instruments, they could sell those there.
Students from the creative writing department could sell poems and stories they have written. There would be a great opportunity for collaboration between this and the art students. Maybe the art students could illustrate for the stories. Or the poems could written atop of a painting to make a cool piece of art.
The CARS department at UNCG can design clothing to sell within the shop. That would be a good incentive for them to design well-crafted clothing--the idea that it is actually going in a real store and going to be for sale. A good idea for collaboration between students would be that a graphic artist student could design a graphic and it could be printed onto t-shirts.
This is only a few ideas of pieces of art that can be sold within the store. I think that once we all put our heads together, many many more ideas will emerge. Once the idea was introduced that students from different departments could come together and work on pieces of art, the possibilities for creativity really opened up.
Monday, October 12, 2009
The Hatchery | Precedent Research
Before diving into the design of the hatchery, it is a wise idea to first look at other places that have a similar concept and elements as the hatchery. So lets start with that, shall we?
Elsewhere
Elsewhere is a museum in downtown Greensboro. It is very peculiar, but in a good way. Elsewhere is FILLED with stuff. Everywhere. As soon as you walk in, you feel like you've been enveloped by the place where your socks go when they disappear from the rest of your clothing in the dryer. Or maybe you feel like you've just fallen into the abyss between your sofa cushions. Confused? Me too. What happens in this space is that artists from all over come to elsewhere to morph its "stuff" and use it as inspiration for their works. The space is constantly shifting--its different every time I go in (which isn't a lot because, frankly, I feel like if I go too much, my chances of getting lost forever are much higher..)
The reason elsewhere is part of my precedent research is because the Hatchery is all about collaboration and the arts. In elsewhere, you can find everything you aren't looking for. There isn't a surface that isn't covered with stuff from way-back-when. The items are mostly all from decades ago, and its fun to sit and think about the people that used them or the kids that played with them. All of those things started out in different places all over the world, and now ended up in this weird space to serve a purpose far from its original intent--to inspire. When I walked in about a week ago, I was inspired! I started snapping pictures with my camera right away and ended up with these pictures that I find beautiful pieces of art in themselves:
So the moral of this story is; I think Elsewhere is a great place to remember while designing the Hatchery because it is a collaborative space that inspires people as soon as they step foot inside its doors. The hatchery should be inspirational to people too.
For more information about elsewhere, visit their website here. Or just go there!
Fairy Flair Boutique
^This is the facade of the store. Picture taken from here.^
^A fairy dress. This picture taken from here^
This boutique resides where my mother lives--in Mooresville, NC. It is a quaint little store that sells, you guessed it, fairy paraphernalia! Fairy-like dresses, wings, books, little statues, you name it. How cute. Reason its a precedent, you ask? Well. The woman that owns the store actually makes all of the clothing that she sells. While walking through the store, I can tell she focused predominantly of the textures throughout the store, many of which lie with the clothing. Sandy Hlavin, the owner/designer, works closely with clients to design the perfect dress for them. She understands the importance of listening to her clients and working hard to achieve an attractive outcome. Do you want a fairy outfit too? Here's her website! Click here!
The Coffee Break
^Both of the above photos taken from the Coffee Break website^
The Coffee Break is close to campus and serves delicious coffee. It provides a quaint atmosphere for lounging comfortably while sipping a hot mocha, whilst reading the Carolinian, doing a crossword puzzle, or facebooking on a laptop. What I really like about the coffee break, and why I've chosen it as a part of my research is because their is always local artwork for sale that is hanging on the walls. That's actually the main reason I go there a lot--to look at the artwork. It seems to bring in a lot of business.
The Carolina Renaissance Festival
^Pictures taken from the Carolina Renaissance Festival website^
Located in Huntersville, North Carolina, there is a fair that happens every October and November. It is filled with artisans of all types that come together and create an experience for its paying visitors. It has a fantasy-like Renaissance theme. As one walks through the fair, they pass by glass-blowers, pewter figurine-makers, painters, musicians, quirky plays, dancers, and many, many more. They each have a different talent to give and all of their talents add up to an amazing experience. For me, just being in the presence of so many people who have a passion for the arts makes me want to go straight home and pick up my sketchbook and start sketching away. Hopefully the hatchery will evoke that same feeling of inspiration in its visitors.
Etsy.com
^pic taken from Etsy.com^
This is a website that allows people to sell their own artwork over the internet. It works kind of in the way ebay does. You put pictures up of your art, show your price, and people who love it contact you and voila! You're artwork has been sold. Even though this precedent differs from the Hatchery because of the fact it is online, it still has kind of the same idea. There is a tab on the site that says "Customs." Once one clicks on it, they can choose from an array of different artists and request from them a custom piece of artwork. The Hatchery also has the consultation area within it for this exact reason.
Elsewhere
Elsewhere is a museum in downtown Greensboro. It is very peculiar, but in a good way. Elsewhere is FILLED with stuff. Everywhere. As soon as you walk in, you feel like you've been enveloped by the place where your socks go when they disappear from the rest of your clothing in the dryer. Or maybe you feel like you've just fallen into the abyss between your sofa cushions. Confused? Me too. What happens in this space is that artists from all over come to elsewhere to morph its "stuff" and use it as inspiration for their works. The space is constantly shifting--its different every time I go in (which isn't a lot because, frankly, I feel like if I go too much, my chances of getting lost forever are much higher..)
The reason elsewhere is part of my precedent research is because the Hatchery is all about collaboration and the arts. In elsewhere, you can find everything you aren't looking for. There isn't a surface that isn't covered with stuff from way-back-when. The items are mostly all from decades ago, and its fun to sit and think about the people that used them or the kids that played with them. All of those things started out in different places all over the world, and now ended up in this weird space to serve a purpose far from its original intent--to inspire. When I walked in about a week ago, I was inspired! I started snapping pictures with my camera right away and ended up with these pictures that I find beautiful pieces of art in themselves:
So the moral of this story is; I think Elsewhere is a great place to remember while designing the Hatchery because it is a collaborative space that inspires people as soon as they step foot inside its doors. The hatchery should be inspirational to people too.For more information about elsewhere, visit their website here. Or just go there!
Fairy Flair Boutique
^This is the facade of the store. Picture taken from here.^
^A fairy dress. This picture taken from here^This boutique resides where my mother lives--in Mooresville, NC. It is a quaint little store that sells, you guessed it, fairy paraphernalia! Fairy-like dresses, wings, books, little statues, you name it. How cute. Reason its a precedent, you ask? Well. The woman that owns the store actually makes all of the clothing that she sells. While walking through the store, I can tell she focused predominantly of the textures throughout the store, many of which lie with the clothing. Sandy Hlavin, the owner/designer, works closely with clients to design the perfect dress for them. She understands the importance of listening to her clients and working hard to achieve an attractive outcome. Do you want a fairy outfit too? Here's her website! Click here!
The Coffee Break
^Both of the above photos taken from the Coffee Break website^The Coffee Break is close to campus and serves delicious coffee. It provides a quaint atmosphere for lounging comfortably while sipping a hot mocha, whilst reading the Carolinian, doing a crossword puzzle, or facebooking on a laptop. What I really like about the coffee break, and why I've chosen it as a part of my research is because their is always local artwork for sale that is hanging on the walls. That's actually the main reason I go there a lot--to look at the artwork. It seems to bring in a lot of business.
The Carolina Renaissance Festival
^Pictures taken from the Carolina Renaissance Festival website^Located in Huntersville, North Carolina, there is a fair that happens every October and November. It is filled with artisans of all types that come together and create an experience for its paying visitors. It has a fantasy-like Renaissance theme. As one walks through the fair, they pass by glass-blowers, pewter figurine-makers, painters, musicians, quirky plays, dancers, and many, many more. They each have a different talent to give and all of their talents add up to an amazing experience. For me, just being in the presence of so many people who have a passion for the arts makes me want to go straight home and pick up my sketchbook and start sketching away. Hopefully the hatchery will evoke that same feeling of inspiration in its visitors.
Etsy.com
^pic taken from Etsy.com^This is a website that allows people to sell their own artwork over the internet. It works kind of in the way ebay does. You put pictures up of your art, show your price, and people who love it contact you and voila! You're artwork has been sold. Even though this precedent differs from the Hatchery because of the fact it is online, it still has kind of the same idea. There is a tab on the site that says "Customs." Once one clicks on it, they can choose from an array of different artists and request from them a custom piece of artwork. The Hatchery also has the consultation area within it for this exact reason.
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