CHAPTER 4 3D DESIGN PRINCIPLES

IntroductionOrganization

Portia Munson. Top: Pink Project: Table. 1995. 2' 6” x 8’ x 14'.Center: Pink Project: Vitrines. 1995. 5' 8” x 2' 8” x 1' 1⁄2".Bottom: Pink Project: Mound. 2006 – ongoing. approx. 6’ x 12'.

Organization, the act of bringing separate elements together to form a unit or a structure, is a foundational component of the design process.

Organization implies order, or at least an ordering, but this is not to say that design must be orderly.

Is one version of the pictured Pink Project better than the others?

UnityGestalt

Unity is achieved whenthe whole is more important than the parts.

A unified design may be• A simple monolith or mass. • Many forms or objects brought together to construct a coherent whole.

There are several ways of creating visual unity including:• Unity of the figure• Use of a three-dimensional grid

Gestalt is derived from psychology, and suggests that experiences are greater than the sum of their parts

• Proximity• Unifying Pattern

Unity and VarietyDynamic Partnership

Unification provides an overall and simplifying influence; the use of variation creates nuanced events and pockets of interest.

• A grid can bring order to elements that are different.

• Different colors can add variety to elements that are otherwise the same.

• The same color can add unity to elements that are dissimilar.

• Visual continuation can move your eye from one different element to the other, creating complex, interwoven forms.

Rock Garden. Ryoanji Temple. Kyoto, Japan. late 15th century.

RepetitionVisual and Structural

Repetitive elements in three-dimensionalwork often provide structural stability as well as visual unity.

West Façade of Reims Cathedral. Reims, France. c. 1225–1290.Fish in Rope. Traditional Japanese package design.

RepetitionModularity

A module is a standard unit.

Examples include • Bricks• Japanese tatami mats • Toys like Legos and

Tinker Toys• Architecture

Moshe Safdie. Habitat ’67.Montreal, Canada. 1967.

PatternOrdered Repetition

Pattern is the ordered repetition of a visual element.

It can extend across a surface and never repeat. However, repeat patterns utilize a modular unit, a section of pattern that may be endlessly replicated.

In the third dimension, pattern can be• Structural, as in some relief panels• Decoration like mosaic tile on architecture• Camouflage on plants and animals

Coiled Dumeril’s Boa.

Erwin Hauer. Continua Series Design 1. 1950. .

RhythmFluid Form

Rhythm is similar to repetition, but instead of being associated with a mechanical cadence of regular intervals, rhythm suggests a variation in tempo and more fluidity.Rhythm can exist in relief and in the round.

Tony Cragg. Caught Dreaming. 2007. Bronze, 5' 21⁄5” x 9' 41⁄5” x 5' 1⁄5".

RhythmFluid Form

In music another kind of rhythm, staccato, is about sound thatchanges abruptly.

Visually, this is often done with short, angular elements.

Gerrit Rietveld. Armchair Red and Blue. 1918. Wood, paint.

Illusion of MotionOrigin and Implementation

Aerodynamic forms have an origin in those natural phenomena that can move very quickly − sharks and birds, for example.

Characteristics of sleek forms designed to move without turbulence also allow these objects to look fast, even while standing still.

The Bloodhound SSC (Super Sonic Car) is seen traveling at speed in this artist’s impression.

Illusion of MotionOrigin and Implementation

Sculptors often rely on illusions that are derived from photography.

If your shutter speed is too slow when photographing amoving object, you get a blurred image. This can translate in sculpture to vague and stretched forms.

With a photographic multiple exposure, repetitive elements can appear. Similar illusions can be translated in three dimensions.

Tantric Hindu Goddess. Nepal; ca 17th century. Gilt copper. 6.75 x 5.75 x 3.75 inches.

Tony Cragg. Bent of Mind. Bronze.

BalanceActual and Implied

Balance, in the realm of three-dimensional structure, has two faces:

• Actual balance is a phenomenon of nature ruled by gravity, operating in real space.

• Implied balance is a virtual or implied condition involving one’s awareness of actual gravity and balance, but remaining a strictly visual experience that has more to do with the organizational and aesthetic factors of visual weight.

Peter Fischli and David Weiss. The Apparition. 1984. Color photograph, 18 1⁄2“ x 14 1⁄2".

SymmetryCorrespondence Across A Divide

Symmetry occurs when there is formal correspondence on opposite sides of an object’s central dividing line—in simpler terms, when left and right sides are mirror images.

Bilateral symmetry • Is the symmetry of

many forms in our environment: humans and animals, classical architecture, automobiles.

• However, it is usually only seen from one perspective. When seen from the side, most of these objects are no longer symmetrical.

Pierce-Arrow. Silver Arrow. 1933. Design concept Philip Wright, bodyengineer James Hughes. Pierce-Arrow Motor Car Company.

SymmetryCorrespondence Across A Divide

Radial symmetry is based on symmetry around a central axis. Trees, flowers, many circular patterns, and most cylindrical configurations are radially symmetrical.

Spherical symmetry is the condition of having similar form arranged regularly around a single point.

Ettore Sottsass. Transparent turquoise and yellow vaseAlioth. 1983. For Memphis, executed by CompagniaVetraria Muranese.

Knotweed pollen. Microscopic view.

AsymmetryDynamic FormEvery balanced configuration that is not symmetrical is asymmetricalAsymmetry is off center, out ofwhack, confrontational and dynamic.

Daniel Libeskind. Extension to the Denver Art Museum, Frederic C. Hamilton Building.

HarmonyUnity, Balance and Order

The following are some traditional definitions of harmony:• Unity; its elements form an integrated whole.• Balanced proportion.• A pleasing or orderly arrangement of parts.

Harmony has a diminished, but not non-existent, role in contemporary art and design, partly because of the numerous competing ideas and principles in modern and contemporary design culture that are increasingly useful and compelling.

Kay Fisker. Decanter. Silver (also octagonal tobacco jar). 1926. Manufactured by Anton Michelsen

HarmonyUnity, Balance and Order

Plato believed that objects in the world were flawed reflections of forms that were true and ideal, and these perfect forms could exist only in the mental realm of ideas. Idealism within art and design, strives for a perfection that seeks deep, essential form.

Bronze statuette of a horse. Greek,Late Hellenistic, late 2nd–1st centuryBC. Bronze, 1' 3 13⁄16" high.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld, Dieter Rams and Gerd Alfred Muller, designers. Braun record player. 1957.

ProximityAn Organizational ToolThe principle of proximity visually unites things that are near one another and excludes those more distant.

Proximity can be a visual tool and/or a functional one.

King Taharga Offering a Libation. Egypt.

Central Park. New York, New York.

EmphasisContrastEmphasis is similar to the pictorial idea of focal point. There are numerous strategies forachieving emphasis, and often, these techniques are combined.

• Differences, or contrast, of color, texture, shape, and size

• Isolation of elements • Relative placement of

elements

Ken Price. Sweet Paste. 1994. Fired and painted. Clay. 1’ 6” high.

Proportion refers to the comparative relationship of size. It can be expressed using a mathematical ratio and can be observed by comparing:

• One form to another• One part to the whole

Le Corbusier. Villa Savoye. Poissy, France.

ProportionRatio

ProportionRatio

Ideal Proportions and Convention

The notion of “correct” proportion is often based on familiarity, norms, and convention.

Ideals can relate to the human body and accepted beliefs ofphysical beauty, or to the design of common objects.

Junya Nutanake. Lace ruff collar. Comme des Garçons.

ScaleComparative Size

The word scale as used by artists, designers, and architects refers to the relative size of an object or a volume of space • In relationship to the viewer• In relationship to other objects in the

vicinity• In relationship to the object’s

environment in general.

Scale is all about context—perceiving size depends on comparison.

Charles and Ray Eames. Images from the film Powers of Ten 1977.Photographic reproduction.

ScaleThe MiniatureMiniatures are frequently encountered in daily life — children’s figurines, toys, and tabletop figurative sculpture are just some of the objects often in a scale that is smaller than life-size.

.

Ron Mueck. The artist making final adjustments to Two Women. 2005. Mixed media, 2' 9 1⁄2" high.

When scale is carefully employed, complex plays of perceptual ambiguity can be achieved.

In these images, there are cues to scale – the artist at left and the eye of a needle at right.

Willard Wigan. Statue of Liberty.

ScaleMonumental

Monumental scale is often used for political and propaganda purposes because scale-increases of this magnitude are humbling and exhilarating.

However, it can also be used in a playful manner, “making the familiar strange”

Statue of Gomateshwara with worshipper. India.

Claes Oldenburg and Coosje Van Bruggen. Binocular entrance toChiat/Day Building designed by Frank O. Gehry. 1991. Steel frame.Exterior: concrete and cement plaster painted with elastomericpaint. Interior: gypsum plaster, 45’ x 44’ x 18'.