richard watsonmasters thesis risd 2012

index

R. objects / artifacts / waste01. blanket for one person felted sheep’s wool (48 x 26 x 3/8 in). 02. point ink on paper + felted sheep and alpaca wool utensil (24 x 160 in). 03. line beeswax on paper + oak, leather, and felted wool utensil (18 x 73 in). 04. the conversation suit emergency blanket, tape (36 x 36 in).

05. house on a stick oak, ash, steel (66 x 228 x 30 in).

06. exhibition house birch ply, canvas, felted wool, leather, steel (156 x 96 x 204 in).

richard watsonmasters thesis risd 2012

index

The idea of point and line throughout the work is not meant to be a metaphor, instead it is intended to materialize the fundamental ingredients of the discipline. Material-spatial defi nitions examined and explored throughout the thesis evolved from the real proximity of the human body to the conceptual realm of infi nity: a change in scale, which is not just physical. The iterative dialogue of work, text, and conversation between self, artifact and other has reinforced the importance of memory, mystery, and perception. Ideas are longer lasting than Architecture itself: especially the waste

created to realize it. An artifact can itself be a gauge for the state of culture, design and self, and can engage spatial and material ideas. This means confronting actual experience, and shifts conversation from following a pedagogical cohesion (questions of iteration, and proof by means of the “paper trail”) to an architectural, experiential one. A thesis based around an artifact is not intended to question if drawing is a useful means of communication, but instead examines the grounds on which we might more clearly defi ne, discuss and produce architecture and the ideas that generate it.

Things I think about (and so should you) : Das Gelbe Haus Flims Valerio Olgiati, Slave City Atelier Van Lieshout, Mehrfamilienhaus Sargans Peter Markli, Flugzeughangar / Dynamic Structure Konrad Wachsmann, MFO Park Zurich Burchhardt + Partner, Monte Carasso Raphael Zuber, The Four Elements of Architecture (Wand Gewand) Gotfried Semper, Building Dwelling Thinking Martin Heidegger, Ricola Storage Building Laufen Herzog & De Meuron, Opus Moderni Zurich Meili Peter, Donald Judd, Joseph Beuys, Field Trips Robert Smithson Bernd + Hilla Becher, Against Architecture Franco La Cecla.

R. objects / artifacts / waste

Reaction study of Blanket for One

Person. Felted sheep’s wool.48 x 26 x 3/8 in.

The surface of Blanket for One Person was conceived as a single felted element that would be responsive to its inhabitant’s movements. To achieve a single surface (free of added stitching or other materials), sheets of shaped plastics were imbedded between three layers of raw wool, felted and removed. What resulted was a dynamic pleated surface that expands and contracts with interaction. The incisions correspond to the dimensions of the wooden fl oor in my fl at: the staging point for all my travel. In this way Blanket For One Person becomes visually sited before its real use is realized.

01. blanket for one person

Point has two parts: the fi rst is the fi nal visualization and the second is an instrument made of rolled, felted layers of diff erent wools. The drawing registers three distinct phases in the lifespan of the instrument over a total of one-thousand points. Initially, the instrument doesn’t absorb ink in the center: a white spot is left in the middle of each point. Secondly, the instrument matures: it leaves consistent points across the page. Finally, the instrument begins to fail: the points begin to fall out and become blurred around the edges.

02. point

Sections of Point. Felted sheep and alpaca wool instrument.Ink on paper.24 x 160 in.

Line was created by walking the distance horizontally of my body height. The result is a deformed line relating to two scales of my own body: my walking rhythm and my vertical height, overlaid.

03. line

Segments of Line. Felted sheeps wool and oak instrument Beeswax on paper.18 x 73 in.

The material of The Conversation Suit allows the wearer to generate conversation wherever conversation is needed. This dialogue can be established in even the harshest environments. A hood extends to focus the conversation or to search for it in diff erent ways. Reinforcement is given to the piece in strategic areas, a structural understanding is revealed, along with a sense of style.

04. the conversation suit

The Conversation Suit Rigorous testing. Emergency blanket, tape.36 x 36 in.

House on a Stick (HOAS) is made of four segments taken from two diff erent oak trees. HOAS became a way to derive more conversations about point and line and by extension, evolving defi nitions of space; more specifi cally, the interaction of point and line in house and stick.

05. house on a stick

Split View of HOAS. Making HOAS.Oak, ash, steel.66 x 228 x 30 in

6. exhibition house Exhibition House is an enclosure for ideas. It physically sits in the middle of the earlier scales of exploration, while referencing the (extreme) scales of thought and materialization. The structural system created to realize the enclosure is not of particular interest, insofar as it carries load, and allows for ease of construction and of deconstruction. The perceived thickness, thinness, its repetition, and the proximity of systems are much more important. It is the space between each of the systems, where a sliver of endless space exists...in their disconnection...that the proposition of Architecture is more precisely found. It uncovers an idea of Architectural inheritance within all projects. Exhibition House gathers the artifacts of the thesis. The thesis indexes my ideas about the discipline.

Plan of Exhibition House.Dusk.Birch ply, canvas, felted wool, leather, steel. 156 x 96 x 204 in.

Assembly and felting of Exhibition

House.

Exhibition House at night.

Interior of Exhibition House + HOAS.

thesis advisor

secondary advisor

photography contributions

construction contributions

almin prsic

andy tower

cody d storey

laura boyleju e gulevi jettegreg nemescody d storey