The day started with an introduction to the techniques available to us in the Fabrication Department. The culture of the department is very relaxed and student centred. I was impressed by the really positive attitude ot the technical staff. I know from experience that having great technical staff on your side is essential in working in an art school. It’s an environment which invites experimentation. The presentationRyan gave showed the huge variety of stuff that can be made using both traditional and digital fabrication methods.

In the afternoon we worked with Justin in the wood workshop. To be honest I was a bit intimidated by having to just make something infront of everyone. I’m so used to working at home, away from people. Also there is that thing of being nervous with new people but we were all in the same boat and I think we were all feeling similarly scared!

I’d just got back from my trip to Cumbernauld so I did a couple of drawings based on some photos I took.

I would normally go straight to Adobe Illustrator to sketch out something. It was a daunting prospect to make something with just cardboard and a glue gun.

I started with the gable end shape of a house but quickly realised that I was playing it very safe! so I decided to wing it and cut the other gable end piece in two.
Now I had the challenge to complete the other faces of the building.

Taking my photos as inspiration I made a house with a part cut out from it - a bit like some of the houses in Seafar, Cumbernauld. These houses have varying shapes within the same development, which allows the spaces between them to be more vairied. Sometimes this is a response to a tricky site.

I was out of my comfort zone without a computer, but instantly felt happy handling the materials directly. The process of exploring the material and turning it around in my hand lead to decisions that I may not have made whilst interacting with a screen. I enjoyed winging it. I should take more risks in what I’m doing.

My reflections on this workshop took my thoughts in a few different directions.

I have always been interested in TESSELLATION.
My papercut pieces are full of tessellating objects. I’ve used it as shorthand for order. It’s is something I’ve been interested in since school. I love geometry and I loved the Altair Design colouring books from the 1980s. Geometry and tesselating forms are part of the reason I love architecure. I will come back to this later, I’m sure...

The other thing which springs to mind is the “Shifts” project at the Lighthouse in Glasgow in 2007. I bought the accompanying book in the Architecture Centre in Bristol. Full title is “Shifts - Projections into The Future of the Central Belt.” The project’s ambition was to contribute to a necessary wider debate about the future of the central belt in Scotland. The Lighthouse commissioned four international project teams, led by the Scottish architecture practices Cadell2, Collective Architecture, GRAS and Voluntary Design & Build (vD&B) to make a head start in the debate. Shifts intention was to challenge the unproductive rivalry between the two centres of Glasgo and Edingburgh as well as to shift and change focus to the zone between them. They commisioned short stories and essays which put the projects into a historical, social and political context. vD&B’s focus on SLOAP or Space Left Over After Planning is something I keep coming back to. In this instance I did some thinking around it in relation to developing tessellating structures using the card maquette technique.