House VI.. Eisenman.. indexical diagrams.. I think this is really all the 2331 blog has been about so far. Appropriately so given the base of last semester’s studio. But that is behind us now. In good measure, the last of the transformational diagrams were used to wrap presents to provide the opportunity to watch family and friends rip them to shreds, with their only concern being the contents contained within.

This, ironically, mimics the attitude of the studio. After endless hours toiling over the House VI drawings, many of us are now apathetic to them; some.. probably outright hostile toward them. These diagrams, though, were not the underlying value of the studio. It was what was contained within them that was productive for the numerous hours of turmoil they no doubt caused.

The theme of the semester was control, and what better way to understand control than learning from a painstakingly precise set of documents. Paul Preissner and Laura Fehlberg guided us through a series of progressive takes on this set of documents, culminating in the formal exploration of a house. Each of the twenty-two final projects definitely exhibited a pronounced level of control, yet each project was drastically different in its characteristics.  After some time to reflect, the objectives Preissner solicited are much more lucid: to develop an ability to command a technique and explore its application within a set context.

Here we are again, ready to negotiate the second installment of our first year here at SoA.

made bigger by popular demand – IO