MIAD Architecture
South Shore Beer Garden
48cm x 61cm Graphite on Bristol Paper April 2018 Exhibition Text This is a redesign of the South Shore Beer Garden in South Shore Park. It it heavily inspired by the German Architecture of Mies van der Rohe and Peter Behrens. Its purpose is to bring the community of Bay View closer together through entertainment and a view of the lakefront. |
Planning
Inspiration
This project made me think differently about the way I thought about my inspiration. I needed to create something within Milwaukee that reflected my place and identity. That lead me to think about two separate areas of the city, Bay View and South Shore Park. I thought of Bay View at first, primarily because I have lived there all of my life, making it a place that I could easily connect to. I also thought of South Shore park, because of its significance to my mom and her family. I eventually decided on modernizing the South Shore Beer Garden. It was created to be a bathhouse in the 1930's, and has since then become a kitchen and beer garden. The building is rather old and drab in many ways, and has been a significant part of my family's life. We were strongly encouraged to draw inspiration from our own culture and heritage. I looked into three separate parts of my culture/heritage, Polish, Irish, and German. I quickly dismissed the polish because I felt it wouldn't bring too much to a beer garden in Milwaukee. I decided to focus more on German architecture and style, as I thought that it would fit the best into this and I personally enjoy that style quite a bit. The first architect that I encountered was Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, a Modernist German architect. I was very interested by the design of his S. R. Crown Hall, the home of the College of Architecture at the Illinois Institute of Technology. I then wanted to find and architect that focused more on the traditional style of German architecture. I came across the work of Peter Behrens, another German Architect. I was heavily influenced by his residence at the Darmstadt Artists' Colony. This prompted me to begin the planning for my design.
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Planning Sketches
This first page was used to lay out all of my general ideas that I touched on in the inspiration. The first part of this page was me trying to decide on my theme, which has typically been conflict. I was initially unsure if I would be able to stick with that theme for this project. I then went over ideas for where I could create a building. I spent a while considering a place in downtown Bay View on Kinnickinnic Avenue. I thought of creating a coffee shop, or even a library. However, I then thought of the lake and South Shore Park, which influenced me to create this building. I also included the names of the architects and the names of the specific inspirations on the bottom of the page.
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This was the first of my planning sketches. I took a lot more inspiration from Van der Rohe in comparison to Behrens in this sketch. I had thought about a complete redesign of the building itself in this picture. In regards to the general shape of the building, I kept a more modern feeling. I knew that I should incorporated very large windows in order to enhance the experience for the visitor. In the top left, I drew a portion of the tower for a view of the lake. I also included a balcony off of it, which I ended up incorporating into another tower. It was also here where I started to think about adding furniture to the inside of the building (which I decided not to do). I had even considered the addition of a chimney, I then realized that it would not work with my plan for a more modern building.
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This was the second planning sketch that I created. This was an aerial view of the overall building. I feel that this was a very important sketch, as I was able to make a lot of decisions on this page. The most important decision that I made was the my viewpoint. I had originally wanted to create a view from the street view, but I had wanted to include a decent look into the courtyard outside. That led to me to change the overall shape of the building later on. There were many changes and decisions that I made during the process itself (which I will discuss in the process section).
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Process
Experimentation
Overall, I did very little experimentation for this piece. I did do a few things though. One thing that I had done look into creating an octagonal shape for the left tower. It was a very complicated process to create such a simple shape. I tried a few times to create it within that area in perspective, each failing, leading me to do a much simpler design with the triangle, something that I have ended up preferring anyways. I tested with different flooring in the building itself. I had originally thought about covering the floor with tile in order to create a bit more of a modern feeling. I then realized that most people nowadays actually prefer hardwood flooring throughout, myself included. I had also experimented a little bit with some furniture throughout the picture, but do to time constraints I decided against finalizing it and figured that I could do it on a later date. On the picture to right, I did some tests with perspective and placement of objects. This was where I had tested my idea of perspective. It also gave me the idea for the final placement of my horizon line. I then tested some very simple concepts for the main tower, fencing, and also the balcony. I no longer wanted to include the balcony onto the main tower, so I then saw the balcony on Peter Behren's home and adapted that portion.
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Process
First, I taped the Bristol paper evenly down onto one of the drawing boards using the tape, and then used the T-square ruler to create a 1 inch frame around the edge to create a border. Then with the ruler and a pencil I drew my horizon-line about a third from the top of the paper straight across. I then drew my vanishing points off of the page on to extra pieces of paper to allow for a better view of the overall building. From there, I drew the three outermost edges of the building and connected them with lines to the vanishing points. Next, I drew the overall shape of the building to allow for me to find the center of each section. This was very helpful because I planned to create pointed roofs.
For the left roof, I drew a straight vertical line from the center up a few inches and then created a flat surface about halfway through that. From each of those corners I then drew lines to the tip of the original line to create a pyramid shape. Off the left side of the pyramid, I extended a rectangle out of it to create the inside of it. From the bottom line of that rectangle, I created the balcony with posts supported by the roof section below. I then went onto creating all of the shingles for that entire area, which was a rather labor-some task.
For the right roof, I drew a straight vertical line from the center up about 6 inches and then created a flat surface about halfway through that. From each of those corner points, (and about an inch from either side) I then drew more vertical lines straight up a few inches and created another flat surface. From the corners of that I drew lines to the tip of the original line to create a pyramid shape. I then went onto creating all of the shingles yet again ,still being a rather labor-some task.
After finishing the roofs, I began to work on the fencing on the bottom and along the side of the building. This was very heavily influenced by the fencing outside of Peter Behren's home. I simply drew some vertical lines for the main posts, and then extended lines off of the posts. Then I drew some more lines off of that line for the smaller poles.
After the fencing, I went onto finding the center of the inner walls to create the windows and doors. For the doors, I drew a line up the center and made two lines about 1/5 of the length of the wall on both sides. I also drew another box around the basic door for the door frame. Along the other center point, I drew the bottom line for the windows and simply drew a box from there. After that, I drew lines for the floors on the inside of the building and added my exhibition text to the top of the page.
For the left roof, I drew a straight vertical line from the center up a few inches and then created a flat surface about halfway through that. From each of those corners I then drew lines to the tip of the original line to create a pyramid shape. Off the left side of the pyramid, I extended a rectangle out of it to create the inside of it. From the bottom line of that rectangle, I created the balcony with posts supported by the roof section below. I then went onto creating all of the shingles for that entire area, which was a rather labor-some task.
For the right roof, I drew a straight vertical line from the center up about 6 inches and then created a flat surface about halfway through that. From each of those corner points, (and about an inch from either side) I then drew more vertical lines straight up a few inches and created another flat surface. From the corners of that I drew lines to the tip of the original line to create a pyramid shape. I then went onto creating all of the shingles yet again ,still being a rather labor-some task.
After finishing the roofs, I began to work on the fencing on the bottom and along the side of the building. This was very heavily influenced by the fencing outside of Peter Behren's home. I simply drew some vertical lines for the main posts, and then extended lines off of the posts. Then I drew some more lines off of that line for the smaller poles.
After the fencing, I went onto finding the center of the inner walls to create the windows and doors. For the doors, I drew a line up the center and made two lines about 1/5 of the length of the wall on both sides. I also drew another box around the basic door for the door frame. Along the other center point, I drew the bottom line for the windows and simply drew a box from there. After that, I drew lines for the floors on the inside of the building and added my exhibition text to the top of the page.
Reflection
Overall, this has been one of the most enjoyable projects that I have ever created. I also think that this has been one of the best things I've ever created. I would have to say that my favorite part of the piece is the left most tower with the balcony. I believe that I spent the most time on the that portion of it all. However, one thing that I wanted to have done better with was the proportions of the floors and shingles. I did not pay as much attention to them as I should have.
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
Both Behrens and Van der Rohe have a unique traditional and modern style, respectively, to their architecture. I was able to use a combination of these aspects to create an effective amalgamation of German architecture.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I am unsure how these people would regard this topic. However, i would assume that they would not be apposed to these ideas
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
During my research, I learned a lot about the divide between all of the different cultures here in Milwaukee and I realized that it desperately needs to be changed.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to try and cancel out the conflict between all of the different cultures in Milwaukee and bring everyone together through a mutual experience.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Overall, I decided that if we are to improve as a city and as a people, we need to have some sort of a social change anf cone closer together.
Both Behrens and Van der Rohe have a unique traditional and modern style, respectively, to their architecture. I was able to use a combination of these aspects to create an effective amalgamation of German architecture.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
I am unsure how these people would regard this topic. However, i would assume that they would not be apposed to these ideas
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures, etc. while you researched your inspiration?
During my research, I learned a lot about the divide between all of the different cultures here in Milwaukee and I realized that it desperately needs to be changed.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
My central idea was to try and cancel out the conflict between all of the different cultures in Milwaukee and bring everyone together through a mutual experience.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
Overall, I decided that if we are to improve as a city and as a people, we need to have some sort of a social change anf cone closer together.