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Amanda Wills

Visual Explorations
Investigations that aid in learning how to see.

SmallRoom Presents
Curatorial Processes
On the Fringe is one of the many successful exhibitions, which I helped bring to the campus of Illinois Institute of Technology, as Co-Founder and Curator of SmallRoom gallery. For this show, we found two artists whose dramatic works, although different, complemented one another. We hung the works in a way to stimulate thought and enhance the space. This show reflects the vision I had when founding SmallRoom as a student organization: bringing thoughtprovoking artwork to to our school campus in order to stimulate our senses. My hope remains that by being exposed to work by Chicago-based artists along with work from fellow students, SmallRoom can inspire and positively influence the work of our peers.

On the Fringe
Featuring : Jennifer Cronin Sara Goldenberg White

December 3rd-January 30th, 2013 Reception: Thursday, January 17th 3-5pm

Kemper Room Paul V. Galvin Library 35 W. 33rd Street

Jennifer Cronin Pink 2

smallroom_group@iit.edu

Sara Goldenberg White Refractions

Color Project
Guided by the painting Boats on the Beach, by Claude Monet, the project was a study of the use of color and light. One module was created in order to be manipulated to study the transition of cool and warm tones. The warm colors being pulled forward and the cool ones going back are emphasized in this composition. Light is reflected off the white walls of the module to create additional tones to draw the viewers eye through the piece.

Tracing Crown Hall


The work conducted involves tracing the trees reflected on the glass walls of Crown Hall by the outside artificial light source at night. When seeing these reflections, the properties of the glass inhibit views of the trees when passing by. This piece was in reflection of these moments in time, where only sections of the branches could be seen at one time. The result is a web of unrecognizable lines and voids.

Design Charrettes

Mexico Summer Study Abroad Rethinking a public site within the cities visited.

Theater: Zacatecas, Mexico


Amanda Wills, Karl Ochmanek Our solution for the plaza began by carving out the ground to provide more seating as well as a central forum, thereby providing a large space for play as well as a space for concerts, dancing, and political rallies. The church steps were altered but retained their capacity to be used as a small stage. The second addition took place overhead. Influenced by the tarps used for a temporary outdoor market, we brought in the colors of the city and shade by using colored canvases. The canopy element compressed our transit corridors to allow for a theatrical vault when proceeding into the two stage areas.

For the People: Mexico City, Mexico


Amanda Wills, Sayda Ibarra We noted that all the events of cultural exchange occur within this federal building. Therefore, our solution is to create a space that is for the people of the plaza. We cleared the plaza and placed a large auditorium in the center, its footprint being an abstraction of the tiles of the roof. We used the colored tiles to integrate the plaza with the building, as well as creating a colorful space. We then included additive elements that host a tiered garden, in order to create a dialogue in transit. When the auditorium is not in use, it is a fountain, meant to be a source of play and interaction.

House Over the Shop


Chicago, Illinois Residences over local businesses, which work together to enhance the community of the neighborhood.

Bronzeville Neighborhood, Chicago

Transportation Locations

Proposed Plan for Three Vacant Lots

Private Space Garden Space Living Space Commercial Space

ReThinking the Chicago Lot


In order to enhance the community of the neighborhood, the lot was divided into many smaller private residences with communal spaces in between. By allowing more people to live in the lot and to constantly see the garden spaces from where they live, a sense of ownership and responsibility develops, creating a safer and friendlier community.

Proposed Master Plan

Expected Impact
The niches developed in the new plan for the building block will eventually influence the way future lots that have been vacant will be developed. More community spaces within the short buildings will grow within the space created. Essentially, the street will be invited into the space of the home.

Interactions of the Second Floor

Interactions of the Ground Floor

Interactions of the Roof

Interactions of the Third Floor

Cabin in the Woods


Plano, Illinois A retreat away from the city, into the forest, for a single occupant.

With this cabin design, I am providing a way to experience the forest by curating what is seen and how the views and life of the exterior are brought to the interior spaces. The layout of the cabin invites the visitor to the communal spaces and unfolds the views by way of exterior panels, filtering the scenes and light.

North Elevation

South Elevation

West Elevation

East Elevation

This investigation was a process of curating the space for a single occupant, and curating this is an act of meditation on what is there. Thus, you need to be here in order to appreciate the forest that this cabin is in because humans attempt to relate to things that are bigger than them by putting it in terms of it being familiar to them. By building a cabin in the woods, we are stylizing the forest to fit our needs, so why not conduct this practice fully?

Chapel

Effigy Mounds National Park, Iowa A place of being.

The procession through this chapel is meant to make the visitor more aware of self, due to the situation of the space. The stones which one walks over are elevated and spaced in such a way that the user must watch their footing. The walls of the interior change directions so as to avoid a clear site of the destination. These design features allow the user to focus on the current setting, rather than observing what is ahead. The enclosed space is lit by openings in the walls that protrude toward the direction of transition, so to conceal the source. When exiting, the stones spread out to provide seating and a place of rest with a view of only the sky above. The user can then see the dark slits in the wall which they had gone through. The individual then proceeds to the opposite side of the southern wall to see their place in the site and transitions to the rest of the park.

Approach
The chapel is sunken into the earth, so in the approach, one cannot see what is ahead. This encourages the ideology of being in a place, rather than looking forward.

Entrance
The visitor is entering an opening in the ground, unable to see what is ahead.

Procession
The elevated stones require the individual to be careful of their step, making one more aware of their place within the space. The light source, concealed by the protruded wall, draws one forward.

Navigation
The angled changes in progression avoid a clear view of the destination of the chapel, the spaced stones and unseen light source pulling the visitor through the space.

Reveal
When entering the exterior space, the next destination is still concealed, only leaving views of the sky and the way one has already come.

Departure
When exiting, the path toward the park is flanked by a wall covering the place left behind and shows the park to the south.

Bird Blind

Burnham Park, Chicago A space to view birds and not be seen or heard for a number of individuals.

Rather than a single bird blind, three were created out of one unit. This module was able to create a space that hid other bird watchers from each other, in order to create a private and quiet setting. The cladding for the blinds were such that hid the viewer from birds eye view but allowed easy observations of the wildlife. These were then dispersed throughout the site, connected by a walled path, and placed where ideal views of the life within the sanctuary.

Case Studies
Investigation and rethinking of existing works of architecture

Casa Poli, Chile: Accessory Building Design


In the second design process, I focused the stair element of Casa Poli, which were pushed to the envelope of the building. One leads to the private, while the other leads to the communal area. Rather than creating a new building, I extruded the stairs onto the site. Influenced by Casa Poli, two conditions were created one exposed and one enclosed. The exterior stairs compact the visitor, opening them up to either a focused view of the sky or the precarious mountain side leading to the sea.

Moorelands Dining Hall, Canada


The dinning hall utilizes glue lam trusses, held in tension by steel cables, to support the walls and roof of the structure. The peak holds movable glass windows, which act as a beacon of light in the night time. By investigating the workings of this structure, I was able to gain a greater understanding of wood construction and further apply this knowledge to my own work.

Furniture
Investigations in three dimensional form and interactions with the user.

Making of Place From Place to Place: Stacking Shelves


This project was conducted in Chicago, after a month of traveling throughout Mexico, in response to our time spent there. The piece was inspired by the exposed rebar extending out from the structures of the unfinished/future levels of homes in Mexico. Stacking shelves is an interpretation of the idea of future growth that I observed in many of the buildings we were surrounded by. The extending rebar holds a hint of optimism, to me. It represents the hope for new development in the home as the family grows larger or if new funds are found. The shelves I designed act as individual pieces to be stacked in various ways when needed, the structure lending itself to new growth.

Wood Rings
What one choses to wear, with the idea of locality in mind, is an expression of self. Therefore, this wearable object, made out of wood sourced from West Chicagos Reed Kepler Park, stimulates conversation and raises awareness about trees that fell during the storm of last year. Locally sourced beeswax, from Chicago Honey Co-op, is made into a finish with oil and is supplied to the user. Because a beeswax finish requires occasional reapplication, this creates a stronger relationship with user and pieces.

Rocking Stool
These are mock ups for designs of a locally inspired piece. Locality is created by memories, therefore I wished to design an interactive object. The uneven base of the stool creates a new relationship with the user. In correlation with sculpting the base, I am sculpting the seat of the stool as well. I am also investigating further transforming the body of the stool. The nature of the stool allows for multiple iterations of the form and action with the stool. For the final product, rather than a single object, a series have been made in relationship with each other, strengthening the impact.

Amanda Wills

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