S t e f a n i B i d d l e

Mobile Materials Exhibition Material InvestigationsJMU Design Studio Center The Block From Photo to GraphicCompetition - Wine Poster

Photography

Portfolio - March 2015

Stefani Biddle

Solo HouseTypography StudiesTomatilloIn the Machine Part I Part II

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Mobile Materials ExhibitionThis project investigated and explored the prop-erties and possibilities of concrete and its use as the core material for a mobile materials display.

We first familiarized ourselves with concrete as a medium. Using 12”x12”x3” square molds we cast concrete on top of varying materials, such as tiles and plastics, to study texture and thickness.

Initial models were constructed out of wire, met-al, and paper to create form, line, shape, and space as elemental figures that would later be used as a framework for the final concrete model.

Once an initial prototype was picked, we cre-ated multiple variations and placed them in a 1/4 scale functioning concrete site model to help hone in on a scale for the final piece.

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Mock-ups and construction then began for the exte-rior concrete, steel, and rebar frame as well as the pockets to hold the materials and the removable tod-dler piece. The final product is fully functional at 6’ in diameter with ”floating” pockets on a steel framework.

Material InvestigationsIn order to fully understand the properties of multi-ple materials both individually and cohesively, a se-ries of smaller side projects was initiated and com-pleted by groups of students. The two groups I was in studied larger cast concrete forms, aluminum blocks, steel rods, wood, and sheets of homasote.

The first project was a set of four mobile pin-up boards with concrete bases, woven homasote, and wood shelves placed through evenly-spaced steel rods. The steel rods are set in place to the concrete using the aluminum and a series of inlayed bolts.

The second project was a redesign of a profes-sor’s office. After painting two of the walls with chalborad painted, our group installed a ho-masote shelving wall and one of the two large concrete work desks, as well as the desk stands.

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JMU Design Studio CenterThese are the measurements and as-built drawings encompassing the front elevation and first floor plan of the JMU Design Studio Center before the recent renovations, which were completed in summer and fall of 2014. Both drawings are in 1/8 scale.

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The BlockThis project was an investigation into various com-puter programs. Starting with a 14”x4”x2” block of wood, I used each of the main tools in SketchUp once to create a unique shape. I then made ac-tual cuts in the woodshop. Using the wood as a basis, I measured each side and drew a full scale model in Adobe Illustrator, which resulted in a model constructed of basswood and chipboard. Finally, I explored Rhinoceros and built the block again to familiariaze myself with the program.

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From Photo to GraphicI took a photo of one of the rose bushes on the main campus, brought it into Adobe Ilustrator, and used it as inspiration to create a new, graphic version.

Competition - Wine PosterThis is the final design I entered for the 2013 Bodegas - Terras Gauda annual worldwide wine poster competition in Spain. It was pre-sented to the public before being judged.

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Lebbeus Woods - Solo HouseIsolated in a deserted region, the Solo House was designed by Lebbeus Woods to break the norms of traditional living by creating a function-al “freespace” for an individual that was “emp-tied of pre-conceived value, use, function, mean-ing” and was “a condition of maximum potential.”

My interpretation of the house was more of a real-istic approach than the abstract drawings Lebbeus provides. While it is obvious in his drawings that there is an extensive use of mechanics used for the structure, there does not appear to be any in-dication of distinct floors even though he mentions that the top floor was meant to be an observatory.

This led me to take creative license of the interi-or while keeping true to Lebbeus’s exterior shape. Lebbeus’s original model of the Solo House was meant to be comprised of metal and wood, I kept the notion of repurposed metal but replaced the wood element with glass as a reflection to the “other worldy” site that Lebbeus had in mind.

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Typographic Studies

MINIMAL LETTERFORMS (ATFE)

Typeface: Didot 335 Bold

STEFANI BIDDLE

GRPH 206_ SPRING 14

Jun Bum Shin

James Madison University

A look into the relationships between letterforms us-ing positive and negative space. The final serif font is Didot and the final sans serif font is Helvetica.

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Tomatillo In the Machine (Part I)

Basement-8' - 4"

Ground Level0' - 0"

Second floor12' - 8"

Third floor25' - 4"

Attic37' - 5"

Parapet Wall49' - 4"

Roof45' - 4"

Basement-8' - 4"

Ground Level0' - 0"

Second floor12' - 8"

Third floor25' - 4"

Attic37' - 5"

Parapet Wall49' - 4"

Roof45' - 4"

1/8" = 1'-0"1 East

1/8" = 1'-0"2 South

The first part of this project was the mea-suring and as-built reconstruction drawings of a historic building in Staunton, Virginia.

The Crowle building was constructed in 1886 ini-tially as both storefront and home to the Crowle family. The outbuilding was added shortly there-after. After a major flood in 1896, the rear facade was rebuilt. The ground floor facades have been changed from a four-store to two-store layout and both have recieved newer interior renovations. However, all of the columns and load-bearing walls, as well as the entire layout of the base-ment, top two floors, and outbuilding are still in the original state. The only other addition was the walkway from the ground floor of the main building to the second floor of the outbuilding.

The green lines indicated on the third floor of the main building represent the raised ceiling in the ballroom and the skylight in the center of the home.

A detailed drawing of the leaves surrounding a tomatillo. The drawing is graphite on white strath-more paper in 2/1 scale based on the image below.

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In the Machine (Part II)The second part of this project was to choose and research a maker to occupy part of the Crowle building in an effort to revitalize the city. I chose a clockmaker. His/her workshop and store is lo-cated in the basement and first floor of the main complex facing the back alleyway and outbuilding.

The final space itself was created in response to the actual mechanics of a standard wall clock. By seeing each gear as a platform and connecting them with ramps, a person would find themselves winding up and around the room as if in a clock themselves. The ramps and platforms are 4mm thick perforated met-al sheets suspended on columns with steel centers and oak wood “wings”. In order to balance out the complexity of the ramp system, the storefront walls facing the interior of the Crowle building are entirely made of glass. Natural light also enters the space along the exterior facade. Indirect lights are found tucked away within the unique column structure.

The first image, to the right, is an expanded ax-onometric drawing showing the different gears and central mechanics of a standard wall clock.

The second image is a 12”x12” graphic of Staunton, Virginia that includes three maps of var-ious scales and a hexagonal pattern found inside the Crowle Building. It conists of graphite, marker, charcoal, and conte crayon on thick chipboard.

The third image is a concept diagram focusing on the mechanics and individual parts found in modern clocks. This includes both the visible and hidden as-pects of the object. The layers of this drawing direct-ly correlate with the layers in the Staunton graphic.

On the next page, the first drawing is a plan section of one of the columns and the indirect lighting fixtures.

In the center is an initial Revit file that was brought

into SketchUp and Photoshop to add layering, tex-ture, depth, light, and full-scale people and objects.

The last drawing is a side section detail of both the indirect lights and the support system connect-ing the columns and perforated metal platforms.

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S t e f a n i B i d d l ebiddlesn@hotmail.com(703) 727-7085 *photo taken by Erin Gover29 30