Arne Westerman

This is a presentation on a regional artist, Arne Westerman, who is a native-born Oregonian. I chose his work as my inspiration for my upcoming design of the depot-to-B&B-and-residence. What caught my attention was the attention to emotion and moments in life that pass us by. He does not draw a portrait but emotions and thoughts, times when we stop to look at something that intrigues us, even if for only an instant. Being an artist, I strive to better my art and to create something that can make people think and inspire them. I loved the creamy colors, the way light is always in the picture, the way his paintings evoke memories. I hope to take into account of the lessons he gives through his painting and apply them to my design.

Depot Poster

This poster was formatted by another member of the group, and so the layout is not completely mine. This was a case-study involving a depot that was adapted and reused as a Chamber of Commerce for Hammond, Louisiana. I found out that it is not a good idea to tilt pictures because it pixelates them so much, so I will never do that again. But I am satisfied with my layout.

Vision Disability Ability Workshop

For this workshop, everyone was paired in twos and sent to accomplish different tasks. When we looked through the plastic bag, we found that we could not read the newspaper since the print was too small (represented 20/60 vision). When we folded that plastic bag in half and looked through it, I could not see a thing. Everything was so blurry that you couldn't tell what anything was.
When looking through the vision simulator tool that displayed different types of vision impairement, I learned that there are more than one way someone can be impaired visually.
The elevator access in the Bookie was tucked away in the back so it was difficult to find. At the ATM machine, the first machine had a barrier to block other people's vision and it was difficult to see from lack of light but the red, black, and green color codes helped a lot. The card slot also blinked with a green light making it easy to see. The second ATM machine had an easier-to-read keypad. The stairs in the atrium were easy to find with the black strips at the end of each step but I did not feel safe and comfortable because the entire room was white and I think there was no rail on one side of the stairs, which caused me to grip the rail tight! But the contrast helped a lot.

I believe, from my many observations, that the built environment should be accessible to everyone. These sort of problems that arise from a poorly built environment can cause confusion, injury, and even death. New technologies like motion-sensor and audible/visually-stimulating signs are making the world more accessible.

This project was promoted by the Habitat for Humanity company where they wanted a three-bedroom, 1100 square foot, one-level house plan. They wanted this as an option for future construction. The house would have a double-wall, double-insulated, exterior wall that has 24-on-center stud placement. Thus my partner and I got to building!
Our inspiration and concept statement are written in the pictures above but we focused more on functionality than design with consideration for our client. We designed the house to be passive, the southern side of the house naturally receiving the most light in the cold environment of Union Town.
This project was a real challenge that tested my communication skills and bypassing stressful conflicts and being willing to negotiate in order to reach a solution in which both of us were satisfied. My partner is a hard worker and she does amazing work! I learned so much more about designing floor plans and adding detail thanks to her. She was really easy to work with and did not slack off. Hopefully my next partnering will be a lot like this one.
If I were to do this project again, I would make use of the time in the beginning of the project and use that to make the situation a little less stressful. But I am proud of the floor plan we developed, it is efficient and takes into account the qualities desired in a real home.