Pascal’s Perfect Probability Pyramid and the People Paradox –                                                     The Lightning Field, Walter De Maria
The Pradicament, Agnes Denes

On a site of your choosing, you will create a 100’ x 100’ grid of objects. This field will be subject to the conditions of weathering, i.e. sun, rain, wind, use and age. You are asked to determine which and how natural occurring elements impact and change the field over time. Depending on your choice of site and materials, the field will reveal the affect of weathering and the temporal nature of building. The process will be constructive, destructive and additive.

In addition to observation of the entire field, changing your perspective and your place of observation is essential. You will view and define the field of objects at different scales: macro-, meso-, and micro-. As a measurement of weathering and the marking of the passage of time, the field may exhibit signs of erosion, exposure, deterioration, accumulation, fading, disfiguration, sedimentation, etc. It is both a process of dissolving and enriching.

Select a site or a type of site and develop a contextually appropriate relationship between it and the objects.
The selection of the site is student’s choice. Site is essential to this exercise. Choices concerning the composition of the site, as well as the climatic conditions, will have a role impacting the weathering of the objects. A clear and concise understanding of the chosen site must clearly be described.

The program will include 100 rectilinear objects (5’x5’x10’) distributed evenly throughout a 100’x100’ field.

Demonstrate an understanding of your design’s materiality (texture, color, opacity /translucency/ transparency and other material qualities) and tectonics (part-to-part and part-to-whole relationships, modularity, and other qualities of how things go together). The site and the objects should have a weather-ability.

You will define in narrative form the criteria used to manipulate and deform the field. Describe the affect of time, weather, materiality and site on the field.

The project is intended to be an introduction to digital modeling and rendering. Students will be required to bring their sketchbook to class to that there can be a seamless transition from paper to paperless. Ideas should be explored in both the computer and the sketchbook.

Conceptual hand sketches (.jpg):
- Using Photoshop, scan and create a minimum of 4 files of sketches of your conceptual development

AutoCAD file (.dwg):
- 3D model

AccuRender files (.jpg) demonstrating a use of sun angles and modification in Photoshop, a minimum of:
- 2 interior perspectives
- 2 exterior perspectives
- 2 isometric views
- 1 of each orthogonal view: top, sides, front and back

Photomontage in Photoshop (.jpg):
- Using a photo of your site or a typical site for your design, use Photoshop to splice a perspective image of the design into this context.

PowerPoint presentation (.ppt):
- Present your work as a PowerPoint slide show to the class. Incorporate all .jpg files, including the conceptual sketches, into the presentation narrative.

Submit ALL files to your professor, uploading work to cad1/name of professor/your folder/Project 1. Any files that are saved outside of your professor’s folder will be deleted.

This is a 3 week assignment. As per the syllabus, work submitted late may or may not be accepted at the discretion of the professor. Late submittal of a project WILL adversely affect the grade of the project.

Effectiveness of 3D AutoCAD model:

Effectiveness of AccuRender images:

Effectiveness of PowerPoint presentation:

Completeness of documentation:

Final Grade:

Precedents / Recommended Reading and Viewing:

Walter De Maria, The Lightning Field
http://www.lightningfield.org/
http://www.cabinetmagazine.org/issues/3/pleasedraw.php
http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/NM3132/

Agnes Denes, Tree Mountain
Also on website:  Pascal’s Perfect Probability Pyramid and the People Paradox – The Pradicament, Flying Pyramid for the 22nd Century, , When the Pyramid Awakens
http://chelseaartmuseum.org/exhibits/2004/agnesdenes/gallery/index.html

Peter Eisenman, The Berlin Holocaust Memorial

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/germans/memorial/
http://www.war-memorial.net/news_details.asp?ID=66

   Maya Lin, The Wave Field
http://ludb.clui.org/ex/i/MI3146/
http://www.matilijapress.com/articles/mayalin.htm
http://www.artnet.com/magazine_pre2000/reviews/mmendelsohn/mendelsohn9-4-98.asp