Katja Boriçi ArchBlog

Sculpturing the terrain for a summer Arts and Architecture workshop !        Time to finalize the first year of the architectural university life arrived... Work objectives : Developing the ability to establish a relationship between part and the whole ! Achieving a conscientious and responsible design approach while reflecting on previous experiences. Work concept : Creating a compact composition, which starts with a cluster of three main units and continues to be developed on the entire area. The formal land formation of Epoka campus was treated as a unified space for exhibiting the process and products of architectural workshops.  The terrain was defined by sculpturing the ground surface and making extensions when needed. 12 wooden structures were placed on the given area ( opened/ semi closed ) in order to accommodate the activities that were going to be conducted. 

Sculpturing the terrain : Creating a HOBBY GARDEN ! Within our campus, the green sloppy area near the lake is proposed to be designed as a hobby garden. The hobby garden should consist of plots, 5 m square each, an amphitheater, an exhibition wall as well as a clear circulation system.

Work objective : Designing a parasitic aggregate structure that volumetrically expands in space through the repetition of modular units of circle folds.   Work concept : Design a structure that provides a new perspective, gives orientation to the public by emphasising the connection between two floors and  the movement on them.

H ow designers think ? This is a question that brings a boost to our brain and makes us reflect : Firstly, what is design ? And later on, how do we think it terms of it ? Even nowadays we still don't have a specific answer since it gets different meanings by particular groups of people. In our day to day life we may hear sayings like Design is everything ! Design is interdisciplinary ! Design is a process ! As a matter of fact they all contain a true meaning. Design is everything, it is found in different disciplines, as a high professional or everyday activity, but always regarded as a process and not only an end product. Design has always been connected with our contemporary intellectual endeavour including art, science and philosophy. The designers of today can no longer be trained to follow a set of procedures, since the world rate changes day after day. But they are trained to always try creating something that could bring a difference, by not paying much attention only to...

S eating arrangements : an elementary lecture in functional planning ! "Main idea behind every space is to go to the essence of the activity". This expression helps us understand the real importance of space and form. To just define and later on design a space is not enough to give to it an approach with its activity. The architect must understand the essence, aim, use of the area to later on connect it with its context. And to achieve this more than just an application of knowledge is required, you must put in use culture, philosophical and psychological knowledge, all of which make architecture a humane and scientific inquiry. However, even though humanity has an important role in architecture itself, and "form follows function" in modern times functionalism is going far away from it. An elementary planning problem is the arrangement of the seating. In order to understand that there is no stereotype , but need to recognize the essence of what is going on some e...

S olids and Cavities in Architecture ! Observing a building in order to understand it demands a certain visual process, in which every detail it's important and enough in its own. This kind of process is creative, since you try to form a complete image of what you have seen and give to that building a voice of its own. The visual process of observing a building is much more alike with the building process itself. The architect firstly decides on the main structure of the building and then continues to add details on it. His aim is to give form to the materials he works with. But still, this doesn't have to be limited only in working with Solid form, one could let the imagination work with the Cavities as well. Cavity is the clearly defined space enclosed within the outer walls that represents the limited architecturally formed space. In other words the solid is the container and cavity the contained. Due to this approach even the architects are grouped in Solid-minded and Cavi...

F rom the past to the present ! Year after year architecture has faced serious and fundamental changes which placed it in a field completely apart from the other arts. As a result, today we have undeniable examples of what is called "Building Correctly" ! To built correctly sometimes is easier said than done. It maintains four essential elements which include stability, durability, function and maximum result with minimum means, in other words economic efficiency. These all are what make a construction built correctly and add quality to a work of architecture. If a building it is not stable, resistant towards the action of external elements, doesn't fulfill it's function, purpose and usability then it can not be considered correct. That's why while studying architecture from the past to the present different architects and constructors have raised many questions and given many approaches on how to reach the best out of an architectural work. One of them is Pierr...

C olor in Architecture ! The more we experience architecture the more we realise how wide and complex it is, and how many elements it helds inside. Color is one of them, an essential, beautiful and simple element, but at the same time a delicate one, which needs to be treated carefully and be worked with responsibility. If we take a look at the beginning of the color usage and continue it until now we will realise that color played a role in human evolution process. Since color is a sensory perception it causes symbolic, associative, synthetic, psychological or emotional effects. That's why an architect must consider every color effect of the elements at a building construction, materials, paint and all the other surroundings. Color is the typical example of the element which was no problem at all, since it came of itself. Every building has a color, even if it is the color of the material from which it is made. It's main purpose is to help form,  define or articulate spaces....

D aylight in architecture ! It may be considered a modern phenomenon and it certainly has become more popular and efficient throughout the years, but Daylight was and continuous to be one of the most important elements in architecture, helping to transform spaces and improving them ! Even though it is difficult to work with the daylight architects never stopped looking for and developing new ways of building with approach to it because planning with daylight can be seen as making intelligent use of a factor that cannot be eliminated !  They tried to design buildings in order that the daylight can play off their different surfaces, carefully considering how it enters and illuminates, how to create uniform distribution and fully integrate it with the architectural expression of the building, inside and out. On different spaces and buildings the daylight has a different role, therefore it should be seen whether it is appropriate or not. In a more public space the direct daylight can...

            "Using what does not exist" Making use of the potentials that a three dimensional development in space has. Everything has a function, therefore take advantage of what exists and use what Does not ! We made the subtraction of a cubic solid prism, which was made out of 10 layers 30x30 cm. Different side of my cube from different point of views !

Step by step we were getting from the 2D designs to the 3D ones. Our next assignment was really different from our previous ones, maybe harder but beautiful and interesting as well. We were asked to design a relief composition by using a 35 x 50 cm field of metal mesh and wire. The surface created on the field should be continuous, from the both sides of the wire between 5 cm and 15 cm respectively. We also were limited to bending, cutting and twisting only. Our first try didn't go so well.  But then we discussed the works with our professors and that gave us more clear ideas of what should we do as our final work.                        My relief composition

S cale and Proportion ! Everytime we come across buildings with grand dimensions like a palace, a castle or a residence we "get lost" in their enormous spaces, high walls and different styles. They sure may give us the idea of some unique buildings where everyone would like to live in, but that's just an eye evaluation and therefore it is not always correct. That's why year after year many architects and researchers have tried to improve the concept and usage of two of the most important features of building in architecture, Scale and Proportion ! I believe that these two features, Scale and Proportion have their own place in architecture. They help a building to be functional, easier to operate within, connected as well as organized. The scale refers to the relation between an object and a measurable quantity while proportion is the relation of many pieces to many pieces, in order to achieve pure harmonies. Today, we have different examples of buildings that can be...

In this next assignment we were asked to create a new composition with our own unit by creating variations of it. But this wasn't all. We were going to use color instead of our black white and grey color composition. The colors should be chose by the same color scheme : complimentary or analogous. For my first  composition I used two colors which include the green and the yellow. Then, we were asked by our professors to do another composition at home, but this time we should paint the background as well, leaving no white color at all. For the second work I chose only one color, the blue and it's shades.  

After producing a pattern with our friend's unit it was time to get back to our composition. So, we were asked to make a composition with our own unit, by creating variations of it. We should be aware of the variations between the units, keeping the identity of the elements as well as maintaining the hierarchical relationship.

Assignment 7 was different from the previous ones. This time we were asked to organize a square, a quarter circle and a triangle withing another square 7 x 7 cm. We were free to chose the sizes of the elements withing the square, and we should  overlap them. On our composition we had to apply rules of rotation, reflection, mirror symmetry or glide reflection. This is the 7 x 7 cm square unit I created, where the quarter circle, triangle and square are easily seen,  placed to give a function to the white background as well , and the overlapping part of the square with the other two shapes is done with grey. 〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️〰️ We experienced the "pair and share" assignment once more. This time we had to take our friend's composition of the square, create firstly six different combinations with it and then pick one of them to create a pattern.  I exchanged units with Kevin Hasa. After seeing my friend's shape I ...

On our assignment we were asked to make a 2D bounded area composition using the three elements triangle, square and parallelogram by changing the sizes of them. Bur something was different this time. Overlapping and juxtaposition would be used, and to maintain the individuality of the elements we were going to use black and grey cartridge paper. In addition, we as the designers had to work carefully and be aware of all visual consequences in the entire composition. This is the composition I made, trying to obey the rules of the assignment and all the other rules we have learned so far. I tried to create a whole and interesting composition.    

P erceptual bases for Architectural Design. Buildings represent a Form of communication... ! What does this mean ? To me, it means that a building is not just an object, is much more than that. It is a creation that speaks about something, has a history behind it, solves an issue, it's functional and beautiful at the same time. It represents and expresses the thought, ideas and hard work of the people who have made it, and has definitely a role in the life of the people around it. So, buildings really do represent a form of communication, and this really changes out perspectives. From this we understand that good architecture buildings are the ones that accommodate a number of communications and represent them in a full and elegant way. To fulfil this architects firstly use the vision, 1 of the clearest forms of perception, followed by temperature, humidity, touch, sound, texture or form. If all these come together in a building it would surely give you the thought of a total arc...

F orm and Style in the Visual Arts ! Types of design in various arts !  To design means to make thinking visual, to add value, to simplify, to clarify, to modify, just like transforming a prose into poetry. There are different types of design in many various arts and in order to understand them better Thomas Munro wrote " Form and Style in the Visual Arts", trying to describe not only these designs but the aesthetics in arts as well. Therefore, the designs are categorized in Visual, Auditory, Audiovisual and Design based on Suggestive Thematic development. T he Visual design in separated in many categories starting with the Visual static surface design. It's components are line, color and shape. It's mostly represented in 2D, flat,or curving surfaces.  This design consists of STRIP DESIGN, which is a long and narrow, extended design that can be developed by addition or division. It is represented in 3D, flat or slightly surfaces and may be purely abstract...

W hat is architecture ？ Some people say architecture is a science, some others say it is art, while others claim that it is life itself taking shape. So what is architecture ? Do we have an exact answer to this?  To me, architecture is the art and science of designing buildings and through it an architect tries to give people a different way of looking at the surroundings. Architecture can be socially aware, it can be functional, it can be beautiful and it can talk about issues that are going to be important for generations to come. So it is not just for what an architectural creation should look like, but what it should actually do and what should it speak for. It is true that architecture started as a necessity, people started practising and time after time they perfected this kind of art. Cause an architect should question, propose new ways of thinking, communicate to finally tell a story through their work. The role of architecture in every society differs for every architect ...

T he definition of art. Every time we mention the word "Art" each one of us gets hundreds of thoughts. We think about a poetry, a painting, a sculpture, a book, a song, an object, a building or a piece of nature since they all have a touch of art within them, they are art itself. We all have different thoughts and perspective about art, which makes it an elusive term, a relative thought, a metaphysical phenomenon, something which can be felt, lived, but never exactly defined.That's all what art is about. Giving us the chance to say something in our own way, giving us the opportunity to get creative, to communicate, to open our souls and minds, to represent something not only by the outward appearance but from their inward significance as well. Art is able to reach our deepest thoughts, to change our perceptions of things by requiring us to dig deeper in order to understand. Some people say art is a pleasure or an amusement, but art is much more than that. Art is a therap...