Principles of Three-Dimensional Design Objects, Space and Meaning

by Luecking, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9780130959751
• ISBN10: 0130959758
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-01-02
• Publisher: Pearson

Summary

This text is a thorough introduction to three-dimensional design: the importance of forms and objects in space. It covers the areas of problem solving: form/plane/space relationships. Of equal importance is its unique coverage of functional, cultural, and spatial contexts that condition the meanings we impart in creating objects. Its underlying goal is to provide a practical and theoretical understanding of how objects and the spaces they occupy shape the physical and perceptual nature of our reality.

Table of Contents

Preface	v
Problem Solving	1	(9)
Design and Form	1	(1)
The Design Process	1	(7)
Creativity	8	(2)
Form in Space	10	(13)
Design and Form	10	(2)
Spatial Principles	12	(3)
Point of View	15	(4)
Frame of Reference	19	(3)
Form and Context	22	(1)
Plane and Space	23	(14)
Introduction	23	(1)
Interaction and Stability	23	(2)
Environmental Planes	25	(2)
Architectural Planes	27	(1)
Transitions	28	(1)
Planes of Space	29	(5)
Plane and Volume	34	(1)
Planes and Shape	35	(2)
Organization	37	(14)
Introduction	37	(1)
Structure and Unity	37	(2)
Balance	39	(2)
Repetition with Variety	41	(2)
Proportion	43	(2)
Continuity	45	(1)
Focus and Emphasis	45	(1)
Economy	46	(1)
Implied Structure	47	(1)
Informality	47	(1)
Randomness and Chance	48	(1)
Order and Predictability	48	(3)
Surface and Relief	51	(6)
Introduction	51	(1)
Light and Shadow	52	(1)
Surface	53	(3)
Depth of Relief	56	(1)
Mass and Void	57	(13)
Introduction	57	(1)
Mass/Void Interaction	57	(3)
Surface and Volume	60	(2)
Geometric Volumes	62	(3)
Form in Nature	65	(2)
Stress Curves	67	(1)
Generated Forms	68	(2)
Line and Point	70	(11)
Introduction	70	(1)
Line and Surface	70	(5)
Line as Object	75	(2)
Pattern and Density	77	(2)
Line, Point, and Dematerialization	79	(2)
Color and Material	81	(12)
Introduction	81	(1)
Inherent and Applied Color	81	(1)
Illumination	82	(2)
Texture	84	(1)
Texture and Value	85	(1)
Properties of Material	85	(3)
Strength	88	(1)
Composites	88	(5)
Structure	93	(18)
Introduction	93	(1)
Force and Structure	93	(1)
Structural Configurations	93	(4)
Lines of Force	97	(4)
Surface Structures	101	(1)
Modular Structure	102	(1)
Joining	102	(4)
Secure Balance	106	(1)
Hierarchical Structure	106	(5)
Time and Kinetics	111	(11)
Introduction	111	(1)
Patterns in Time	111	(3)
Operators and Operations	114	(1)
Medium and Motion	114	(3)
Objects as Events	117	(2)
Process and Performance	119	(2)
Conclusion	121	(1)
Notes on Meaning	122	(7)
Introduction	122	(1)
Intrinsic and Extrinsic Meaning	122	(1)
Sign and Symbol	123	(3)
Communication	126	(3)
Environment and Place	129	(13)
Introduction	129	(1)
The Pedestal	129	(2)
Installations	131	(2)
Archetypes of Place	133	(1)
Designating Place	134	(2)
Behavior and Place	136	(3)
Place and Ritual	139	(3)
Virtual Space	142	(1)
Introduction	142	(1)
Digital 3D	142	(2)
CAD-CAM	144	(3)
Virtual Reality	147	(1)
Virtual Place	147	(2)
Perception and Communication	149

Excerpts

The disciplines of three-dimensional design are as varied as the objects that share our world. Between the pure expression of sculpture and the rigorous utility of engineering, between the nanotechnologist and the urban planner, are myriad journeys an author could navigate. This text veers toward the expressive principles of the sculptor, but broaches the logistics of the engineer when needed. Its underlying goal is to provide a practical and theoretical understanding of how the objects and the spaces they occupy shape the physical and perceptual nature of our reality. We play out our days in an environment awhirl with objects. Rising in the morning we crawl from between sheets and rise from the bed while listening for the weather on the radio. On a side table may rest the reading glasses, book, and lamp from the night before. We start to don the day''s clothing and address the shower, commode, washbasin, faucets, mirror, toothbrush, razor, make-up, and bottles, tubes, and jars of lotions and potions. This is just in the first few minutes of the day! Without these objects we would literally find ourselves naked in the wilderness. There, our first impulse would be to seek clothing, food, and shelter, and to fashion the tools needed to obtain these. We would, of necessity, become three-dimensional designers. Despite--or perhaps because of--our largely unconscious interaction with an object-ridden environment, objects shape our ideas and perceptions as much as the thoughts that we learn and expound. In his book "Man the Toolmaker," Kenneth Oakley suggests equivalence between objects and ideas in his definition of culture as "the communication of ideas and the manufacture of tools." A particular culture, by this definition, is a unique composite of its ideas and tools and of the systems by which they are propagated. One reason that this definition works is that, often as not, ideas and things are inseparable. Objects arise from ideas and translate these into actuality. Ideas in turn emerge from relationships observed within and between objects. The first chapters of this text look within objects for ideas. Chapters 1 through 9 examine the forms and their interrelationships that constitute objects and how these arrangements of forms aid the expressive and practical roles of the objects. Such elements of form as line, plane, surface, mass, material, and structure are examined in individual chapters. The other three chapters of problem solving, form in space, and organization address more general aspects of the interrelationship of form. In sum, these chapters offer the basis for a beginning course in three-dimensional design. The last four chapters step outside of the objects and look at the nature of objects in time, in their environment, in virtual space, and in the meanings they proffer. All of these have a profound effect on the role and, therefore, the design of objects. These chapters could augment a beginning course or underpin an advanced course in three-dimensional design. The entire text is laced with references and illustrations to a variety of cultural groups. At first this was intended to round out the student''s understanding of the principles covered. As the text progressed, it evolved into simply the best way to teach how form and its making intersect with the finest ideas of human thought. By seeking out these images the author personally gained renewed fascination with objects and spaces and the meanings imparted by their makers. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The author wishes to thank Jalissa Bauman for her tenacious research style and gracious communication skills, and Margaret Lanterman for her patient expertise on the subject of introducing students to the world of form and its implications. The publisher wishes to thank the following reviewers for their helpful suggestions: Patrick James Shuck of St. Louis Community College, Meramec Campus; Pamela B. Lowrie of the College of DuPage; Paula Winokur of Beaver College; and Phil Vander Weg of Western Michigan University.