Example of the walls

This wall has large size opening which can be use for furniture.







Exhibition area walls, these walls can be rotate horizontally and vertically.

I made the holes small because I want people to see only a part of the work that exhibited inside,
so this will invited them to go into the space.

I have one more question. Should I close the space between the walls by using glass, because I prefer people to use the entrance on the wall insted ????

Last pin-up plate+updated

Review minimum requirements

The minimum submission requirements for the review next week are:

- personal site information collection + analysis

- researches and development + references

- ground floor plan with context at 1:100 (+ roof plan if relevant to your project)

- elevation with context at 1:100

- longitudinal section with context at 1:100

- transversal section(s) with context at 1:50

- axonometric or isometric projection (exploded if relevant to your project / scale to be defined individually)

- 4 perspective renderings, each size A3 minimum

- study models

- final model at 1:100 (+section or detail models at 1:50 according to the development of your project)

Again, those are minimum requirements, you are encouraged to produce more if those are mastered and if your project can be better explained through a video, an animation etc.

Friday's tutorial will be dedicated to (re)presentation. Bring scaled drawings (even if not completed yet).

We will not discuss design.

Post your work for questions/answers.

Work hard - it's the last straight line before the arrival (french expression...)!

PS: ideas and inspirations for presentation / renderings / technical drawings:

+ from other architecture schools (look at older posts as well)

+ a threshold project awarded by the RIBA President Medals (read the student statement)

+ special reference for Pun: http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Details.aspx?id=2424
and somehow for Amy: http://www.presidentsmedals.com/Project_Details.aspx?id=2541&dop=True&year=2010

Material for floor

For floor line

from research



1. Rubber (tree production), I think this one is intersting but we can't find them in our faculty but we can recycle them such as from tire or do it for new investmentfor future ( we can cut and re-shape them later)

>"Rubber flooring is made from a rubber tree (mainly we can found in southern thailand) a 100% renewable resource. It is easy to install and maintain, is anti-static and provides effective sound insulation and vibration reduction. Rubber flooring is also resistant to fading and cigarette burns."

How to use this material
> I would like to use them for lining only > thickness about 5 c.m. >>> so it can block each unit and easy to pickup each unit since it's elastic.


so, is this ok to do ?
Thanks

Last pin-up model making

ton's

for Tuesday

As you know, next week will be the last before the final review.
The review will happen over 2 days, Tuesday 30 and Friday 3.
We will review 3 groups together; guest critics will join the panel.

This last week is supposed to be dedicated to the production of the final drawings and models, and of your entire presentation. /not to design...
For next Tuesday, in addition to the work discussed during tutorial, you will plan your final presentation and present me in detail all documents you will present for the jury. Most of them should already be started by then.
You also should write a short text about your proposal, this will help your oral (and visual) presentation.

Remember that all work produced has to be presented (intelligently), we need to understand your process of working: how you made decisions, the options you rejected, the researches and studies made.

And to conclude, your have to start working ASAP on your renderings, and present them to me on Tuesday.
No sketchup rendering - you can export lines from sketchup but you need to re-work those images with Photoshop, Illustrator or by hand. Site and human figures are a must!
Remember that you can mix media, use collages, photographs, different supports, etc.
- examples recommended by Aj Nilay
- again, the President's Medals Student Awards
- render PDF

Good luck to all!

1st project grades

Some of you asked me for your 1st project grades, here they are:
FA- 89
GRACE- 88
N- 77
CHERRY- 90
AMY- 79
ENN- 87
BEST- 75
SHANE- 73
TON- 76
GOLFE- 88
ONG- 76
PUN- 82
EIAB- 70
GENG- 72

analysis

review's comments

Students having production problems and who are late:
Ong (critical situation), Eiab (entering very dangerous situation), Enn (extremely late), Cherry, Best, Grace and Ton.

Students having presentation problems:
Eiab (yesterday's presentation was NOT ACCEPTABLE), Amy (yesterday's presentation was NOT ACCEPTABLE), Ong, Enn, Ton and Geng.
Re-work on your presentation according to the comments made yesterday and post on the blog before Friday in order to have a constructive tutorial. (no work done - no tutorial)

All students mentioned above have to produce consistent and continuous efforts until the end of the semester.


To all,
_ You have to produce drawings and print them at a large scale for Friday (+ models at scale 1:50) - I repeat myself for the last time, i will not look at computer screens.

_ Make your personal timetable of the week and a half left until the end of production (all production will stop on Monday 29, the final review will start the following Tuesday 30). Timetable starting yesterday, with documents and models you aim to produce and the necessary time you will spend to produce each one of them.
You need to master time, and not be a victim of it, and one efficient way is to clearly be aware of the amount of time left and to plan it before.

_ The site model is now in a catastrophic state. Complete it and add the vegetation and store it in a proper place before Friday. Think that you can use it for your final presentation, it needs to look good!


I was generally disappointed yesterday by the amount and quality of your work (students mentioned above).
Time to react!

Deployable/Transformable Structure

Deployable/Transformable Structures from Daniel Piker on Vimeo.

Review preparation

This Tuesday we will have a second review with Aj, Taylor.
We will see the 2 groups in one afternoon, and therefore will spend 10 minutes maximum per presentation.


The review will be the last before the final one. As time will be short, you have to be extremely well- prepared and strategic about it: how can you guide us to help you?


The purpose of this review is to assess how your design process is going, to guide you and help you move forward.


You are expected to present some of the documents required for the final review:
- researches, references, interpretation of analysis
- plan (extremely important to show the location of your project and its interaction, articulation with the site) / elevation / section at 1:50
- exploded axonometric projection at 1:50
- model(s) at least at scale 1:100
- most importantly, a description through images, sketches and models of your process of design
- renderings
-eventually detailed model at scale 1:50 (if you are at an advanced state)


Work on and present those drawings only if they help showing one or several aspects of your project.
Ask yourself what a plan can show, that an elevation cannot, which aspect of your project can be revealed in section etc.
Drawings produced purely for the sake of fulfilling the requirements, and which do not show a good level of control (of the information displayed) and mastery, are not welcomed!
Again for examples of great and consistent presentations, have a look at the RIBA Medals website.
It is time now to find a name to your project, and to work on its visual/graphic identity.



The order of presentation will be as follows:

Eiab 13.10 - 13.20
_ work on the use of this wooden covering of the façade for the insiders as well (shade/vegetation?/...)
_ variation of the "stripes"(find the appropriate terms to describe your project) size in width, according to dynamics? activities?...
_ hard work on a neat and precise model! + drawings as discussed during tutorial

Grace 13.30 - 13.40
_ you have to interact with the site - use it to your advantage
_ construct and present your architectural alphabet, your language to tell/install the experience
_ what is the experience (in steps?)? what is its purpose? is it flexible?what are the outcomes? loss of control? open to the unexpected?
_ do not restrain your proposal to physical intervention, think about visual and images, motifs and symbols, sounds...
_ techniques of digging / materials / procedures and requirements
_ the experience proposed is not necessarily linear
_ a lot to do!
_ps you will find a lot of projects here if you are interested in underground architecture (this one is quite interesting!)

Enn 13.50 - 14.00
_ time to work seriously!
_ on the system - is it really appropriate to suit your program?
_ you are proposing two new programs, you have to study them and fulfil whatever they require - be more ambitious! RESOLUTION
_ plans/elevations to show where is your project located, how it transforms from one state to another, from one program to another
_ sections to show how those spaces created work inside
_ research on the most appropriate material (lightweight, easy to assemble...)

Geng 14.10 - 14.20
_ process of design according to the sun routes (per day, per year) in plan, show the evolution of design and decision making in several plans
_ sections to show the possible usages of those cylinder-like places you are creating
_ work hard on models
_ elevation to show how your project integrates/plays with the façade behind and to show the activities
_ researches on materials, structural systems
_ references / you can study the Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito / go on Frei Otto's website also to understand structural systems better and for model inspiration / also get more information on the project you use now as a reference, you have a lot to learn from it / a beautifully intriguing shading project by MOS for the PS1: Afterparty / Vasarely Pavilion by Shigeru Ban Architects


Ong 14.30 - 14.40
_ designing architecture is not about producing a big gesture once in a while (especially if you are not talented enough to afford it), it is a process of understanding, addressing questions or problems, discovering, experimenting, learning while making etc.
_ you have a site and a program to deal with - study them
_ you have a material you wish to work with - understand how to

Amy 14.50 - 15.00
_ i would like to see your work in progress!
_ any question?
_ how are the models going?

Cherry 15.10 - 15.20
_ you urgently have to stop producing meaningless work! your layers (of history - memory - and actuality of perception) were interesting, push this forward!
_ it is not about representation but about manipulation(s), about the production of a new meaning
_ the drawings were to be understanding(s) of perception, not architectural technical drawings, no more flat elevation of the façade please!
_ define clearly your proposal for Tuesday

Pun 15.30 - 15.40
_ what is the purpose of the transformation? how does it affect the experience?/changes the usage?/how can the ground state be made interesting - location - sections
_ explain the translation clearly and in details - a classification of the relation between the different degrees of movement of people and the different types of structure/fold is required
_ do renderings of the experience, of the lights, of the dynamism, of the translation (...) inside the structure
_ a lot of study models!
_ exploration/research of possible construction materials and systems
_ please put your work and references on the blog

Ton 15.50 - 16.00
_ choose one program (exhibition?) and build up the mystery, the hints and clues of what is happening inside - this has to be designed!
_ this building up of suspense is a gradual process
_ a maze can be richer than simply made out of walls...
_ work on a section showing how your structures do not block the views and even create interesting/intriguing relations with the façade and the insiders
_ detailed model

Fa 16.10 - 16.20
_ the twin brothers from Starn Studio builds crazy bamboo structures
_ more bamboo references: examples (+scaffolding), generalities and contemporary bamboo architecture (by the way the tower in Moscow was indeed designed by the engineer Shokhov)
_ in parallel to the design of the structure itself, you have to playfully yet seriously design a way of inhabiting this structure as well, according to the different programs you wish it to host + a certain degree of free appropriation of this 3-dimensional territory
_ think about the visual qualities, the layers, the skins
_ reminder: the RAB project by Exyzt

N 16.30 - 16.40
_ do and present your design process as a sculptor would sculpt into a block:
what are the different ways a sculptor can "attack" the matter? how can action relate to a factor and/or a program? what are the qualities of the material chosen (malleable, solid, breaking in parts etc.)?
_ show the process through the different steps
_ be radical with this project, do not modify the ground or any existing features, your project will come entirely from the manipulations of this virtual block
_ research on possible materials

Best 16.50 - 17.00
_ explain in detail the decision-making of what to reflect - criterias
_ then how to reflect - how those reflected elements are transformed and adapted to a new site, another program
_ do not forget that you are outside - this is actually an interesting point in your project
_ creation of new program? list of those activities, sketches and requirements
_ research on structural systems and materials
_ starting now to work on a physical model would help a lot

Golfe 17.10 - 17.20
_ rhino tutorials
_ what are the tension points of your surface? explain how you modify the plane according to the site
_ the work with the recycled materials as to be more than an addition of layers! this is a very important part of your project (understanding each (or several at least) of these materials collected, what can you do with them? references, researches and experimentations are necessary)

Shane 17.30 - 17.40
_ SITE!!! site and program should be the two main guidelines for design decisions - you cannot ignore the site any longer! it will actually help your design a lot
_ we do not expect a final design, but steps towards it:
 make several physical and computer models for different shading strategies
show in plans how you draw the lines of your intervention according to the merge of public and work (private) spaces into the exhibition, and according to the interaction with the site
_ show us different attempts - NOT A FINAL DESIGN
_ what materials will you use? what construction system would be appropriate?
_ go to TCDC to read that book i told you about, ask N who has read it (+ reading list previously posted)


Be ready on time!
Good luck to all!!

review coming soon...

We will have a review with Aj Laura very soon:
either this Friday
or next Tuesday.
This will be the last before the final one.
You will have to present your proposal and a good stage of development of the project.
I know this is going very fast, nevertheless reviews are meant to help you so make the best use of it - bring as many elements as you can and express your ideas clearly to get as much constructive feedback as possible.
Be prepared!

Rhino tutorial

I will be giving an introductory Rhino tutorial this Thursday at 4pm, room 705.
Those interested should come with their laptops with Rhino installed.

If you have specific requirements according to your project, please let me know in advance.
It will be a good idea to look at the very well-made Help files beforehand.

Gabriel and Tiago Primo pushing the limit of innovation living;

The bizarre vertical "house"

Title: The bizarre vertical "house"
Author:  Tiago Primo and his brother Gabriel
Date of Completion: 2009
Location: wall of a building in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This project is very interesting in terms of vertical living !

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8144028.stm

time to produce!

 As you should know, 3 weeks are left for the design of your proposal.
I am therefore asking each one of you to establish a schedule, per week, with the aims you intend to reach.


Everybody has to post his/her work in progress on the blog this week-end. Especially if you did not come for tutorial yesterday.


On Tuesday, i will not look at sketches on a notepad, but at prints and models, at a large scale.
Therefore you should try to get all comments you need from me this week-end, provided you produce some serious work!


If you want to develop your projects with the computer, get Rhino immediately! (or Maya, 3Ds max) (no more sketchup models please... if you know Autocad, rhino will be quite intuitive for you, and i am here to help if you have problems/questions - we can even organize a tutorial if you want)


Also, everyone has to keep encyclopaedia researches going. Choose projects which are in relation with or can help you develop your proposal.


Here is the introductory PDF about rendering i showed a few weeks ago.




FA
For an introduction to Yona Friedman's work, have a look here on the website Megastructure Reloaded.
Maybe have a look at the one square meter house by Didier Faustino, more of a provocation than a solution... but still interesting.
In parallel to your design work, start writing, from what you read and research + the ideas you develop yourself.


AMY
encyclopaedia suggestions: 
-the work of Erwin Hauer
-Giuseppe Penone
-Gordon Matta-Clark (very important!)
In parallel to the design decisions you have to make now (plans, elevations, programs, etc.), start researching the techniques you could use for making the final models of those hollow pieces of space:
moulds? plastic - resin - glass - metal - ceramic
fibreglass?


BEST
Study the Moedbius /House for encyclopaedia, and learn from their design process.
Your really have to make decisions (about what to reflect / how and what constitutes this work process) now, in order to go forward!
You should start by working on a model/plan at the scale of the one you presented for the review, along with the photographs. 


SHANE
-Yokohama Terminal by Foreign Office Architects for encyclopaedia
-Read the theory i sent you about parametric design (go with N to TCDC and read Ali Rahim)
Start making models and drawings to establish your design parameters.
Your idea of turning walls can be understood as the creation of a new façade, a new boundary between inside and outside: much more interesting! How does this boundary evolve during the day/ week/ month / year? is it reacting to the changing sun light? depending on the activity on the strip? etc.
Don't forget that one of your ambitions was to create an interaction between insiders and outsiders, this does not get solved by taking the insiders outside! 


CHERRY
-Lebbeus Woods and Cj Lim (virtual venice) as suggestions for encyclopaedia researches
-references for (mix)media manipulation:
Johan Hybschmann Book of space - also Noriko Ambe 
photographer: Richerd Galpin (read to understand what he is actually doing)
You have to create your own productive logic - through drawings (and possible mix of media).
Write what you understand, what you find interesting in relation to your own approach from what you are hopefully reading.
Merleau Ponty and Bergson are 2 philosophers who developed interesting theories of perception.
More about that soon.


ENN
-encyclopaedia on LOT-EK projects? Erwin Hauer? Architectural Association pavilions? 
+ Look at the work of Cecil Balmond (get the book Informal), especially the Victoria and Albert Museum's tiles?
Finish your site analysis and 
I see 2 main points in the intention behind your project: the programmatic need and a personal interest in a particular system. I believe the combination of those two aspects will be productive of something else.


GOLFE
-encyclopaedia suggestions 
in relation to surface manipulation: City of Culture of Galicia by Peter Eisenman
in relation to paper building Shigeru Ban paper tubes structures
You should get a good understanding of what surface modelling means, of the actors (and terms) involved.
Go through the readings i recommended earlier.
And start as soon as possible working on scale 1:1.


PUN
For creating spaces with light, look at the work of Anthony McCall and another great (sound) artist, Edwin van der Heide.
You need to fill "space" to reveal light. What can that be? Is there something on site you could use? Could the fabric roof ply a part in that? working in layers?
Think about how you transform the plan from inside to outside - according to what which operation of transformation is decided? 
Think about the OFF state of your project as well. 

Model and post

The site model is missing important features:
vegetation
entrance's staircase and roof
cafeteria
perhaps more


Please make sure to complete it properly.


And continue posting your work on the blog!

CINEMA CLUB

I would like to introduce you to an initiative supported by Aj Laura, Aj Connelly and myself:
the creation and administration of a cinema club in the architecture faculty, by the students, for the students.


As we think of it now, one film would be shown every week, with the possibility of inviting a lecturer (film-maker, architect, writer, photographer or other) to introduce the film and further discuss its meaning and influence.


We would like to have this set up and rolling pretty soon, and are asking for students who would be interested in running it.


Administrative work, such as timetable and room booking will be done with our help.
As well as the decisions on which films to show, which themes to create and who to invite.


You will be in charge of advertising the event, every week, by creating posters and flyers and by sending a newsletter to all students through the INDA mail list.






Proposed monthly themes
 HOUSE/HOME
_ Eraserhead, by David Lynch, 1976, USA
_ Mon Oncle, by Jaques Tati, 1958, France
_ Last Life in the Universe, by Pen-Ek Ratanaruang, 2003, Thailande
_ Shorts films by Buster Keaton, 1917-1937, USA


 PANOPTICAL SPACE - THE TECHNOLOGY OF VOYEURISM
_ Videodrome, by David Cronenberg, 1983, Canada
_ Rear Window, by Alfred Hitchcock, 1997, USA
_ The Tenant, by Roman Polansky, 1976, France
_ Peeping Tom, by Michael Powell, 1960, UK


 SUBURBAN DYSTOPIA
_ Blue Velvet, by David Lynch, 1986, USA
_ Edward Scissorhands, by Tim Burton, 1990, USA
_ Elephant, by Gus Van Sant, 2003, USA
_ Two or Three Things I Know About Her, by Jean-Luc Godart, 1967, France


 HUIS CLOS
etc.




Proposed film-makers
Michelangelo Antonioni
Jacques Audiard
Ingmar Bergman
Luis Bunuel
Tim Burton
John Cassavetes
Charlie Chaplin
Joel and Ethan Coen
Francis Ford Coppola
David Cronenberg
Chris Cunningham
Virginie Despentes
Charles and Ray Eames
Sergei Eisenstein
Rainer Fassbinder
Frederico Fellini
David Fincher
Milos Forman
Georges Franju
Terry Gilliam
Jean-Luc Godart
Michel Gondry
Peter Greenaway
Michael Haneke
Werner Herzog
Alfred Hitchcock
Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu
Spike Jonze
Buster Keaton
Abbas Kiarostami
Kim Ki-Duk
Stanley Kubrick
Akira Kurosawa
Emir Kusturica
Fritz Lang
Richard Linklater
Sidney Lumet
Auguste and Louis Lumiere
David Lynch
Georges Melies
Hayao Miyazaki
Nanni Moretti
Mamoru Oshii
Katsuhiro Otomo
Francois Ozon
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Roman Polanski
Michael Powell
Pen-Ek Ratanaruang
Satyajit Ray
Alain Resnais
Roberto Rossellini
Gus Van Sant
Ridley Scott
Martin Scorcese
Vittorio De Sica
Jan Svankmajer
Quentin Tarantino
Andrei Tarkovsky
Bela Tarr
Jacques Tati
Hiroshi Teshighara
Francois Truffaut
Lars Von Trier
Peter Watkins
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Orson Welles




Feel free to make suggestions, to ask around you who else would be interested. All years are welcomed, from INDA and Thai program.

Review comments and directions

Ok, so..
All of you have to work drastically on your presentations!

Work on the coherence between your presentation and your project, your idea, your design.
Do not use group researches for your personal presentation unless you have distilled and re-interpreted the information in order for it to suit your personal views on the project.
Choose the paper on which you are printing, and use the same all along (unless not doing so is meaningful to you and/or your project).
Choosing one format will help you laying out on the wall. Think and plan your wall layout ahead.
Choose a font and stick with it (unless not doing so is meaningful to you and/or your project) - colours have to be employed only if the differences are actually telling something - font-size relates to the importance of what you are writing.
Do not write if we cannot read.  (from a distance)

Generally prefer a good diagram or summary to a long paragraph.

As a side note, after having seen the projects of today, i recommend to most of you to work now in section, from the building to the strip.

Grace

Study the art of story-telling. Learn the techniques and transform them, apply them to architecture.

What are the story(ies) you could tell in this specific place - where specifically - in relation to what - how - and for what reasons?

What are the stories already being told there? Any narrative being displayed? Is the façade not presenting still mysterious signs?

Remember that architecture is not experienced only in a physical way.

Fa

Finish your analytical work - complete and detailed. Each sheet should address a question, a subject, an issue that you analyse and understand the best you can. 

Define your position, according to what you actually want to say, to change, at least to address here and now. But do it in response to the brief.

One simple question that comes in mind to achieve that would be: Is the evolution of Thai society (and its materialisation in the city of Bangkok) reflected in the way the faculty is constructed / experienced / used?

Ong

I guess you know that showing only pictures and texts is not enough for an analysis, even less for the first step of a design proposal.

I guess you know you had to manipulate the data from group researches in order to support your personal approach.

I guess you know we are not here to dictate to you what to do at every step.

So i guess i won't give you much until you start giving yourself.

Amy ?

Best

Finish your plan and photographs presentation for Tuesday - add as much details as you can, even if you do not know now what use to give to it (you can ask Cherry how to do that, she's very good at it): people, directions, activities, changes in time, in space, etc.

You will have to answer the question WHY - why the reflection? and of what?

spatial experiences (to be defined) + programmatic experiences (to be defined)

Shane?

Ton

Congratulations for your presentation improvements! Still some clarity could be gained.

How can you transform the strip into the rabbit? How to invite people? To intrigue them into coming in?

Then what is actually happening inside? how do you end the hole? what is it leading to?

The existing hidden spaces have to be well-studied and their possibilities explored through design.

Eiab

Work on your presentation! (unity - titles, subtitles, font, size, colours, labels ...)

Draw diagrams of the relations between shade and walking patterns - understand the relations - then consider what you can do: 

How can you modify the walking patterns with a shading device? For what reasons?

How can you invite other activities (and host/improve the existing ones) with the shading device?

Inversely, would it be of interest to create a shading device which would respond to the walking pattern (receptive in real time)?
Besides, if you are interested in the reasons why people walk in straight lines, and would like to work along with or challenge this fact, document yourself on the subject.

Cherry

Any drawing you will produce from now on has to have a clear intention behind it (a reason behind each line) and should enable you to study/discover something. All drawings produced so far have to be re-worked with this exigency (in the case of those seen yesterday, establishing the difference between the actual physical field of vision and the human perception/sensation/consciousness of space).

You can change subject but whatever you will introduce on Tuesday will be the subject you will work on and you have to make the decision yourself.

Since you like drawing so much, i suggest that you create a framework of parameters (from your analysis and your main intention) in which you would be able to develop your design through drawing, quite freely.

By the way, you should really get the book: Drawing the motive force of architecture by Peter Cook.

Enn

Make at least one sheet to explain your programmatic creation. Why those two activities? How do they function? etc.

Before moving back to Metabolism, do consider on what criteria can you choose what the most suitable system is.

And you can only establish this if you work on the programmatic conditions, as well as the site conditions.

Is transformability really necessary? If not, what can it produce that is beyond those two programs?

Illustrate your researches in detail, explain what made you take on one system over the other(s).

Golfe

Re-work your presentation (think about it for next time!).

Do not focus too much on the idea of identity now, for the expression of an identity is much more complex than the display of symbolic letters evoking a name. The identity of the school should be revealed in the process of making your intervention, in its very existence and in the way students can get involved in it.

An architect working a lot with paper (tubes generally) is Shigeru Ban. Do look at his splendid work.

You have to work step by step now - define the usages, the purposes, the forces in place.

In parallel to that work, start investigating and experimenting with what one can do with the materials collected. This work is about transforming an object. That is, firstly, understanding what it can do that is not related to its original function. It is a detournement. Combination of materials might be interesting.

The final products have to be well-manufactured! We expect a good quality of craft here. Look at the superuse website for a lot of examples.
The Domus Winery by Herzog & De Meuron (the project Aj Taylor was talking about) has been studied by Grace for the Encyclopaedia. 

Geng

Do you want to change the journeys people make on this strip or does your shading device go with the existing ones? Why? How could you suggest more activities?

Think about the shading device as a tool. What are the parameters of this tool (form, density of shade, relation to the ground etc.) How can the manipulation of those parameters allow for new behaviours? 

N

Define for yourself what you call a sculpture. What are the qualities you expect (mean) when you talk about a sculpture-like structure? What is its relation to the ground? Is it a continuous piece (surface)?
Then the main question to actually begin the design process will be: what are the parameters which are going to sculpt? What are the forces in place from which the form can be derived? Then we will ask ourselves how, this will also depend on the material(s) you choose.
Go to TCDC and find the book Catalytic Formations by Ali Rahim, as suggested Aj Taylor.

Pun
Be careful with your presentation! (titles location, subtitles, image position etc.)
Do you intend the information to be understood? Is it about an abstraction (an intellectual understanding) or an experience (a bodily absorption)? Can you involve other senses? Smell / touch / sound are rather related to a direct (sensual, even animal) experience, whereas vision is far more educated and therefore interpreted, perceived in a less direct process.
Work on the depths, depth of the strip, and depth of the technology you are dealing with.
Define what are the inputs and possible feedback.
You could study both the Institut du Monde Arabe by Jean Nouvel in Paris and GreenPix by Simone Giostra and Partners with Arup (on this particular project though be careful with the "green" and sustainable labels, often attempting to justify the operation of a technology totally unecessary in the first place...)


That's it for now!
Questions?
See you on Tuesday for the 2nd part of the pin-up.
Oh.. and just for the pleasure of seeing a beautiful project being realised, look at the latest post on boiteaoutils, the Truffle House.