Tectonics: Line, Frame & Surface

This project was the third of my second-semester studio. Tectonics are the basic building blocks of architecture and come in three kinds: Line, Frame, and Surface. We started by diagramming the most important features of an aerial image to gain a logic of understanding it. My aerial image was of a glacier, which I understood through a series of straight lines creating a curve.

Line

The first of the three building blocks was Line, represented by a material of wood. I found a repeated logic of construction in my image in a triangular module, which I three-dimensionally portrayed to continue the curve that was so clear in my initial image. I obtained this triangular shape through iterative trace-paper diagrams that highlighted the repeated shapes and forms making up the curve. Through several iterations of a wooden model, my final model stretched the curve out linearly while still keeping a memory of the initial curve of triangles it — and my image — are made up of.

Frame

The second building block was Frame, represented by the thinner material of wire. I used many small members to draw attention to the main focus of the project: the same curvilinear idea. One module of my construction includes a square and a line, two important elements of frame.

Surface

The final tectonic covered Plane, or Surface, as a way to incorporate and emphasize the underlying features of my construction. I used paper as an element of surface to connect a curve together, as in previous versions of the project. This final model used a repeated module of a simple square folded on diagonals to create a continuously morphing shape — a hybrid that brought Line, Frame, and Surface together.