Assessment Task 2B — Model & Scale

By Raden Syke

Josef Albers — Preliminary Course at the Bauhaus

Josef Albers’s preliminary course, during his time teaching at the Berlin Bauhaus, concerned itself primarily with material studies. Students were confronted with some unlikely materials such as wire, wire mesh, paper, corrugated cardboard, sheet metal, match boxes and newspapers. Dearstyne (1986, p.91) quotes, ‘we were supposed to do something with these — just basteln, or play around with them, to see if we could make something out of them or discover something about them’. Albers limited the use of tools for his students in his course and wanted them to focus on achieving closer contact with materials by the fingertips, he wanted them to learn through experimenting freely with these materials. Further in the course, methods of working with materials became even more restricted, where students had to adapt to this limited working method. This consisted of the commonest working methods being noted and banned. Albers states, ‘for example, in the outside world (in the crafts and industry) paper is employed, for the most part, lying flat and glued, the edge is almost never used. This is a reason for us to use paper standing up, uneven, plastically mobile, two-sided and with the edges emphasised. Instead of gluing it, we tie it, pin it, sew it, rivet it, that is, fasten it in other ways and we also investigate its capacity to withstand tension and pressure….’ (Dearstyne 1986, p.92). Therefore, Albers taught his students to work with these materials not in other ways but in ways that others do not do. As Albers quotes, ‘to search by oneself and to learn how to discover for oneself — constructive thinking’ (Dearstyne 1986, p.92). In the construction of these materials, students had to demonstrate the qualities and possibilities of them, where the results of these experiments discovered new ways of treating material. Albers also discusses the term ‘economy’, and he quotes, ‘economy is the sense of thriftiness in labor and material and in the best possible use of them to achieve the effect that is desired’ (Bayer, Gropius & Gropius 1975, p.116). Specifically with economy of labour, Albers discusses quick and easy methods are applied by the constant use of ready made and easily produced means, and these include the correct choice of tools, the use of ingenious substitutes for missing implements, the combination of a number of processes or restricting oneself to a single implement (Bayer, Gropius & Gropius 1975, p.116). Therefore, economy of labour and material shows the difference between the static and dynamic properties of materials and how the characteristics of a material can determine how it is used.

Paper models

I mainly applied economy in labour and material into my models specifically on the plastic use of paper. As Albers’s students in his preliminary course were taught on how to work with materials, I initially experimented with paper only with my hands by bending and folding it and tried to find ways of making patterns or shapes without the use of any tools. However, further through my experimentation I found that I had to use tools such as a utility knife and a pencil to create these shapes or patterns and also to be able to fold specific areas of my model. In the plastic use of paper, each of Albers’s students used only a single sheet of paper to produce a model or an artwork. I mainly followed this method in the construction of all my iterations, where each shows an element incorporated into my final model, which is aimed to be the UTS Vicki Sara Building, with a little twist. It does not exactly resemble the building, since I changed the design in a way to experiment with patterns, shapes, lighting, function and space. For instance, the windows can be opened or closed in a door-like manner, where people within the building can decide for themselves whether they want light to come in or not. Therefore, this adds an interactive element to the architecture. I also made a cut between each row of windows in order to show more space in the building and to add variation to the waved shape surface of the building. There are waves going into the building and there are waves going out. I also added large windows on the side facade and ceiling to enable more light to come into and through the interior. The purpose of the windows was to also show the space within the model. While the diamond patterns carved into the roof, experiments with patterns and how light can project these patterns into the interior. As Albers’s students in his preliminary course had done, I wanted to experiment with the plastic use of paper to produce my iterations and final model, as well as experiment with the design of the Vicki Sara Building.

Students’ work in Josef Albers’s preliminary course

Figure 1. Paper cut and bent into various decorative shapes. Made in Albers’s preliminary course. (Spaeth 1986, p.93)

Figure 2. Studies in plastic use of paper. Transformation of a cylinder through cutting and bending. (Bayer, Gropius & Gropius 1975, pp.118–119)

Figure 3. Study in plastic use of paper. (Bayer, Gropius & Gropius 1975, p.117)

Figure 4. Study in plastic use of paper. Cut without waste from one piece of paper. The twisting is automatic result of lifting or stretching. (Bayer, Gropius & Gropius 1975, p.115)

Figure 5. Study in plastic use of paper. 1926. (Bayer, Gropius & Gropius 1975, p.119)

My model iterations & final model

Figure 1. Door-like windows for model.

Figure 2. Large windows for each side of model.

Figure 3. Wave shaped surface of model.

Figure 4. Wave shaped surface of model showing the space between each row.

Figure 5. Pop-up folds for model.

Figure 6. Structure and shape of model, with diamond pattern roof, without details.

Figure 7. Final model

Reference

Bayer, H., Gropius, W. & Gropius, I. (eds.) 1975, Bauhaus, 1919–1928, Martin Secker & Warburg Limited, London

Spaeth, D. (ed.), 1986, Inside the Bauhaus, Rizzoli International Publications, New York.