The first semester in architecture school is primarily hand coordination and skill oriented. The goals this semester were to improve hand-eye coordination and sketching ability, and to understand basic architecture principles such as space and depth. This gallery is a collection of a few drawings and projects which are from this semester. While drawing is not my strong suit, I did improve many drawing skills through this semester.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/750d5f13-3dd4-4a55-b03d-352fdd8c117a/ccfa2683-e813-4473-9cbd-995dffae97b1_rw_3840.jpg?h=37a4b7536271f8e0592b47e33975b736)
The final project for this semester, a very broad assignment, was to create a collage starting with one architectural image (placed in in the middle left), and to form a design based on that drawing. Starting with a black and white photograph, students were asked to expand this image which would grow into a combined plan, section, elevation, and become an artistic piece overall. The image was expanded to form a facade of a larger building which took inspiration from the Bird's Nest Olympic Stadium. Outward pieces of this structure were joined into a map of Washington DC, which the included newspaper print to give texture along the location of the city's river.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/750d5f13-3dd4-4a55-b03d-352fdd8c117a/967a5ae2-2104-432a-95f2-ebc0e2c90ec9_rw_1200.jpg?h=50dcd9f8ca6be0106fffe431ea2c8efa)
One of the larger projects this semester was a self-portrait made through any medium. A graduation photo was chosen for its simple layout. Using an exacto knife, stencils were cut in paper, and spray paint was layered to produce a desired texture and depth. The portrait is centered on a large 20 x 20 sheet of paper.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/750d5f13-3dd4-4a55-b03d-352fdd8c117a/af0518f1-8dd9-477f-95f4-bc1f5479bad8_rw_1200.jpg?h=6f9fe4186c47eb56097c74ed4f792b17)
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/750d5f13-3dd4-4a55-b03d-352fdd8c117a/a0b5e4af-4ddf-40cb-81a4-9f3e42faf9f8_rw_1200.jpg?h=a276c496de9a8bc9efa9451788464869)
Many of the projects assigned this semester were a simple drawing exercise to be finished in one class period, each one with emphasis on a different aspect of sketching. The drawing above was an emphasis on texture and depth, as well as shading and form.
![](https://cdn.myportfolio.com/750d5f13-3dd4-4a55-b03d-352fdd8c117a/3528678e-77fb-4b9b-86e3-7301b751303b_rw_1200.jpg?h=d3048394e4cd2f1bf3ac72d541422c23)