LIZ BAVERMAN

positive-inking:

Artwork by Kristin Nohe - purchase a print here

I designed and built my very first furniture piece this quarter! Inspiration was taken from the fluid, clean, contemporary design of the Barcelona chair. In addition, the Adirondack chair is reflected in the design through the repetition of parts, integrity of joints and comfortable ergonomic qualities. Below are some photos of the construction and finished product.

I designed the pieces in AutoCad and submitted them to be cut using the KOMO machine in the Rapid Prototyping Center. This ensured precise, snug joinery and perfect craftsmanship. 

I am currently seeking inspiration before designing my OWN! chair for a furniture class. I’m super excited about all of these string/rope/cord chairs that I am coming across.

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

_RIP MR. JOBS. 

Today my studio got the pleasure of visiting LPK, the world’s largest employee owned brand design agency.

Senior trends analyst, Emily Worstell gave an amazing presentation on current retail trends which was totally inspiring fuel for our current studio - retail design for the Sephora sponsored PAVE competition!

Outlined below are the 7 biggest trends in retail design that Emily covered in her presentation:

1. ON DEMAND CUSTOMERS- allowing the customer to intersect with their product at stages as early as the concept level

2. PHYGITAL PRESENCE - merging the online and physical/ sensory worlds for one complete retail experience. Augmented dressing rooms and social styling sites are a few examples of the senses brought to the cyber world.  

3. EDU-EMPORIUMS - informing consumers on product info, heritage and value to increase the consumers emotional connection with a product

4. LOCAL-THENTICITY - focus on the do it yourself trend along with homemade and local products to tap into the consumers desire to buy things from ‘friends.’ Increasing passion for the local designer/ community

5. RAPID RENNOVATIONS - while a store’s merchandise may remain static, the space can morph, enticing the customer to come in not only to check out new products but also to see how the space displaying them as changed. 

6. HOME SHOPPING STRATEGIES - while online shopping is a cyber experience, techniques can make the experience feel more person to person. Examples such as online stores allowing in house pick up so that you can try your product and troubleshoot before taking it home. 

7. LIVING RETAIL - incorporating live elements into the static indoors to minimize the harshness of HVAC, fluorescent lighting, etc. This is especially popular in restaurants. The live elements such as fresh air, green walls and aquatic life create balance and flow indoors. 

While the light control system is so dynamic and responsive in the Arab Insitute, the architectural form itself is rigid and orthagonal. The bulding is composed of hard steel and glass & the interior structural elements are raw and exposed. This architectural piece forms a beautiful reaction to the surrounding environemnt. The free flowing adjacent river & the waves of people and traffic contrast the tall boxy, static structure.

There is additional contrast between the Arab Institute and the temporary Zaha Hadid Exhibit located in the courtyard. The Exhibit is in typical Zaha style, a free fluid form whose structure creates the interior and exterior elements. 

It becomes everything that the sleek transparent Arab Institute is not - dense opaque and organic. The two structures somehow work in harmony together, complimenting each other. They prove not only that organic and orthogonal architecture can be successful but that they can work in close relations with one another as well. 

When entering Villa Savoye by Le Corbusier, I really was unaware of the the architectural masterpiece that I was about to experience. The building exemplifies Corbu’s 5 points of a new architectural aesthetic - 

1. ground level pillars

2. garden roof

3. open floor plan

4. horizontal windows

5. freely designed facades

The architecture is seamless - it forms the skin of the building in a simple and beautiful way and then seamlessly becomes the occupiable interior space. When we visited the villa it was almost completely void of furniture yet it seemed still so functional. The ground scoops up to form the bathtub. The walls extend out to form closets .. The masses create the interiors and the voids become just as important occupiable space. 

This weekend we took a trip to the northwest of france near Normandy in a city called Britagne. It was an amazing getaway trip because it was the polar opposite in terms of size and feel in comparison to Paris. While I’ve loved the huge city feel of Paris it gets overwhelming to constantly be surrounded by so many people moving through the day at such a quick pace!

Britagne on the other hand had such a small town feel. When we first checked into our hotel it actually seemed like a ghost town! We wandered around the next morning however and found the most amazing beach houses followed by the incredible coast of the English Channel. The beach was so intiguing becasue it streched for what seemed like miles before turning into the water. The tide pulled all the way back in at night though, leading you up to the medieval architecture of the old town. 

Last week we took a day trip to the palace of Versailles. After a long wait in line we entered the incredible palace. The spaces were so breathtaking - incredibly ornate and over the top with decorative detailing. My favorite space was the hall of mirrors. The balance of light and reflectivity was particularly beautiful to me. The windows on the right were juxtaposed by the mirrows on the left, creating this amazing false symmetry about the space.

I was a little bit disappointed by the immense crowd of people though. It was hard to enjoy the spaces with such a loud compact group of people surrounding you in each room.

hall of mirrors

incredible coffered ceiling detail

The flooring throughout the palace was so incredible. I particularly love this unique wood floor pattern used in various parts of the space.

After touring the palace we wandered the gardens for a few hours. I was utterly amazed by the symmetrical quality of the gardens as well as how tightly controlled and manicured the space is. Everything down to the shrubbery is perfectly trimmed and sculpted. I absolutly loved exploring the vast gardens. My favorite was the Orangerie. The scent in this garden was SO amazing. 

Garden outside of Marie Antoinette’s Petit Trianon 

The icon of Paris - and for many years the tallest structure in the world. Here are a few of my favorites of the tower. 

Retail environments are an expression of a culture’s needs, desires, lifestyle, communication habits and patterns, etc. In Paris I have begun to study these retail environments and it has really helped me to focus on the patterns within the society, as well as to identify similarities and differences between French & American culture. 

One of the most fascinating things that I have discovered in the French culture that I plan on researching in more detail is the mobile retail environment. While the US has the occasional food stand or festival booth, there is nothing quite like the mobile retail spaces that I have witnessed here in Paris. In the US, retail is focused on permanence. Interior design in these spaces is articulated in a finalized way. When stores close, the doors are shut and everything stays put for the following day’s sales. I believe that this has led to a very predictable and reliable environment. 

One particularly fascinating retail environment that exists in Paris is the tent and pole market system. Each neighborhood has specfic pole bases integrated into the sidewalk and on particular days the poles are popped in and tarps are attached. Merchandise is layed underneath or attached to the tarps.

The flexibility that the lightweight structure provides the community with says a lot about their lifestyle. The sidewalk is transformed from a means of pedestrian transportation to a vibrant market of local artwork, jewelry, foods, etc. This duality in space seems to be a common theme – While the roads exist for vehicle traffic, They turn into social gathering places at night, cars often forced to squeeze through the crowds. Additionally, this transformation in function could also be a reflection of Parisian lifestyle itself. Hard workers by day, Parisians seem not to hesitate to stay out late on work nights - Dinners not beginning until ten, and the evening not ending until one or two AM.

I hope to continue this study of mobile retail environments in Paris and use it as a means to draw larger conclusions about general societal values and lifestyles. In Italy I hope to  explore a retail environment that is unique to the community as well & use it as a means of cultural exploration. 

tent and pole retail system

I’ve also enjoyed general parisian shopping. I’ve explored some of the most fun and interesting retail spaces all over the city. Below are some of my favorites so far.

Adorable boutique that is literally 5 steps away from my hotel!

The messy, eclectic, feminine space with raw exposed materials & systems is a culmination of my retail design aesthetic. The clothes were amazing and affordable too!

Last week we visited the Grand Palais for the Monumenta 2011 exhibit by Amish Kapoor. Expecting small sulptural installations, I was shocked to find that the sculpture literally filled the room. The form was a rubbery purple vinyl material that was inflated. The sight was breathtakeing. The sculpture interacted with the building in such a beautiful way. It’s curves followed the form of the building, it’s sheen held the light and shadows of the building in such an interesting way and its organic nature contrasted the rigid interior structure perfectly. 

The first two weeks of my education in Paris is focused on the scale of the city. Part two zooms in to the scale of the object. The goal is to develop a line of research reguarding the relationship between details and systems and to explore applications of this research to American conditions.  

We’ve begun this city scale research by getting to know the lay of the land. We’ve gotten a quick glimpse at the louvre & arc du carrousel, the pantheon, the grand palais, and some other less notable architecture and monuments. We have focused on the layout of the city and the systems of transortation, waste management, communication, etc, rather than specific monuments. The last two weeks is when we really delve into discovering the interiors of each building, examining them as objects in themselves.

While studying Paris’ organizing systems is useful, I must admit that I am itching to really get into the cities famous buildings to study their detailed interiors. Walking by the Louvre without going in was difficult! I also have yet to see the eiffel tower up close! Now that I am beginning to understand how the city operates though, I am ready to pack these next three weeks with the exploration of all the city’s beautiful architecture. 

The Pantheon

Detail of Pantheon Columns

Arc du Carrousel outside of Louvre

IM Pei Pyramid outside of the Louvre

Pont Alexandre III bridge over the river

Lovers come to this bridge with locks so that they can participate in the tradition of ‘locking their love to Paris’

Bonjour from Paris, France!

It’s been a while since I last blogged - I have been so busy exploring and discovering the complex city of paris that I haven’t had much free time! Look for numerous posts in the next few days though, I’d like to post everything that I’ve seen thus far before starting my second week of school here next Monday. 

My first impressions of the city are as follows: Incredible shopping, cold and rainier than expected, impressive and easy public transportation systems that connect all areas of the massive city, difficult language barrier- most french people are hestiant to speak English even if they know it, Incredible diversity within the city- from modern architecture overlapping classical architecture to streets filled with people of all classes, races, personalty types etc.

My home for the next month is in the beautiful neighborhood of Denfert-Rochereau. I am staying with a best friend and classmate in a great little hotel.

 Above are the views from our window!

Fresh fruit, fish and cheese markets on our street

This is the Monparnasse Cemetary, A gorgeous home to many deceased French artists and writers. This is located just around the corner from our hotel and was one of the first sights we saw. 

The River Seine

Metro Stop

One of thousands of adorable outdoor french cafes. 

I’ll be studying at the Ecole Speciale D’Architecture for the next 3 weeks here in Paris. I’ve started to dive into my independent study topic of retail environments and their relationship to the surrounding cultural fabric, as well.

Expect lots of posts in the next few weeks on everything I experience and learn here in Paris!