This Semester we were assigned to remodel the Pufferbelly Station here in Pullman Washington to become a gallery, studio, and residential space. We were to find a Northwest artist and design our space for them. I designed for Fields and Fields who does glass blowing in portland. We also had to find our inspiration from the Pufferbelly station and I found this broken down wall that showed layers of lass, brick, and plaster. And from my inspiration I came up with my concept of layers, texture, and organic lines. From my inspiration and artist I came up with the title Naturally Occurring because the art work from my artist is inspired by nature and the idea of the wall slowly breaking down over time naturally occurred.
The textile design was pretty enjoyable for me because it was something different then we usually do. It was challenging to pick out your final parti to put into your design and to figure out the pattern you wanted. But it was rewarding to get your design on the computer and printed. It was exciting for me to do this because it was another part of design that we got to work with that I never had the chance with before and to now have the resources to do that again is excited. Designing the textile was a new experience that I enjoyed very much.
Another component of for the project that was enjoyable was the bench design. What I loved about the bench design was that I was able to find components from my inspiration and my parti that I liked and put them in my bench design. I was able to see a lot out of my bench design so it was exciting to be able to continue it in my design of the Pufferbelly station. I also learned a lot about welding in my design because of all the research i had to do for the construction of it.
Space planing was a difficult task for me on this project because the artist I picked did glass blowing and an ideal glass blowing studio is in need of about 2,000 sq. feet. The square footage of the pufferbelly station is about 4,000 feet and with the space given I was having a difficult time of using the space. Another challenge with the space planning was to fit the residential space that was ADA accessible with 36" door ways, 4 foot wide halls, and 60" wheel chair turning radius in all rooms. So figuring out the space planning was difficult but I am pleased with how my design turned out.
This was my first time ever design a gallery space and I found that to be difficult because I didn't want it to be simple and white like more gallery spaces you see. So to make it a different space I brought in my concept. I use the materials and the designs of my bench design and turned it into shelving and display units. being able to use my concept in my gallery space made the space have so much more personality and I felt like it really worked with the art work of Fields and Fields. One thing have could have worked on better on the space and the flow of walking through the space.
