The Chronicle stops the presses- Play offers new twist on classic story
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Class in the Spotlight
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Architectural designs show software strengths
 Photo by Jeremiah Jossim Ryan Bacha, whose architecture credits include Tantra Lounge in downtown Savannah, used his own work to discuss various types of design software in his Electronic Design II class Feb. 20. By Monique Bos Published: Friday, March 2, 2007 Ryan Bacha, a Savannah College of Art and Design architecture professor and partner in Bacha-Koslosky Design Works, shared some of his professional designs with students in his Electronic Design II course Feb. 20. Among the projects he discussed was Tantra Lounge, a tapas bar that opened at 8 E. Broughton St. in July 2006. The focus of the electronic design course is on learning about digital tools that can aid in programmatic design, schematic design and design development. Using images from several of his own projects, Bacha discussed what software he chose at various phases of each design process and why. “We’ve been looking at using digital tools as a way to design and generate forms,” he explained. “I want to show how I’ve used various digital fabrication tools in my own practice.” He often begins sketching basic ideas by hand. “How do ideas come out? How do they take fruition on paper?” he said. He showed a Maya sketch of a tent in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, based on brainstorming he and several other professors did using napkins. “It’s limited as far as going to the next phase as a constructed project,” he said. “You’d need something like Microstation to do that. A structural engineer might use other software that looks at the structural elements.” He used AutoCAD for a “quick plan” of storage benches for the University of Georgia Marine Education Center and Aquarium, he said. For a carriage house to be built in Savannah’s historic district, the design and approval process was more complex. Bacha explained that he had to generate two sets of documents: one for the historic review board, with information such as site context; and one for the contractors, with nuts-and-bolts construction data. He said he used AutoCAD, but other types of software, such as Revit, which allows users to track multiple data, including schedules and numbers, might also have been an effective option. “You have to consider 2-D drafting versus 3-D modeling,” he added. Bacha introduced the Tantra Lounge project with a Microstation model of the design. The business, which occupies the space that previously housed the Monkey Bar/Fusion, is divided into three areas: bar, restaurant and lounge. He explained that Microstation allowed him to develop 3-D renderings of the space, including the floor plan, ceiling and walls. Bacha’s discussion of Tantra — with which he was involved throughout the design and construction processes, and which students can visit in its finished form — included insights into how the constraints of reality can alter design plans. “The client had three themes: Buddha, Chinese lanterns and water,” he said. After downloading images of all three and looking at issues such as constructability, time limitations and budget, “We were left with Chinese lanterns,” he said. “We decided to randomly space the lanterns around the ceiling, and then create more interesting spaces along the walls.” Bacha designed abstract, semi-sculptural forms to be placed above the booths by the walls. He started with foam, wire cutters, a torch and a soldering gun, then used Photoshop to flesh out the concept before applying the design strategy to aluminum castings. “You really have a lot of issues to consider,” he explained. “You have to look at the skill of the people working on the project, look at the budget, who the craftsmen are.” Bacha concluded the presentation by showing his designs for a West Virginia nature center complex, which included a theater, reading room and enclosed viewing platform. He supplemented his computer renditions with soft shading, and used Photoshop and Illustrator to collage trees into the background of his drawings of the buildings. “I was trying to blur those boundaries between hand and computer craft,” he explained. Although the nature center ultimately wasn’t constructed, he told students about some of the design issues he had to consider in developing the architectural plans. “In order to preserve the trees and the landscape, the materials had to be brought to the site by pickup,” he said. “You couldn’t have a bulldozer in there.” Ultimately, he told students, they have to decide for themselves what software they prefer, but each system has its strengths and weaknesses. “I don’t think there’s one end-all,” he said. “There are all kinds of ways to go with computers.” Programs such as Revit prove useful in coordinating construction documents, while Photoshop and Illustrator can help with presentation materials, he said. He offered some advice about criteria to use in evaluating programs: “Consider how to break down design for construction. Look at the tools and what they give you, so you as designers can look at the make-ability of it,” Bacha said. “Software is always changing. When you look at new media, consider how effective they are, what they give you and how the software interacts with other types of software.”  |
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