A shot at Photography... My Welcome Mat

Moods A Many

My attempt to portray "affection" with photos and some newly learned Photoshop techniques. I thought the hair was going to turn out much cooler than it did. Also, the tree had more of a glow before I added all the other elements. I suppose I am satisfied though.

Immigrant Collage

Anna Polan, formerly known as, Ania Piecyzkolan
Anna's grandfather came to the USA in the 20's and had 3 kids here. He then went back to Poland and had more children there. After the war, the citizens of the USA were allowed to come back, so she came back in 1967. Her siblings who were currently residing in the USA sponsored her to come back, which guaranteed a job/school. Her reason for coming to the USA was for economical reasons. Post-war, 5 of them basically lived in one room with no bathroom or showers. Housing was much cheaper here.Her dad was the first to come and three other sisters came later.

Her parents had to work in the factories and “sweatshops” and her goal was to not have to do that. She didn’t want to have to work hard labor like them. Her primary goal was to get an education and not have to worry about money.

Her life wasn’t that much different after she came to the USA
-she lived in a Polish community
-first thing her dad bought was a car
-everything was still based around family
-they traveled a lot more once they got here because they had a car

She describes her biggest challenge as a culture shock. It wasn’t what was expected. She had a vision of “gold on the streets” but it wasn’t clean and it wasn’t as easy as she thought it was gonna be. She basically came with 25 dollars and everything her mother could pack.
“Working hard and saving money was everything.”
-how people dressed and the music was a big change – (the 60’s)
when MLK died
-war
-Her dad went to work with her uncle
-Her mom worked in a kitchen
-January 17, 1967 was the day they moved
“...came on Sunday and went to school on Monday.” She was out of school for 2 months in Poland so her dad said they had enough vacation it was time to go back to school once they got to the US
She was 11 when they came to the US

She met her husband, George, when she was 17. He lived on the street next to them and he came over to look at her house and wound up asking her out. George is now the Vice President of Research and Development for Reliable Automatic Sprinkler Company. Anna works as a nurse for Cancer Centers of the Carolinas. They had four children together.

Eric (26)
-Graduated from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine (PCOM)
-recently married
Mark (24)
-Graduated from Drexel University in Philadelphia
-Works for Sunoco as a safety engineer

Julia (22)
-Attends Clemson University; majoring in Conservation Biology

Adam (20) (My boyfriend)
-Attends Clemson University; majoring in Financial Management with an emphasis in Real Estate

Likes & Dislikes:
Poland- every town has a castle and there are little places where u can sit everywhere

USA- she doesn’t like the walmart type stores—there is no variety
-everything is the same everywhere
-people all talk the same, the news is the same...
- no history: everything old gets torn down to build something new
She says that she is more American now than she is Polish, though she still speaks Polish to relatives.

Pattern Perception

When I began this project, I realized that all of the things we had gone over in class that seemed so simple were no longer in my brain. So, with much confusion, I used a building by Frank Gehry to resemble a plant-like form from nature. I used the actual building to represent petals and the fullness of a blossom while using background details to make branch-like forms around the "flowers". Once some of the techniques came back to me, it was easier to start manipulating the image the way I intended... with a few start-overs. :-)

IAR 202 a welcome mat CHILE

Beginning with research on Chile:





The Condor and Huemul shared a spot on the Chilean coat of arms. Both animals are found amongst the Andes Mountains.



I decided to use my mat between rooms on the interior of the house.



Using linear pieces of material, I decided to twist in order to create different textures.











The final product.

IAR 212 Computing In Architectural Design

The article, Computing in Architectural Design, is about how computers and computer programs have advanced and are being used to help humans and designers in their work and everyday lives. Even in the ancient times people were finding ways to compute things. The most common tools used then were the compass and the straightedge. Computations were based off of the proportions of the human figure and it’s ability to fit inside such shapes as the circle and the square. The first computer-aided design was used by engineers to determine the physics behind materials and forces that make up buildings. Computer systems began to appear for architecture purposes in the 1970’s. The programs allowed for the creation of rooms that had optimal space arrangements and square rooms that could be used to create a floor plan. These early computers were large and expensive and required expensive display hardware as well. The first CAD-like software was written for the rising Apple II, then the Macintosh. It had drafting systems including MacDraft, MacDraw, Dreams, MiniCAD, and PowerDraw. However, the quality was not advanced enough for professional architectural drafting. Soon, other companies began trying to develop professional quality CAD programs. At first, the systems were too slow and were prone to crashing a lot, but with faster processors, they improved. With improving technology, architects could use programs not only for drafting, but for designing and showing clients realistic renderings of space. The new programs were less specific and more general than the previous ones and lacked details like doors, windows, and columns. The third-generation CAD systems referenced the first-generations more because they were centered around the architectural objects that were part of the design and not just the structure. Computers are tools used by people to be able to visualize what would otherwise be impossible to see without having already constructed the project. This can reveal things to them that they can fix and alter that they would not have originally been able to see. The article talks about computers being infused with intelligence in order to become something more than a telephone or a fax machine. In fact, they are seen as better than their human creator because of their unlimited patience, memory, speed, and things which humans are not able to continue to do for eternity. They are put to use in a way that makes it seem like they are responding to our physical presence (i.e. automatic doors). But the computer itself is an inhabitable physical environment. They are becoming more and more of an everyday part of our lives in the form of cell phones, cars, air conditioners… etc. The fact that the space is nonphysical raises questions about the activities that occur within them. Computers will most likely become even more prevalent and advanced in the future. Perhaps making our lives even easier.