Second draft for Prada's office

Second draft for Madonna's office

Second draft for the elevator

The eleavtor was inspired by the idea of power and the multidisciplinary careers of the two clients. Both women are involved in multiple projects involving different media, and those differences are represented by the varying sizing and positioning of the strong shape of the prisms that make up the elevator.

The draft office for prada

The elevator (static mesh) kept disappearing so I followed the advice not to use the scale tool. This meant that I had to start from the beginning.

The draft office for madonna

The elevator (static mesh) kept disappearing so I followed the advice not to use the scale tool. This meant that I had to start from the beginning.

Textures - movement

The words leisurely, confident and playful were inspired by the clients Madonna and Prada.

The sketchup elevator

Here is the elevator platform designed in sketchup

Tip for UT users in the forum

"My tip for UT would be for when you find surrounding objects are disappearing when you add/subtract new shapes.

To combat this, find a previously built shape, copy (CTRL + W), then drag to the problem area. Change to the shape you need and rebuild all (as it is an already existing brush). This means you can continue with the model when it seems like everything has fallen apart.

And the mouse tip above is definitely a good investment."

Two point perspective drawings

The F perspective structures

The F perspectives

Articles mash-up

Obama, Prada and Madonna had the ability to influence thought on art, hope and gender. What happened with the US election was "the Obama realignment” – the answer toward the hope of a better day. The Fondazione Prada, a private organisation set up in 1993 by Miuccia Prada brought contemporary art to Italy and supported artists. Madonna had a message of liberality and tolerance to spread about gender and sexuality.

The Fondazione is just one example of the way Prada leads the fashion pack; these days, its philanthropy is copied as often as its clothes. Looking back on Madonna's behaviour ten years ago, it is easy to forget why she became the supreme gay icon, why she angered as many feminists as she delighted... Yet Madonna irrevocably changed the media image of female sexuality. Obama was casting himself as the embodiment of change - its personification.

In the course of Obama’s run he contradicted several of the core assumptions or promises. Madonna has retreated from her provocative agenda. Due to Miuccia Prada’s Fondazione, fashion has discovered art patronage however patronage relies on the patron’s goodwill. We are dependent on the power of these individuals.

Article on Obama: An Obama Realignment?

... We have been told that, owing to the decisive nature of Obama's victory amid the enhanced power of his party in both houses of Congress, a new political era has dawned. What happened was more than an election: it was, to quote the Democratic lawyer Lanny Davis in the Wall Street Journal, "the Obama realignment," only the sixth such moment in American history (the others being the elections of 1800, 1828, 1860, 1932, and 1980)... Obama's smooth, unruffled demeanor marks him as one of the coolest customers in the annals of American politics... If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer. . . . It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. . . . It's the answer that - that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day. . . . Change has come to America. In effect, then, Obama was casting himself, and is still casting himself, not as an agent of change but as the change itself - as its embodiment, its personification. In this sense, the Obama era has already succeeded. It is already complete. In the terms he himself has set, he can do nothing more important as President than what he has already done by being elected President.So far, from the point of view of his supporters, that certainly seems to be more than enough. Indeed, the spiritual change promised and embodied by Obama gave his race the quality all great campaigns offer to their supporters - the idea that the grueling volunteer work they will be doing and the vote they will have to stand in line for hours to cast are merely preludes to a positive, even joyous, result... BARACK OBAMA, it need hardly be said, comes to the presidency with no comparable agenda, or much of an agenda at all. True, he has had position papers galore, but in the course of his run he contradicted several of their core assumptions or promises. He proposed significant spending increases, but in light of the credit crisis has said they may have to be postponed. He has said something similar about his tax plan, which features certain cuts for the middle class and a substantial increase for Americans making over $250,000 a year. He supported gay marriage, then opposed it. He opposed welfare reform, then said he would not question Bill Clinton's decision to sign it into law. He has spent more than a year backing away from his statement that he would meet with America's enemies without preconditions.

John Podhoretz. Commentary. New York: Dec 2008. Vol. 126, Iss. 5; pg. 13, 5 pgs

Article on Miuccia Prada: Moreover hot, hot, hot

A SHOW was held recently in the Prada Group's headquarters in Milan. Nothing noteworthy in that; shows are held here every year in the ready-to-wear season. But this was different. For a start, you entered the show space not from the front, but from the back. Then the room that houses hair-andmake-up became a long corridor of marble statues with missing limbs. And the area which usually holds the runway welcomed instead an enormous tank with too roses, cacti, sunflowers and artichokes, all frozen in neon-bright hallucinatory glory by 25 tonnes of liquid silicon... Indeed, those present were not at a fashion show at all but an art show... the latest in a series of twice-yearly exhibits held by the Fondazione Prada, a private organisation set up in 1993 by Miuccia Prada, the fashion group's chief designer, and her husband, Patrizio Bertelli, Prada's chief executive, to bring contemporary art to Italy. Though nominally unrelated to the fashion side of the business, the Fondazione is actually just one more example of the way Prada leads the fashion pack; these days, its philanthropy is copied as often as its clothes. For fashion has discovered art, or rather fashion has discovered art patronage... Of course, this cross-pollination of fashion and art is not new... Designers are famous for wanting to be considered "serious" artists, and what better way to achieve that than through respect-by-association? Ms Prada and Mr Bertelli have an impressive private collection of works by Frank Stella, Yves Klein, and Gerhard Richter. Reportedly Ms Prada is prouder of her recent award from the New Museum of Contemporary Art in Manhattan than of any accolades she has received from the fashion press...

Anonymous. The Economist. London: May 20, 2000. Vol. 355, Iss. 8171; pg. 103, 1 pgs

Article on Madonna: Material whirl

... With "Vogue", Madonna introduced to the mainstream the dance and mannerisms of what was essentially a small culture of gay, black New York men. It came at the tail-end of a ludicrously successful Eighties career, and it pushed her fame into the stratosphere because... it left Madonna in the blissful position of being able to choose whatever she wanted to do next in the knowledge that everyone would be staring... Looking back on Madonna's behaviour ten years ago, it is easy to forget exactly what all the fuss was about, why American universities set up degrees in Madonna studies, why she became the supreme gay icon, why she angered as many feminists as she delighted... Yet it is cliched, but true: Madonna irrevocably changed the media image of female sexuality... What should not be forgotten about Madonna taking off her clothes is that she was not doing it on the request of, or even for the pleasure of, heterosexual men. She made herself the reason why she took her clothes off; she used her sexuality in a way that empowered her and no one else... Madonna did not desire to be provocative for its own sake. The scandalous elements of [her] show may have been relentless self-publicity, but she also had a message of liberality and tolerance to spread, regardless of the effect on her record sales. Portraying women as owners of male slaves, and promoting respect for gay people, Madonna had a fairly progressive agenda for someone who was supposed to epitomise the mainstream... If Madonna becomes controversial and defiant again, will people start to notice what she is doing, and will they still care? And if they are no longer outraged, does that mean victory or defeat for Madonna?...

Robin Meltzer. New Statesman. London: Sep 18, 2000. Vol. 13, Iss. 623; pg. 45, 2 pgs

File front link

Link to the final model (filefront)

The final images

This is Cousteau's study, a place for the synthesis of ideas. The texture itself resembles writing but originates from drawing, suggesting that the end product of the collective of Cousteau's ideas is a new language of marine field ecology.





The sections of this ramp represents the interdisciplinary approaches that the different scientists bring who are involved in the assimilation of the marine field ecology information with Nobel and Cousteau.





This is the site where the range of scientists develop the marine field ecology literature. The space is a forum for the cross-fertilization of ideas and development of the written product.

The textures in the model

I chose the first texture to be used in Cousteau's study because it resembled writing and was symbolic of learning.



The second texture had a stone or concrete-like tooth and was to define the enduring columns that emphasised the impact of the scientists' work.



The third texture symbolises movement and guides the guests or scientists through the tunnel and ramp between Nobel's laboratory and the meeting place.