So we just finshed our small office project, the one that we used Massimo Vignelli as inspiration for. Now it is off to the large office project. I do not think I have ever been so intimidated receiving a program sheet for a project before. A program sheet basically lists everything that needs to be included in your design. This sheet contained over 10 different areas. Each area having about 10-15 components to it. Then at the bottom on the second page there was a long list of miscellaneous rooms that we needed to include as well.

When you first see the space we are using it looked absolutely huge. Then little by little as you start adding parts of your program and you panic because you are running out of room so quickly. I have a new found respect for office designers. It is truly a gift to organize so many things to fit into one space and on top of that make it accessible. I have ran into many problems thus far and can only imagine what problems I will run into soon. This project is really challenging me as a designer. I love challenges and can wait to see what is the end result of this project.

Yesterday we had a speaker from Mancini Duffy Architectural firm. He graduated from the Architectural program Cornell University and taught a Syracuse University for a while as well. He was very intriguing because he is an architect that fell in love with interior design. I really enjoyed his presentation because he explained it two different ways. He showed a building floor plan that needed office space planning. First he went through the entire process and explained how an architecture would approach this situation. Then he started from the beginning and explained how an interior designer would approach the same situation. He explained how each one thinks. For example, an architect thinks in terms of grid patterns, straight lines, geometric shapes... designers think more about the needs of the clients, materials and atmosphere. I really appreciated this lecture. It was very informative and it gave me another way to think about approaching designing.

Yesterday we finally handed in our second project for one of my studio classes. I really enjoyed this project and am almost sad that it has come to a close. This project was our small office project, with inspiration from Massimo Vignelli a world renown designer. I was fortunate enough to attend two of his presentations while he was on campus. They were extremely interesting, he showed and explained multiple projects throughout his life. I always knew he was a very important designer, however, after attending these presentations I left in pure shock. I never knew someone could design so many different things. Everything from plates, coffee mugs, fashion, furniture, studio art and the New York Subway System. You name it he probably has designed it. I really enjoyed how he explained his process in the design. It was interesting to see his take on design. His designs are timeless, they do not follow trends. This prevents them from ever having to be redesigned. Most of his designs are very clean and simple. One would think that creating a simple clean design is easy, however, it is extremely difficult. It is a lot easier to just fill a space.

On Thursday Massimo and his wife, Lella, came to our studio to view the progress of our project. In addition, Lella gave a presentation of her interior design work. It was interesting to see her take on interior design. In her presentation she showed us the showrooms she has designed. Her use of light in her interior space was very intriguing. The way she used light created it to look like it was part of the architecture, not just an after thought. Overall, this was a great experience and I am glad I was able to take advantage. This experience has not only taught me a different way to design but it also challenges the way I think about design.