Project Assignment #2
Schematic Design Using SketchUp- 100 points

  • Due March 8, Monday, before class

Objectives

This exercise is intended to demonstrate the ability of computers to assist in the conceptual phase of design. You will design a single suburban family house based on the given guidelines and sketch out the design using Google SketchUp. The basics of house design, the design guidelines and the map for the lots are available on the moodle site.

Process

  1. You should start by choosing lots for your house. The lots are numbered in the map. Each person is allowed to choose two lots from the map. You have the option to use either or both of the lots (you can combine two adjacent lots to build a larger house). You need to email me about your choices. The choices of the lots are first come, first serve. The moodle page will list the lots that have been spoken for.

  2. Next you should design the layout of your house. You need to decide the kinds of spaces needed to accommodate the family for whom the house is designed, the sizes of these spaces, and the desired relationships between them. This part of the design is typically done by hand. The product of this stage is a bubble-diagram showing the spaces in your house, the size of the spaces, and the proximity relations between them. You need to show me your diagram before proceeding to the next stage of the project. You will learn the basic principles of house design in class.

  3. After deciding on a basic layout of the house, we will use a program called SketchUp to assist you in designing the house. The building plot for the house, the general configuration of the house as well as the individual room dimensions are up to you to design. However, they should follow the basic principles of house design and comply with the general requirements for American houses. Using SketchUp, you should create a fully detailed external three-dimensional model of the house. You will learn how to create models using SketchUp in the labs.

  4. After the model is created, you need to create a simulated walk-through of your house, and generate the standard view of your house including: floor plans of each floor of your house except the basement, elevations of each side of the house, and at lest two sections of the house. You will learn that how to do this in SketchUp in the labs.

  5. Finally, you will present your work to the class in a 10 minute presentation. You should explain the design of your house, the layout of the spaces in your house, and the techniques you used to create the model. The presentations are scheduled during the week of March 10.

ASSIGNMENT

To summarize, the products of this project consist of the following parts:

  • A bubble-diagram showing the spaces in your house, the size of the spaces, and the proximity relations between them.
  • A fully detailed three-dimensional model of the house, including a simulated walk-through of your house.
  • The standard view of the house, including: floor plans of each floor of your house except the basement, elevations of each side of the house, and at lest two sections of the house.
  • A 10 minute presentation of your work.

Grading

This assignment is for 100 points. Your work will be judged based on the following:

  • The soundness of your design.
  • The quality and the amount of details of the three-dimensional model of the house.
  • The quality of the simulated walk-through, the standard views, and the presentation.

Resources

The first source of help and tutorials should be the help menu of your application. For extra help and advanced tutorials, you can refer to these websites:

SCREEN CAPTURE

  • To capture whatever is displayed on your screen in clipboard, click on the Print Screen button normally at the top right corner of your keyboard.
  • Start Adobe Photoshop. Create a new file (File/New) and use the default size, which will be the same as the image in the clipboard.
  • Paste the image from clipboard (Edit/Paste).
  • Optimize and save your file.

Note: With some programs we will use SCREEN CAPTURE, in order to capture your work for display on your webpage. However, with SketchUp, you will be able to Render: In SketchUp, go to: File/Export/Raster Image.


Adapted from materials developed by Y.E. Kalay, UC Berkeley.