Making Discourse explores how architecture transcends boundaries, using making as discourse to challenge ideas of form, content, and representation. It uses allegory to connect personal, social, and political themes, rethinking conventions like orthographic drawing, model-making, and photo-collage, while examining art practices tied to architectural production. In this project, I analyzed the Federal Building in downtown Providence, Rhode Island, drawn to its facade covered in scaffolding and blue mesh that both disrupted pedestrian flow and added a dynamic layer to the building. My drawing contrasted the building’s monumental stonework with the scaffolding’s temporality by unrolling the front and side elevation and showing the impact on the street in a frontal oblique. I began building out a world of characters on the street through cartooned figures, which I wanted to develop further in the model.

For the model, I reimagined the building and scaffolding as a square, casting the facade to emphasize its weight and rhythm while letting the scaffolding engage vertically with the street. The cartooned figures further fill out the space exploring a mix of urban activities like biking, as well as representational methodologies fundamental to image-making such as shadow tracing, Dürer’s perspective machine, and Persian axonometry.

Duration: Semester
Professor: Mae Dessauvage

School: Rhode Island School of Design
Featured: RISD Architecture Trienalle