EMILY STANCLIFF
This two-story automotive showcase is located in Bel Air, Maryland off of Rt. 1. The building houses a display area for used cars and a mechanic shop in the back third of the building. For this exercise, I focused on the display area and not the mechanic shop. The exterior walls are constructed of concrete block, which are breached by storefront windows and a remodeled garage entrance. The gabled roof is made of painted corrugated metal with two awnings, one to the east and the other to the southeast (facing Rt.1). Parking is located on the east side of the building, where the main entrance is located.
The interior is divided into three major spaces, delineated by ceiling height: the front display area, front desk/sales area, and a rear display area. Where the front display area is wonderfully lit by natural light, the rear display has a higher ceiling with an abundance of bright flourescent lights. To further enhance the lighting, the walls are painted black and white and the rear wall hosts a full-length mirror, an excellent contrast and reflector that enhances the flourescent lights. The second story is open to the rear display area, acting as an overlook for office workers. Steel trusses, air ducts, mechanical ducts, and lighting are all exposed, running from northeast-southeast sides of the building.
This knoll diagram shows a “kit-of-parts” associated with the building. This includes the steel I-beams (top), two types of doors (top left and top right), a window and garage door frame (middle-top), the corrugated roof system (bottom left), stairs and railings (bottom middle), two storefront awnings (bottom right), and exterior concrete blocks (bottom right).
This ANT map explores the idea of “plant stuff” and “garment stuff,” looking at what these terms mean to me and also looking at the problems/solutions involved in these topics. The “plant stuff” diagram analyzes four main ideas involved in the plant community: what kinds of plants we take care of; what plants we should take care of; ways we cultivate plants; and maintaining plants. The interesting findings of my research led to the discovery of the Aalsmeer FloraHolland plant auction, the monopoly floral auction in the world located in Aalsmeer, Netherlands. As such, most of the U.S. 's flower imports come from foreign countries, leading to a funny little conundrum. Even if these flowers were indigenous to the U.S., the fact that they came all the way from Europe leaves a bitter taste in the mouth. Even as you try to do something beneficial for the environment, you are still perpetuating the capitalistic cycle that leads to more environmental problems than solutions.
The “garment stuff” diagram primarily took on two routes of research: garment upkeep and garment production. I delved into the production process and maintenance industries involved with clothing, as well as taking a quick look into fast-fashion politics. One of the more interesting rabbit holes I went down led me to the drycleaning industry, where the battle of solvent-cleaning vs wet-cleaning takes place. Although wet-cleaning is the safer alternative, it also uses a significant amount of water, which is not quite so environmentally friendly either.
The “garment stuff” diagram primarily took on two routes of research: garment upkeep and garment production. I delved into the production process and maintenance industries involved with clothing, as well as taking a quick look into fast-fashion politics. One of the more interesting rabbit holes I went down led me to the drycleaning industry, where the battle of solvent-cleaning vs wet-cleaning takes place. Although wet-cleaning is the safer alternative, it also uses a significant amount of water, which is not quite so environmentally friendly either.
I chose “network” as my plan orientation for this project. Thinking about plant networks and the physical attributes of fabrics, I began my organization with a braid, upon which I overlaid circular nodes. These nodes and braids became manifested on the ground plane via different materials: herringbone wood slats for the nodes and concrete sidewalks for the braid lines. The plan was further broken down into five rectangles for each problem I sought to highlight: (1) the plight of trees in the plant community; (2) clothing upkeep via detergents, softeners, bleach, etc.; (3) water usage in both plant and garment maintenance; (4) the plight of native plants; (5) non-native, invasive species and fast-fashion. My assembly word was “wrapped,” to which I chose a more physical manifestation of the word. Rather than wrapping my objects in plastics or clothing, I chose to wrap objects with objects, which created radial, serpentine, and networked formations.
We begin looking at this building on the east side overlooking the designated plant market, which could act as a new attraction to the Bel Air community. By entering the building via the old garage doors (now greenhouse-looking doors), we move into the front area of the building, which houses these tree showcase “bubbles.” These bubbles highlight trees and the containers they are often forced to grow in, exaggerated by extremely small pots and baskets. We then follow the large central nodes along their axis, coming to understand the raw materials that make up our everyday clothes, the water usage involved in garment and plant upkeep, and some new innovative solutions to the problems of fast fashion and limited growing space for plants. I highlight these innovative solutions via a drycleaning conveyor that has been fitted with vertical growing structures and your everyday thrift store finds. Moving to the individual rooms, which show a wrapping organization of materials used for laundering clothes and maintaining plants. Lastly, we get a nice view of the second floor, which has one primary addition to the building. A second room, removed from the main floor plan, showcases non-native, invasive plants and fast-fashion options.
This parallax cuts through the middle of the building from north to south, revealing a composition of the interior space that slices through the brief second-story overlook and three nodular zones. The background is characterized by large, white concrete and shorter drywall walls. We can see peaks of the insecticide, bleach bottles, and stacks of clothing materials that are nested within the back rooms. Most of the midground is hidden by large rings of cotton bales and trees. The foreground begins to show more of what is nested within these nodes: watering cans, water jugs, planters, and baskets.
This spatial experience is a clear network of nodes as delineated by the ground plane and the organization of wrapping objects. The variety of objects has been chosen so that the ground floor is filled with objects that are locally sourced and/or a raw product from the area, while the second floor is filled with objects that are foreign-sourced. The experience throughout is exhibitionist in style, while also having qualities of a usable space.