Starting to write about the Bathroom Diary...

The diary as a tool for research is very beneficial - from this I have drawn up tables, graphs, diagrams, lists and re-designed my existing bathroom room, all through reflecting upon diary entries.

Diary

Pedgley - diary

-       Written

-       Visual

-       Blog

In order to further clarify to myself what actions, rituals, and routines I perform on a daily/weekly/monthly basis I decided to keep a Bathroom Diary. This diary became my companion, occupying my thoughts whilst I was in the bathroom and becoming my place to reflect upon my actions later whilst writing my recollections into it.

The diary is a valuable tool for recording my daily actions in the Bathroom. I used it to be as specific and personal to myself as possible. My own affliction with Eczema alters my routines and rituals dramatically, as the bathroom has become more of a chore than a place to relax for me. I tend to scratch my skin when it is exposed and after bathing become dry and irritated rapidly so I apply my moisturizers, creams and steroids as soon as possible. Personal routines, rituals and actions are important in the design of my bathroom, as the bathroom is one of the few places I feel comfortable exposing myself.

The bathroom is already a very personal room in the domestic house. It contains multiples of personal belongings and has seen the most intimate of encounters. The touch of soap and body lotion covering skin from head to toe, the rubbing of bubbles and lather through one’s hair and the collection of persons hair and skin, all in the name of hygiene. The bathroom keeps hidden what the rest of the rooms in the domestic house do not want to show, nor do its occupants want guests to see – a hair covered hairbrush, deodorant for rubbing onto the underneath of one’s arms, female sanitary products, cotton-wool buds for cleaning out my ears…CONTINUE.

I found that I spend most of my time in the bathroom admiring myself, checking myself out in the mirror above the sink, or checking myself for imperfections on the surface – dry skin, stray hairs on my eyebrows and nose, or checking for toothpaste around the edges of my mouth.

The time spend in front of the mirror was enhanced by my daily routine of brushing my teeth, having to stand directly in front of the mirror whilst brushing my teeth. Performing a monotonous task such as this whilst in front of the mirror, I found it very difficult not to look at myself. Occasionally I found myself drifting off into thought – often thinking about the Bathroom Diary but more often than not I have no idea what I was daydreaming about. I would brush my teeth, pick up my toothbrush, apply toothpaste, switch on and off the taps, brush my teeth up, down, horizontal, vertical, diagonal, slow and fast, spit out into the sink basin and rinse my toothbrush – finally placing it down on the sink in front of me, directly under the mirror. As caution I would check the corners of my mouth and lips for white toothpaste to avoid future embarrassment or another visit to the bathroom to look in the mirror.

The shower was the next item I spent most of my duration in the bathroom for. Preparation, undressing, checking myself out in the mirror (again!), putting on my shower cap, stepping into the shower, washing myself, applying soap, washing my hair with shampoo, conditioning my hair, washing myself again, shaving my legs and underarms, washing myself again, squeegee-ing the shower cubicle, opening the door and stepping out, drying myself, moisturizing myself, getting dressed and finally, leaving the bathroom.

Lastly, I used the bath. Once in the entire time I kept my initial Bathroom diary did I have a bath. This was time-consuming in terms of having to perform the same actions as a shower, but having to run the bath before hand and constantly check on it. Other than the once I bathed in it, and the daily prop it has become for ease of moisturizing my legs, it was seldom used or acknowledged.

Thinking about Dornbracht - Balance Modules...

Once more this chapter/sub-chapter needs to be more detailed and refined. A lot of grammar and words to be changed/altered.

BALANCE MODULES

            "The Dornbracht BALANCE MODULES also make the individual, with his or her habits and rituals, the focal point. They expand the purely functional and technical aspects of the bathroom to include the dimension of human rituals, actions and habits. This is not principally a matter of formal considerations. The modules are rather a new interface between the user and his rituals." TAKEN FROM BALANCE MODULES SECTION OF DORNBRACHT WEBSITE - CITE

This demonstrates that Dornbracht has similar principals to me in regards to bathroom design. Dornbracht seek to make visible the habits or rituals one performs in the bathroom setting - I also seek to do this. However, Dornbracht are still more product focused which is where we are different. I intend to design a room that makes visible the individual rituals and routines of a specific user - the method for which could be applied to any user theoretically - but make a whole room, not a product. 

RAINSKY, one of Dornbrachts products (or non-products), is described as "the first product to dissolve the boundary between fittings and architecture". It's other fittings not being visible on the walls of the bathroom; they are embedded onto the ceiling and highly technological. I'm not sure how I feel about this, although I need to think about this in terms of my own design. 

Thinking about Dornbracht - Symetrics...

This chapter/sub-chapter needs to be a more in-depth analysis of the Symetrics products. Lots of re-wording to be established but it's a start.

SYMETRICS

"Symetrics opens up new perspectives in bathroom planning. It focuses not on the individual series or fitting, but on the room as a whole. By clearly separating the spouts and the controls, the entire appearance of the bathroom is redefined by the arrangement of the modules. This provides diverse application options for each area of the bathroom." TAKEN FROM SYMETRICS ON DORNBRACHT WEBSITE - CITE

I find this quote quite contradicting to the chapter in Bathroom Uplugged written by Andreas Dornbracht himself. Although the chapter, "People, Ritual, Arhcitecture" focused on the Statements series, I would presume the same ethics and thought to go into the rest of Dornmbracht's bathroom designs.

This method of designing, or redesigning, the bathroom may not actually be as out-of-character as I first thought. I quite like the idea of a module based bathroom - not in the way that they are individual products still, but moreover that they help in catering to individual needs in a way. By making all these individual modules, the buyer is able to purchase the products that reflect their personal bathroom rituals. In saying this however, I don't agree that the bathroom should be "redefined by the arrangement of modules", however the use of a module system could aid in producing a bathroom [partially] unique to it's user.

Thinking about Dornbracht - Statements...

Dornbracht is a German company specializing in 'ritual based architecture'. They are one of my most valuable precedents and so I have a few examples of their work to discuss in my Thesis. Potentially more...

STATEMENTS

Dornbracht is a company in Germany. In Hebel & Stollmann's Bathroom Unplugged: Architecture and Intimacy, Andreas Dornbracht discussed the Dornbracht brand, particulary their "Statements" Culture Project series, which aims to create pieces of "art to represent the "cleaning rituals" theme."

"We have finally reached a point where our collected findings are again able to influence the design of standard shapes. And for once, the product is not the only focus of attention." Dornbracht, 2005, P. 21

"What does a space look like that makes room for our rituals, regardless of whether conscious or unconscious, important or irrelevant, large or small?" Dornbracht, 2005, P. 21

 

The Statements series reflect what the bathroom is/means to the artists, designers etc chosen. Dornbracht states that,

"...If we want to find ourselves, we must enjoy ourselves. In an individually personalized environment. In our own personal bathroom. A bathroom that, in its entirety, is a kind of interface for our physical and spiritual needs and which also reflects them." PAGE NUMBER - SEE ARCHITECTURE UNPLUGGED

This emphasizes, through the Statements series at least, an shift from product-driven to design to user-central design - a "role" described by Dornbract a s "changing from that of "bathroom user" to "bathroom occupier"" - the bathroom has become more than a place to perform certain rituals, but a room to occupy through ritual.

"The discovery here is that it is not just a matter of rendering taste or style, but in particular it is the event, the experience that is paramount." Dornbracht, 2005, P. 23

Event vs. Experience - event being the ritual one has to perform, or one does perform. The experience being what the occupier feels whilst performing the rituals. For me, the design should be more event based - what one does - as opposed to how one feels whilst doing. The experience should be a consequence of event, and if the design is for the event it should subsequently be a better, more enjoyable experience.

Thinking about Julian Hakes...

Is Julian Hakes still relevant?

Julian Hakes designed The Mojito Shoe designed from the inside out. Definitely relevant in the wider scope of the topic, but not in relevance to the bathroom. Hakes should go towards the beginning of the Thesis/Sketch Essay to build up information on the topic.

Julian Hakes

            Mojito Shoe – Julian Hakes’ Mojito shoe is a carbon fibre shoe with leather ‘inner’ for comfort and a rubber ‘outer’ for grip. I say ‘inner’ and ‘outer’ loosely as it’s hard to differentiate between inside and outside with this shoe. “Most shoes are designed from the outside in – they are designed to look good on the foot. As an architect I did the opposite and designed them from the inside out – I looked at how the foot moves, how it transfers the body’s load.” [1] Hake’s is a London-based architect who specialises in building bridges – the Mojito is a result of Hakes asking himself, “if the design of a shoe was an evolution of the early sandal and how can new materials and design techniques provide new solution?” [2] The Mojito shoe – despite being a shoe - questions designing from the outside in, and opens up opportunities for other disciplines, such as Spatial Design, to design from the inside out, designed from the how the body moves and translated into a better design solution.

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[1] Dezeen » Blog Archive » Mojito shoe by Julian Hakes. (n.d.). Retrieved September 6, 2011, from http://www.dezeen.com/2009/09/23/mojito-shoe-by-julian-hakes/

[2] Dezeen » Blog Archive » Mojito shoe by Julian Hakes. (n.d.). Retrieved September 6, 2011, from http://www.dezeen.com/2009/09/23/mojito-shoe-by-julian-hakes/

Thinking about my previous work (BDes)

My first question is are we allowed to include previous work from another year? And secondly how much of it?

Here is what I am thinking of including. It will obviously need tweaking/edited.

My Body. My Home.

            This journey started for me last year upon studying the last year of my Bachelor of Spatial Design at Massey University, when I began to investigate my relationship to my home, located on Wellington’s popular Cuba Street. My initial interest was sparked through time-lapse, but I found static objects too boring when the effect and affect produced was a result of an external force to what I was actually looking at – such as the sun, or Wellington’s infamous winds. I decided to film the affects of time-lapse on myself, initially sitting on the front steps of The Old Dominion Museum under the scorching sun with a tri-pod in front of my face. I focused the camera in on my facial expressions – which I later found to be known as ‘display affect’ – and filmed myself scowling, twitching and sweating under the sun’s rays. ‘Display affect’ is the sign of emotion expressed subconsciously through posture, vocalization and facial expressions.

            I decided then to set off to my home on Cuba Street; BODYLAPSE (2010)[1] maps my body’s response to my home, and in turn, the rhythm of that space through my body. I filmed myself sitting in my lounge as one of four sun shadows passed over my body, through plastic ceiling apertures; the only source of natural light into this room. The subconscious relationship between body and home was visible through nose twitches, excessive blinking and other subtle gestures. This was the beginning of my investigation into the relationship between my body and where I live, how the body affects my home and in turn how my home affects my body.

            From filming my body in my home I progressed to use my body a drawing tool, drawing the physical relationship between my body and it’s environment in Sensorial Space (2010). I covered an unfamiliar room’s floor and walls in white bed sheets and clear tarpaulin and placed a large bottle of paint into the centre of the room. I dressed in a black singlet top and skin-tight leggings and excluded myself from visual and auditory senses – wearing a blindfold and earmuffs. Using my body, I felt my way around the space. For 30 minutes, this unused cupboard was transformed and the relationship between my body and architecture became heightened. Where the paint on the body collided with the architecture, the body and architecture become ‘one’ for a moment.

            My final, and probably most successful, investigation into the relationship between the body and architecture was The Bed Sheet (2010). In a state of complete passiveness I went to bed covered from head to toe in a thick layer of fake tan and make-up. As I lay dreaming on my white bed sheet my body was drawing the relationship my body and my bed. In the morning when I woke, I looked in the mirror; the face staring back at me looked nothing like the night before; paler, blackened sunken eyes and smears of red around my jaw. The bed sheet was no longer white but covered in pasty pale brown markings. One pillowcase was bright white against the dirty sheet; the other was covered in red blemishes, black smudges and pale brown imperfections.

            These investigations were all very helpful in demonstrating the relationship between my body and my home. The Bed Sheet was the most useful for informing my design development however, as it visually demonstrated the space my body occupies while I’m asleep, in comparison the bed I sleep on. The rounded blob of brown fake tan on the white bed sheet indicates that my body doesn’t occupy a Single, Queen or Double –sized rectangular shape, but a Me-sized shape.

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[1] Smith, L. (2010). BODYLAPSE. Retrieved March 13, 2010, from http://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=zm4BZQrwS0Y

Thinking about my Intro...

I've been trying to put together a rough layout of what my Thesis might look like, or if it had to be handed in soon. This has been informing my 2nd Sketch Essay.

The Introduction to my Thesis and research topic is summed up by  quote from Andreas Dornbracht (from his chapter Ritual, People, Architecture in D. Hebel and J. Stollmann's Architecture Unplugged).

"...If we want to find ourselves, we must enjoy ourselves. In an individually personalized environment. In our own personal bathroom. A bathroom that, in its entirety, is a kind of interface for our physical and spiritual needs and which also reflects them.”[1] (Dornbracht, 2005, P.21)

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[1] Dornbracht, A. (2005). People, Ritual, Architecture. In D. Hebel & J. Stollmann (Eds.), Bathroom Unplugged: Architecture and Intimacy (pp. 21- 25). Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser.

And so, for Sketch Essay 2, I have put this as an Introduction, as a sort of accompaniment to my own Introduction which is to be much more personal. Dornbracht's notions of an "individually personalized environment" echo my desire for a bathroom solely for myself.