SchoolArts - October 2011

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Paragon Dragon kilns—easy to load and surprisingly easy on your budget

Any teacher who has been in ceramics for long would love to have a front-loadingkiln. Paragon Dragons are the best value in cost per cubic foot of front-loading kilns. You can buy as many options as your budget al- lows—door elements, three zone control, or S-type thermocouple. Or buy the basic model. For industrial strength front loaders, the Dragons offer the highest value for the dollar. The Dragons exude power. They fire to cone 10 with ample power to spare. The Sentry digital controller on these kilns will spoil you. The extra insulation saves energy.

For more information on Paragon’s front-loading Dragon and Super Dragon, call 800-876-4328 or email us for a free, colorful cat- alog. Or visit www.paragonweb.com for com- plete specifications and the name of your local Paragon dealer. Sign up at our website for a free Kiln Pointers newsletter.

The 24” x 24” x 27” high
Paragon Dragon is listed
to U.S. & Canadian safety
standard UL 499. The massive 27” x 27” x 36” high Para-
gon Super Dragon has a floating door
system with four spring latches. The
kiln may be more affordable than you
imagine.

2011 South Town East Blvd. Mesquite, Texas 75149-1122 800-876-4328 / 972-288-7557 Toll Free Fax 888-222-6450 www.paragonweb.com info@paragonweb.com

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Elm Park, Worcester, Massachusetts.

Marty Rayala

schoolartsonline.com 11

Traditionalapproachesfor espondingtonatureinart classesusuallyinvolvestu- dentspaintinglandscapesor collecting leaves to use in a collage.

Design education allows us to enrich our responses to nature by adding four-dimensional spatial awareness and five-dimensional experience design to the two-dimensional and three-dimensional projects used in traditional art programs.

Here are five essential components for responding to nature through design:

Seek Out Natural Environments The key to an authentic response to nature is to actually experience it. Since more people than ever live in cities, getting to a natural setting during a school day is not easy.

Frank Lloyd Wright is known for designing in response to nature. He often incorporated the natural environment into the design of his buildings. He designed Kaufmann House (see Looking and Learning on page 31 so that the dramatic waterfall of Bear Run becomes a feature of the house.

Explore the Nature of Materials

Wright was also known for using materials, shapes, colors, and textures that naturally occurred on a site to help determine the design of his buildings. Local sandstone, organic colors, horizontal lines, and natural textures all help Kaufmann House appear to be one with its environment.

Responding to nature does not mean imitating the physical appearance of materials. The goal is to explore the natural characteristics of each material. For example, rather than trying to make plastic look like wood or concrete look like stone, explore the unique potential of a material in its own right. Learn from Nature’s Designs

The term “organic” is often used to refer to a design that has the visual characteristics of plants and other forms that represent nature. Frank Lloyd Wright’s organic architecture, however, is a reinterpretation of nature’s principles rather than a replication of its physical forms.

For Wright, organic architecture
was an understanding of the proper-
ties of the materials and a respect for
the relationship between the form
and the function of the building. His
organic architecture integrates the
spaces into a coherent whole, unifying
the site with the structure.
Focus on 4-D Spatial Design
To truly respond to nature it is
necessary to go beyond traditional
two-dimensional images and three-
dimensional objects to include four-
dimensional spatial awareness. Nature
is truly a spatial environment, not
just a collection of rocks, plants, and
animals.
Responding to nature requires new
skills in four-dimensional spatial
design even though we will still use
two-dimensional drawings and three-
dimensional models in the process.
Rather than two-dimensional paint-
ings of nature, study the work of spa-
tial designers such as Frederick Law
Olmsted who designed Central Park in
New York City. Learn from the Ameri-
can Society of Landscape Architects
(ASLA) to understand spatial design.
Attend to 5-D Experience Design
We do not just look at nature—we
experience it. Nature comes with
sounds, smells, movement, tactile sen-
sations, and an awareness of our own
How can we design
the way we experience
our environments so
that they enhance and
affirm our humanity?

Continued from page 11.

bodies. To truly respond to nature we need to learn how to vary the color and temperature of light to delight the eye. How can we change the static fluorescent lights in our classrooms into something like the dappled light filtering through leaves or the subtly transforming colors of a sunset?

How can we evoke the gentle swaying of branches, the rhythmic lapping of waves, and the broiling of clouds within the numbing static environments of our schools?

How can we modulate the sounds in our spaces so that they become pleasing and reassuring rather than annoying and distracting? How can we design the way we experience our environments so that they enhance and affirm our humanity? How can we respond to nature through design?