Renee Veltman
We had a fun chat with third year student Renee Veltman, from Unitec - Te Pūkenga, about her projects from second year!
The first project in second year was for a home for a nuclear family unit, with tight constraints on how much of the site we were allowed to cover/terraform. I often approach brief's with an axis or two in mind, which is why the prominent cross shape appeared here allowing for the divide of privacy necessary in a nuclear family to be explored.
These drawings was for a sports club building that can be utilized for soccer, basketball and other sports. Due to the large field to the east my priority was opening all the spaces that way, and allowing public movement through them.
What medium speaks to you the most?
My preferred medium is markers and ink. Since the shapes created by the axis are usually my focus, this allows me to emphasize the form of the plans and elevations.
How would you describe your design process?
I usually end up reading the brief through multiple times and have some key idea pop, whether that be a small focus like the axis I want to focus on or a colour or texture I wish to capture, then I go looking for precedents to compliment and inspire the rest of the design. Then it's just sketches on paper until I have enough of a rough final design to model either physically or digitally to finalise details, which then I often change in the final process of putting by hand onto paper to allow me to feel every part of the final design out.
What is your inspiration?
I have a special love for modernism as an inspiration, both mid-century NZ modernism and overseas as well. Since I usually have something in mind when hunting precedents I don't have any one person to take inspiration from, just the general style and era.
What advice would you provide to students?
Get enough sleep! It's so much easier to work and come up with ideas in a clear head, allowing you to pay extra attention to the details that really set off your work. I would also say finding one style or larger inspiration that clicks with you is very important to keeping your ideas consistent and developed.
Interview by Sakina Ali
Photographs and work supplied by Renee Veltman
