EXP 3 - BRAINSTORM

RESEARCH AND IDEA EXPLORATION

SOURCES OF INSPIRATION

http://www.designboom.com/architecture/steven-holl-speaks-about-the-completed-porosity-block-chengdu/

http://www.archdaily.com/787229/woha-unveils-fragments-of-an-urban-future-for-the-2016-venice-biennale

http://www.archdaily.com/785820/how-to-improve-architectural-education-learning-and-unlearning-from-the-beaux-arts-method

http://www.harvarddesignmagazine.org/issues/18/five-reasons-to-adopt-environmental-design

http://www.archdaily.com/tag/unified-architectural-theory/

http://www.archdaily.com/tag/radical-pedagogies

INITIAL BRAINSTORM


POLYMER

ˈpɒlɪmə/

noun

a substance which has a molecular structure built up chiefly or completely from a large number of similar units bonded together

Delineation and deconstruction of spatial boundaries between public and private areas.

A greater porosity in the arrangement of buildings - concerning their connection to other structures, the surrounding environment and the internal spatial order - creates an ease of accessibility that promotes more fluidity between spaces. This encourages an increased level of activity in users that boosts a sense of community by directing circulation through spaces that give a sense of openness and unity.

In the focus on increasing the ratio of public to private, the individual's response to less personal space can be discomforting. In order to counteract this change, users stress can be reduced by making internal spatial volumes enlarged and adding aesthetic value in two primary additions. Firstly, giving formal qualities that mimic natural geometries to produce a kind of bio-architecture. Secondly, to complement the first quality, facilitating open-air spaces and integrating green structures, which add significant psychological benefits and increases productivity. It also helps to integrate any vertical structures with the horizontal ground plane and surrounding structures via textural and chromatic continuity across the suburban fabric.

Park Royal, Singapore (WOHA Architects)

The built result of combining the strategies for making this inflection on architecturally porous structures is an organic, flowing form whose internal volumes blur spatial divisions. To encompass the amalgamation of functional requirements, the overarching principle demands a polymerization of architectural elements in order to create a singular urban fabric. The theory behind this requires repeating elements along the frame of a structure to meld it with the surrounding material. 

A blurring of spatial divisions, internally and externally.

Existing examples of this idea occur in nature in coral reefs, bee hives and lung tissue. A circulation diagram would read as arterial, weaving between the 'organs' of the building that are the core, connecting spaces both in plan and section.

To apply this theory to a school of architecture requires an acknowledgement that the space designated per member of the school would be split into communal area and individual, private area. Inspiration for the breakdown of curricula and spatial requirements to meet the learning, teaching and social needs of those involved was drawn from the 'Beaux Arts' method. This method was implemented in the successful Parisian schools of architecture.

"The Beaux Arts period in Paris had four primary elements: the Ecole, private ateliers, the Salon, and café life. The Ecole was the stiff, traditional study of classical painting and architecture ... In the small independent ateliers students learned directly under a “master” with all the success of the students reflected directly back on the master; success breeding success, creating a strict hierarchy. The annual Paris Salon was the show in which the best works as chosen by a jury were displayed to the public. Lastly, the Parisian life of cafes was the informal extension of the ateliers and the Ecole, in which people came together to discuss design."

Many contemporary design schools base their education strategies upon the Beaux Arts method but seem to neglect the latter aspect - the 'cafe' aspect. I think that here at UNSW, there is a huge potential to further develop this kind of culture within the architecture program. It would provide a platform for clarification, consolidation and exploration within architectural ideas and design that would serve an extraordinary purpose in nurturing each member's own creativity and originality. Students gain the opportunity to truly experiment with new concepts within a collective sphere of peer-driven critique.

Now, whilst there cannot be a direct translation of café life into the Kensington campus, the design can facilitate an 'appropriation' of the concept. In practical terms, this would result in the deconstruction of a spatial hierarchy to provide more area to forum space. Formally, structural elements would be limited to give an overall sense of openness. 

Therefore, through increased emphasis on this 'new' school, UNSW will be breeding a culture that aims to evolve into the future directions of architectural practice. It will do so by raising a unique breed of confident, forward thinking architects as well as pioneering and exhibiting construction methods (specifically utilising green architectural systems and design for porosity). Sustainability will inevitably be a major element of the building's planning. 

“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.” - R. Buckminster Fuller

EXP 2 – SUBMISSION

WEEK THREE

ELECTROLIQUID AGGREGATION – FINAL CONCEPT

1. INTERSECTING SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS 

+ 

2. FORM GENERATED TO FIT SITUATION

=

SEAMLESS INTEGRATION BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND SURROUNDS

Through combining the two initial concepts, the principle of having uninterrupted transitions between spaces surrounding the stop was produced. This includes the connection of platform to street, the university and the greater urban fabric but also the connection between the light rail vehicle and the platform. The predominant intention is focused on providing users a commuting experience that is smooth and pacifying. The fluidity in moving around the platform serves to illustrate the incorporated theme of technology as it draws attention to the sleekness and efficiency of the public transport system.

The aggregation was developed through the idea of tension between adjoining spaces, which is common in both initial concepts. In the first concept, the word 'intersecting' evokes a sense of a junction between spaces and this relates to the light rail stop in that the platform is the intersection for multiple circulation pathways. Spaces are merged into one larger space by having them intersect. As a result, tension is eased as circulation between spaces becomes unbroken and flowing. This is a vital part of the design's functional value.

In the second, the form is generated in response to the site and so the form reflects the space around it. By extension, the adjacent space must reflect qualities of the form as well. This leads to an interdependent relationship between form and fabric which blend to create a homogenous volume of both structure and space. 

Therefore the final design has to blur spatial boundaries by fitting seamlessly into its setting both visually & physically – in form – and functionally – allowing ease of accessibility through clearly defined circulation routes. The resulting station is a transparent medium through which staff, students and visitors move in and around, that reflects the overarching technological themes of efficiency, modernity and compatibility.

CUSTOM TEXTURES – LIGHT TO DARK

36 textural experiments to represent the gradient from light to dark










































TEXTURES USED


LIGHT 

THIS WAS USED TO REPRESENT A GRATE SEPARATING THE EDGE OF THE PLATFORM AND MAIN WAITING AREA. I BESIDES THE GEOMETRIC SIMILARITY TO MESH, THE TEXTURE SHOWS INTERSECTING AREAS AND I WANTED TO CARRY THIS CONNOTATION ACROSS TO THE DESIGN

MEDIUM

THIS WAS PUT ON THE FLESH-LIKE ROOF, MADE FROM METALLIC MESH. I FOUND THAT WITH THE SKETCHUP SURFACE AND THE WAY THE 2D GRAPHIC BEHAVED ON THE CURVILINEAR FORM GAVE AN EFFECT THAT ACCENTUATED THE FLOWING FORM AND HELPED TO CREATE TENSION IN THE CONTRAST MADE WITH OTHER ELEMENTS LIKE THE FLOOR PLANE, VERTICAL COLUMNS AND RECESSED PLATFORM EDGE.

DARK 

I USED THIS TEXTURE ON THE EDGE OF THE PLATFORM. THE TEXTURE HAS A FUNCTIONAL AESTHETIC AND THIS WAS DESIRABLE TO HAVE ON THE AREA THAT CONNECTS PASSENGERS AND TRANSPORT, THE PRIMARY FUNCTION OF THE STATION. ITS TONE ALSO HIGHLIGHTED THE EDGE OF THE PLATFORM AND CAUTION LINE TO ASSIST THE SEAMLESS EXPERIENCE OF USERS.


LUMION FINAL RENDERING


https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B5e0gGhCWQWNVEx3aXQ2R25DWXM 

BLENDING FORM WITH FABRIC

INTERACTION WITH SURROUNDING ENVIRONMENT – SHADOWS FROM TREES PLAYS ON WALKWAY AND CEILING. EXHIBITION OF CUSTOM TEXTURES TOGETHER

NIGHT-TIME RENDERING – LIGHTING ILLUMINATES ABOVE AND BELOW PLANES OF PLATFORM TO GIVE THE ILLUSION OF A FLOATING SPACE BETWEEN THE RAIL CARRIAGE AND STREET LEVEL

GEOMETRY IN PLAN AND RELATION TO NEARBY STRUCTURES

ASPECT SHOWING CIRCULATION ROUTE FROM UNIVERSITY MAIN PATH – LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE IS BROUGHT UNDER ROOF, COMBINING CARRIAGE AND PLATFORM SPACES AND INTEGRATING THEM INTO THE WIDER AREA

EXP 2 – AMALGAMATION

WEEK TWO
COMBINING CONCEPTS

“Why still speak of the real and the virtual, the material and immaterial? Here these categories are not in opposition, or in some metaphysical disagreement, but more in an electroliquid aggregation, enforcing each other, as in a two part adhesive.”

Lars Spuybroek


COMBINATION OF RECTILINEAR FORMS TO REPRESENT AN 'ELECTROLIQUID AGGREGATION' 

The quote above explores the notion that although we tend to consider opposites in a binary fashion – as being incomparable – they exist bounded as a product of their polarity. In representing something through abstraction, two differing ideas can combine to produce a unique fusion of not only physical response but also conceptual interplay.

               

ORGANIC MOTION CREATED    +    CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF AESTHETIC

                                                                                                                               

       

                    CHALLENGES DISPARITY BETWEEN PERCEIVED OPPOSITES  + 

 GEOMETRY AS A TOOL FOR SPATIAL ORGANISATION

    

                                                                                                                               

           

   FORM GENERATED TO FIT SITUATION + INTERSECTING SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS 

                                                                                                                               

INTERACTING CURVILINEAR AND RECTILINEAR FORMS IN AGGREGATION

   

  

                                                                                                                               

       

  

                                                                                                                               

  

LUMION 

EXP 2 – CONCEPT

WEEK ONE 
CONCEPTS


CASE STUDY OF ARCHITECTS AND INTERPRETATION OF CONCEPTS IN EACH OF THEIR PRACTICES


RUDOLPH SCHINDLER


1. GEOMETRY AS A TOOL FOR SPATIAL ORGANISATION

Schindler used overlapping shapes to layout plans for his buildings

2. ENDURING QUALITIES

The seemingly enlarged scale, monumentality and monolithic nature characterised the exterior of his buildings 

3. INTERSECTING SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS

Schindler seemed to have spaces converge and link at frequent junctions throughout his architecture 

4. CROSS-CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF AN AESTHETIC

Schindler was inspired by design and aesthetic elements of traditional Japanese architecture, which he later adapted and appropriated into his California-based practice

5. ARCHITECTURE TRANSCENDS CULTURAL BOUNDS AND UNIFIES WITHIN COMMON HUMAN EXPERIENCE

His architecture, having combined globally separate architectural conventions, symbolises the inherent relationship between architecture & design and humanity, in that the building serves as a universal tool of function, inspiration and beauty



AMANDA LEVETE


1. STRUCTURAL OPTIMISATION 

Most of the visible structural features appear bespoke and sculptural leading to the idea that structure is form 

2. BLURRING OF SPATIAL BOUNDARIES

Lack of sharp edges, corners, singular planes as well as vertical structures creates a transparency in spatial limits and ambiguity in distinction between spaces

3. SITUATION AS GENERATOR OF BUILT FORM

Form reflects the surrounding environment and responds to it through visual interplay


4. CHALLENGES DISPARITY BETWEEN PERCEIVED OPPOSITES

Juxtaposition between natural, flowing shape and refined materials, the often neighbouring highly-developed urban fabric and sensuousness of her form, tension between elements adjacent to each other and within one element diffuses preconceived, Boolean relationships 


5. SENSE OF ORGANIC MOTION CREATED

Seamlessness about the flow of spaces and solid material within Levete's architecture that gives her buildings living qualities due to their apparent mimicking of organic features



5 RECTANGLES TO REPRESENT A CONCEPT

CROSS-CULTURAL TRANSLATION OF AN AESTHETIC

SITUATION AS GENERATOR OF BUILT FORM

SENSE OF ORGANIC MOTION CREATED

INTERSECTING SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS

GEOMETRY AS A TOOL FOR SPATIAL ORGANISATION

CHALLENGES DISPARITY BETWEEN PERCEIVED OPPOSITES

SKETCHUP TO LUMION

INTERSECTING SPATIAL RELATIONSHIPS