DIGITAL PORTFOLIO ALEXA WALKER WSA2
FORMFINDING
OBSERVATION: CHOOSING WATER AS AN ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM TO STUDY AND ANALYSE, I CHOSE TO LOOK SEVERAL DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF WATER, INSPIRED BY THESE IMAGES.
DEPOSITION TRACTION
CUT
INITIALLY, I STUDIED THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE RIPPLES IN WATER AND THE SOCIAL RIPPLES THAT OCCUR IN COMMUNITIES.
ABRASION
ATTRITION
TRACTION SOLUTION DEPOSITION HERE I LOOKED AT THE WAY FLUVIAL SYSTEMS MOVE AND ERODE FROM WHICH I CREATED A SERIES OF DIAGRAMS TO EXPLAIN THE WAYS IN WHICH FLUVIAL SYSTEMS CREATE FORM THROUGH DIFFERENT EROSIVE TECHNIQUES.
CUT
BY APPLYING THIS SERIES OF FLUVIAL TECHNIQUES TO A SERIES OF DIFFERENT MEDIA I EXPLORED HOW POWERFUL THESE TECHNIQUES CAN BE IN THE CREATION OF VARIOUS FORMS.
TRACTION
HERE I STARTED WITH PAPER. THE IMAGES SHOW DIFFERENT STAGES OF THE EROSION AS THE PROCESSES WERE APPLIED.
DEPOSITION
ABRASION
ATTRITION
SOLUTION
CUT
HERE THE PROCESSES WERE APPLIED TO A PLASTER BLOCK. THE SERIES OF IMAGES DEMONSTRATES CLEARLY HOW THE BLOCK, WHEN SUBJECTED TO THESE PROCESSES IN A RANDOM ORDER (AND BOTH TO WET AND SET PLASTER), CHANGES THE FORM OF THE MATERIAL.
TRACTION
ABRASION
DEPOSITION
ATTRITION
SOLUTION
CUT
TRACTION
THE NEXT MATERIAL SELECTED WAS WAX. ONCE AGAIN THE SAME FLUVIAL PROCESSES WERE APPLIED AND THE CHANGES THEY MADE TO THE WAX WERE OBSERVED.
ABRASION
DEPOSITION
ATTRITION
SOLUTION
THIS TIME THE SAME FLUVIAL PROCESSES WERE APPLIED IN RANDOM ORDERS TO AN ICE BLOCK. THE BLOCK CHANGES FORM DRAMATICALLY FROM START TO FINISH. THESE EXAMPLES CAN ALL BE RELATED TO DIFFERENT MATERIALS OR ROCK TYPES AFFECTED BY A FLUVIAL SYSTEM AND SHOWS HOW THIS ECOLGIAL SYSTEM CREATES FORMS, BOTH SYSTEMATICALLY AND RANDOMLY.
CUT
TRACTION
ABRASION
DEPOSITION
ATTRITION
SOLUTION
THE FORMS THAT WERE PRODUCED BY THE PREVIOUS PHYSICAL EXPERIMENTS INSPIRED A SERIES OF LINE DRAWINGS WHICH EXPLORE THE SUBTLE SHAPES CAPTURED WITHIN THE MODELS. THE IMAGES SERVE AS A GRAPHICAL REPRESENTATION OF THE FORMS.
SITE ANALYSIS
SITE LOCATION IN CARDIFF CITY CENTRE
PANORAMIC VIEW FROM THE SITE
HISTORY OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE SITE LOCALE
KEY BUILDINGS IN THE VICINITY OF THE SITE: THIS IMAGE SHOWS THE ELEVATIONS SURROUNDING THE SITE.
TRANSPORT MAP: THIS IS AN ANALYSIS OF TRANSPORT RELATING TO THE SITE. THE GREEN AREAS ARE ROADS THAT ARE SERVED BY THE PUBLIC BUS SERVICE, THE YELLOW SHOWS TRAIN ROUTES, THE BLUE SHOWS THE WATER TAXI AND THE RED CIRCLES RELATE TO WALKING DISTANCES FROM THE SITE.
STRATIFICATION: THIS IS THE PROCESS WHERE-BY A SURFACE’S LAYERS BECOME APPARENT WHEN ERODED BY WATER. OFTEN, LAYERS ARE AFFECTED DIFFERENTLY BY WATER DUE TO VARYING MATERIAL PROPERTIES, AS HAS BEEN SHOWN THOUGH THE PREVIOUS MODELING EXERCISE. THE SENTIMENT OF THIS PHYSICAL PHENOMENON CAN BE CARRIED INTO DESIGN FOR EXAMPLE THROUGH STRUCTURAL MAKE-UP OR AESTHETIC MAKE-UP OF THE BUILDING.
CIRCULATION: THE CIRCULATION AROUND THE SITE IS A FLOWING SYSTEM, MUCH AS A WATER SYSTEM IS. IT CAN THEREFORE BE USED AS A SYSTEM FOR INFORMING THE GENERATION OF EROSION THROUGH AND AROUND THE SITE AND THUS GAINING THE FORM FOR A MASTERPLAN.
RIVER/WATER SYSTEM: THE RIVER IS INTEGRAL TO THE SITE THEREFORE THE WATER WILL INFLUENCE THE DESIGN IN TERMS OF EROSIVE PROCESSES. THIS MEANS THAT THE RANGE OF EROSIVE PROCESSES PREVIOUSLY EXPLORED SHOULD BE APPLIED TO ASPECTS OF THE DESIGN ON THE SITE.
ELEVATIONS SURROUNDING THE SITE
BUILDING USE: A PROGRAMATIC ANALYSIS OF BUIDING USE AROUNG THE SITE.
GREEN SPACE AND PARKING SPACE: A PROGRAMATIC ANALYSIS CONSIDERING THE AMOUNT OF GREENSPACE COMPARED TO THE AMOUNT OF PARKING SPACE IN THE IMMEDIATE CITY SPACE SURROUNDING THE SITE.
TRAFFIC FLOWS: AN ANALYSIS OF DIFFERNT TRANSPORT FLOWS SURROUNDING THE SITE. WHICH INCLUDES PEDESTRIAN, RAIL AND VEHICULAR.
MATERIAL AND LIGHT: A STUDY OF LIGHT SOURCES AND MATERIAL SURFACES SURROUNDING THE SITE.
IMPLEMENTATION A FIRST ATTEMPT AT A MASTERPLAN SHOWN IN MODEL
DESIGN ITERATIONS: I EXPLORED MASSING IDEAS THROUGH THE USE OFQUICK MODELS
FLUVIAL-URBAN CUT THESE DIAGRAMS `SHOW HOW FLUVIAL PROCESSES WOULD FORM THE UNIT MASSING
TRACTION
THIS IMAGE SHOWS SOME ORIGINAL THOUGHTS ON THE MATERIALITY AND MASSING. AS WELL AS INCORPORATION OF PUBLIC SPACES WITHIN.
SITE IS FILLED
ABRASION
CARPARK IS SUBtRACTED
DEPOSITION MASSING IS CUT
ATTRITION
DIVERSION CHANGES THE FLOW
SOLUTION
MEANDER IS FORMED
A POSTER EXPLAINING THE PRAGMATICS OF THE MASSING ON THE SITE AND HOW THIS RELATES TO THE FORM FINDING EXERCISES AND EXPERIMENTS.
TECTONIC BOARD CUT
TRACTION
ABRASION
DEPOSITION
ATTRITION
SOLUTION
I modeled the site as a fluvial system using erosional and depositional processes to create landforms that represent my massing on the site. By mapping the paths people would take across the site and applying the fluvial processes shown I was able to cut away at the site and create form that would inform the massing, and porosity of the site and structure. The screen shots displayed show how I created the laser cut from a series of steps taken on AutoCAD the finial image shows the sections of the contours laid out and ready to cut. They were then scaled to 1:500 and cut from a piece of black board. The images on the right show the finial laser cut model once all the sections were glued together. It gives an indication of what sort of paths the volumes on the site are likely to create through erosional and depositional processes.
I USED THIS MODEL TO SHOW HOW I EXPECTED PEOPLE TO FLOW THROUGH THE SITE AND HOW THE MASSING OF THE MASTERPLAN WOULD BE LIKELY TO RESPOND AS A RESULT IF THE PEOPLE WERE TO GENERATE EROSION AS RIVER WOULD TO A RIVER BED.
FINAL DESIGN
THESE PERSPECTIVES WERE CREATED FROM PHOTOGRAPHS OF MODELS. THEY SHOW VIEWS THROUGH THE SITE AND SUGGEST MATERIALITY AS WELL AS THE FLOW OF PEOPLE THROUGH THE SITE (BOTH THE PUBLIC AND RESIDENTS). THEY HELP TO GAIN AN UNDERSTANDING OF HOW THE SPACE CREATED BY THE MASSING AS A RESULT OF ERROSIVE PROCESSES PROVIDES AN EXCELLENT FREE FLOWING SPACE FOR PEOPLE TO MOVE THROUGH AND DWELL WITHIN.
WORKING DRAWINGS:
I CONSTRUCTED A SERIES OF WORKING DRAWINGS. TWO SECTIONS ARE SHOWN ABOVE. THE PLANS ARE DISPLAYED ON THE FOLLOWING PAGES.
HOUSING AND OFFICE UNIT DESIGN
THIS SHOWS A TYPICAL THREE BED UNIT WHICH HAS ACCESS TO A CIRCULATION CORE AS WELL AS ACCESS TO BOTH A PRIVATE AND SHARED RAISED OUTDOOR SPACE. THE WINDOWS ARE POSITIONED SO THAT NO BEDROOMS OVERLOOK THOSE OF SURROUNDING UNITS. THERE IS SUFFICENT LIVING SPACE FOR SIX OCCUPANTS AS WELL AS A BATHROOM AND A SEPERATE W.C.
AS PART OF MY SUSTAINABLE HOUSING SCHEME THERE IS A LIVE-WORK ENVIRONMENT. THIS MEANS THAT EACH UNIT COMES WITH AN ASSIGNED OFFICE SPACE. THE OFFICE SPACE IS SEPERATE FROM THE UNIT ITSELF AND HAS ACCESS TO SHARED FACILITIES. THIS PLAN SHOWS AN EXAMPLE OF THIS.
THE END