POROUS STRATUM - MEGAN VOO

[MEGAN VOO]

POROUS STRATUM

RMIT COMMON GROUND

JUSTIN CHONG

Porous Stratum “The Future of Digital Media, a place that is open and welcoming, allows the public to be more involve in this space. It is a studio that facilitates the spilling forth of human activity that ultimately delights in its complexities, holding a strong identity to RMIT buildings by taking reference from urban surrounding, the attention to details, to allow parts of the building to touch at one to one, striving for a sense of the civic in the ways things are both mad and used. This can be broken down into porous fabric, porous terrain, and porous view. It allows pedestrians to use it as a getaway to the Dockland Studio Melbourne and hence the ground floor can be accessible throughout each corner of the streets.

A place for people to loiter, gather, a threshold that links people from different fields.

The new spatial composition breaks the norm of designing a school that has a linear arrangement, each cell is designed to engage with one another.

By extracting the behaviour of a prison cell, the idea of control porosity can be observed as the user is standing in the main courtyard of Porous Stratum, where the user can observe various learning activities happening at the same time whereas as the user is standing in any given point in the learning cells, it allows a strategic privilege view. These variety of heights, overlapping of spaces create vertical and horizontal visual connections. Instead of having visual from level to level, this new typology encourages students to collaborate, to be more engaged, spreading the interactions between levels instead of one floor.

PROJECT INTRODUCTION

a seamless transition and provoking a sense of transparency within the industry and the university.

Zone B is a place design to encourage collaboration between primary, secondary, and university students as well as people from the industry. Situated in the centre of the building, this porous learning cell is designed to inspire collaboration from the surrounding learning pods by creating an open environment, allowing the spillage of boundaries to the central courtyard.

Zone C is a place design for events and exhibition, the typology in this cluster is the most porous, highly ornamental and experiential, catering to a variety of different program, all within one building. All these different stratum of porous learning cells come together to bring a high spatial learning experience to students, industry and the civic.

Porous Stratum is a school that facilitates a flow between environment, people and architecture, enabling architecture as a process of exchange. A porous vessel that accommodates the spilling forth of human activities, the opportunities to watch and to be watched. It is the production of an urban learning village, creating spaces that allow the civic to mingle, delight and wonder as well as authenticate the build form in which it is experienced.

The new media hub is cluster of 3 different zones. Zone A is Design and Production. By referencing Melbourne Dockland Studio Sheds, zone A is a collective of different compartments that are complimented by condensed patterns that are more pragmatic and utilitarian for a focused learning environment. This blur the identity between Melbourne Dockland Studio and RMIT media production zones, creating

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Image.

Axonometric View of RMIT Common Ground.

Not just an institution for media, but also an act of resurgence for the city of Docklands.

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POROUS STRATRUM

MEGAN VOO

Image: North Side street view of Porous Stratum. By referencing Melbourne Dockland Studio Sheds, zone A is a collective of different compartments that are complimented by condensed patterns that are more pragmatic and utilitarian for a focused learning environment. This blur the identity between Melbourne Dockland Studio and RMIT media production zones, creating a seamless transition and provoking a sense of transparency within the industry and the university.

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PROJECT IMAGES

Image: East Side Street View of Porous Stratum. The East side facade of the new media precinct cater specifically to Zone 3 “Events and Exhibition�, aiming to create a welcoming area to lure the public to delight in this new precinct. The typology in this cluster is the most porous, highly ornamental and experiential, catering to a variety of different program, all within one building.

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POROUS STRATRUM

MEGAN VOO

Image Top: The vision of Porous Stratum is to create an open and welcoming environment that allows the public to be more involve in this space. A place for people to loiter and gather, a threshold that links people from different fields.

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PROJECT IMAGES

Image Bottom: Inspired by the Melbourne Dockland Studio logo, the pattern on the ground of the Green Screen Studio become a sense of guidance and direction to lure pedestrian into the education space as well as to dockland studio.

Image Top: This new spatial composition breaks the norm of designing a school that has a linear arrangement, each cell is designed to engage with one another. By extracting the behaviour of a prison cell, the idea of control porosity can be observed as the user is standing in the main courtyard of Porous Stratum, where the user can observe various learning activities happening at the same time.

Image Bottom: Porous Stratum is also a place for observation learning, allowing the civic to act as a surveillance to the teaching spaces without disturbing the students.The juxtaposition of landscape in the corridor creates interesting experiential effect as it dematerialise itself, creating a non-definitive boundary, a flexible space for innovation and collaboration.

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

DESIGN DIAGRAMS

OCULAS

• An insertion of aperture on different levels allow glimpse of the roofscapes of other learning cells.

CIRCULAR WINDOW

• The insertion of the circular window directly opposite to the oculus extend the the user’s view from the street, to the classroom and to the atrium.

BRIDGE

• The bridges becomes a tunnel that entice the public to loiter in these spaces.

SEMI-OPAQUE CEILING

• The semi opaque glass mezzanine or ceiling create varied movements as shadow of humans cast on in.

MEZZANINE

• This open mezzanine blurs the transition between what is private and semi-private, enabling these spaces to be shared between civic and students.

ZONE B: Innovation &Collaboration Cluster Diagram

ROOFTOP AREA

• Rooftop area can be extension of space for students to gather and rest when class is finished.

SKYLIGHT

•To allow filtration of air and light, to watch and to be watched

SHADING DEVICES

• The grid can be used as a shading device.

Grid Window

• The grid become the frame and mullion of the window.

Balcony

• The balcony become a platform to connect different learning cells.

MEZZANINE

• This mezzanine maximizes the use of vertical space, providing extended spaces for informal learning spaces.

POROUS PARTITION

• The grid become a structure and a porous wall.

MINI AMPHITHEATRE

• The stairs become adaptable and can be used as a mini amphitheatre.

ZONE A: Design & Production Cluster Diagram

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

GROUND FLOOR PLAN

DOCKLAND STUDIO

PEARL RIVER ROAD

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09 LIFT

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12 ZONE 3 EXHIBITION WALL

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Legend: 01 - Equipment Storage Space 02 - Green Studio 03 - Object Preparation Space 04 - Cafe 05 - Equipment Loan and Storage Space 06 - Informal Space 07 - Control Room 08 - Auditorium Room 09 - Symposium 10 - RMIT Connect 11 - Maker Space 12 - Female WC 13 - Male WC 14 - Computer Room 15 - 3D Print Room

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SCALE 1: 350

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DOCKLAND DR 1:250

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10M

POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

FIRST FLOOR PLAN

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04 Legend: 01 - Green Studio 02 - Flexible Workshop Space 03 - Editing Suite 04 - Breakout Space 05 - GLAM hub 06 - Informal Space 07 - Dedicated Office Space 08 - Physical Effect Workshop 09 - Control Room 10 - Balcony 11 - Corridor

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SCALE 1: 350

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

SECOND FLOOR PLAN

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Legend: 01 - Physical Effect Workshop 02 - Flexible Workshop Space 03 - Informal Space 04 - Server Room 05 - Balcony 06 - Game Production Space

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SCALE 1: 350

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

LONG SECTION

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Legend: 01 - Seminar 02 - Control Room 03 - Green Screen Studio 04 - Flexible Workshop Space 05 - Balcony 06 - Sitting Area 07 - Corridor 08 - Informal Space 09 - Mini Amphitheatre 10 - Breakout Space

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SCALE 1: 220

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MEGAN VOO

PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS APPENDIX.

[POROUS STRATUM]

APPENDIX

Image below The picture below is a blue print summarising the 5 procedure explorations we have research in the beginning of the weeks. Each research has its own speculation and vision that can be extracted out that contributed to the final outcome of the building.

WEEK 02

WEEK 01

TYPE

SYSTEM

RAW RESULT

• The outcome allows the ornament of the church to become a column, the entry tower as a façade, the extended roof as a bridge or cantilever and the main body can be potentially be split into partitions.

• The section of the drawing also creates a new form of typology and raises the question what’s the meaning of a roof within a roof.

LEAF DROP

VOLUMINOUS TYPOLOGY

In experiment 2, based on our observations from various precedents, we notice that most of the airport circulation has a U-shaped pattern. This U-shaped pattern shares a similar system to a learning environment, starting with the main entrance, followed by a courtyard in the middle, and a linear circulation where each student disperses to their own individual classroom.

• The proposition of this project is what if we created a new form of teaching spaces that main circulation, breaking the norm of tight hallway spaces. A generous circulation space that create extensive internal recreation areas or informal learning space.

• The result of this project creates a new learning environment that consist of purely circulation, purposely a new typology where the learning environment consist of a serious of ramps juxtaposition each other with pocket spaces.

• The raw-result compromises of vertical, horizontal, open and enclosed circulation space that can potentially that can be broken up into different architecture typologies in the future.

WEEK 03

60,000 50,000

• The column grid was manipulated into different sizes to allow the columns to serve different purposes and create new formal qualities.

40,000

30,000

• Playing with the sense of scales, the new post process created a different type of formal outcome of columns that can be habitable, highly operable as a structure, a column, circulation, roof, sitting area and ornaments.

• However, this project was consider unsuccessful because the intersection of the columns doesn’t create a new type of form other than a circle.

10,000

• Through speculation, the different scales and stacking of forms with specific colors can be potentially develop into programatic layout in the future.

STAR EXPLOSION

PROGRAMATIC STACKING

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WEEK 04

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In experimenent 4, Sihe Yuan is a type a traditional Chinese home that were designed around a courtyard. A typical learning environment usually have their outdoor space or field peripheral to the building. Instead of going out to the field to play, what if we bring the fun inside, to the centre and of the building, like a metaphor of a magnetic field, where the force of attraction is the highest in the middle, a place where civic, teachers and students congregate.

POROUS

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• The new designed of the courtyard is used to connect several buildings, it act as a terrain to guide people and also a gateway to Dockland studio. Using landscape to engage with public. This continuous terrain can be used by the civic to pass through different location. The whole building is porous, there is no enclosed space, it is not a solid box. Some are open courtyard. Some are enclosed courtyard (private), a void inside one of these building.

A B

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• The symmetrical and social order of the Sihe Yuan is manipulated while maintaining the idea of buildings surrounding the courtyard. However, instead of one, a serious of courtyard were designed.

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TRAIN LINE

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CONTINOUS TERRAIN

WELCOMING MATERIAL THAT CREATE AFFECTS

8000

WEEK 05

In each exploration, we are require to research on a type of building, study its behaviour and extract a typological behaviour of these elements that potentially can be re-evaluate it’s tectonic properties.

These information and research together form a “Generic Operatice Diagram” (GOD) that abstract the specific typological behaviour we aim to focus.

ENDLESS CIRCUIT

20,000

The potential of column grid through the learning environment lens is a space that is highly adaptable and porous, providing a great ability to be adjusted and changed to suit the different needs of the user.

VISION

• This new form has a voluminous spaces that can potentially be a new learning environmenet.

Perhaps the higher the volume, the higher the hierarchy of the learning spaces.

The experiment for this week was to explode the formal qualities of these volumetric spaces so that they can be re-distributed, expand, contract, shift or explode to create a new type of learning environment.

In experiment 3, the columns and the grid of a carpark was focused on in this project. This is because columns are the main division of space and organisation of form in a carpark.

SPECULATION • The new configuration of forms allows the building to have more variations in forms and breaking up the rigid spatial organization of a church.

ROULETTE

The first 5 weeks of the studio aims to focus on generating formal outcome by studying different types of building typologies.

POST PROCESS

In experimenent 1, the systematic and distribution of spaces in a catholic church was observed.

These orders of spaces has its own individual formal qualities that defined the spaces, for example the transept spaces usually has a high atrium and the sanctuary spaces usually has a difference in floor level.

In experimenent 5, we are interested in the interior façade of prison. The jail bar has a porous behaviour that creates a visual connection between the guard and the prisoner. This controlled porosity allows the guard to look at all the prisoners, but the prisoners doesn’t have the authority to interact with other prisoners.

This behaviour can be implemented into the learning environment where the civic can be the surveillance to the teaching spaces without disturbing the students.

• The outcome of the project creates a serious of different layers of façade, that is operable, railings, habitable, ornamental and can be used as a furniture or shelves. This adaptable edge is creates one identity to the building.

7000 6000

• The building can be access by the civic on all four sides, a continuous terrain that can be used to different locations.

5000 4000

• The circulation of the public is on the outside of the façade whereas the blue tube is used by students and teachers. This creates a controlled porosity where civic (green) can access the learning environment of the students as a surveillance above ground level.

3000 2000

•The mezzanine above ground level becomes balcony or bridges that link various pod for the civic without entering the building whereas on the ground floor it is used as tile for the floor or green spaces.

1000

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FACTORS FAMINE

ADAPTABLE SHELL

COURTYARD TERRAIN BRIDGES

•This grid structure can also be used as a roof to provide shades or a giant net for students to have informal activities.

A system is applied to this GOD to manipulate the design outcome that is not within our control, allowing our speculation and rules to be faithful to the design outcome.

The result of the outcome will form as a “Raw Result”, which we need to judge it based on our earlier speculations and the potential it brings to our research.

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS APPENDIX.

[TYPOLOGICAL PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS 1]

VOLUMINOUS

TYPOLOGY

Image 2 Plan view of the procedural outcome. The extended roof now becomes a bridge or cantilever and the main body can be potentially be split into partitions.

Image 3 The outcome creates a courtyard in the middle of the church, with the ornament turning into a sturcture or column and the entry tower as a façade.

Typological Identification This typological exploration focus on the systematic and distribution of spaces in a catholic church. These orders of spaces has its own individual formal qualities that defined the spaces, for example the transept spaces usually has a high atrium and the sanctuary spaces usually has a difference in floor level.

Image 1 Section view of the procedural outcome. The new configuration of forms allows the building to have more variations in forms and breaking up the rigid spatial organization of a church.

G.O.D

Choreography System: “Leaf Falling System” was used to explode the formal qualities of these volumetric spaces so that they can be re-distributed, expand, contract, shift or explode to create a new type of learning environment. The number of the wind speed was used to twist the building clockwise, temperature to subtract, followed by splitting each element equally and then arrange them back to its original position.

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Image 4 The short section shows new form of typology and raises the question what’s the meaning of a roof within a roof.

Raw Result

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS APPENDIX.

[TYPOLOGICAL PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS 2]

ENDLESS CIRCUIT

Image 1 Section view of the procedural outcome. The outcome created a new form of teaching spaces that focuses on main circulation, breaking the norm of tight hallway spaces.

A generous circulation space that create extensive internal recreation areas or informal learning space.

Image 2 Plan view of the procedural outcome. The new learning environment consist of a serious of ramps juxtaposition each other with pocket spaces.

Typological Identification Based on our observations from various precedents, we notice that most of the airport circulation has a U-shaped pattern. This U-shaped pattern shares a similar system to a learning environment, starting with the main entrance, followed by a courtyard in the middle, and a linear circulation where each student disperses to their own individual classroom.

Image 3 The interior spaces of the circulation is also highly experential. Other than being a ramp, the form can potentially become ornaments that can create varied experiences for user to study in this learning spaces.

G.O.D

Choreography System: “Casiono Roulette� was used to twist and turn the generic operative diagram to break the linear circulatin of an airport.

The procedure begins by rotating the GOD 9 times based on each turn. The number was later used to extrude the height of each GOD. A variation of outcome twisting form was created and was later stack together based on the mid point, forming the raw result.

Image 4 Endless Circuit compromises of vertical, horizontal, open and enclosed circulation space that can potentially that can be broken up into different architecture typologies in the future.

Raw Result

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS APPENDIX.

[TYPOLOGICAL PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS 3]

PROGRAMATIC

Image 1 Section view of the procedural outcome.

Overhanging spaces and open coutyards are generated and spreaded throughout the form.

STACKING

Image 2 Plan view of the procedural outcome. The formal outcome has a singular identity.

Therefore this outcome is consider unsuccessful because the intersection of the columns doesn’t create a new type of form other than a circle.

Typological Identification The columns and the grid of a carpark was focused on in this project. This is because columns are the main division of space and organisation of form in a carpark. The potential of column grid through the learning environment lens is a space that is highly adaptable and porous, providing a great ability to be adjusted and changed to suit the different needs of the user.

Image 3 The carpark column grid now is highly adaptable, habitable, operable as a structure, a column, circulation, roof, sitting area. and ornaments.

G.O.D

Choreography System: Image 4 The openess and porosity of the built form allow the building to become a gateway to the Dockland Studio.

“Sun Explotion” was used to expand and manipulated the grid column into different sizes to allow it to serve different purposes and create new formal and spatial qualities.

Raw Result

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS APPENDIX.

[TYPOLOGICAL PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS 4]

CONTINOUS TERRAIN

Image 1 Section view of the procedural outcome.

The voluminous form creates double height ceiling.

Image 2 Plan view of the procedural outcome. The symmetrical and social order of the Sihe Yuan is manipulated while maintaining the idea of buildings surrounding the courtyard. However, instead of one, a serious of courtyard were designed.

Typological Identification Sihe Yuan is a type a traditional Chinese home that were designed around a courtyard. A typical learning environment usually have their outdoor space or field peripheral to the building. Instead of going out to the field to play, what if we bring the fun inside, to the centre and the inner core of the building like a metaphor of a magnetic field, where the force of attraction is the highest in the middle, a place where civic, teachers and students congregate.

Image 3 Using landscape to engage with public. This continuous terrain can be used by the civic to pass through different location. The whole building is Porous, there is no enclosed space, it is not a solid box. Some are open courtyard.

Some are enclosed courtyard (private), A void inside one of these building.

G.O.D

Choreography System: “Sdyney Rail Network� was observed and study to be create the raw result of this experiment. The colors of the GOD was based on the social statues and main living spaces of the house. Each group of program based on individual colors are split, resize and rotated clockwise based on the diagram of the train system. Each component was later placed back to the same position as the GOD.

Image 4 The new designed of the courtyard is used to connect several buildings, it act as a terrain to guide people and also a gateway to Dockland studio.

Raw Result

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POROUS STRATUM

MEGAN VOO

PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS APPENDIX.

[TYPOLOGICAL PROCEDURAL EXPLORATIONS 5]

ADAPTABLE

SHELL

Image 1 North view facing Dockland Studio. The outcome of the project creates a serious of different layers of façade, that is operable, railings, habitable, ornamental and can be used as a furniture or shelves. This adaptable edge is creates one identity to the building.

Image 2 Plan view of the procedural outcome. The symmetrical and social order of the Sihe Yuan is manipulated while maintaining the idea of buildings surrounding the courtyard. However, instead of one, a serious of courtyard were designed.

Typological Identification This exploration looked into the idea of control porosity in the facade of a jail cell.

The jail bar has a porous behaviour that creates a visual connection between the guard and the prisoner. This controlled porosity allows the guard to look at the prisoners, but the prisoners do not have the authority to interact with the other prisoners. This behaviour can be implemented into the learning environment where the civic can be the surveillance to the teaching spaces without disturbing the students.

Image 3 The circulation of the public is on the outside of the façade whereas the blue tube is used by students and teachers. This creates a controlled porosity where civic (green) can access the learning environment of the students as a surveillance above ground level.

Choreography System: “Somalia Famine System” was apply to the GOD of the jail interior facade. The component of the GOD was divided into jail bar, cell walls, staircase, mezzanines and floor slab with its own individual color. Each element was manipulated individually based on the histogram by scaling and rotating. The raw result of the jail cell created a serious of different levels and juxtaposition of the cells.

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Image 4 The building can be access by the civic on all four sides, a continuous terrain that can be used to different locations.

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