Austeja Grabauskaite COMPONENT 2 FREEDOM &/ LIMITATIONS
Design Brief for a Planetarium
The Royal Museums of Greenwich are planning to make a second planetarium. To update their interior and exterior design to a modern and current theme of architecture. They are planning to keep the current exhibitions and statues that are inside and outside, the main focal point for them is to update the use of the space, as there could be more of an increase of audience. The planetarium would ensure more tourists and visitors to attend to more shows. The new planetarium would also be adaptable to different weather; the open and closed roof.
To maximise the use of space, a second planetarium would be ideal, to even out the amount of people that could use the planetarium.
Specification
- the planetarium (the seating at the right angles for the comfort of watching as well as the increased number, adjust the viewing screen, the walking access to and out of the planetarium) - a reception area/information desk (with screens playing the adverts for current exhibitions and paying prices and dates) - Open and closing roof (for good weather and bad, suitable for any occasion)
The Royal Observatory (currently) “As Europeans took to the seas to explore the world and trade with other countries, astronomical information of sufficient quantity and accuracy to aid navigation, cartography and timekeeping was needed, including working out how to measure longitude.� The exterior design has a traditional style of architecture, from the combination of the red bricks against the white. I think in comparison to modern day buildings it is quite outdated and as a research centre it does show the time period of when the astronomical ideology began.
The Planetarium The existing planetarium: Has a very minimalistic approach to architecture and the simplicity of the design works well with the function of the planetarium. For my project I want to develop a second proposal, keep the existing planetarium and add another design (with a more modern approach to architecture, for a appropriate representation of the 21st century.) There are necessities like an open roof for the viewing screen as well as a dark interior, which would have a curved seating plan rather than a single facing seating area.
Mixed media model; Experimenting with wood, nails and string. The use of the string brought the model together by evening out the surface and connecting the outer blocks together. There are a lot of geometric forms within; using triangles mainly, this could extend to changing them into a spherical form.
Sydney opera house (built in 1973) By Jørn Utzon “It stands by itself as one of the indisputable masterpieces of human creativity, not only in the 20th century but in the history of humankind.” Expert evaluation report to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2007.
I am interested by his take on geometry and changing the traditional views on geometrical design by adding curves to the building. I was inspired by the offset of the building aspects and how they work together to create a minimalistic building.
Triangular forms Inspired from the series of sketches that had overlapped layout. The triangles have become a versatile shape/form to shape and reshape the existing spaces into buildings. These models are a series of how the pyramid form is changeable and could be adapted to different heights. I think for the proposal, the lower outskirts of the building allows the middle of the building to rise and form a larger viewing space.
Inspiration from the Sydney opera house The minimal approach as well as abstract representation of my drawings I like the form of the model and the layout it has, however function wise it takes away the practicality of the planetarium and presents it as a sculpture.
Plaster models; From the close ups of the model, I looked the different movement of lines and what shapes it could create. These squares represent little plans of what the next model could be. I like the shaded sketches more, because they had this extra detail of depth and understanding, as they suggest different layers of the model.
Paper Models; Model from the plaster models (looking at the geometric designs, also looking at contrasting forms and colours). The darker shadows inspired me to look at they could be manipulated into 3D forms of the sketches.
Asymmetric architecture
Centre for sustainable energy, China, Mario Cucinella Architects
Walt Disney concert hall, Los Angeles, Frank Gehry
Holiday homes,Korea, Seung Min Koo
Looking at the solution as an open area. The planetarium as a pavilion styled proposal.
The partly closed roof is a possible solution to the outcome as it displays the possibility to have an open roof for different occasions. Material wise the cardboard take away the aesthetical values to the model.
Plastic would work better for the representation of the open roof space, especially for the facade.
Monica ponce de Leon Helios house Australia Gas station
Experimentation of using mesh and plastic. The shape of the overall model works well with the ideas of the asymmetric architecture, however the open roof creates difficulties to the specification where this would be a problem for different weather conditions. The irregularity of the triangles do make the design aspect more interesting to look at but there needs to be more material added to make the ‘clear’ plastic stand out.
The second attempt to the model, I tried to add a more closed off roof where the idea of the closing roof could be introduced. However, function wise the practicality of the mechanical roof will over complicate the design.
Changing the shape; The more open space does add a pavilion style building, as it adds more entrances to the building. The design aspect does add an aesthetical purpose as the colour scheme of silver against the black work to create defined aspects. Material wise, these work well for construction as well as the visual aspects.
Close up of the openly proposed building
Close ups of the open spaced model. This model has inspired me to use less material close together, to use more space for the function within building. Although I want the model to close up more, the material does work on separating the model up.
Alexander Calder American Sculptor The use of triangles in his sculptors made me look at the minimalistic and abstracting approach to architecture where “less is more� and the use of light can bring out the clearer edges and corners of the design. I like the form of this model as it has a heavy perception of abstract art onto this model.
Finalising ideas for final model
Sketchup models In preparation for the exam, these sketchup model was a simplistic approach to the final solution. Mainly using glass and white outlines, I want to add in the mesh and the black card to the final model, but for the basic outline and plan it works well to present the idea of how I want to show the planetarium.
Close ups and refined ideas I want to add in the aspect of the closing on top od the building to outline the building better. It also shows a dispersion idea to the model.
Final Model photographs
Final Model photographs
Final Model photographs (the refined ideas of added material)
Evaluation Proposal for the Greenwich Royal Observatory park; Planetarium Throughout the design process I was inspired by the artist Alexander Calder for the use of minimalism as well as abstraction to keep the design to a simple form but an aesthetical perception. As well as architects; Monica ponce de Leon and the Helios house, who was heavily inspired by the geometrical design of triangles and how they can be versatile to the space. The triangles became a contestant theme in which allowed me to look at the different ways they could be manipulated into other forms. Which came from the ideas of the Sydney Opera house by Jørn Utzon, which brought more unique design to the city of Sydney. Another important component for me was the idea of representing the surroundings to the building like the Shard where Renzo Piano described the shard to represent the city in the design “a shard of glass through the heart of London”. Finalising the design to the final solution, was heavily influenced for the aesthetical façade as I wanted the façade to represent the cosmology of the stars to fit within the theme of the planetarium, as a form of reflecting the function onto the exterior. The overall size of the building was a single story building, which would roughly be two stories, as I took into consideration the larger ‘head space’ which would be used for the light shows/ presentations. The overall model works with the aesthetical purposes as well as the function. The clear glass (frosted plastic) against the metal mesh is able to display the visibility throughout the design and how it works along the function for the viewing screen of the planetarium. The space was initially for a larger scaled audience for 200-300, but through the design process, the solution became a smaller sized venue to 100-150, as the scale was fit for a quiet and more in depth space for the planetarium. Also, taking inspiration from the existing planetarium in Greenwich, the importance of understanding what the space is used for was vital, as the design had continuously had to be a minimalistic design to add an aspect of modern art and architecture as well as what it was initially made for; viewing the star shows/ the presentations of planets and space. I think the final model worked well to present a new solution and a new life to the Greenwich park, there are faults within the interior aspects where there is not enough space for the initial exhibition hall, as the space was devoted to the seating area for the viewing area. The construction of the building is risky as the inner triangular forms are not supported by any interior support panel.