First Year Portfolio

Damien Cifelli

Architecture : Assembly Semester 2 2011

A House for a Tapestry Weaver. Designed around the aesthetic ideas of tapestry. The ideas of weaving and intertwining different elements to create a distinctive whole.

StrangelyFamiliar

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar

TheSite The site is located in Victoria park in the Trinity area of Edinburgh. It is situated in a garden at the end of a row of houses. To the South, West and East of the site there are views of the park. To the north is the docks and from a six metre height there are views to the Forth.

Sketch of Adjacent buildings to North

PU

BLI

CA

Views to Forth from 6m height

CC

ESS

Car park and overlooking buildings to North-East.

Analysis of shadow at the suns higest point to avoid glare in studio area

Current view of site

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar ConceptualIdea The design of the studio section was developed after a visit to a tapestry workshop. I observed that excess wool was wrapped around any spare objects. I recreated this myself and the idea of wrapping the studio developed into an image of strands of wool being etched onto the glass of the structure.

I approached the house section by looking at the work of tapestry makers. The work of Josef Albers stood out. As, in tapestry, all that is seen is the horizontal, his work is primarily based on horizontal panels of colour. I used this idea and created a sketch model to show how i would express this in the design.

I wanted the design to echo the idea of weaving. and the intertwining of different elements. I did this in the final outcome by wrapping the house around the studio and overlapping the circulation of public and private.

JosefAlbers TapestryPlan

Development of circulation layout

FinalSolution

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar

The plan is set over three floors; Floor one is a utility space with a small courtyard garden, public access also passes through this floor.

The second floor is an open plan living space.

On the third floor mezzanine level are the bedrooms which look out over the Forth.

The Circulation and separation of public and private coninue the idea of weaving.

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar MaterialsandConstruction Polycarbonate skin

The majority of the construction will be in stone and cast concrete.

The North-West Facade is composed of a polycarbonate skin which is overlaid on the strategically placed window openings. This allows light to pass through but it is fitlered into a softer light in the main living space.

Window opening

The Studio is made of individual panels of etched glass connected on to an interior steel frame for support.

Each panel is held to the next using glass clamps.

RoughWindowDetail

StudioDetail

PolycarbonateWall

StevenHoll, SwissEmbassy, WashingtonDC

HerzogandDeMeuron EberswaldeBiblio-

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar

Interior/Exterior Sketches

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar

The structure will sit fairly subltly in the landscape as much of the surrounding foliage will be kept to ground the building on the site.

The studio is a large space as, with three nearby schools and a sculpture workshop, it will have the potential to hold large groups for classes or viewing. It has also been situated at the north of the site to allow an even light and reduce glare into the working area

DamienCifelli StrangelyFamiliar The clean lines and sharp edges of the polycarbonate skin will make the building a prominent intervention on the site.

By clipping the edges of the plan the house can be viewed as a series of floating horizontal planes. This echoes the work of Josef Albers and the importance of the horizontal in Tapestry weaving.

DamienCifelli PrecidentStudy

Rem Koolhaas & OMA Maison Bordeaux 1998

DamienCifelli DigitalSkin

DigitalSkin Project

MaterialWorld

DamienCifelli

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

SteamRoom After a visit to Blackness Castle I began to develop the idea of the natural surroundings becoming aspects of the interior. The final design consists of a huge tower sunk into the sloped landscape.

Visitors circulate around the outside of the structure before emerging into the steam room. The room itself is a tall atmospheric space which gives off a cavernous feel with thin slivers of light punctuating the steam.

The building contrasts elements, the smooth man made feel of the exterior contrasts with the rougher natural interior. The low ceilinged approach contrasts with the monumental inerior of the steam room.

Blackness Castle

The Steam Room will be constructed through the build up of a series of stone rings of specific sizes. This layering effect gives a man made but natural look to the interior of the strucure.

Layered Construction

Termite Pavillion TERMES

DamienCifelli

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

DamienCifelli

ModestyBox This project utilised the versitilty of bricks and their ability to create complex forms. The smooth twisting curves of the building contrast with the modular nature of bricks. this creates a movement to the building. The design is focused around a single shape that is gradually offset and twisting. The two buildings, male and female changing rooms, twist together and the two independent forms play off one another.The interplay between the two structures creates a dynamic courtyard in the centre and the entrance is at the centre of this twisting walkway.

Bricklaying workshop

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

DamienCifelli

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

DamienCifelli

BoatHouse The design of the boat house is based on the natural landscape. It echoes the rocky slopes of the riverbank and appears like parts of the land sliding into the river.

The site has a changing water level but must be accessible at all times. The building solves this with a stepping stone design.

The function of the boat house, along with storing the boats is to view the boats on the water. This design reacts to the site as it offers various views of the river; on the stepping stones at low tide and from the roof at high tide. The inerior of the club room also changes as the water level rises above the window, this gives another perspective on the river.

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

DamienCifelli

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

MartinBoyce NoReflections

DamienCifelli

TeaHouse The Tea House is situated on the banks of a Loch, this design utilises these surroundings and involves the ritual of tea drinking. The ground floor, along with the utility and staff areas, has an japanese style seating area over the water. This brings the visitor closer to the landscape by surrounding them with atmosphere of the location. The first floor seating area is a large fluid steel stucture that has the appearance of floating above the water and amongst the trees. It envelops the visitor in the surroundings as it relects and dissolves into the landscape.

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

DamienCifelli

The whole structure is held by rhythmic timber beams. They allow views in and out of the Tea House whilst maintaining the structures solid but graceful feel.

Stone Brick Conrete Steel/Timber

Damien Cifelli

Architecture:Elements 1st Semester

Damien Cifelli //Ground Wall Frame Canopy Space

Damien Cifelli //Ground Wall Frame Canopy Space

DamienCifelli

RengaProject

DamienCifelli

RengaProject