Final Portfolio: My Solutions to Site Issues
City College of San Francisco Arch 102 Fall 2017 David Harrington
CONTENTS 3. My design approach 4. Process -- From kite to community center modeling
27. - 28. Site-specific model conception -- constraints, indicators 29. Initial programs
5. Exemplary use of wood
30. - 31. Initial site-specific conept models
6. - 8. Abstract drawings of Lattice House
32. - 33. Complete redesign
9. - 11. Two abstract models on Lattice House combined
34. Plan, elevation, section, and perspective walk-through
12. Final Project One model
35. - 36. “Tree House� modeled
13. Project Two 14. Site overview map 15. - 22. Site Analysis -- Beauty and the people around it 23. Interpretive narrative
My design approach
Traditional style melded to latest technology
Process -- From kite to community center modeling Our class’ design goal was to first to create a box kite design, then through various iterations, to transform it into a hypothetical model of a local community center. My own genesis sequence was:
1
First kite concept drawing: hollow, rectangular box kite-like shape. Materials: card stock, clear plasic film, drawn simulated siding -- not traditional enough!
2
New drawing: now both ends tapered like mansards. X-braced center section, same card stock. Envisioned mansards as solar panels, all framing balsa.
3
4
Model derived from “2”.
New plan concept: now five rotated boxes, top, and bottom open. Tensile “wires” are gray thread to simulate steel, same balsa frame.
5
Exemplary use of wood
Class now directed to select an inspirational object or theme for model development. Above “Lattice House”, Jammu, India aligns closest to my “sustainability” theme, with elements of “traditional”. Exterior material: red cedar.
6
Abstraction of Lattice House
New plan drawing: in SketchUp for more 3D-like appearance.
7 7
SketchUp mid longitudinal section
8
SketchUp horizontial section
9
Model derived from 6-8. Box kite-like, simulating CLT
For CLT animation -- double click on the screen below:
10 View through bottom toward top
11
Full-scale (18” x 24”) model. All balsa frame, straight-pin joints. Balsa and card stock proved insufficient in strength ….
12 Final Project One model: now draped in more forgiving fabric and framed in basswood. Joints now wrapped in thread, coated in glue.
PROJECT TWO Receipt of new design goal: a hypothetical kite making workshop-community center.
Site Analysis Beauty and the people around it
➢ Physical survey ○
Topography
○
Weather
○
Solar path
➢ Demographics
Site topography
Site slope seen from Stanyan Street Alvord Pond in background
Closeup of Alvord Pond. Aerator in background.
Site slope seen from north
Solar Path for December 20, 2017
Interpretation of the Stanyan Street Site My response to the first requirement for six words most resonant for the student regarding the site selected for our class’ final modeling project is: 1. urban: resonant with me as a longtime San Francisco resident and referencing the site’s location in Golden Gate Park. 2. woody: descriptive of the site and resonant with me as a heavy timber framing advocate. 3. arboreal: more lyrical adjective of the site. 4. knolls: resonant with me as a longtime resident of the Nob Hill district, while descriptive of the several which exist on this roughly 175-foot by 175-foot site. 5. lanes: several walking-bike paths wind throughout the site. 6. thoroughfares: refer to the three major east-west (Page, Haight, and Waller) and one north-south (Stanyan) city street; the former perpendicular to and the latter parallel to the site. These further reference the urban context of the site. Based upon the function of the project model, stated as a kite-making workshop, and in the context of urban San Francisco, I believe that a most befitting co-venture for the kite-making workshop would be a large holiday-party decorations-making (e.g. Chinese New Year dragon, paper mache mannequins, festoons, etc.) operation. Both are engaged in similar products (large, thin surfaces supported by light frames), and each would offset the seasonality of the other. In observance of the open, park-like nature of the site, I believe that the projects materials should reflect this. Here then, the opportunity arises to express my timber advocacy – wood for both exterior and interior naturally stem from this. This would then be stained in perhaps redwood color for the exterior, mahogany or rosewood color for the interior, in observance of the urban milieu.
Site Impression Models
Site “dominant impression� models, this and next two pages.
Refers to the many city streets surrounding the site.
Site-specific model conception -- constraints, indicators Issue -- Consider the site’s international prestige The site’s precious natural beauty Public domain
Therefore maximal preservation of the site’s high-value view is critical for any development proposition.
Why I programmed for art and crafts exhibition center ..:
Just inside the entrace at Stanyan Street
Initial programs
Initial site-specific concept models
A quick exercise for determination of model-to-site appropriateness. Background simulates site topography. West elevation. Scale 1/16�=1-0’
Our team’s site topographical design. My contribution was the trees and left contouring. My revised site models are shown left (simulated shingle walls and green acrylic roofing nuance trees); solar panels over back roofs). Scale: 1/16”=1-0’. We were to name our project. Mine was “Tree House”.
Solution -- A single story structure designed and sited to minimize obstruction of the public’s view.
Pedestrian flows
Note model oriented as far west, and as close as possible to the pathways to preserve the public view and provide maximum space for circulation. Note footprint now more closely conforms to the contours of the pathways. The earlier square footprint I discovered obscured too much of the view sight-lines.
Closeup of new footprint configuration. Much more efficient space utilization -- same square footage in a more compact area.
52’
Model programs
94’
Axon section here well serves as plan,elevation,section,and perspective walk-through.
Final “Tree House” Some of the “tree” was lost when the instructor pointed out that the former green roofing color would distort the exhibition area’s lighting. Tracing paper used here to simulate translucent acrylic, which I read is superior to polycarbonate against UV damage, and more shatter resistant. Scale ⅛”=1-0’
⅛” dowels and green polyester utilized here reference trees. Followed the instructor’s suggestion: sliced fine-grit sandpaper simulates wood shingles.