ABPL90236 Design Approaches & Methods - Semester 1 - 2018 Subject Coordinator: Gregory Missingham Tutor: Stephanie Liddicoat
Journal for Weeks 6 - 11 David Gerber - 774234
April 9, 2018 - Workshop Unfortunately, I was unable to attend this workshop due to personal circumstances, however, I spoke to a few of my peers to get the insight for what the workshop entailed. The concept of today’s workshop was to go around the university and take a picture or draw a sketch of a space, then design a pavilion for that space. Then, using the “Crazy 9” method, draw 9 different types of pavilion ideas, each having a time limit of 30 seconds.
MSD - Northern Facade
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Mimic MSD language
Louvers as structure
Columns + Louvers
Louvers make shape
Louvers as roof
Louvers as boundary
Mimic MSD centre
Small-scale MSD
Louvers changing sizes
I have done a similar design method in one of my studio’s before, but have completely forgot about using it as an idea generating tool. I believe it is useful when trying to quickly jot down as many ideas as you can in the preliminary stages of your design, because they do not have to be fully refined, but they help you fish out the most important parts of your ideas, which you can then further develop. Conversely, it can also help think of new ideas you otherwise wouldn’t have, due to time constraints usually aiding in generating ideas.
THOUGHTS AFTER EXERCISE: I wonder if the way in which the exercise was presented to me by my peers, compared to while in the workshop would have created a different result in the idea generation. The way in which information is presented/interpreted could have varied in a broken-telephone type of way. This is not to say that my peers would lead me astray, but more so that the way in which they interpreted the exercise is the way in which they presented it to me. Each of us interpret the “unbiased” task in our own way, so that’s what leads me to believe that there may have been a slight difference. However, in hindsight, the end goal of quick idea generation remains the same.
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April 11, 2018 - Lecture
KEY TAKE-AWAYS: INFORMALIZING ARCHITECTURE - Architects come in when the urban design/plan is already done. - Informal - mixed/co-evolved. - Buildings first, streets second. - Keys features of Informal Settlements. - Close to employment. - Don’t have the funds for formal. - Informal emerges due to social structure. - Formalizing the informal. - Informed settlements create their own formal language. - Rooms are build one-by-one. - Streets emerge in between settlements. - Adaptive Designs. - Incremental Urbanism. - Skinny lane ways. - How do people live there?. - How can you learn/improve the spaces? - Very domestic scale. - Slowly cantilever until they meet. - Formalization + Upgrading. - Demolish + Replace. - Replacement produces dull/useless left-over space. 03
- Settlers’ house is their greatest asset (rent money). - Government comes in and forcefully removes people. - Problematic outcome. - Site + Service. - If there are no services, it becomes unhealthy. - People know how to build, so if the site/services are organized, then they build, it equals a better outcome. - Architecture - Informal, Urban Design - Formal. - Not the most optimal solution. - Need a lot of cheap land to succeed. - Core+ - Informal houses are there because they work, figuring out how they work is the hard part. - Aranya, India - Balkrishna Doshi. - Laying out the streets and sites. - Building the footings to make it easier for inhabitants when they are ready to expand. - When does the informal stop? - You can’t control “good” design. - Usually stops when the building starts to fall down (3-5 floors). - Architects aiding the initial stages. - Previ, Lima - Architects design first layer, inhabitants did the rest - blended with context well - successful. - Quinta Monroy - Alejandro Arevena - Inhabitants create a house in between built architecture.
- Shell+ - Service core - spaces in between for people to design themselves. - Torre David, Caracas - Half constructed shell occupied by squatters. - Informal taxi service taking people up 10 floors, then they had to walk the rest of the way. - Incremental In-Situ. - Permanent - so how do we make it work? - Highly collaborative. - Worst parts of settlements are taken out first and restored. - How do you get people to volunteer to have their house demolished in order for the community to gain public space? - Image + Identity. - Local artists to liven the city. - Political agenda to try to increase investments. - Locals believe it to be a type of make-up that doesn’t change the internal problems. - Public Infrastructure. - Helping the infrastructure so people have access to jobs, but let them control the housing. - Urban Design heavy. - Problem with tall buildings - no one wants to help pay for the elevator servicing if it doesn’t directly impact them. - Slowly cantilever until they meet. - Formalization + Upgrading. - Demolish + Replace. - Replacement produces dull/useless left-over space. 04
THOUGHTS AFTER LECTURE: How do we begin to start thinking about things spatially? - Lots of political agendas.. - Rethinking the fire protection - make smaller firetrucks, not demolish settlements. Are these places actually poor quality? - The quality is usually great, mainly due to people not wanting their house to fall down. - Poor quality happens when corrupt companies come in to “help” but do not care about quality. What kind of Architecture is important in these types of environments? - Highly adaptive architecture that is open to being changed by the occupants. - Hyper adaptability - Rooms that can be changed informally by those who use it. Is it really the settlements that are the problem? - It is a multifaceted problem that is not because of the inhabitants, but rather the external factors that have forced them to live the way in which they do. - Settlements are located where they are due to proximity to employment. - Relocating these settlements due to political agendas and “image” creates more problems. - Needs to be a collaborative process between everyone involved and not authorities imposing their “fix” to the “problem”.
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April 16, 2018 - Workshop
DESIGNING ATMOSPHERE: Task: Pick a space from studio, design the atmosphere, feelings, and emotions that this space can evoke.
REFLECTIONS WHILE WORKING: Changing of media helped spark new ideas. - Different from what I am used to using. - I usually use Rhino to test ideas. - Using Section, Plan, and vignettes were a great way to create atmosphere. Playing around with ceiling heights. - How high is too high? - Think about human comfort levels. Windows. - Horizontal and low to the ground to see the nature. - Shapes/locations to create diffused light to reflect with my experiential journey.
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Floor Plates MSD EXERCISE Task: What I see, feel, and draw.
REFLECTIONS WHILE WORKING: What I noticed while sketching. - The changing of the floor plate shapes. - Noise from clusters of shared spaces. - Most noise from L1 because more people can congregate there. - Huge skylight, but L2 and L1 are using artificial light and it’s only 1:40pm. Difference from studio. - I usually do diagramming to show why I did something, but don’t use it as a way to dissect and design accordingly like I did today. Difference from peers. - I was the only one that diagrammed, everyone else sketched what they saw in a perspective format. - Interesting to see how different people interpret the same task. Interesting observation. - Same place, 3 different people, and each saw the space and sketched it differently. - Solid vs. Transparent - Big vs. Small Structure - Patterns. 07
Noise Levels
Shadows
April 18, 2018 - Lecture KEY TAKE-AWAYS: GENDER IN ARCHITECTURE - History of Gender. - Not a strong binary between male/female. - Plato believed there were 3 sexes. - Male / Female / Hermaphrodite. - Jewish History - there are mixed genders. - What does the roles and definitions of gender mean for architecture? - Gender and Domestic Spaces. - 19th century house. - Different roles for different genders. - Nature and woman’s role in society. - Female - family, interior, private. - Woman’s room placed at back or garden side for protection since not many people go there. - Male - head of home, exterior, public. - Closer to the front of the house and close to public spaces. - Largest proportionally. - Identified by the gender and the rank. - 1. Husband - 2. Wife - 3. Guests - 4. Children - 5. Servants. - Modernists (Corb, Mies, Gropius) strongly rejected the homey values. - Ornament is a “female” construct. - Became a hallmark of bad design. - Domestic space was implicitly masculine. - Controlling your views in space.
- Based on how men and women should behave in society. - Hide / reveal your wife in the home. - Control / dominance by man. - Female can be revealed at any time by man. - Power - Vitality - Danger - Control. - Architectural Striptease. - Pulling back of layers.. - The power of gaze and control - Protecting gaze in / out. - Frosted glass and inaccessible windows due to furniture. - Seating with back to windows. - People coming in only see a silhouette, so they can’t actually see you. - Seated person has the “control” of the space. - Playing with the idea of control - Loos - House for Josephine Baker - Visitors gaze have a clear view of Josephine. - You can see Josephine swimming, but she can’t see you due to the reflections. - Control / dominance of the female. - Society said it was improper to stare. - Loos flipped that in his design.
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THOUGHTS AFTER LECTURE: - Gender not being binary in Jewish history. - Where / when did that get lost? - On my trip to Israel I saw two very conflicting worlds. - 1. My family where there is no divide between female and male. - 2. Our Orthodox Jewish family friends where the woman is second to man. - Shocking to see the wife always walk behind the husband, and the husband never lending a helping hand. - Masculine dominance and the gaze. - In my studio, I designed with sight lines in mind. I did not do this as a way of dominance of male over female, but rather for safety reasons for the staff to be able to oversee the patients. - Interesting that control over views is seen as a male dominance thing. - Do women practice Architecture differently? - I personally haven’t noticed a difference. - Am I blind / ignorant to the difference? - Is it because of the way I was brought up? - I was always told by my dad to respect my mother and sister. - Gender Identities? Expectations? - Is it how society tells us to be? - People saw Venturi as the star. - Was it because it was a long time ago and the divide was more prevalent than it is today? - Contemporary Ideas of Gender. - All black women’s practice. - Should we be having a division like this? Does it not continue that segregation? - Specific design for women. - Is there an assumption about how it should be designed? Can you really paint all women with such a broad brush? - What does a space for women really look like? Should we be designing solely for women? - A bit of a controversial, but eye-opening topic. - Hard to feel comfortable as a white male having an opinion on the subject matter. 09
April 23, 2018 - Workshop
HOW TO ASSESS ARCHITECTURE: Task: Design an assessment rubric to assess a serpentine building in a competition.
KEY THINGS WE THOUGHT WERE IMPORTANT: 1. Context. - Climate. - How does the design respond to it’s location? - Lighting. - How does the lighting contribute to the atmosphere?
3. Atmosphere. - The feeling of being in the space. - How does it evoke the senses? - Surroundings. - Does it add to the event?
2. Accessibility. - Between functions. - How does one get between the pavilion and main building? Is there a connection? - Public transport. - Easily accessible? - Age groups. - Does it cater to different age groups? Safety? - Handicap. - Is everyone able to enjoy the experience? - Finding your way around. - Easy to get around and experience?
4. Innovation. - Technology. - How does it add to the discourse of architecture? - Materiality. - Does it trigger discussion of innovative materials?
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PAVILION RUBRIC:
Functionality (30%)
Unsatisfactory
Satisfactory
Merit
Poor Handicap Access.
Limited Access.
Accessible for Everyone.
Not Multi-Functional.
Multi-Functional.
Flexibility of Space.
Construction (10%)
Architectural Quality (60%)
Ease of Movement and Orientation.
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No Relation to Context.
Some Attention to Context.
Responsible Response to Climate/ Site.
Lack of Public Engagement.
Great, but Not Strong Enough.
Stimulating Environment.
Lack of Attention to Innovation.
Current Known Knowledge.
No Consideration to External Issues.
Attempted, but Not Successful.
Leading Material/Construction Discussion Within Architecture. Promoting Awareness to Current Affairs.
Late.
On time.
On time.
Expensive.
On Budget.
Under Budget.
Reflections while working: - Only two people in our group as opposed to three in the other groups. - Did that hinder us? Less input? Or was it easier to come to a mutual agreement? - I don’t know anything about Serpentine Pavilions. - I do enough thinking about architecture with my friends and at MSD that I spend my other time getting away from that sort of stuff. I’ve honestly never heard of it before. - Could potentially be due to my undergrad background that I focus on other things and not solely on architecture. - I brought more practical thinking to our group - same rubric idea could be applied to any building. - How do you evaluate architecture and how do you assess it? - I feel like I look at the practicality of architecture and if it functions in a way that everyone can enjoy and provides back to the discourse of architecture.
Next exercise: Prepare a powerpoint presentation for the class as if you were a designer of the scheme in a design competition. What will you emphasize in this presentation? What is important about the design? What does this tell you about yourself?
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April 25, 2018 - Lecture KEY TAKE-AWAYS: PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY - Bjarke Ingles. - Architecture started when we became sedentary. - Evolution - Life has adapted to its surroundings. - Architecture - Life has acquired the tools and skills to adapt the surroundings to life. - Deciding as a species what kind of world we want to live in. - Fashion. - Can’t see the model’s body. - Protection of model. - Environmental Psychology. - People will act in a certain way in a certain place. - Quiet in a library or church - loud outside. - Encourage certain actions / reactions through design of spaces. - Power and Agency. - Are you designing in a way that is sensitive to the users? - Responsibility of creating environments. - Participatory Design. - Flexibility - Interactive. - Decision Making. - Action Orientated Biases. - Excessive Optimism - Overestimate likelihood of events. - Overconfidence - Overestimate our skills. 13
- Perceiving and Judging Alternatives. - Confirmation Biases. - Extra emphasis on favoured belief. - Anchoring + Insufficient Adjustment. - Root our initial ideas and can’t adjust our thinking. - Groupthink. - Agreeing just to come to a consensus. - Egocentrism. - Narrow focus on our own perspective. - Framing of Alternatives - Loss aversion - We feel losses more acutely than gains. - Sunk-cost fallacy. - We pay attention to non-recoverable historical costs. - Escalation of commitment. - We invest additional resources because of the effort, money and time already invested. - Controllability bias. - We believe we can control outcomes. - Stability Biases. - Status Quo Bias - We prefer the status quo. - Present Bias - We value immediate rewards very highly and undervalue long term gains.
THOUGHTS AFTER LECTURE: - What is my design agenda as an architect? - Creating spaces that are comfortable and that people want to be in. - Creating places that cater to the needs of the group it is being created for. - What aspects of my own experience may have been pivotal in the development of this agenda? - Getting into grad school has been pivotal in the development of this agenda. - I went from first being fascinated about architecture as a craft and making buildings just because I found the passion in the creative process. - To the more sustainable development/environmental outlook on how I can make these buildings reduce impact on the environment. - To now being fascinated with the interior aspects of architecture and how to create spaces that can evoke emotions and feelings for the occupiers. - As the years went by, I have slowly moved from macro to micro. - What do you think is the role of the architect/ Why? - Creating that which is more than just walls and a roof, but an place that caters to the needs of the individuals, while simultaneously creating a stimulating environment. - Do you notice any commonalities/patterns in your design decision making? - Sometimes I have overconfidence when I finally feel like I got an idea hashed out and working, but it is shortly brought down to earth by a tutor who has more experience and thinks of the idea in a different way. - I think this is due to the confirmation biases and anchoring that I have, where I just try to either post-justify or cling onto an idea because I do not want to start all over again. - I am also guilty of Groupthink, as groups tend to be a nightmare when it comes to organizing around everyone’s schedule, so you end up just coming to a conclusion just so you have something to work with until the next time you meet. - Does this require any adjustment/modification? - Hard to say if it needs adjustment, I think it’s all part of the learning experience. If I didn’t experience those setbacks, then I wouldn’t learn from them and progress. 14
April 30, 2018 - Workshop
SERPENTINE PAVILION PRESENTATION:
Contextual Connection
Sou Fujimoto
Interactive Art Serpentine Gallery - 2013
- Internal Views Frame the Serpentine Gallery.
- External form replicating the Serpentine Gallery.
- External form capturing the local foliage.
Site Plan Location: Hyde Park, London, UK
Interactive Environment
- Flexibility to choose whether to stand, sit, or lean.
- Catering to different age groups.
Innovative Construction
- Multi-purpose space.
- Quick assemblage.
- Modular system.
Night Atmosphere
- Responding to local climate.
REFLECTIONS: - We worked well together for our presentation and split everything evenly. - We wanted to emphasize what we thought were the key principles of the design. - I think it also may have been a bit bias to try and cater towards our rubric that we made in the previous week. 15
Next exercise: Assess other groups design based on your rubric that you made. How good was your rubric? - Group 1. - Functionality - S - Architectural Quality - M - Construction - S
- Group 2. - Functionality - S - Architectural Quality - S - Construction - U
- Group 3. - Functionality - S/M - Architectural Quality - M - Construction - U
- Group 4. - Functionality - M - Architectural Quality - M - Construction - S
Reflection on Rubric/Exercise: The presentation/rubric really depends on the audience (shareholders, non-architectural audience, etc). Have to be clear/concise with the outlines of the competition for this rubric. - For university subjects - know the rubric and cater accordingly. The rubric would need to be building/project specific. - Our rubric didn’t really work for other pavilions mainly because of the criteria that we had, the other groups didn’t focus on. It was difficult to assess them based off of it. How did your pavilion stack up? - Our pavilion worked for our rubric, but I think it was because we found the elements that catered to that rubric, and presented those. Can your rubric be used for your studio? - I believe it can be, other than the budget aspect of it since we do not have a budget for the studio project. Otherwise, my studio really focuses on the accessibility and atmosphere of the place due to it being a primary care/community center based on Biophilic Design. 16
Next exercise: Decision Making Biases Which ones do you identify with? How do these impact your designing? Excessive Optimism. - Overestimating the likelihood of positive events. - Underestimating that of negative ones.
Brainstorming
Meeting with Tutor
- Cultural? - Do different cultures take feedback differently? - How is feedback given? - Constructive criticism or putting down? - Taking on board the positives / negatives. - Peer-to-peer interaction to help overcome obstacles. Perceiving and Judging Alternatives. - Confirmation Bias. - We place extra value on evidence consistent with a favoured belief. - My workshop partner said that they were not confident in their design after speaking with their tutor. - I explained to them to not take criticism personally and that at the end of the day it’s just someone else’s opinion and does not make it right or wrong. - Really made me think about how the tutor/structure of the studio really dictates/affects the design process. - In what ways has a power or agency been manifest in your designing? What effect did this have? - Inherently, we as architects tend to be the “hero” and dictate how the users will use the space. I do the same, but always wonder to what extent can we truly dictate the movements/feelings of the users of the building, as if we were controlling SIMS characters. - Which thinking styles are helpful + not so helpful? Why? Suggest strategies for improvement. - I believe that they are all helpful/not helpful in their own way, I don’t necessarily see them as a good or bad per se. I think it also has to do with the environment that students are in. We tend to hold onto our initial ideas and post-justify them when it gets to crunch time because we do not have enough time to redo everything. I have a feeling that these aren’t as prevalent in the workforce since there are more people working together in a collaborative state so changes/adjustments can be made without sacrificing personal time/ego. 17
May 2, 2018 - Lecture KEY TAKE-AWAYS: MINIMALISM - Cubism. - Find a way of showing in 1 moment, in 1 object, in 1 setting, how multiple views of a situation can be put together. - Picture of reality by walking through it, having different views, and putting them all together. - Representation to Reality. - A work of art where one relates to the world, one self, nature, any situation. - Instead of a picture, you make the real thing. - Studied Simplicity. - High Context vs. Low Context situations. - High - cues information-rich cultural structures of meaning. - Low - forms contains most of the information sought. - Simplicity. - Japanese Teahouses, Shaker architecture. - Minimalism. - Abandoning representation as a technique in art, and dealing with aspects of the real world. - Not manipulating, but using pieces of the real world to make art. - Reductivism. - Taking away detailing if you can, to reduce and reduce.
- Essentialism. - Essential qualities of the object. - Single identifiable nature. - Purity. - Bundling of behaviours. - Wabi (‘Humility’). - Better because it’s “real”, more genuine because it’s done by genuine people. - Accepting flaws of everyday life. - Serialism / Systems. - A particular way of composing where you have a system, and use it to decide all parts of the composition. - Comes from music, which is scientific, organized, no qualities of tonal range - due to different times and not thinking in the old way. - Repetitive nature. - A Minimalist Architecture is... - One form. - One Material. - Clearly outside / clearly inside. - No scale. - Static interiors.
- Abstraction. - Featherless biped. 18
THOUGHTS AFTER LECTURE: - I found it an interesting lecture to listen to, however, nothing really resonated with me that I could bring forward in my designs/ design thinking. - It could simply be that I do not think as deeply into things, or try and associate meanings to things. - I tend to be an “on the surface” type of thinker. - Perhaps it is something I should start to learn/dissect in order to get more “depth” in my designs.
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May 7, 2018 - Workshop WEEK 10 PRESENTATION
Architect as Hero
Architect as Anti-Hero
Captain Confusion
? Current Studio:
Typical Studio:
Questions:
- Separation for primary care.
- Working in groups. - Collaboration.
- Is the design sensitive to the users? - Is that what everyone wants/needs?
- Cater to tutor/studio type.
- Can users be painted with a broad paintbrush? - Research on colours/smells/etc.
- More community space (open for longer hours to cater to more people. - Creating a positive environment by linking nature inside. - Thinking about the senses. - Psychology of humans.
- Cater to MSD standards. - Liaise with other parties. - Clients, ARUP, authorities.
- Can an architect really dictate how the users will interact with the space? - Everyone interprets differently.
PERSONAL PSYCHOLOGY - IN WHAT WAYS HAS POWER OR AGENCY BEEN MANIFEST IN YOUR OWN DESIGNING? WHAT EFFECT DID THIS HAVE?
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Gender Consideration
Lecture Thoughts
?
Current Consideration:
Thoughts:
- I don’t generally think about gender when designing, however I have for my current studio due to me having to think about it to a certain extent.
- Why segregate? - Black woman only firm. - Pros - stand out. - Cons - perpetuate separation.
Current studio: - More female toilets.
- Male-centric voyeur. - I used sight-lines in my design, but it wasn’t for the same type of “control”. - Reception looking over patients. - Public can’t see private.
- Create an environment where women will go outdoors. - Reported higher levels of stress, yet less likely to go outdoors during work day. - Walk in the park - Men increased immune function for 30 days. - Women increased only 7 days.
FLOOR PublicGROUND SCALE - 1:200 @ A1
Private
Authority
Patients
GENDER - DO YOU CONSIDER GENDER IN YOUR DESIGN PROCESS? WHY IS THIS THE CASE? HOW DO YOU THINK DIFFERENTLY IN REGARD TO GENDER FOLLOWING THE LECTURE?
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FIRST FLOOR SCALE - 1:200 @ A1
SECOND FLOOR SCALE - 1:200 @ A1
Collaboration
Practicality
Differentiation
VS. Value Collaboration:
Functionality:
Peers:
- Brings about different perspectives.
- Does the design respond to the function it needs to?
This studio: - All engage and help out one another.
Abiding to Brief:
Previous studios: - Solo artists. - Competition.
- Discussion helps overcome blockages. - Discussion shows if you know your project or not.
- Cater to brief outline. - Can I add anything of value on top? Concept: - Does it tie back into the original concept or have I gone astray?
DESIGN EVALUATION - WHAT ASPECTS/THEMES DO YOU USE TO EVALUATE IDEAS IN YOUR OWN DESIGN PROJECTS? IS THIS SUCCESSFUL? HOW DOES THIS VARY TO OTHER STUDENTS IN YOUR STUDIO? WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU ABOUT YOURSELF AS A DESIGNER?
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ANSPORT
ovement of c Transport.
Bus Route Along dary Road.
oved / Easier s to Facilities.
orporating the ghbouring greenways
en Corridor iews and access towards oyal Park and beyond. owards the Moonee onds Creek Reserve
alyst for future evelopment to the west
3
rictions due to a chain e surrounding the h, West, North, and of the East side.
ll openings in fence.
2
nvenient intervals.
riction of flow through site.
4
1
al interaction with er.
5
roved experience due resence of water.
6
ity for water ment.
ation in levels following natural topography.
ortunities for public ering.
1. MAIN ENTRANCE
BUILD FORMS
2. PLAYGROUND
SIDEWALK
3. BBQ AREA
MAIN ROAD
4. COMMUNITY EVENTS
BIKE/BUS ZONE
5. FUTSAL COURT
GREEN MEDIAN/ GRASS
6. COMMUNITY GARDEN 7. ADVENTURE FOREST
DESIGN EVALUATION - EXAMPLE OF COLLABORATIVE WORK WHERE PEERS DREW WHAT THEY SAW AS MY CONCEPT FROM ONLY HAVING MY MASTERPLAN.
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Move In
Start High School
Start Undergrad
Move Out
2004
2005
2009
2015
Meanings/Values/Emotions:
Meanings/Values/Emotions:
Meanings/Values/Emotions:
Meanings/Values/Emotions:
- Happiness - bigger house.
- Scary going to new school.
- Mature.
- More remote - nature to explore. - Spend days outside. - Room for sleep.
- Home became a sanctuary. - Same house, different external situations.
- Interact with inside/outside differently. - Older - do more chores outside instead of playing.
- New comfort.
- More time spent indoors.
- Sad - Leaving comfort. - Home and family as sanctuary.
- Room as sanctuary. - Most time spent in room.
INSIDE
OUTSIDE INSIDE
OUTSIDE INSIDE
OUTSIDE OUTSIDE
INSIDE ROOM ROOM
ROOM
ROOM
CHILDHOOD -CREATE A TIMELINE OF THE MEANINGS/VALUES/EMOTIONS YOU HAVE HAD IN RELATION TO THIS HOME. WHAT VARIATIONS DO YOU OBSERVE? WHY MIGHT THIS BE THE CASE? WHAT DOES THIS TELL YOU ABOUT YOURSELF AND YOURSELF AS A DESIGNER?
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THOUGHTS AFTER PRESENTATIONS: What has your childhood home taught you? - Large, open spaces - open plan. - Public vs. Private. - Views - See through the house with rooms branching off. - Comfort. - Connection to nature vs. commute. - Space to study, space that changes with time. - Clair Cooper Marcus - “House as a mirror of self” - Reflecting on childhood home. Gender. - Upbringing (kitchen, laundry). - Not typical - my dad always cooked instead of the stereotype of mothers cooking. - My studio is not catered to thinking about gender. - Generation. - Younger generations more open to certain aspects of gender. Comparing to peers. - It is interesting how much our childhood/past experiences is reflected in how everyone thinks today. - My idea of “home” is different. - Upbringing - Genders as equals, parents having money. - Location - Canada vs. a less developed country - culture is different, so the idea/functions of home is different. - Adnan - Inspired by music. - I found that extremely interesting, and haven’t heard of another student using music to design. Personal Psychology. - Architect like controlling the Sims - Controls the built environment and try to dictate who does what/where. - Architect/Designer has the power to pick and choose what to keep. 25
May 9, 2018 - Lecture KEY TAKE-AWAYS: ARCHITECTURE AS A CULTURAL PRACTICE - Edmond + Corrigan - Sensitive to how Catholics were seen. - What are you trying to do with vernacular? - Make it richer. - Remind that that’s where the majority of Australians live. - ARM - Ashton Raggat McDougall. - Museum of Australia - Questionable design. - Issue with Lebiskind and the Jewish Museum in Berlin. - Braille on the facade that was later discovered and shuffled. - Lyons. - Building 80. - Photos at every level. - Cuts in building to show the best views.
- How does your own designing practice compare? - I definitely do not have such abstract exterior surfaces, but I tend to make sure that my designs fit into the context and borrow the surrounding language, making my architecture fit into the “culture”. - Recently, I used expressive geometry, however it was in the interior ceiling panels to express the diffused light seen from overhead trees. - In your designing, what are your sources of ideas? - I look at the context for inspiration, and then precedents to build upon initial ideas.
- Are there any traditions, designers, schools of thought that you argue with, belong to or learn from? - I’m not 100% sure if it counts as a school of thought, but I enjoy learning from the Sustainable Development/Biophilic/ - Is the exterior surface an adequate medium for expressing ideas or does interior experience have to contribute? Biomimicry type of architecture. - I think that the interior should contribute to the experience, - Are there any sorts of ideas that look to you completely otherwise the exterior is just a faux-facade. unfathomable, strange or annoying that nag at you, nevertheless, that won’t go away? - Architecture/Design as a cultural practice. - I’ve always enjoyed Frank Gehry and Zaha Hadid’s type of - Engaged with the history of cultural and other ideas of architecture, however, I can’t see myself being able to create Melbourne, Australia, and elsewhere. such incredible works of art. - Provoke, surprise, and delight audiences, users and inhabitants - They use very geometric/parametric/abstract form. of buildings. - Usually colourful, with expressive forms. 26
May 9, 2018 - Lecture KEY TAKE-AWAYS: DESIGNING AS A CULTURAL ACTIVITY NUSANTARAN ARCHITECTURE - Culture - deals with identity. - Always changing. - Assimilation. - External influences. - Nusantaran Architecture. - Roof to floor instead of the Western floor to roof. - Roof is the most important part. - Interaction space under the house is part of the culture. - More than just a building. - Symmetry / Balance / Decoration - Sustainable / Earthquake resistant - Climate is very important
- What is culture for you? Did you incorporate this issue in your previous design? Why or why not? How did you address the problem? - Culture is the lifestyle/common practices of the area. - Was set in the Melbourne context, so it is difficult to assign a culture to it since Melbourne is known for its multiculturalism. - Addressing the problem would be making sure that careful consideration is taken to ensure a considerate response to everyones cultural background.
- Think about the country you are from and try to scrutinize it’s culture. What can you grab from it? If you have to design a space for people in that particular culture, what part of the context will you refer to? And how will it be manifested in your design? - Canadian culture would be cold weather, coffee, and working - Architecture is for living. too much. - Designing a space would mean heavily insulated or - Eko Prawoto - Indonesian Architect underground (we have a lot of those types of spaces), close - Used traditional building methods to help rebuild a city proximity to coffee (we love our Tim Hortons), and destroyed by earthquake. convenient connection to infrastructure. - 90 days to rebuild the village. - More about architecture, how do people rebuild their lives? - What is the indication of a successful cultural building in the - Work together to rebuild the village. modern context? - Designed the flexible framework that can withstand tremors, - I believe a “successful” building would be that which is adaptable and the village built the rest. and highly flexible to cater to the needs of an increasing population and various cultural backgrounds so that everyone - Culture is more than tradition, it’s about peoples everyday lives. feels comfortable to use the space. - It is dynamic and changing. 27
May 14, 2018 - Workshop
Task: Describe your current studio idea only using 1-2 sentences. Switch with a partner, read their sentences, and create a layout for their final presentation. Concept: Using nature and the built environment to evoke an experiential journey throughout the building through spatial compression and expansion.
Reflection on Exercise: We both made assumptions on the scale. - Could have added that it was a primary care/community center and maybe that would’ve helped my partner with scale. Conversely, I thought theirs was small scale as well and turns out it was bigger than my building. If the design “concept” isn’t clear for someone, it is difficult to understand the project. Focus on the narrative through the panels. I really liked my partners idea about the vignettes showing the different experiences. I think that will be beneficial in showing my concept.
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Next Exercise Task: List the first 5-6 things you do when you walk into the front door.
Task 2: Partner up, design a house to meet the needs of everyone.
1. Lock the door. 2. Put shoes on the shoe rack. 3. Hang up coat on coat rack. 4. Put backpack by couch. 5. Change into comfy clothes. 6. Plop onto the couch and start working.
Me: Entry -> Living -> Bedroom -> Living Partner: Bedroom -> Kitchen -> Bath -> Kitchen -> Bedroom
My current layout:
Key Things: - Ground Floor. - Bike parking. - Kettle auto on entry (app).
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- Bedroom close to entry. - Ensuite. - Kitchen close.
REFLECTION AFTER INITIAL DESIGN: - I didn’t even think about the process about getting home. - The list should really be: 1. Bike -> 2. Park bike -> 3. Walk to lift -> 4. Take lift up -> 5. Walk across hall -> 6. Enter apartment. - I found it strange how numb I have become to the process of going home. I haven’t ever lived in an apartment until I moved to Melbourne. At first, it was weird not having the ability to just walk straight into my home, but I guess over the 2 years I’ve lived here, I have become accustomed to it since my initial 6 steps were as if I did still live on the ground and I neglected all of the initial lead up to entrance that I found such a nuisance originally. It’s interesting to see how we have a learned numbness to our environment and things that once seemed non-ordinary become habitual and ordinary. - How will this routine change on a different day / mood / year? - When I am working full time instead of at uni, will my space be used the same? Will I still be numb to the routine? - Efficiency is key. - I think as the semester rolls on, efficiency is most important, but once we are on break, is the quality of the space lacking because it is too efficient? - Basically a studio apartment? - Everything is in close proximity and efficient. - The floor plan really depends on the user / routine. - Same user, but different routine makes the space feel / be used differently. - Dimension of time is interesting. - It’s interesting that we measured how far things would be based on the 3 minutes that it takes to boil water. - We try to create spaces to evoke certain things, but who’s to say it will effect everyone similarly? - Different external situations / health / age. 30
Additional ideas for another house design based on what we learned during the first plan.
Movable, multipurpose wall.
Kitchen / Living room.
Ensuite / bedroom.
This apartment has a movable middle wall that can create spaces/functions depending on it’s location. This way it will cater to our schedules. The middle wall houses the kitchen and bed. When it is moved to the left side, the space is a kitchen/living room. When moved to the right, the bed folds down and the space is a bedroom with an ensuite. A highly flexible space that can be changed quickly without having to walk large distances -> efficient for stressful uni days.
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May 16, 2018 - Lecture
KEY TAKE-AWAYS: ARGUING THE CASE FOR YOUR DESIGN - We are too used to talking to groups of people who are architects or our peers, then have to transfer that to people that do not know anything about it. - Dumb down the idea to explain it. - Be aware about the kinds of drawings you use to explain the idea. - Plans, Sections, Elevation - Describe the building, not the architecture. - Know your audience. - Rules for describing something: - Large Scale -> Small Scale. - From fuzzy to sharp focus. - Context first, object next. - Go through the whole chain before explaining the details. - Russian doll idea. - Larger scale describes / sets a place for the smaller scale. - The complete drawing: - 1. Concept. - 2. Conventional construction drawings. - 3. Perceptual views.
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