CONTENTS
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Skills Seminars
Reading Seminar
Body Survey
Seat
Room
DOUGLAS WALKER S0811464
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Collectors House
Dance Centre
AD2 PORTFOLIO IN PLACE/ANY PLACE CONSTRAINT
Skills Seminars
Roof Plan
LAWSON/WESTEN HOUSE- ERIC OWEN MOSS A series of lectures formed the basis of the skills seminars. Each lecture was tailored towards a specific area of draughtsmanship, after which we were required to produce our own drawing of a selected building.
Detail Drawing of Roof connection
Skills Seminars Section A-A
Perspective Drawing
Interior Visualisation
Section on A-A
Reading Seminar
‚Table Manners‛ celebrates mess and the lack of conformity between intended use and actual use. From the disarray comes a true reflection of life; a carbon copy of the imperfections which personify a person or place.
The process of taking a study such as this through into a final design addresses many similar issues to my own work and it is interesting to observe how literally the topic of another system of order has been dealt with, by breaking from the grid of ordered architecture and creating a seemingly messy floor plan.
While the ‘Straw bale house’ could be passed off as nothing more than an experimentation with unconventional building materials, it also blossoms from a very interesting design process which in itself is worthy of discussion. It may not be universally well received but its clarity in design intent and reasoning make it a fascinating study.
HABIT
Sarah Wigglesworth and Jeremy Till 9/10 Stock Orchard Street
Tracking and recording motion in sports offers an interesting insight into the intricate movements of the human body. Analysis such as this has long been used by professionals to further understand and improve their game. The question posed was whether this method could be extracted and used in the context of everyday life.
Body Survey
The Tiger Woods golf swing analysis led on to further studies in movement and interaction with the environment in our desk study and study of ascending steps.
The asymmetry of the swing stood out as a key concept in designing for the human body.
Shoulder Elbow Wrist
The 2D dot and line analysis diagram has been worked into a 3D structural language. Thin steel members with cast spherical joints produce a lightweight, efficient design which visually echoes the analysis drawings. The spherical joints allow asymmetry and freedom in design as they can connect at any angle.
Seat
ASYMMETRY Asymmetry of the human form is apparent in the way that we adapt to an environment. Often the place we choose to sit is not intended to be used that way. Sitting on the arm of a chair being one example. It seems that we enjoy the stimulating experience of balancing or adapting to the surroundings. Based on this logic, the seat is warped from its symmetrical form to present an object with no determinate seating arrangement.
Seat
HABITATION DISSASOCIATION
Set within the same parameters as the body study, we investigated the adaption to, and usage of a desk. The study shows the extremities of movement which prescribe a modular basis on which to design a study/ library. To be fully immersed in work, you have to extract yourself from the surroundings. As a psychological step, raising the study space allows the user to rise up from the distractions of every day life and feel lifted from their problems.
Room
DISTORT Continuing the theme of asymmetry in the body, the room has been manipulated. The walls have been angled and distorted to create an enclosing space for the study. The walls lean in as if they are bearing down on you, intended to focus the user on work.
Plan
Room
Elevation
End Elevation
Natural light provides a stimulating environment that is constantly changing. The reaction to moving from a low, artificially lit library space to an elevated platform bathed in natural light is intended to improve work ethic and provide an enjoyable study space.
Room
(Below) Light Study
(Above) Room visualisation showing secluded, stimulating work space
Advocates Close is situated in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, just off the Royal Mile. It is one of the few remaining sites still vacant and open to development. The site invites a number of interesting proposals including the opening of a passage between Advocates Close and the News Steps situated on the West boundary of the site.
SITE STUDY
Collectors House
Collectors House
Site Section
3rd Floor House
1st Floor Museum/House Collectors House
2nd Floor- Entrance level Museum/House
Ground Floor Museum Space
CONVERGING PATHS
Initially the parte was concerning the axis of public, private and semiprivate movement. The house was to have one central connecting axis intersected by an indirect axis for public movement. In developing the idea, the triangular light well became the linking piece between the private and semi-private areas of house and museum and the facade became a barrier to public movement that creates the indirect axis.
Collectors House
Section in context
Usage Study
Red- Museum Blue- House
Elevation and End elevation in context
Collectors House
Collectors House
Visualisations and Model
Exploded Axonometric
Collectors House
BARCELONA STUDY TRIP Body- ‘Architecture constrains bodily gestures, while supporting its own gesturality’
This is particularly interesting in relation to a dance centre or singularly, a dancer, where the gestures of bodily movement are being constantly challenged and pushed, with the dancer only being limited by the constrains of the human body. Architecture and dance share common ground in that architecture can only explore certain elements within the parameter of the physical limits of the materials used. The project enjoys the gesture of a rising ground plane, extending from the ground to allow the elevated performance of dance. This derives from the image of a dancer ‘En Pointe’ rising to limits enforced by nature and gravity. The element of rising is apparent in the whole building beginning with the preparation of dancing. The changing rooms are located below ground at car park level from which the journey towards dance is a constantly raising and uplifting affair. This is continued in the materiality of the studio where light elements such as glass, wood and slender metal components are used. These are used in contrast to the heavy concrete foundations prevalent on the site. The car park is a heavy, industrial environment while this studio is intended to sit lightly just kissing the surface of the raised plane. The manual louvres allow the user to define the qualities of the studio, allowing it to be bathed in light and visible to the public or closed off with diffused light
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Plaça de les Camareles, 08001, Barcelona
Dance Centre
Location Plan
Locating Aerial Views
Site section
Dance Centre
SITE SURVEY
Dance Centre
PARTĂˆ The first maquette- Generating move of the ramping roof line mimicking the sloping of car park ramps below and showing the ascent of the dancer from ground level to an elevated studio for dance. Ribbon- The roof line cuts into and appears out of the ground plane linking both the courtyard and the car park by threading this continuous ribbon between the two. Combination of a folded ground plane and ribbonThe ground plane is altered to accommodate its usage. At parts it is lifted to provide public circulation underneath and dance above, at others it is lowered to provide a lower roofline while still accommodating dance. The ribbon then weaves between these folded elements defining areas of enclosure which then become the programme. Manipulated ground plane with a refined ribbonThe ribbon is refined to a gesture of the circulation path. The simple roof line is reinstated.
Dance Centre
Carpark plan 1:1000
Site Plan 1:500 Location plan 1:2000
Dance Centre
North Elevation
MOVEMENT
Dance Centre
Situated at the mouth of a proposed opening to the MACBA courtyard, the building invites public interaction. The U shaped plan draws the public in, generating a new public space within the courtyard. The transparency and seemingly minimal barrier between inside and outside combined with the passage of public traffic underneath the cantilevered dance studio root the building firmly, making it a part of the site rather than a hindrance within it.
East Elevation
Dance Centre
West Elevation
Sections 1:200
Section on A-A
Section on B-B
Dance Centre
Section on C-C
Plans 1:200
Dance Centre
1st Floor
Ground Floor
Carpark Floor
Dance Centre
Perspective Section 1: 100
STUDIO 1 Fully adjustable wooden louvres 1.25 x 0.15m
Louvres frame housing the manually operated louvres bolted back to aluminium frame 1.25 x 2.7m
Aluminium frame supporting internal glazing panels 2.5 x 1.8m
Timber primary supporting structure at 5m spacing
Dance Centre
Roof Detail 1:10
The feeling of weightlessness of structure is strived for in studio one. All columns, beams and frames are as slender and visually light as possible. To achieve this in the walls the enclosing elements have been designed on a modular grid which only have minimal connections to the ground plane and each other. The structure is exposed to maintain and celebrate the slender profile of the roofline.
Studio 1 Exploded Axonometric 1:500
Floor Detail 1:10