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Digital Design - Module 01 Semester 1, 2018 James Cowie 910210 Xiaoran Huang + 8

Week One

Reading: Zeara Polo, A. 2010. Between Ideas and Matters.

According to Zeara-Polo, the diagram does not play a representational role in the design process but provides an organisational and can have a performative quality depending on how it is deployed. Explain how Diagram is different from Signs and Symbols? (100 words Maximum)

Unlike signs and symbols, which are representations of a measurement or dynamic object, diagrams are an accumulation of information which have an intrinsic connection between an idea and the final concept. Operative diagrams are a means of influencing the final design outcome, for instance overlaying information such as networks or paths can establish the most functional street layout for an estate. Descriptive diagrams display information of the final design, for instance thresholds and spatial circulation, abstracting and collapsing ideas into succinct readable formats.

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Week One

Precedent Analysis

1. Margaret Dewhurst, Bad Hair, 2008, Photograph, AA School of Architecture, London, accessed 11 March, 2018 at 9:12pm. http:// designandmake.aaschool.ac.uk/ project/aa-summer-pavilions/ 2. Curve used to create bending member 3. Mirroring process 4. Finished assembly

The modelling process was relatively straight forward, only requiring the use the Sweep1 command and tedious arrangement of components. However, spliting components into sheets like the construction became confusing when converted into a line drawing; therefore, only an exploded view was presented of this detail.

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Week Two

Reading: Hertzberger H. 2005. The in-between and The Habitable Space Between Things, from Lessons for Students in Architecture.

Herzberger discusses how design should not be extreme in its functionality. Use your precedent study to explain how the pavilion allows for an appropriation of use. (100 words Maximum)

The curved linear limbs which construct the Bad Hair pavilion do not do not dictate a specific function for how the pavilion is used; with the most explicit mode being to act as a focal point and mediator for social interaction. Instead, the design encourages appropriation.

For instance, the tips of the components can be used as seats for people. Furthermore, the design can also be seen as a playground for children, with the intersecting members creating a climbing frame.

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Week Two

Isometric

Insert title of your Isometric here.

The modelling process was focused on capturing the form of the Bad Hair pavilion. Although detail for still an important aspect of the design, it had little to no influence over thresholds or circulation, therefore was left to a mere exploded view.

Through modelling such a pavilion I was given an insight into the difficulties of designing a space which can be successfully navigated by its users, as the ambiguity of whether to walk in, around or climb on Bad Hair was my largest critique of the pavilion. Nonetheless, the pavilion creates the opportunity for several thresholds to be explored and used differently by people; therefore, not dictating one’s use of the space. While the explicit thresholds of the design consist of the interior volume and surrounding Bedford Square, the structure itself creates several various spaces. The timber limbs can be separated into top and bottom spaces, with the bottom being a place where individuals or groups can congregate either around where members join or sit on the curved sections extruding outwards.

Furthermore, the geometry of the openings, created through the overlapping nature, frames the surrounding environment, becoming a threshold in itself. For circulation, a shadow path diagram helps articulate how individuals or groups would utilise the base threshold at different times of day, opting for shade when warmer at mid-day and sunlight when cooler in the morning.

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Week Two Diagrams

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BEDFORD SQUARE

AA SCHOOL

Threshold Diagram

Circulation Diagram

The diagram separates the structure into its various thresholds, being the interior volume, top (if climbed), structural base and the framing element of the surrounding environment. Not to scale.

Above is a Shadow diagram, accompanied by a shortest path diagram; depicting how the structure is primarily navigated on its perimeter. Not to scale.

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Appendix

Process

COMPONENT 1

COMPONENT 2

COMPONENT 3

COMPONENT 4

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Appendix Process

Imported CAD model of Bedford square, London where the Bad Hair pavilion was on display.

This helped establish the shortest path diagram; distinguishing how far the structure was from the AA School and the adjacent park.

I used a grasshopper plugin called DIVA4 to generate a sunpath, to ultimate project the shadows at different hours of the day.

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Appendix

Process

Exploded isometric of component showing construction detail.

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Attempt to create a rainfall diagram, as there is an obvious correlation to rain frequency and the number of people at the pavilion. However, it lacked aesthetic quality and was ambiguous in meaning without hefty annotation.

Inverted colours - however, was difficult to read in comparison to simple black lines.

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