DESIGN STUDIO EARTH KELVIN NG 832308 ANDREW FERGUSON - STUDIO EIGHTEEN
A PLACE FOR KEEPING SECRETS
CONTENTS
1.0 Three Relationships 1.1 Point Line plane 1.2 Mass 1.3 Frame and Infill
2.0 Herring Island 2.1 Site Analysis 2.2 Concepticle 2.3 Design and Concept 2.4 Final Design 2.5 Spatial Experience
3.0 Model Photography 4.0 Reflection 5.0 Bibliography
1.0 THREE R E L AT I O N S H I P S
1.1 POINT LINE PLANE
All three elements intersect to create form, each able to create the others in a way that is unique and harmonious. Lines cross and create points at the intersection and planes between while planes meet and create line at the edges with points at the corners.
Shitennoji Temple (Osaka, Japan)
Dongdaemum Design Plaza (Seoul, South Korea), Zaha Hadid, 2014
DESIGN: Based on the chadstone installation, where points are created throught the intersection of lines. The mass of wooden poles, inspired by Kengo Kuma’s use of timber grid frames, is placed on an angle to complement the planar forms of the volumes and give dynamicism to the composition. The planes of the volumes are joined imperfectly to highlight the lines that the edges create. As a whole, it contrasts between different oientations of planes, lines and points as well as playing with the contrast between slanting structure and planar flat base.
1.2
MASS EXERCISE
Mass is the perception of shape and form. Architects must play with various methods to enable the perception of these concepts, able to suggest mass through shape and form, showing depth, weight and more.
Arts West (Melbourne, Australia), ARM & Architectus, 2016
Dongdaemum Design Plaza (Seoul, South Korea), Zaha Hadid, 2014
CONCEPT: Mass, being the perception of shape and form steered the concept to the area of perception and thus, the senses of the human body and how it can be altered. 1. Sight - using light to alter perception. When going from light to dark, light being comforting and unknown, whilst dark being unkown, the darkness takes on the spatial quality of light, the unknown dark area seeming to have a similar spatial quality to the light, even if we cannot see it directly. When moving from dark to light, the comfort of light becomes a wayfinding tool, people instinctively moving towards it. The shape of the lightwell manipulates light and makes the earth seem to have more mass than it actually does. The shape of the ‘darkwell’ does a similar thing, the pit seeming almost bottomless.
CONCEPT (cont.): 2. Touch - rough vs. smooth. The tactile nature of surfaces is key when sight is taken away from the sense. This happens in the dark areas of the design, sight being useless in the absence of light. The roughness of the cave-like side is contrasted againt the smoothness of the room-like side. The left side, being rough and different allows a person to feel their way around the space, while the identical rooms of the right side does not allow this.
Rough
3. Sound - the least used When sight and touch is stripped away, one must then reply on a sense that is not used often - sound. In the identical chambers of the rooms, touch is useless, being smooth and idetical, and as one progresses deeper, sight is slowly made useless, light becoming more and more scarce. One must then rely on their sense of sound, using their voice to map out the mass of a room.
Smooth
Bershka Shibuya (Tokyo, Japan), CASTEL VECIANA ARQUITECTURA, 2011
1.3 FRAME AND INFILL
Frame and infill is the relation between permanent and transient, solid and weightless, strong and flexible. The two are almost opposite but work in unison, combining to form a structure. It plays on gravity, balance and duality, able to be both sides of the same coin.
Federation Square, Melbourne, Australia Lab + Bates Smart, 2002
Reflection Model (Itsukushima), Takahiro Iwasaki, 2013-14
DESIGN: Concept revolved around the perception of mass and gravity. The entire structure is suspended by a single wooden rectangular frame, the top slab cantilevering out to suspend the mass of frame and slabs that make up the design. The folded elements provide the link between the frame and infill components, connecting the two through intersections. The power of the design lies in the ability to seemingly invert gravity. When suspended as on the left, it seems impossibly light and airy, however, when placed on the ground, as seen on the right, instantly becomes heavy and rigid. It shows how simply by suspending something, it immediately loses its mass and becomes light, much like in Takahiro Iwasaki’s reflection works.
Hanging structure seems lighter than if it was situat
ted on the ground
When situated on the ground, it seems to be much heavier than the hanging structure.
2.0 HERRING ISLAND A PLACE FOR KEEPING SECRETS
MONASH FREEWAY
GALLERY
2.1 HERRING ISLAND S I T E A N A LY S I S Herring Island is a small man made island situated to the south east of Melbourne’s CBD. Surrounded by the Yarra River and in the inner city suburb of South Yarra, it is a tranquil gem hidden in what is quite a busy urban location. To the north-west of the site is the Monash Freeway, which contributes to most of the noise pollution that affects the site. On the other side, it is bordered by Alexander Parade, which recieves much less traffic than the freeway.
LANDING
LANDING
The site, with its dense tree cover over most areas, manages to spirit the user away to quite a peaceful location, especially on the west side of the island. Another quite remote and quiet location is on the south side. There is a large open space framed by trees that allow quite a bit of freedom in regards to movement and building. In relation to keeping secrets, the west side would seem to be the most obvious place to hide something, but often the best hiding places are in plain sight.
“The closer you think you are, the less you’ll actually see” COMO LANDING DEPARTURE
The open area provides the misdirection needed to cloak a secret, much like the abracadabra and wand waving of a magician’s trick, the actual secret happening somewhere else close by.
NOISE SOURCES FERRY PATH
SITE MA P 1 : 20 0 0
01 - Audience
Buildable Spaces
02 - A Hill, a River and Two Rocks 03 - Caim Sculpture Areas
04 - Stone House
07
05 - Steerage 06 - Tariderrum
06 FA LL ING FENC E
N O RTH L AND I NG
09
05
04
08
07 - Ramp 08 - Scaled Stem
03
09 -Falling Fence 02
01
SITE MAP 1:2000
PROPOSED SITE
STEER AG E
SITE I NTE N SIT Y
A M OU NT O F ACTIVIT Y
2.3 CONCEPTICLE
DESIGN: The concept illustrated in this model is the idea of instinct and how one can use architecture to capitalise on such intrinsic behaviours. The idea behind this particular model is the notion of climbing, the planes immediately causing one to move upwards much like stairs. This combined with the spike like protrusions at the base, signalling danger, causes one to instinctively move towards to top. The form was created from my point line plane design, working with the anti gravity element to create a light airy sculpture, the planes showing the way to the top, but with a whimsical, almost surreal nature, one considering whether it would be enough to hold weight. The final design will incoporate this idea of leading, although, in a more subtle way, this concepticle showing instinct in a very dramatic and loud method.
Messner Mountain Museum (South Tyrol, Italy), Zaha Hadid, Patrick Schumacher, 2015
2.3 CONCEPT
PRECEDENT: The form of the pavilion was created to reflect the idea of magic and play on the idea of a sunken ruin, viewers not knowing what, if anything, lies below the surface. The Messner Mountain Museum, constructed out of concrete bisects the mountain on which it stands, protruding from the sides, creating the sense of space within the mountain, even from the ouside. This is unusual for a subterrainean structure, one usually not being able to grasp the sense of space from the exterior. The Melbourne scupture, Architectural Fragments is a prime example of this, the sunken structure invoking the sense of something below the ground, but viewers know not the mass of the buried section.
CONCEPT SKTECHES:
CONCEPT SKTECHES (cont.):
2.4
FINAL DESIGN
FINAL DESIGN: The pavilion itself is an unassuming structure, concrete planes forming a shelter for the entrance of the basement. It incorporates a green roof, allowing it to conncect with the surroundings more. Concrete was chosen as it is durable and the rough texture is reminiscent of ruins, something that sits unobserved for many years before being discovered, much like a secret. The form is quite brutalist is nature, contrasting heavily with the fluidity of nature, much like the difference between child and adult. It was inspired by both the Messner Mountain
Musueum
and
the
Architectural
Fragments
sculpture. The area chosen is quite flat, hidden away behind the oval and picnic area, allowing attention to be drawn away from the pavilion, only discovered by straying outside the logical paths. Three light columns protrude from the ground, giving some light when dark to illuminate and draw people towards it during the night, the secret only obviously revealed at a time when people are scarce.
To access the lower level, one uses the shaft in the ground, climbing down a ladder to the adult ENTRANCE
area. From there, they can split off into the children section if possible. The basement level is split into two distinct sections, one for adults and one for children. Both areas have the same features of maze-like dividers, steps and holes, showing that the minds are physically the same, but the inherent thinking is different. Where the adult area is dark, straight and logical with a physical area for a secret, the children’s area is angled, bright and does not need a secret. Children see secrets in the world where adults do not, able to come and go as they please, able to travel between the two worlds. Adults on the other hand, have become weatahered and far too practical, able to see the shadows of what they used to be, but never to experience that secret again.
2.5 S PAT I A L E X P E R I E N C E The brightly lit viewing area constrasts the dark of the adult corridor, acting as a wayfinding tool to pique the curiosity of people. The tight space ensures only one person enters at a time and the light spilling out of the room casts a shadow of its occupant, a simple way of indicating usage of the space.
VIEWING AREA
The wall that divides the adult area from that of the child space is puncuated by viewing devices that allow a brief glimpse into the world of the child. A large transluscent screen is installed in the walal, enabling the light to diffuse through the wall, briniging the shadowed silhouette of the children playing. The holes set into the wall are just big enough to afford a unobscured glimpse into the room, but is small enough to only allow for a certain degree of viewing, acting like a pinhole to focus the view onto a small area. The bigger holes at at floor level allow the children to cross between the two sides with ease, but restricts the adult.
ADULT AREA
ULT A
The
children’s
area,
in
stark
contrast to the adult area, is brightly lit by pillars of light, three of which extend through the ground to become lights for the surface. There are wooden blocks in the centre which allow children to climb, play and sit as they choose. The back of the area includes a small maze like corridor, which ultimately
leads
to
nothing,
which in itself could be a secret to a child.
3.0 MODEL PHOTOGRAPHY
The
pavilion
was
modelled
in
Rhinoceros before being 3D printed using ABS plastic filament. The base was laser cut from the contour of the site.
The lights that protrude from the ground are made using LEDs encased in transluscent straws, using it to channel the light through the thin plastic, effectively diffusing it.
The basement level was designed on Rhinoceros before being unfolded and laser cut. This ensured that the walls fit perfectly together to dimension. The children’s play area, composed of blocks stacked on each other, was 3D printed using ABS plastic filament.
4.0 REFLECTION
Studio Earth has been an exciting and engaging first architectural studio which I found myself enjoying immensely. I found the three exercises really pushed me to think outside the box and be more abstract with design, trying to get my head around some of the more ambiguous briefs and approach architecture in a more conceptual manner. The nature of the tasks forced me to almost disregard the practical side of architecture, and instead allowed me to focus on the forms in a more sculptural way, engaging more in the emotional and evocative side of design, an oppurtunity that I know will become more and more scarce as I progress into the field. Looking back on my designs, one thing that I noticed is the nature of the work, being very linear and straight, something that lends itself to my current ideas and thinking, but nonetheless is something that I am trying to part from. I hope to, in my next studio, experiment with more curved and fluid forms, rather than the blocky solids that I am so fond of. Through the semester I have found myself learning immesurably, both from tutor, peers as well as myself and have had one of the best learning experiences I can remember.
5.0 BIBLIOGRAPHY Bershka Shibuya. Retrieved from https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/84/90/2e/84902e27bd41178beb07d882263c0cf6.jpg Blachford, T. (2017). Messner Mountain Museum. Retrieved from https://www.behance.net/gallery/52731447/Messner-Museum-Kronplatz Reflection model (Itsukushima). Retrieved from http://content.ngv.vic.gov.au/col-images/api/EXHI026894/1280
6.0 ANDY’S PEPITOS