Digital Design - Module 01 Semester 1, 2018 Zhexing Huang (Kim) 913199 Joel Collins - Studio 19
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)
Signs and symbols usually refer to objects and ideas through direct formal representation, whereas digrams explain concepts and relationships. Signs and symbols act as a stimulant for exsiting ideas and images, whereas diagrams try to construct and describe abstract spatial relationships that may not exist yet. A diagram can contain and utilise symbols to convey its meaning. The diagram relates to processes that may occur not only in three-dimensional space but in several other dimensions of reality.
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Week One
Precedent Analysis
Rhino Model Isometric View
Rhino Model Roof Plan
Rods and petals with added detail
Rhino Model Floor Plan
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Extrusion of carbon rods
Week Two
Reading: Hertzberger H. 2005. The in-between and The Habitable Space Between Things, from Lessons for Students in Architecture. Herzberger discuss 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)
Design should not be extreme in its functionality; by designing exclusively for one purpose only, the end result becomes inappropriate for any other use. This places unnecessary limitations onto the deisgn and can come across as forceful on its users. By eliminating solid partitions, the 2015 MPavilion by Amanda Levete Architects frees itself from limitations in respect to circulation, which acts as a welcoming gesture and invites people coming from all directions. The lack of apparent zoning creates affordances for its users to gather around and within the structure intuitively. This also allows opportunities for a diverse range of programme activities to occur within the space, such as meetings, presentations and outdoor performances. As a result, the pavilion design is adaptive to change, fluid and flexible in terms of functionality.
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Week Two
Isometric
MPavilion 2015 Isometric Drawing The final isometric drawing of the MPavilion 2015 aims to achieve a detailed and accurate representation of all its components coming together, which includes the geometrically-composed timber deck, the shrubs surrounding it, the translucent petal-like elements, their structural skeleton, the carbon rods and the coffee counter within the pavilion. Each individual component within the drawing has been assigned with different line weights in order to create visual hierarchy and make the drawing more transpicuous. As the translucent petals are a definitive feature of the pavilion design, they are modelled with the most detail. While the outlines of the petals are accentuated, the thin intersecting carbon threads on the surfaces are also clearly visible, because they play a crucial role in decorating the petals as well as strengthening their structural integrity. Each petal is assigned with a specific shade of gray according to their height in relation to surrounding petals. Overall, the pavilion comes across as a light and permeable structure that mimics the qualities of nature, forming a shelter that invites the conjoining of people, events and urban life.
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Week Two Diagrams
structure
shelter
primary circulation area
transitional space / threshold
& attractor point
circulation paths
inner zone & outer zone boundaries
Circulation
Threshold / Zoning
As the MPavilion is characterised by its permeability and lack of clearly-defined entrances, the circulation paths can be free and muti-directional. However, the coffee counter serves as an attractor point towards which the crowd tend to revolve around.
Due to the lack of defined entrances or solid enclosure, the threshold of the MPavilion appears to be blurred and spontaneous. However, rough zones can be distinguished by outlines of the deck and those of the petals. To transition from the public realm (grass lawn without shelter) to the centre of the pavilion (deck floor with translucent shelter), a threshold occurs where the space is within the deck but outside the shelter, or vice versa.
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Appendix Site Visit
Since the MPavilion 2015, the site of Amanda Levete Architects’ design has been relocated from Queen Victoria Gardens to Docklands Park. In order to obtain an authentic understanding of the structure and experience the design physically, I went on a site visit to the pavilion.
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Appendix Analysis of Plans and Elevation
Prior to modelling the pavilion in Rhino, I analysed the interconnection among the petals by examining the elevation and the roof plan; I also estimated the approximate heights of the petals with infomation on the provided drawings as well as with observation from my site visit.
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Appendix Modular Building Blocks
deck boards
small petals
big petals
structural skeleton
Since the MPavilion is composed by repetition, rotation and translation of the same elements, the 3D model was built in parts. After each individual module was built, they were either made into surfaces or extruded, then assembled into the composition as provided on the roof and floor plans.
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