COMPONENT 1 LAURA STANKUNAITE
RESEARCH AND EXPLORATION OF BRIEF IDEAS Type of project
Theme
Ideas and directions
Influence Words
1. commercial
Natural and organic
High tech design centre
Curiosity, exploration, deconstruct
2. sport
Juxtaposition and contrast
Sports centre
Health, shared, community, passion
3.entertainment
Structures and environments
Film event, preservation and study with specialty cinemas
Passion, stimulating, assembly, educational
4. commercial
Natural and organic
Library communication centre
Devotion, professionalism, educational
5. domestic
Movement and flow
Community housing/university accommodation complex
Community, educational, curiosity, experience
6. commercial
Juxtaposition and contrast
Internet video studios
Experience, community, improvement, sociable
7. sport
Movement and flow
Sports arena
Outdoor/indoor, community, passion
8. cultural
Juxtaposition and contrast
Art museum
Passion, education, curiosity, inspirational
9. commercial
Industrial renovation
Photography gallery
Deconstruct, community, passion, inspirational
10. cultural
Movement and flow
Automotive museum
Experience, passion, stimulating, educational
NARROWING DOWN IDEAS WITH VISUAL RESEARCH Idea 4 – library communication space, natural and organic The Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé, Paris, France
The Lotus, New Delhi, India
This is one of the more recent examples of organic architecture, combining 19th century neoclassical with modern. The organic slug shape was determined by the width and height requirements in the city. The library space inside has shaped windows therefore well lit from many angles.
This house of Worship has an open structure to welcome all religious denominations. it represents community gathering together despite conflicting history. The organic structure with the lotus flower concept symbolises purity and enlightenment in eastern religions.
National Taichung Theater, Taiwan
30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin), London
The theater, mainly a rectangle, uses inspiration from natural sound waves connecting to the purpose of the building, it also carries that theme to its outdoor space surrounding. As seen in the plan, the design of the outdoors is carried down from the roof space, making a point of interest and sustaining design in functional spaces for an opera/theater. The sound waves make an elegant and modern design and are functional to providing lighting
This skyscraper office building is inspired by a gherkin for its shape but more for biomimicry of its eco ventilation system through the curved nature of the glass panels which create beautiful optical lighting reflections throughout the day. The modern design of the architecture contrasts the conservative nature of most London buildings, giving architecture there a new start.
Idea 7 - Sports arena, movement and flow National Gymnastics Arena , Baku, Azerbaijan
Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
The arena has curved, flowing panels around as a design conveying elegant motion, they also provide function for displaying light.
This circular stadium is a modern contrast to the traditional town surrounding it. The walls and roof have an ideal curved nature for great stadium lighting at most times of day, with the curves giving a flow to the architecture as well.
Idea 8 – Art museum, juxtaposition and contrast
Tama Art University Library in Tokyo, Japan
Denver Art Museum, United States Elevations
The geometric and irregular architecture was inspired by found rocky crystals in Denver connecting to the context of the place therefore giving a concept of a jagged and sharp structure. The interior somewhat contrasts the exterior as the interior seems to have order in its placement through parallel lines whereas the structure itself is unpredictable and bold in design.
The arches are made out of steel plates covered with concrete. In plan these arches are arranged along curved lines which cross at several points. The organic shape of the building creates interest and more natural lighting for a library. The interior design curves in a similar manner.
BRIEF - REMAKING ROMFORD'S CENTRAL LIBRARY REDESIGNING THE BUILDING TO A LIBRARY WITH COMMUNITY BUILDING AND PUBLIC SPACE I chose to redesign a public library as I would like it to become a multi-purpose site for the community rather than just a library attracting more visitors to the town and providing a social gathering space for a wider demographic, from teens to elders.
Issues regarding the current library building:
Design brief and requirements:
•
Design an improved library building, following the theme of Natural and Organic, this building should include:
• • • • •
•
•
The building is simple, not particularly interesting or inviting Lacks green spaces and outdoor areas Not enough lighting for a library Not much other use to the building other than the library Indoor layout is mostly traditional, in regimented rows; looks intimidating Not that much open space, or separate gathering spaces for different activities Architecture doesn’t have any sophisticated design features, meaning it has no sustainability or social impact. The exterior and interior are traditional, making a formal environment, not enticing
• • • • • • •
Open library space Lots of natural lighting Office and staff rooms A library storage space Event and communal spaces Open areas for networking Disabled access
Also design the outdoor public space around the building including: • • • •
A pavilion An outdoor social space Lots of green areas Seated gathering areas
LOCATION AND SPACE RESTRICTONS
This location is in the Romford Town centre, it is easily accessible - located near a transport hub for easy access to and from the city, in a town square, near a shopping centre for convenience, co-located with other services – such as health facility and citizens advice bureau. The site itself will be demolished for this design brief, the car park next to the Town Hall will be in use for the Library.
IDEA 1 PRIMARY RESEARCH INPIRATION FROM NATURAL FORMS Primary photography which the design was inspired by
Simple wire model for pavilion design Cone shape concept which is researched on the next page
LIBRARY DELFT UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY DELFT, NETHERLANDS
Perspective of library and cone design
Elevation
Elevation Interior
The focal point of this design is the cone shape, which is a symbol of technical engineering, as part of the whole structure. The cone provides lighting throughout the multiple levels of the building, and the hill created by it has provided an outdoor social space and greenery.
The cone also provides interior sectioning of rooms and spaces and creating a circular library which has a more intriguing design and ease of use.
DEVELOPING AN IDEA FROM RESEARCH USING THE CONE SHAPE TO DEVELOP A BUILDING IDEA
Simple paper model of design on the left
These are different idea brainstorms involving the cone shape and intercepting it with various shapes to form a building concept.
Plan of pavilion
Sketch-up models of pavilion
PUTTING THE PAVILION AND BUILDING DESIGN INTO CONTEXT
Sketch-up model of building The building is fit to the space restrictions with almost no space to spare directly around it, the circular design might make for good aesthetics however somewhat impractical when trying to fit in all of the required spaces and to move around in. As a building it doesn’t function as a better redesign to the previous more practical building, this also, with the lack of surrounding space, restricts the site from having an open public space. Though the centred pavilion works well as a main gathering area and I will use that for later designs.
Plan of building and position on site
CANARY WHARF ROOF GARDEN, LONDON PRIMARY RESEARCH
Primary photography of interior
The roof garden is encased within a complex lattice timber roof structure, designed by Foster + Partners, it wraps around the building like a shell with openings that encourage light penetration and natural irrigation. The semi-permeable canopy structure helps to create a localised microclimate allowing the planting of more sensitive and rare species of plants a garden exhibition. Internally (as shown on Plan drawing) , the garden is organised around a single landscaped walkway, with multiple smaller paths that branch off in different directions, providing visitors with a sense of true escape from their urban surroundings. The main walkway simplifies circulation and pockets of seating provide opportunities for visitors to convene and relax.
SANTIAGO CALATRAVA – Architect Study
His other designs
Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish Swiss architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculptural forms often resemble living organisms. Built in the shape of the human eye, L’Hemisfèric is one of the structures within the City of Arts and Sciences in Valencia, Spain. It houses an IMAX theatre, a Planetarium and a Laserium. The “pupil” is the hemispherical dome of the IMAX theatre and the “eyelid” can open and close by using hydraulic lifts to operate the steel and glass shutter. This structure is situated at the end of the dried up riverbed Turia. Calatrava wanted to bring water back to the area by creating a reflecting pool which also serves as a stunning artistic display at night when the lighting creates an image of a whole eye.
PAVILION IDEA FROM PRIMARY/ARCHITECT RESEARCH Inspired by Calatrava’s concept of studying the human eye form, I have traced the shape of a primary photo of an eye to create a concept for a pavilion design. The simple paper and Sketch-up models help visualise the idea.
FURTHER PAVILION DEVELOPMENT Structure which I was inspired by
Sketchup models Card models to explore the shape
HERTA AND PAUL AMIR BUILDING IN THE TEL AVIV MUSEUM OF ART, ISRAEL The building’s shape was achieved through simply folding and creasing the corners of a cube until it complied with the space restrictions of the site. Preston Cohen, the architect, made the use of extensive physical modelling in order to create this façade whose shape comes from 460 precast concrete panels which are supported by an extensive steel structure, which integrates the mechanical systems.
The plan itself is geometric, with angled walls and irregular shapes, it mimics the geometric nature of the exterior which is what I want to inhabit in my design.
This museum has five floors, for the stacked independent galleries with circulation paths leading around the lightfall at every level, this is the middle part in the plans which is open to each floor.
PAVILION INTERIOR DESIGN
To make the pavilion a more interesting place for social gathering and part of the library, I decided to include integrated tables in the plan designs, this will help to make the area become more multipurposed, e.g. for eating, studying, social events. The plan designs below take inspiration from the faceted roof design on the pavilion in order to bring interest to the tables. Decided on the first idea
These concept drawings are explorations of the possible variations of the structure This drawing helped me envision how the space will function with tables
Sketch-up model
ALTERNATIVE PAVILION IDEA FROM PRIMARY RESEARCH
Card model Primary photography
Inspired by the petals on the flower, the pavilion design explored overlapping shapes and curves.
ALTERNATIVE PAVILION DESIGN IDEA 2
Model out of card
SKETCHUP MODELS DEVELOPING BENCH LAYOUT/DESIGN Though not part of the theme of natural forms, this opened book designed pavilion would be a feature of interest for the library and an extension to the public space of gathering in a more intriguing way. This design, featuring an open plan and a glass body, would promote easy movement and gathering for events, school trips and other activities.
Chosen design
FINAL DESIGN AND RENDER OF PAVILION Plan
Elevation
Perspective
This pavilion met my brief requirements of including a sheltered gathering point for people to relax, sit and spend time in for the library site. Pavilions can serve many purposes for any building therefore including one would make the surrounding area more established. It is a good addition to the space as there wasn’t anything considered for the outdoors before and this multipurpose pavilion is a great feature of interest to attract more visitors. The design portraying the shape of an open book entices people to come to the site and is also an implicit sign that there might be a library or something book related nearby, fitting the theme of the area and making the town more visitor friendly.
IDEA FROM FURTHER RESEARCH OF EYE SHAPE Bench area design using the eye diagram concept
Plan
Looking at being inspired by natural forms from a new perspective, the diagram of the eye anatomy makes an interesting maze shape when simplified which I visualised in a Sketch-up model here. I will use the idea to develop a public space area or building idea.
DEVELOPING PUBLIC SPACE IDEA Chosen idea to make model of
Plan of model
(Plan)
Sketch-up model of the gathering area
One point perspective sketch to visualise the idea
Model of public space area with greenery in the middle
CONTINUATION OF EYE SHAPE RESEARCH DEVELOPED INTO A BUILDING IDEA I have used this Pomelo fruit, which I cut up and slotted together, creating a model idea inspired by observing the eye shape.
The slotted and irregular shape of this building idea so far inspires the interior to use windows and room layouts in unusual designs to its advantage when creating an interesting space for learning and gathering.
Sketch-up models This building idea is modern but impractical when it comes to creating a library or community building where there needs to be more open space rather than curved floors stacked on top of each other, this design choice makes it hard to plan an efficient layout for different spaces. The windows in the building and the outside panels are a great idea to incorporate more light which I’ll use in my next design.
BUILDING IDEA FROM PRIMARY RESEARCH
Primary photography which the design was inspired by
Sketchup model
Simple models of idea using staples to explore positioning of each cylindrical shape
DEVELOPING IDEA FURTHER WITH MORE PRIMARY RESEARCH Interested in using the hexagonal shapes to create a structure, I wanted to expand on this idea by incorporating biophilic design. Biophilic design is an approach to design that aims to connect architecture to nature, these buildings incorporate elements such as natural lighting and ventilation, natural landscape features and other elements that focuses on creating a healthier and more productive built environment. The design aspect is heavily influenced by function found in nature, implementing what structural design works well organically into man-made structures. This is what I’m aiming to do when creating this library building inspired by the structure of a butterfly.
Primary photography of butterflies which inspired my design. The bottom one inspired a skylight idea which I explored on the right.
Elevation of skylight idea
HIROSHI SENJU MUSEUM KARUIZAWA, JAPAN Designed by Tokyo based architect Ryue Nishizawa. This gallery was designed to have open, luminous spaces for relaxing and observing the exhibition. The UV glass screens in the organically cut out light wells allow greenery and natural light ambience to fill the space and give the building a point of interest.
The building embraces the preexisting slope on the site, the floors contour the topography of the ground gently dipping and swelling.
The plan of the area shows the irregular shape of the museum, the surrounding buildings are connected by paths and the parking area and a lot of greenery.
DEVELOPING SHAPE AND MAKING MODELS Developing plan shape from butterfly sketches
Chosen plan shape
Concept sketch of building
Sketch-up models of the plan and perspectives showing a simple model
RESEARCHING LIBRARY INTERIORS - IBSEN LIBRARY, NORWAY Kengo Kuma, and associates, designed a library which curves around existing trees in a small urban park in Skien, Norway. The design is intended to celebrate the surrounding park while maximising its potential as a public space. To preserve its connection to surrounding parkland, it utilizes a natural material palette mostly of tactile, warm woods. The roof softly curves and extends towards the park, making a seamless outdoor and indoor experience, as a shade to outdoor spaces.
The interior has two storeys, mostly open plan and free of fixed partitions with bookcases used as dividers, it isn’t the conventional design of a library with many separate rooms but a collaborative, inspiring space with deep connections to nature .
RESEARCHING LIBRARY INTERIORS – BOARDING SCHOOL LIBRARY, WILTSHIRE, ENGLAND
Designed by Woods Bagot, the two storey girl’s boarding school library features a faceted wooden ceiling designed to evoke spreading tree branches. This biophilic design has direct inspiration from the structural support of fruit trees, the steel columns imitate tree trunks. This buildings full height windows illuminate the façade whilst having a view of the gardens adjacent to the library. The plan shows that every floor has a distinct purpose and specified zones, the ground floor being a lively community space, and the upper levels being focused towards specialised, individual study. The floors remain open-floor with book-end walls on each side accommodating storage and staff rooms.
CREATING A PLAN DESIGN FOR MAIN LIBRARY BUILDING
These plans for the first floor had to contain some interest in layout whilst maintaining a practical space for multiple uses. The main components I focused on were the desks and bookcases which I designed the rest of the space around. Modern library designs feature a mostly open floorplan while creating zones for different atmospheres using divisions from bookcases and in my case, the circular glass screens at each end of the building which serve as a focal point of interest for people to gravitate towards. Circulation had to be considered when placing the staff room and bathrooms which I have allocated on the first floor to create more user space upstairs, this is so that they’re as noticeable and maintain the open floorplan. The desks had to be in various sizes and shapes for use with computers, individual use and group seating, they had to be either grouped together or in symmetry for easy access. The second floor will not be produced in Sketch-up as a model since it doesn’t show much range or exploration in terms of planning and designing interiors, the second floor is focused on the other library building requirements such as storage rooms and study rooms.
Floors and walls are in lighter colours to make the space more open and surrounded by natural light
This plan has symmetrical bookcases but not enough of them, this plan is too minimal and doesn’t offer enough range.
This is my developed model, there are more areas and bookcases with a gathering area also. It isn’t too crowded and offers different zones, such as the desks, benches and tables for various uses.
Renders of first floor interior
VISUALISING MAIN BUILDING Sketch-up models of the final building
This diagram illustrates the two floors and where the rooms and stairs are in relation to the plan.
RESEARCHING PUBLIC SPACE DESIGNS
DESIGNING A SITE PLAN I sketched some ideas for the placement of the main building, pavilion and social gathering space and then envisioned them in Sketchup.
Developing ideas from research to make a public space design for this empty area Library is placed too close to busy road, pavilion too far away.
Social gathering area too far from road on the left for public use.
I chose this plan as the main building is placed next to side road, social gathering area easily accessible to public, pavilion is close to library.
ARCHICAD RENDER OF PUBLIC SPACE
This public space serves the purpose of dividing the outdoor area for social interactions and outdoor activities. The elevated area facing the street creates a transition from the general public to the library site, this is a good meeting or gathering point for people with features of interest and seating.
FINAL DESIGN ON SKETCHUP Showing overviews of the area
Plan view
PHYSICAL MODEL To construct my model I laser cut from MDF, card and polypropylene to create a model of my site
Elevations of the site
FINAL DESIGN AND EVALUATION
My final design was successful in terms of meeting my design brief requirements, the redesign of the Library and site is more functional, appealing and modern. My aim was to design based on the theme of natural and organic, following Biophilic design requirements to create a Library, pavilion and public space to encourage the community to use this open urban space in the town centre for public recreation, socialisation and gathering. The open green areas, of the public space and pavilion, provide a transition from the surrounding town to the library and get the public’s appreciation for a designated outdoor environment as this multi-functional area attracts visitors with its open design and various gathering points. I have successfully met my other set requirements such as more green areas, a multi-purpose outdoor area, and a modern library with more natural lighting, which meets all of my interior requirements for a more functional redesign.