LIGHT CREATES FORM GEMS CREATE PERECTION IN AESTHETICS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
SE
SHAD
15 DESIGN PROCESS CONCEPT ONE
ECTIONS AND SITE VEIWS 05
17 VISUAL REP CONCEPT ONE
DOW AND AMBIENT LIGHT 07
19 DESIGN PROCESS CONCEPT TWO
SITE ANALYSIS 09 LIGHT STUDY ONE 11
21 VISUAL REP CONCEPT TWO 23 LIGHT STUDY TWO
LIGHT STUDY 3 - SHADOW
PLANS AND ELEVATIONS 03
13 DESIGN PRECEDENTS
LIGHT STUDY 2 - REFLECTION
TABELE OF CONTENTS 01
STAGE 2
LIGHT STUDY 1 - LUMINOSITY
STAGE 1
PLAN
FOCUS SITE - MATHS LAWNS 1:2000 0m 10000m
50000m
STAGE 1: PLACE
The area of focus is located on the maths lawn area at the University of Adelaide, South Australia. The lawns account for an approximate 2700m² area of the large open space that occupies as the central space for surrounding buildings including The Bar Smith Library, The Braggs, Molecular Life Sciences, Santos Petroleum Engineering, Engineering and Maths Sciences and the Ingkarni Wardii buildings. The area is recognised in plan by the blue coloured areas displaying its location in relation to the context of the university, being positioned in the northeastern corner of the campus.
NORTH
The elevations reveal the broad range of buildings that border the site. Building types range from the historic Bar Smith Library building to the more modern glass faced structures of the Braggs Builidng and the inkardi wardli.
SOUHT
BUILDINGS SURROUNDING THE SITE 1:500 0m 5m 10m 15m 20m
WEST
ELEVATIONS
SITE VEIWS
The rendered images either side of this text are three dimensiona ground and aerial views of the focus site and its surroundings t strengthen ones understanding of the context of the site.
SECTIONS 02
01
Below are three sections that show interior aspects of the buildings they cut through, and references to the plan earlier can be used as for clearer understanding as to where sections occur.
03
al to
9AM SUMMER
12PM SUMMER
9AM WINTER
12PM WINTER
SITE VEIWS The images above display the shadows at varying times of the day and year and their resultant shadowing effects on the focus site. As the images display, despite the area being surrounded by large dominating buildings, the increased angle of the sun during summer means majority of the Maths Lawn area is in full sun. However, in winter because of the sun angling lower, the site becomes entirely shaded in the afternoon.
3PM SUMMER
3PM WINTER
AMBIENT LIGHT The Bragg’s buildings mirror like facade utilises the sun’s rays to display reflected surfaces including the adjacent Ingkarni Wardii building and the rich blue sky to become almost a piece of attractive and every fluctuating art during the day. Similarly, the image below shows the sun refracting off the Building, having a striking effect on the huge tree that borders the site. The careful design an inclusion of LED lighting, primarily glass facades and illumination of interior spaces makes buildings surrounding the site and the maths lawns themselves transform at night, into an aesthetically attractive space with sensual effects that contrast those during the day.
The area of focus is a primarily grassed area that has been an iconic site of the University of Adelaide due to its scale and sense of openness, an escape from the busy layout of the campus. The vegetation helps compliment the number of buildings that borders around the Maths Lawns. The disparity between building styles allows one to understand the lengthy history of the University, with advantages of the surroundings including the sleek primarily glass façade of the Ingkarni Wardii building to the view to the Barr Smith Library from Frome Road, being one of Adelaide’s finest vistas.
The site is located on the North Terrace Campus of the University of South Australia which was established on 6 November 1874. The campus is bordered by many significant Adelaide buildings including the Art Gallery of South Australia, the State Library of South Australia, the South Australian Museum and the Royal Adelaide Hospital. The site itself plays border to part of the Bar Smith Library, which last an extensive history as one of the earliest buildings constructed on site and was used as the central administrative building on the Campus. The significants of this building can be understood by the intention to retain the view of the buildings heritage facade from Frome Street, as despite the inclusion of number new buildings since the 1874, still remains, even strengthened by the Maths lawns in front of them.
The site is well serviced by all facilities needed for a university campus space. The site is in close proximity to rubbish and recycling bins which helps prevent littering in the area and promotes sustainability. It also hosts multiple drink fountain and water refill stations and bike racks in near vicinity to entry to the campus. The focus site, the Maths lawns themselves are lined with tables and benches positioned between shading trees to allow the area to be utilised as a work space in the open and relaxed setting the area creates. Lastly, street style lighting surrounds the large lawn area to light the space at night, however space could be brighter as despite the large overhanging the light the spaces still creates a mysterious and uncomfortable setting during night.
The site is surrounded by a number of the universities education facilities including The Bar Smith Reading Room, The Braggs, Molecular Life Sciences, Santos Petroleum Engineering, Engineering and Maths Sciences and the Ingkarni Wardii building. The lawns themselves are lined with gravel areas with tree’s and tables with pavement then spanning to buildings, allowing ease of movement around the campus.
The cautiously thought out layout of the site and its surrounding context create ease of movement for both cyclists and pedestrians, with large, hard surfaced areas surrounding the site allowing movement for students to enter the university via Frome Street, proficiently access buildings for classes and move freely and comfortably around the enormous grasses area to find a location to sit, eat or work. The implantation of pavement between the east and west sections of the lawns has prevented over use of the lawn for the large number of students that cross from one side to the other. To add, careful placement of surrounding furniture, predominantly the tables that border the grassed area and trees prevent students from cutting across the grass, yet another design implementation that allows the maths lawns to remain the aesthetically pleasing oasis that it is.
SITE ANALYSIS The focus site is primarily used for relaxing and escape from the busy university lifestyle that is mostly apparent in areas including the central hub. Its large lawns and surrounding picnic style tables offer students with the opportunity to find a quiet personal area or congregate with friends in an area of their choice. The area is also a popular space to enjoy lunch outdoors during the warmer months, with the space truly coming to life as students make the move outdoors. In addition, the space has been utilised for events including Orientation Week activities, Open days and university sport sign up days.
LIGHT STUDY 1 - LUMINOSITY
The firm’s sense of importance toward the significants of luminosity in architecture can be understood through an initiative undertaken as recently as July this year, when the architects opened the Luminosity/ Porosity Exibition in Gallery MA in Tokyo, Japan. The presentation investigated aspects of porous form and light, and endeavoured to express how the phenomenal properties of light, reflected or refracted over faceted form can surpass the formal aspects of surface. SHA promoted that rather than a pre-occupation with independent object-like forms in either architecture or art, experiential phenomena of spatial sequences organized by porosity and luminosity can provoke human emotions and generate emotions of happiness and joy. Many structures completed by the firm reveal considerations toward illumination, and one significant reference that Luminosity, is the presence and diffusion of light, the bright- must be mentioned is the Visual Arts Building at the Univerness of which a source diffuses in correlation with its cer- sity of Iowa. The building is a volume structure that allows tain wavelength, which has a resultant effect on the way light to penetrate and create illumination on the carved out it appears to the human eye. Such effects on space and sections, cuts and atrium spaces within, that all contribute particular surfaces can be achieved through decoration to making the sensual qualities that make the university by the art of illuminating, by altering the luminous flux per building so superior to others on campus. One of the SHA unit area on an intercepting surface at any given time to employees echoed the reference to light and luminosity achieve the desired effects. Luminosity is in a sense a stating that “the amazing thing about light is once you bemeasure of how much lighting or brightness an object has, gin to engage it in the design, that the light gives you back as its illuminance is the intensity of illumination, to under- even more that thought, so that the building is dynamic, it’s stand this further, in astronomy, luminosity is the amount always changing”. Light qualities in this one example alone of electromagnetic energy a body radiates per unit of time. include sky light, top light, diffused light, and figured light, Not only is there a direct correlation with optics and the direct light, meaning the interior spaces require no artificial intrinsic brightness of a celestial object, but to be luminous lighting during the day, further adding to sensory qualities also refers to the human qualities of being intellectually bril- of the space within. liant, enlightened or inspired. Lastly, luminosity provokes human emotions, it has a direct correlation with the senses of freedom, understanding, awareness, awakening and an overall recognition of philosophical truth. Luminosity is essential to architecture, it bridges the cavity between architecture and our perception. Human’s sense materials and forms using our vision, however not using our eyes directly, but always through reflected light and this is why light is so crucial to design, as it creates space and influences the way in which we perceive it, and without space, the meaning of architecture is lost. One of many globally renowned architectural firms that consistently displays careful consideration into illuminance in design is Steven Holl Architects, a 40-person innovative architecture and urban design office functioning internationally predominantly in New York City and Beijing.
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entire envelope of the building is based on the idea bstraction, with a modulated stainless steel perforated l façade allowing southern light into studio spaces durhe day, whilst screening what is behind and allowing four storey building to become one sculptural volume. wever effects of light aren’t only considered during the with the transformation of building at night occurring to the perforated screens being illuminated with blurred from the windows and artificial light within, giving it an mated life through the dynamics of light.
a result not particularly just of the Visual Arts Building Steven Holl Architects ability to manage light in superiays is award Steven Holl himself received in 2016, the light award which honours architects “who have disuished themselves by realizing architecture or creating an environments that showcase a unique use of day, for the benefit of overall quality of life, its impact on an health, well-being and performance, and its value to ety.” These attributed can be most clearly understood ugh buildings such as The Nelson-Atkins Museum of the Kiasma Museum of Contemporary Art and the thorhly discussed the Visual Arts Building at the University wa. To conclude, it must be mentioned that Steven Holl his team of architects consistently design forms that te interior spaces flooded with light and rich in sensual cts, whilst never compromising aesthetics or function of ior or exterior qualities, they have have mastered the art of illuminating.
STAGE 2: IDEA
The building I have chosen as my precedent is the One Workplace Headquarters project that was constructed in Santa Clara, America. The ambitious directive was to re-define the architectural standard not only of the furniture company, but to also improve the showroom experience within the space. The building displays an emphasis on the interior and exterior effects of light through a means of strategies. One in particular is of interest, being the perforated steel facade, which produces visually pleasing effects on both the inside and outside of the building at both night and day. I aim to emulate the buildings successful ability to create interesting visual effects through the use of perforated steel as a focus material, but in unique, stimulating and personalised way.
The other focus that will structure all thinking and design intentions is the interest in gemstones as a result of their effects on light in reference to reflection, refraction, transparency and illumination. The bending of light travels through facets of the gemstones creating endless changing visual effects on not only themselves but surrounding surfaces as a result, also provoking a range of positive feelings and emotions as a result. In addition, the natural, uncut and interesting aesthetic of the shapes of gemstones attract visual attention which adds to the qualities of the stones that form in the Earth’s crust. I aim to use the forms and visual qualities of gemstones as a specific design strategy to help create an interesting and visually attractive forms that incite positive emotions.
PRECEDENTS
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CONCEPT TWO DESIGN PROCESS Again driven by my precedent research, design concept two focused predominantly on my interest in gemstones and their qualities in relation to light and their unique forms. However this design generated first from section, again displayed as an extract of my sketch pad and displayed below this text. The idea was based around a large, transparent gemlike structure that would appear as if it had travelled through the earth’s core to eventually break the surface and reveal its aesthetic beauty. To create a connection between this form and functioned I chose to use the oversized structural glass gem to act as entrance to a stairwell that takes one experiencing the space below. Once inside the space, to avoid sensations of fear associated with darkness, I chose to illuminate the hall way that accesses all areas within by using smaller fascinating and unique three dimensional shapes to emit the underground space with light. In addition to the shapes lining the main access of the hall way, a cluster of structural glass shapes were also included in the largest space in the light pavilion, to ensure it was the most generously lit space in the entire layout.
CONCEPT TWO
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CONCEPT ONE
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CONCEPT ONE DESIGN PROCESS All design strategies in the generation of my first concept were driven from my precedents which gave me inspiration and injected enthusiasm and interest into the design as a result. The plan above this text displays where the design idea generated from, which was a drawing in my sketch pad of a series of abnormal and intriguing shapes that would go on to influence my entire design. From the plan, using a mixture of digital and hand drawing skills I developed the idea of underground rooms that linked in an organic and impractical manner that forced those within to have to stop and experience each and every space. Above ground, using sketch up as a medium for design, I copied the shapes used in plan and extruded them and moved vertices and points to create interesting, gem like shapes constructed from structural glass that would allow light to penetrate to rooms below. Lastly I utilised perforated steel as a way to alter the qualities of light entering the spaces below to create varying visual effects to provoke interesting and positive emotions.
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LUMINOUS TRANSCENDENCE DESIGN OUTCOMES CONCEPT ONE
INTERIOR QUALITIES
The above render displays some of the interesting light qualities that are a result of my design strategies. I believe it helps communicate my strong intention to utilise perforated steel as a way to produce varying shapes and amounts of light to the spaces within, resulting in an intriguing underground space that would attract students within the university to use for a number on functions. In particular, this space would provide students with a place to relax, read or sit with friends in a unique university space.
SITE CONTEXT
The image above displays where this design concept would be located on site, being the western end of the Maths lawns at the University of Adelaide. The site occupies approximately half of the entire maths lawn area as I personally believe that increasing the scale of the design or expanding landscaping would only diminish the qualities of the spaces I have created. I believe the rendered image reiterates my opinion that the concept design would dramatically enhance the area of the campus, rather than damage the vista of the Bar Smith Library and surrounding buildings.
LANDSCAPING
For this design concept I decided to keep vegetation and other landscape features minimal as I wanted the perforated steel covered glass forms to be the most visually appealing aspect of the design. I have included species of Australian shrubs and trees to make the above ground areas more interesting and to create a sense of safety and closure when going through the space. Overall I think landscape considerations have strongly enhanced my design by providing more significant interest than simply surrounding my design in the grass that currently occupies that site.
INTERIOR QUALITIES
In the same manner as concept one, the interior rendered image displays the interesting light qualities that enter the underground spaces as a result of my design choices. Close attention to the image reveals a serious of unique shapes that appear of the surface of the hall way and centre of the relaxation and reading space, which is the result of light traveling through the transparent glass structures to provide the underground spaces with natural light an interesting and aesthetically pleasing way. The furniture included gives context to what would appear in one room in the light pavilion, being a relaxing reading space for students.
SITE CONTEXT
The above image reveals how the structures and design would sit in the surrounding university context. I believe strategies to keep the size of glass structures relatively small and transparent successfully allows the proposal to sit comfortable in its surroundings, without damaging views to the Bar Smith Library from Frome Street that have contributed immensely to the maths lawns characteristics. I believe overall this particular design would enhance The University of Adelaide campus, specifically in terms of addition of facilities without damaging the context of the site that exists currently.
LANDSCAPING
For this design concept, I chose to include a larger amount of trees and vegetation when generating the design concept. As the glass structures are minimal in size and only occupy a small area of the site, I believed landscaping considerations of introducing flora and other landscaping features including large rocks would enhance the qualities of the above ground space. I also trust that such intentions would attract people to the space to meander through the site amongst trees and vegetation as they gaze through the gemlike structures into the spaces below.
GEMSTONE JOURNEY DESIGN OUTCOMES CONCEPT TWO
LIGHT STUDY 2 - REFLECTION
The altered approach to design and the celebration of the expressive materiality of transparency and reflective imagery of entire building skins transformed architectural language and new physical and sensual effects emerged as the world began to appreciate the shift that occurred and the architects that questioned prior strategies and utilised new materials and construction methods.
Reflection occurs due to the instance of reflecting, most significantly referring to the return of light, heat or sound from a particular surface without absorbing it. To discuss further, in addition to being a physical sensual existence evident all around us, reflection also refers to a concept, idea or thought that is a consequence of or arises from something else done prior. Most significant to architecture is the effects of reflection possible through light, which can connect, enhance or diminish a particular design or form depending on what design strategies and approaches are taken during design. Types of reflection include the return of light from a smooth surface, causing light rays to travel in the same direction (specular reflection) or the return of light from a rough surface, causing the light to reflect in various directions (diffuse reflection). The act of reflection is essential in the logical acts of architectural design, of the understanding by which concepts are generated as to their form, in relation to comparison and abstraction, as without reflecting, comparing and abstracting, generation of concepts, ideas and forms cannot be done successfully. Architectural designs have altered significantly throughout history, and in the process has come to incorporate a myriad of materials, ideas and designs. However one element that has remained as the basis of design is the use of reflection due to its various effects in relation to natural and artificial light. Although, inclusions of reflective design considerations came to the forefront of architectural design when modernism began promoting the relationship between reflection and transparency in the early 20th century, as facades began to utilise glass and other reflective surfaces.
One example of clear design intentions to make practical and effective use of transparency and reflection in architecture is the Guggenheim Museum, Bilbao designed by Frank Gehry, which is considered one of the most admired works of contemporary architecture. Constructed in 1997, the building displayed Gehry’s successful ability to transfer other architectural approaches in relation to the aesthetic brilliance of reflection from glass to metal. The structure does this by using reflective titanium steel panels and abstract forms to transform the building into an urban jewel that ignited various urban redevelopments with its iconic signature. Reflections of surfaces create varying light effects on nearby surfaces of the building and its surroundings including ground surfaces and the adjoining Nervion River, clear intentions made by Frank Gehry understood though his statement, “The randomness of the curves are designed to catch the light”. Such glistening light qualities provide varying sensual effects when experiencing the building not only at different times or the day, but with every slight variation of the sky and sunbeams above, which has been referred to as the “Bilbao effect”.
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ry’s bold design strategies created an internationally owned structure that also helped save Bilbao’s poor utation as a terrorism stricken and industry failing area, possible through transformative effects of arts and t significantly, reflection.
example of the Guggenheim Museum is only one mple of thousands by architect’s intentions to use reion to create a number of different effects for people eriencing a particular space. Although with a focus on al aesthetics, reflection can be used to add privacy to ace, make it seem larger or to make the best possible of natural light. Thus displaying why reflection continto be a mainstay in modern architectural design.