Ye a r R e p or t In my second year design report, I discussed how being experimental and imaginative with designs helped me to learn much more than when I am held back and was conservative with my approach. One year on I still believe that this is true and I have pushed myself hard to be as creative as possible throughout stage three, with varying results. There is no doubt however, that this year has been the steepest learning curve in my educational career and the lessons I have learnt will continue to influence the way I design for the rest of my life. The year started with charrette week. This time I was part of the project titled ‘Animate Space’, with the intention of creating a huge Rube Goldberg machine which would travel throughout the ground floor and basement of the architecture building. We were split into groups to create different sections of the machine, with our group given the task of carrying the chain reaction through a wall. As the oldest member of the group I enjoyed taking up the role of leader. The project was high in energy and incredibly creative – a great way to engage the mind at the start of the year. Next we travelled to Spain for the second project of the year, in which we would be working with a disused textile factory in the Poble Nou area of Barcelona. The nature of the brief encouraged us to work with varying scales and is by far the largest building we have ever been asked to design. Using the existing architecture required a new approach to site analysis, especially as the project was taking place in a country with a way of life in which I am unfamiliar. Spending a week in Barcelona allowed me to immerse myself in the culture and view how people respond to the city, particularly noticing the importance of outside spaces. I made this the focus of my design, creating a building that would make the most of the cities climate and offer attractive external spaces by designing a building that would connect the public space to the south of the site to the proposed pedestrianised street to the north. The building would be completely open, acting as a connection between the two areas even when it was not in use, with no barriers between the external and internal environment. After the final crit I was made aware that although my design succeeded in linking the public spaces within the site, it neglected the wider contact and there was minimal consideration as to how La Machine would use the external environment. Throughout the project I focused on the internal environment and the building-scale of the design. I spent time ensuring that the internal spaces worked and to some extent neglected the macro and micro scale, resulting in poorly represented technical details. The Can Ricart Project made me realise that a design concept should span all aspects of the design, from how it related to its location to the design of a hand rail. For the graduation project I chose to be a part of the ‘Pleasure Beach’ studio as I felt that the conceptual brief suited the experimental way in which I like to design. Based in Blackpool, the project explored how people pursue pleasure and its relation with both Blackpool and British holidays. My design developed into a building which would re-awaken a person’s senses but feedback give during interim crit pointed out that my design was lacking a strong programme. I developed a building function inspired by my reading about architecture in the 1960’s; where LSD was used as a catalyst for changed perceptions, inner exploration and self-discovery. My design became the ‘intranaut traning facility’, where people would explore their minds, but drugs were replaced by forms of abstract therapy, for example flotation or dancing. Despite the design developing hugely, at the time of the final crit there were still some issues that needed to be addressed. Focussing a lot of my time on the development of the concept, I neglected to address the tectonic qualities of my design resulting in areas that were not structurally convincing. I have addressed this since the final crit and now believe that each room is structurally viable. A mirror ball is the centre piece of my design and at the time of the crit, the relationship between the individual rooms and the ball was not as strong as it could have been. These issues have also been addressed, with additions to my design ensuring that visitors to the building are always are of the ball even when they cannot see it. I focused on each individual room as a separate and individual entity within my design but slightly neglected their relationship with each other. Although I received positive feedback in terms of how I represented my ideas, I feel that some parts of my design were not communicated well enough, resulting in a lack of understanding of my proposal. The underground circulation is a key part of my design as it acts as a neutral, mysterious link between each highly individual room. This was not represented in my final presentation resulting in criticism from tutors. One of the main things that I have learnt is even though my ideas are incredibly clear to myself; they are not necessarily understood immediately by others. The project was extremely exciting and I have enjoyed tackling complex subject matters whilst developing an exciting and thought provoking concept. Every aspect of my design is highly considered from the initial souvenir stage, through to the final proposal and believe that the building I have designed would function well. Over all I am incredibly proud of my design, both conceptually and architecturally, but feel disappointed that it has not excited my tutors as much as other projects. I put this down to either my lack of understanding in terms of what makes a project successful or an inability communicate every aspect of my design fully. On reflection, the degree has been extremely enjoyable and rewarding. At the beginning I was incredibly naïve about the subject of architecture, but my understanding and interest has grown. My confidence as a designer has fluctuated over the three years, but the skills and lessons I have learnt will be incredibly beneficial for my future career. Most importantly, the process has changed the way in which I think, not just about design, but about life as a whole and I look forward to applying my acquired knowledge in practice.
Contents
Design Graduate Project - 5 Can Ricart - 39 Charrette - 65
Non-Design (see separare booklet) A r c h i t e c t u r a l Te c h n o l o g y Professional Practice & Management Principles & Theories of Architecture Dissertation
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Graduate Project
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I n t r a n a u t Tr a i n i n g F a c i l i t y “Anyone can become an astronaut of himself ” - Alan Harrington
The term intranaut was created by philosopher and acid pioneer Gerald Heard to describe people obsessed with self-discovery and inward exploration. Inspired by the sensual architecture of the 1960’s, the Intranaut Training Facility is a sensory journey which allows people to explore their conscious and unconscious mind. In a world where reality is becoming more and more digitalised, the Intranaut Training facility reminds people what it is like to be alive.
The use of LSD in the 1960’s caused the development of a remarkable sub-culture. The use of psychedelic drugs influenced not only art and music, but also architecture. Spaces were designed to complement and exaggerate the feelings experienced whilst tripping, or to simulate the feeling of being on drugs. The spaces bombarded the senses and enabled people to explore their inner selves – they could become intranauts.
The Intranaut Training facility is heavily inspired by the architecture of this period. Each of its rooms takes its internal environment and name from rooms described in Alistair Gordon’s book ‘Spaced Out’ - an in depth study of psychedelic architecture of the time. Within the facility, drugs are replaced by abstract therapies which increase self awareness. One trip around the building will heighten a persons senses, reminding them that true experience takes place when the human body is fully engaged and that real life does not exist online.
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Facility Entrance
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Site Axonometric - 1:500
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Site in Context - Blackpool Pleasure Beach
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Site Plan at 62m - 1:500
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Site Plan at -6m - 1:500
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Mirror Ball The building consists of five rooms which are centred around a nine metre tall mirror ball - an existing feature at the south end of Blackpool Pleasure Beach. The ball interacts with each room, either as a visual reference or a lighting device. The mirror ball is both a symbol and a destination. Inspired by the monolith of ‘2001: a Space Odyssey’, it acts as a reminder of the sensory journey the intranauts are a part of. The last area reached in the journey is the garden of reflection, where intranauts will come into physical contact with the ball for the first time - signifying the end of their trip. The garden is a place to reflect on the journey which has been undertaken before entering reality once more.
Circulation The dark and featureless circulation runs in a circit below ground level. The tunnel is made of concrete and is dimly lit to create an environment which is plain and in contrast to the five main rooms, yet is disorienating and mysterious in its own way. There is no set route around the building and rooms can be visited more than once.
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Garden of Reflection
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Plan - 1:200
Wo m b R o o m In the womb room people are strapped to the walls, leaving only their head able to move. Inspired by swaddling, this form of abstract therapy focuses the mind and increases self awareness. The room has a completely soft interior consisting of various deep red fabrics. Translucent cladding allows light reflected from the mirror ball to penetrate the rooms skin making the walls seem as if they are fluid and flowing.
Axonometric - 1:200
Structural Frame
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Cladding System
“Everything in a womb room should be soft. The use of light can create the effect of the walls flowing, consisting of liquid”
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Plan - 1:200
Isolation Chamber This room is completely isolated from the rest of the facility, reached by walking down a long, floating corridor. Constructed from glass reinforced plastic, the sound of the waves will resonat like water in an empty barrel. At the end is a hole through which the sea can be accessed, protected by a permeable skin to create a small salt water tank. This chamber is a floatation tank; a dark room to lie in isolation. Floatation is one of the most intense forms of therapy, known to cause out of body experiences and hallucinations - one of the most important processes of becoming an intranaut. When leaving the chamber, a small window points towards the mirror ball, signifying the continuation of the journey.
Axonometric - 1:200
Structural Detail
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“People would sit in isolation for twelve hours, gazing out toward the ocean. Everything seemed transitory and floating�
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Time Chamber The time chamber is a cramped room, entered through the floor by three spiral staircases. The ceiling is too low to stand, meaning visitors must move around by ducking or crawling.
Plan - 1:200
It is an area for meditation. The nature of the room forces people to sit on the ground, which has large padded areas. The only relief from the claustrophobia is four transparent pods protruding from the room of the chamber. These allow people to stand up straight, whilst offering views towards the mirror ball.
Axonometric
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- 1:200
“It would be a softly contoured enclosure - something like a submarine or a communal spaceship. The only way to enter was from the basement, through a hole in the floor.�
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Plan at 35m - 1:200
To w e r Plan at -6m - 1:200
At sixty metres tall, the tower is a monolith within the facilities complex. It is a dark and mysterious building which consists of only two floors, connected by ten flights of stairs. The top floor is small in plan but vast in height. Any sound created will echo around the concrete interior. The only feature within the room is a hole in the floor, below which is an extreme slide runs to the bottom of the tower. Next to the hole is a small window directed towards the mirror ball, indicating that entering the hole is the only way for the sensory journey to continue. The uncertain and creepy nature of the room will instill fear within the mind of the prospective intranauts. Conquering these fears, combined with the adrenaline created during free fall, will increase self awareness within visitors.
Axonometric Drawings - 1:500
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“The structure could be seen from every point on the grounds and acted as a focal point of higher consciousness�
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Infinity Machine The infinity machine is a giant mirrored kaleidoscope which bombards visitors with light and sound. The area is completely exposed to the elements and points towards the mirror ball whose light reflects into the machine. Plan - 1:200
The activity for this room is dance - one of the strongest connections of mind and body. The music played will be minimal and repetitive to allow people to drift off toward a deeper inward journey. The completely reflective interior gives intranauts a feeling of infinity, as if the room in infinite in size. Smaller chambers are attached to the main machine, allowing for a more intense, personal experience.
Axonometric - 1:200
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“The Infinity Machine was, in effect, a souped-up kaleidoscope. Visitors reported the sensation of floating untethered in outer space�
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Development
Souvenirs Our initial task for this project was to create two souvenirs, inspired by British holidays and our site visit to Blackpool. The first of my souvenirs was a cheap and tacky looking medal. Inspired by the souvenirs for sale in Blackpool, the item is designed to be worn around the neck whilst posing for photos infront of landmarks. With the message “My holiday was better than yours!!!”, the souvenir is inspired by the Facebook generations mission to collect the best holiday photographys, competing for ‘likes’ as opposed to experiencing their holidays fully.
The second souvenir was a pair of distortion glasses - a direct response to our site visit to Blackpool. The town is a very intense place, where holiday makers are bombarded by light and sound, aggresivley pleeding with them to spend money. The glasses are designed to distort the light from the signage, removing their commercial message.
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Distortion Following the creation of the inital souvenirs, I created several more distorting lenses. These were more elaborate and refined, each manipulating the view in a different way. This collage shows the idea of image distortion cutting throuh the intense corporate images.
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Invert
Isolation Kit The isolation kit is a more refined version of the various lenses that I created. The souvenir consists of four lenses, each of which distorts the enviroment in a different way. The kit is designed to isolate somebody in Blackpool, to take them away from the intense commercial environment which is Blakpool. This collage shows a man using the invert lense. The distorted image takes him to a world away from Blackpool.
Multiply
Refract
Blur
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Peripheral Glasses The final souvenir was a set of wearable glasses designed to blur what is directly infront of the wearer, but leaving the peripheral vision unobstructed. Similar to the first souvenir, the glasses are a response to contemporary holiday makers - people obsessed with taking the perfect photo of a monument which will always exist and always look the same. The peripheral glasses block these leaving only the surrounding activity visible. The local people and the local culture of a holiday destination are much more dynamic and fleeting that a landmark which can be seen on a postcard.
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Layering & Distortion Following the initial stages of the project I decided to further elaborate on the themes of distortion. I did this by digitally manipulating the images I took from Blackpool, as well as building abstract models inspired by the most distinct forms of blackpool. The resulting images were chaotic, colourful and psychadelic. It was this which intrested me in how drug use can change peoples perseptions of an environment.
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Programme Development After reading ‘Spaced Out’ by Alistair Gordon, the environment and programme for my building became very clear. From this book I took the names of each room and the basic interal environment from the descriptions given of the intensely sensory environments created in the 1960’s. I then undertook an intense development process in which these designs were elaborated and refined through modeling and drawing.
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Orrery The final model I created of my design was an abstract piece inspired by the construction of a planitary orrery. This means of representation was key to my concept as it emphasised the importance of the mirror ball within the building. Each room is displayed on a separate plinth, displaying its relation to the ball. They appear to be orbiting, with the ball as a star.
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Can Ricart
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Background
The project brief asked for the design of a Catalan base for the group ‘La Machine’ - a French collesctive of artists, and craftesmen best known for creation of huge mechanical animals. Situated on the site of the deralict Can Ricart textile factory in the Poble Nou area of Barcelona, the project would work with the existing fabric of the buildings and would explore macro, meso and micro scale.
The building will accomodate a large workshop, along with an area to exhibit the La Machine creations as well as the work of local artists. The use of external spaces is key , with areas to parade the creations produced within the building.
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External Area
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Response to Context The factories of Can Ricart were built before the radical urban planning of 1859 in which the city was constucted on a strict grid. Not only does this make the site vesy unique in the context of Barcelona, but offers the opportunity to create a large are of pubic space; something which is rare within the city. I decided to work with the central building within the site due to its large front and rear facades, liking it well with the public space to the South and the proposed pedestrianied road to the north. My first design move was to create a passive building which would link these two areas, even when the building was not in use. This was done by re-building some of the structurally unstable walls to give the appearance the the building was exploding outwards and opening itself to its surroundings.
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Connecting Public Spaces
Parrade Route
Exploded Shell 45
Building for La Machine La Machine are an increadibly exciting and mysterious group. Their current base in Nantes is an increadibly interactive place which focuses on how the public interact with their work. These were elements which I wanted to refclect within my design. I started by splitting the building into two areas: a ‘machine realm’ and a ‘human realm’. The machine area would hang from the ceiling, constructed from steel and timber - the same materials used in La Machine’s work. The human area consists of individual house like units, constructed from the reclaimed stone found on site. The two realms are then connected by a large, steel ferris wheel which will be the centre piece to the building. This will be the main circulation within the building creating an exciting and interactive experience. The workshop, where the machines are created, is a combination of both realms; particularly in terms of materiality, with a combination of stone, steel and timber used in its construction.
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Building Shell
Building sepatated into two realms.
T h e ‘ m a c h i n e r e a l m’ h a n g s f r o m t h e c e i l i n g . T h e ‘ h u m a n r e a l m’ l i e s b e l o w.
The two worlds are connected by a mechanical ferris wheel.
Concept Diagram 47
Proposal The ground floor units hold the basic accommodation including the cafe, box office and information centre. These individual buildings can be closed individually, laving the building open when not in use. The upper levels consists walkways suspended from an inserted steel frame. Machines are displayed to the east of the building, hanging between both platforms, allowing them to be viewed from multiple angles. To the west of the building is the workshop. Overlooking this is the design studio, with a lift collecting the spaces. The hanging walkways move through past the studio and through the workshop, giving an insight on both the design and production process.
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Exploded Axomometric 49
Exhibition Spaces
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Exhibition Spaces Coming off the walkway are three flexible platforms used for exhibiting the smaller pieces of la machine, as well as the work of local artists. The platforms can move to join up with each other, allowing curators to tailor the size of a space depending on the exhibition.
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Upper Exhibition Level
Cut - aw ay Vi e w of Whe el
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Wo r k s h o p & S t u d i o
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Ground Floor (Human Realm)
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Ground Floor Plan 1:300
B u i l d i n g Us e s D i a g r am
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First Floor
(Machine Realm)
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Ground Floor Plan 1:300
B u i l d i n g Us e s D i a g r am
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Second Floor (Machine Realm)
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Ground Floor Plan 1:300
B u i l d i n g Us e s D i a g r am
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Te c t o n i c S t r a t e g y The bracing of the steel frame and existing walls is crucial to the design. The steel frame will experience much more movement than the stone wall due to expansion and contraction meaning a rigid bracing system would not be suitable. This bracket allows for vertical movement of the steel frame whilst bracing the wall and restricting any horizontal movement. The workshop is where the two themes of materiality combine. A non-structural insulated timber frame wall hangs from the steel frame and slips behind the existing wall. As this wall is being re-built around a steel frame, it is possible to insulate the old wall and maintain continuity between the timber-clad steel wall and the stone wall. A gutter will fill the gap created behind the outer stone leaf.
The main structural element in the design is a steel portal frame which is inserted inside the existing walls of the former factory. The frame consists of 300x300mm section steel columns, with horizontal bracing every 3m for bracing. A truss of 1200mm is used to give the frame sufficient depth. This allows is to support the weight of the elements hanging from it. Beams of 1500mm in depth are used above the large openings to add extra support. The building is only insulated fully in the workshop, with the insulated frame overlapping the existing walls to maintain continuity within the fabric. Even though the rest of the building is not enclosed, the roof will contain insulation to minimise thermal gains to the shaded interior. This is important as the roof material is corrugated steel and will heat up greatly in summer.
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Development Creating a building which connected the areas to the north and south is an idea I developed extensively in the early stages of the project through model making. Each model had different solutions to make this connection. The long section through the site was a piece of analysis which helped me get an understanding of how big Can Ricart is and how that scale relates to the size of the La Machine constructions. The materiality of the interior is also something that I studied in depth, initially through sketches. The quality of textures is a feature that I have carried through to my final proposal.
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Charrette
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Animate Space The aim of this charrette was to create a Rube Goldberg chain reaction device which would span the ground floor and basement floor of the architecture building. We were divided into different teams and were allocated a part of the chain to create, each with a specific theme or obstical. Or section involved carrying the reaction through a solid wall. We tackled this problemn using the electronic signals of mobile phones. After a basic set of chain reactions, a car with a sausage would be released down a ramp, calling a phone on the other side of the wall. This phone would then vibrate and release a second car which would continue the reaction to the next group. We then filmed our sequence for use in the charrette video.
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