TERRACED PATHWAYS Grace Hart Isais Lawrence Topo-Architectures ARCH 423/523 School of Architecture and Environment Mary Polites + Ignacio Lopez Buson
1 CONTEXT - Location - Topographic Data - Site - Analysis
2 TOPO-SYSTEM - Introduction - Inspiration - Geometrization - Transformation Studies - Components
3 ARCH-SYSTEM - Introduction - Inspiration - Geometrization - Wayfinding - Physical model
4 CONCLUSIONS - Comparison Plan/Contours - Comparison Models - Render Views
1.0
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CONTEXT
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1.1
CONTEXT Location
SITE
Bellingham, WA The site is located in the Northwest region of Washington near the Pacific Ocean. Bellingham has a population of 89,045 people.
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1.2
CONTEXT Topographic Data
500’
Region The site is located just East of a very large mud flat. The area is residential and has a medium amount of foot traffic. The area receives about 36 inches of rainfall a year and has an average temperature of 50 degrees.
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1.3
CONTEXT Site ELEV 200’
Site The site has an elevation change of 200 feet with slopes ranging from 0 to 50 degrees. A paved road can be found towards the top of the site.
500’
ELEV 0’
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1.4
CONTEXT Analysis
40< degrees
35 degrees
30 degrees
25 degrees
Slope By applying a color gradient to the slopes of the sight, the steep and shallow regions can be identified. When human context is applied to this data visualization, the green regions can be identified as more inhabital space and the red regions can be identified as less inhabitable space.
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20 degrees
15> degrees
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1.4
CONTEXT Analysis
Habitable Areas By isolating the areas on the site that are 15 degrees or less, we can locate which locations are already habitable by users without manipulating the topography.
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1.4
CONTEXT Analysis
POINT 4 ELEV 200’ POINT 1 ELEV 100’
POINT 3 ELEV 165’ POINT 2 ELEV 150’
Destinations Identified Using the data from the slope, the green regions of the site were analysed to find the points where the concentration of green was the highest. These locations were identified at destinations of ideal inhabitable space.
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2.0
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TOPO-SYSTEM
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2.1
TOPO-SYSTEM Introduction
TOPOGRAPHY
HARD SYSTEM
Objective By combining the data from the slope analysis and the identified destinations, a new data set can be established that allows us to transform the old topography into a system of terracing and sloped regions. This transformation begins to inform how humans may move through the site.
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2.2
TOPO-SYSTEM Inspiration
Inspiration in Nature Our system of terracing and interwoven slopes was inspired by terraced rice fields that can be found in mountainous regions in China. We were intrigued by how a seemingly uninhabitable slope could be more easily navigated using this natural phenomenon.
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2.3
TOPO-SYSTEM Geometrization
Process
CONTOUR
VORONOI
SHORTEST PATH
TRANSFORMATION
By viewing each step of the process together, we can see how each of the seperate peices of data interact with eachother to create the end result.
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2.3
TOPO-SYSTEM Geometrization
A New Grid In order to acheive our goal, we needed a grid that our new data set could transform. To do this, we used the contour lines of the site and ran a Voronoi calculation to partition the contours into segments. This grid could then be used to create our terraced regions.
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2.3
TOPO-SYSTEM Geometrization
Shortest Path To create a factor that the slope data could later be compared to, the established grid was used as a network of possible paths. This network was used to calculate the shortest path to our 4 destination points that were identified in the initial analysis of the topography. This calculation was also constrained to paths with a slope equal or less than 15 degrees.
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2.3
TOPO-SYSTEM Geometrization
Original Topography By combining all of this information, the new data set can be utalized to transform the original topography based on the distance of the Voronoi segments from the shortest path to the desired destinations.
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2.3
TOPO-SYSTEM Geometrization
Transformed Topography The result is a pathway system interwoven through a series of terraces. The parameters for the transformation are dependant on which areas are targeted to be terraced based off the distance from the shortest walk calculation.
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2.4
TOPO-SYSTEM Transformation studies
Study 1 In the first study, the degree of terrace is determined by how far away the Voronoi segment is from the shortest path. The farther away from the path, the higher of a degree the surface is rotated away from the original surface to create the terracing effect. This results in a the shollowest possible path woven through the terraces.
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2.4
TOPO-SYSTEM Transformation studies
Study 2 In the second study, the inverse of the first study was applied. The farther away from the shortest path the Voronoi segment is, the smaller the degree the segment is rotated away from the original topography. This results in the steepest possible path woven through the terraces.
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TOPO-SYSTEM Components
90 DEGREE
45 DEGREE
0 DEGREE
2.5
System Components The transformed topography can be broken down into three main components. The first is no degree of terracing, resulting in a smooth path. The second is a medium level of terracing, resulting in a 45 degree rotation out from the original surface. The thrid is a full level of terracing, resulting in a 90 degree rotation out from the original surface.
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2.5
TOPO-SYSTEM Components
Sectional Sequence The sectional sequence helps to get a better look at how the topography is working vertically and how the path, marked by the red dot, is manipulating the terracing. 44 |
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3.0
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ARCH-SYSTEM
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3.1
ARCH-SYSTEM Introduction
TOPOGRAPHY
SOFT SYSTEM
Objective The goal of our soft system is to be able to visulaize how humans would navigate through the transformed topography to the habitable locations and how frequently they would be traveled in comparison to each other.
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3.2
ARCH-SYSTEM Inspiration
Inspiration from Movement The light trails created by these long exposure photos of city traffic gave us inspiration for how we could build a form that would express the movement of people through our site. These light trails inform not only the path of travel, but the density the path receives and the direction of travel with the varying colors.
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3.3
ARCH-SYSTEM Geometrization
Splitting Paths Viewing the structure from a plan view shows how the pathway diverges to the 4 inhabitable destinations. By multiplying the number of paths, you can see how the different paths weave together.
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3.3
ARCH-SYSTEM Geometrization
Stacking Paths Viewing the structure from an axonometric view shows how each path stacks upon the other to help visualize the frequency at which the path is used.
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3.3
ARCH-SYSTEM Geometrization
Highlights Zooming in on various areas of the structure shows how the components weave in and out of eachother like a woven pattern of movement.
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3.4
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ARCH-SYSTEM Wayfinding
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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3.5
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ARCH-SYSTEM Physical model
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4.0
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CONCLUSIONS
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4.1
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CONCLUSIONS Grading comparison
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4.2
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CONCLUSIONS Digital - Physical comparison
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4.2
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CONCLUSIONS Digital - Physical comparison
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4.3
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CONCLUSIONS Render views
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4.3
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CONCLUSIONS Render views
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5.0
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CREDITS
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Grace Hart
Isais Lawrence
Grace is a 4th year undergraduate architecture student and an Army ROTC Cadet at the University of Oregon. She plans to commission as a 2nd Lieutenant and serve as an Engineering Officer after she graduates. Her goal is be a platoon leader for combat engineers before transfering to the United States Army Corp of Engineers to serve as a project engineer.
Isais is a 4th year undergraduate at the University of Oregon. He plans to graduate in 2021 and begin his career as an architect focusing on residentail design. He would eventually like to have his own firm designing custom homes.
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Topo-Architectures ARCH 423/523 School of Architecture and Environment Mary Polites + Ignacio Lopez Buson