MEGAN BEANGE
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llthough it is a familiar state of consciousness, SLEEP is widely misunderstood. Generally, people consider sleep to be
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ursuing an education in ARCHITECTURE can be analyzed using a similar language. We think of this education as a single,
a single, uniform state of physical and mental inactivity. In reality,
uniform state of learning and assimilation. In reality, students of
sleepers experience quite a bit of physical and mental activity through-
ARCHITECTURE experience the disengagement from full reality
out the night. The purpose and mechanisms of SLEEP are still un-
as surely as a dreamer. Severance from their previous reality is in fact
clear. However it is believed that SLEEP helps to cohere thoughts and
the first push that starts the student’s fall into the architectural dream-
memories from the minds experiences and accentuate the growth and
ing state. An education in ARCHITECTURE should also include 5
rejuvenation of the immune, nervous, skeletal and muscular systems.
PHASES; each serving to further cohere their assimilation of knowl-
SLEEP occurs in 5 PHASES; each phase transporting the sleeper
edge, aswell as their interpretational, representational, structural and
farther into the subconscious.
material syntaxes; each phase transporting the student farther into the architectural subconscious.
AWA K E
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knowledge or understanding or realization or perception of REAL-
previous to or a life seperate from the ARCHITECTURAL REAL-
ITY.
ITY.
o be AWAKE is to have not yet entered the state of SLEEP. It is to be fully conscious and fully aware. It is to have or show
o be AWAKE is to have not yet entered the dreaming state of ARCHITECTURE. It is to be fully egaged in a life sans-, a life
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hase 1: The SLEEP is light. The dreamer experiences a drifting in and out of reality, jerky movements of legs and other major
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irst Year: The student is learning the basic skills and principles of their craft; drawing, photography, layouts etc. The mind is slowly
voluntary muscles. Breathing and heart rates slow as muscle tension
being steeped in the basics of architetural representation and cleansed
and heart rate decline.
of mis-conceptions and improper training. The process of aclimating to the level of quality and dedication expected is difficult and often results in some preliminary resistance. However, the rythms of architectural learning begin to take over, students settle in and the mind is primed to delve deeper.
FIRST YEAR
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hese are several examples of pictures taken for the Multi-media class that is mandatory in first year.
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hase 2: During this stage eye movement stops and activity in the brain begins to slow. However, it is in this stage that there are oc-
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econd Year: Approximately 75% of a student’s time is consumed with architecture. It is in Second Year that the student begins to
curences called “SLEEP SPINDLES” which consist of breif bursts of
have moments of INSPIRATION and ARCHITECTURAL APA-
intense brain activity. These occurences are not still not the scientific
THY. They have learned the elements of their craft and are beginning
equivalent of dreaming.
to see the intellectual gestures and intention made by others in their research. However, the student has not yet learned to effectively use this understanding of representation in their own work. Ideas and gestures are made instinctually, and are not necessarily communicated as they should be.
SECOND YEAR
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he HOUSE ANALYSIS PROJECT was intended to help the student understand the depth of con-
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ceptual thinking that is invested in a professional work. Each student was given a project to research and evaluated based on the success with which they analyzed the concepts and ideas inherent in the work. Categories analyzed include form, space, structure, landscape + site, location + culture, client-architect relations etc.
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ASA KIKE was built by an Architect for his
father (a famous author) on the coastline of Costa
Rica. By coupling indigenous timber techniques with modern building technologies, this double pavilion is
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made a fully functioning work space for the author. The floor plan takes its shape from the triangulation of trees existing on the site. Further more, only local trees were cut and milled for this project. The library itself is rep-
CASA KIKE
resentative of the three lifestages of a tree for an author; those alive right outside the louvred glazing, those dead and assembled into structure, and those reborn into the
AN ANALYSIS OF:
pages of written word. The plan also speaks to the tension between the larger pavilion and the smaller, and of BY GIANNI BOTSFORD ARCHITECTS
the tension between father and son, architect and client.
Cladding: Corrugated steel sheeting. Non-reflective surface, but recieves shadows cast by surrounding trees.
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Structure: Modified Post + Beam structure. Rafters are echoing the triangulation of the site.
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Foot Print: Notice the tree placement and the triangulation of the plan between existing trees.
1. South Elevation// Notice that the roof angles upwards in direction of shore line. 2. Site Plan// 3. East Elevation// 4. West Elevation// Notice the louvred glazing system that serves as the only ventilation system. 5. Section// See opposite page. 6. Pavilion Floor Plan// See opposite page.
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he “BENCH� project was intended to be an outlet for the interpretation of ideas and intentionality found in the HOUSE ANALYSIS project. The concept each student chose was to be based heavily on the intentions and ideologies that drove the project they had just finished analyzing.
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he TREE BENCH was a proposal to use the power of a tree to graft itself to a foreign object. Several steel members would be embedded into the tree. Over time, the tree would begin to grow around these members to create living steps with which to climb it. These members could be used to guide a tree into gowing structural platforms upon which, after some time, even a load such as a single family home could be built upon. This method of guided growth takes years of careful placement and attention, however it is possible. Imagine a RESIDENTIAL BLOCK made up of nothing but tree houses.
The BOOK ART project was to design a Centre for Book Arts. Students were to read the novel “If on a Winter’s Night a Traveller” by Italo Calvino, find a conceptual interpretation with which to create their own book art and design the centre . In this book, several strange and seemingly disconnected stories come together to tell one of the strangest love stories of our age. My book art analyzed the fragments of character revealed of the heroine throughout the novel. Titled “Illumination of Character”, the book art is a culmination of the character as she is revealed through each new story and chapter until at the last page the reader has a full impression of her nature.
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hase 3: This is the first stage of DEEP SLEEP. The brain waves are an equal combination of slow and fast waves. During Phase
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hird Year: This is the first year that students step fully into their roles as young architects. Understanding of both theory and
3 sleep it can be very difficult to wake someone up. If you are woken
practice have culminated in the first guided efforts at true architectural
at this stage, you may feel groggy and disoriented for several minutes.
design. Working with space, program and functionality, each project
Natural spurts of semi-consciousness are becoming more rare at this
is aimed to further the student’s knowledge of tailored programatic
stage, and the bursts of brain activity are becoming longer.
spaces. From institutions to intimate dinner pavilions, students are discovering the proper scale and function of space. By the end of the year the transition of the student into the world of architectural dreaming is almost complete, with very little time left for anything of the world they knew before.
THIRD YEAR
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he Dinner in the Park Project involved the design of an outdoor pavilion where a small group of guests (approximately 10) could enjoy a meal or a night of celebration. This project was intended to have students designing projects that both met a budget and standards of comfort and innovation. Everything had to be considered right down to the fasteners. ur project was intended to mimic the shadowy inner environment of a coccoon. The ligth fixtures were gauze creations meant to hang from the boughs of trees above and create the impression of light casting eggs. The furniture also spoke of wrappings and larvae (leaf stuffed bags sown together to become a bean bag chair). The hand drawing depicts the use of one of the three swaths of cloth used in the creation of the walls of the pavilion.
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he Culinary Institute project involved the design of a new building for the Cordon Bleu. The site was located at the corner of Catherine and Bank in Ottawa. At this site (across from a gas station and directly alongside the Queensway highway) an existing parking lot sat beside an office building of approximately 8 storeys. The fabric of the city beyond Catherine consisted of a maximum height of 3 storeys. he design incorporated the re-use of large refrigerated shipping containers that had themselves travelled around the world. Like the Cordon Bleu, the containers had seen many continents, travelling a long way. The containers also spoke to the proximity of the major highway that backed the site. he containers were arranged with the logic of using both the space on the interior of a container as well as the surface of it’s top. All spaces not housed by a container was enveloped by a glazed steel frame creating a secondary language of exposure vs enclosure. lans include spaces for multiple kitchens, student study areas, rentable event space, administration offices and flexible public spaces.
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hase 4: The sleep of this stage is the deepest before the REM cycle. In this stage, the brain continues to experience the longest
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ourth Year: Students of this year begin to make educated and avant-garde design decisions culminating in projects that are cre-
bursts of brain activity short of REM, and it is very difficult to wake
ated with intention and a desire to further explore the frontiers of the
those experiencing it. Sleep walking and talking are the most likely
ARCHITECTURAL DREAM. It is in this year that students experi-
during this phase of sleep, however by the end the body is completely
ence the true breadth of the ARCHITECTURAL DREAM, capable
still and the brain the most active. It is at the end of this phase that true
of both discerning it’s flow and contributing to it’s advancement. By
dreaming occurs, known as the REM cycle.
the end of fourth year, a student’s mind has been completely reshaped and primed for their life as an architect. The student is ready to go forth and formulate both style and opinion, solve the great questions of the age and above all continue dreaming.
FOURTH YEAR
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1. An Analysis of the Sun’s affect on the pure volume of the Cube. 2. An Analysis of the Structure of the Cube. Each Unit is Structural and it’s walls thicken as the load increases. 3. The Elevations of the Cube after it’s Sun Sculpture.
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he Housing Project was the fourth year studio that gave students a chance to explore housing design. Some studio groups were givent he option of multistorey, multi-use buildings. However, no other studio aimed to address the social problem of housing at such a polemical level as did our group. We worked in groups for this project, collaborating on massive and avant-garde strategies of densification for several Ottawa sites. he design we developped was based on two precedents that we had analyzed early in the semester for inspiration. These projects were Moshe Safdie’s Habitat 67 for the Montreal Expo, and Mies Van Der Rohe’s Courtyard Houses. Both precedents spoke different dialects of the same language to our ears. Safdie worked vertically, stacking horizontal “L” shaped units, with a heavy importance placed on outdoor, personal space. Mies also used an “L” shape, among others. However Mies’ approach was more the sprawl of a suburban condition. Mies also laid heavy importance on the outdoor, personal and rather introspective space. eparately from this investigation at the level of the unit, we were working with massing and 3D models. As a team, we very much liked the polemical position of the Cube, a Piranesian Cube. We began to analyze how the sun and site would affect the pure volume of the Cube. This logic led to the development of a strategy whereby great swaths would be carved from the surface of the cube inorder to allow light to penetrate deep into it’s center. We had decided to work at a large and grandiose scale; a great Piranesian Cube that would house hundreds of housing units.
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Designed by: Megan Beange Daniel Nedecki
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he design of the Unit was based on the precedent “L” in both Safdie’s and Mies’ work. The “L” was flipped vertically and reflected back onto itself. The “L” was then seperated into six floor plates. On the opposite page are several strategies that were used to create a variety of housing unit typologies. A unit could span a single floor plate over both “L’s”, occupy a single “L” from top to bottom, or any variation of the two. he Cube was then arranged into five massive floor plates. These “Levels” act as neighborhoods, each holding anywhere between 15-25 housing units. These “Levels” (as seen on the opposite page) are designed to house an interior conditioned 4-season space. Each set of facing “L’s”, acting as miniature apartment buildings and as structural support for the level above, is given access to this interior space via contact with the seal at one elevation. ach massive floor plate also contains a void cut into the slab. These voids act as open-air communication from level to level, allowing natural convectional circulation. These voids also lend a more open and programmatically rich element to these interior “courtyard” spaces. any of the interior spaces are designed to allow a flexibility of public programming. Many spaces are large enough for small markets, recreational public spaces, businesses etc.
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MEGAN BEANGE