AN ARCHITECTURE ODYSSEY
PORTFOLIO DESIGN SUBMISSIONS
MICHAEL CHOI MEN HIN STAGE 2 130527301 pg 1
C O N T E N T S pg 2
P P P P P P
Typology Study: Community + Adaptability
2.3.1
2.3.2
2.3.3
2.3.4
2.4.1
2.5.1
Leith 2025: A Vision For The Neighbourhood Dwelling + Inhabit Engineering Experience Exploring Experience
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for my parents, sisters &
Joanne
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INTRODUCTION TO HERMAN HERTZBERGER
The appearance of Diagoon house could be considered severe and detached from the typical architecture found in the Netherlands. However there is a conversation that Hertzberger has established between his buildings and that of Dutch design; nodding towards the 15th century Dutch town houses found in Amsterdam.
left: Typical 17th century Dutch Dwelling typeright: Diagoon Housing Herman Hertzberger
These houses, like Diagoon, are inherently inflexible. Their site is inherently limited by the fact they share primary walls with their neighbouring occupants. Essentially once built, these building are stuck, its form henceforth restricted by the boundaries of the site. It is inflexible but still adaptable for each new tenant of the house. Hertzberger felt that, instead of designing something flexible, he would design a form that can be used in different ways and for every purpose, without changing itself and with minimal flexibility allows an optimal solution, or Polyvalence. Hertzberger proposes polyvalence opposing flexibility and determinism. The possibility of mpersonal adaptability rather than flexibility.
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ADAPTABILITY OR FLEXIBILITY ?
flexibility
=
adaptability
Instead of designing something flexible, Hertzberger designed a form that could be used in multiple ways and for every purpose. This was achieved without changing itself and with minimal flexibility, it allows an optimal solution, or Polyvalence. Hertzberger proposes polyvalence opposing flexibility and determinism.
Q:
Flexibility is fundamentally flawed when involved with the design of dwellings. It disallows any form of identity to be formed due to its relentlessly unsatisfactory changeability. Consistency is not allowed. If a dwelling does not have identity can it be considered a home?
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UNDERSTANDING BUILDING’S VOLUME
basic 3 blocks
raise of ground flr creating an additional level
taking 2nd block split it & juxtopose
seperate 3rd block into enclosed & open
transversed & juxtoposed space
The arrangement is based upon two fixed cores, a staircase, and a utilities core (kitchen, bathrooms) with the rooms and spaces around the cores left undefined.
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DIAGRAMTIC VOLUME SEQUENCE:
UNDERSTANDING BUILDING’S VOLUME
By looking at the plans, it is hard to identify or understand the layout of the design. But by dissecting the building in this manner, it becomes clearer
the diagramatic visualization on how the juxtoposition of floor slabs allow interaction of occupants throughout the building.
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UNDERSTANDING BUILDING’S VOLUME
By looking at the plans, it is hard to identify or understand the layout of the design. But by dissecting the building in this manner, it becomes clearer
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UNDERSTANDING BUILDING’S VOLUME
LAYOUT: VOID - NEGATIVE SPACE
The 2 main cores intersect paraellely which creates a negative space that is express through the whole building vertically
LAYOUT: VOID -SECTION
top left: section through centre of building bottom left: analytical sketch of level play top right: floor level distinction sketch bottom right: sketch of mezzanine
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REALISTIC SPACE REALIZATION EXPERIMENT
By looking at the plans, it is hard to identify or understand the layout of the design. But by dissecting the building in this manner, it becomes clearer
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GROUP ANALYSIS TARGETS - INTERVIEWS
Q: How long have you lived in Leith for? J: We’ve had a lifetime in Leith, 59 years just in this block M: Aye, wouldn’t it change it. Q: Why?
JIM & MARY
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A: 43 years...I’m proud to be from Leith! Q: Where do you live? A: The banana flats [Cable Wynd House]
M: Oh the people. J: Aye, definetly the people. M: The community, oh its lovely. You know all you’re neighbours and everyone looks out for one another...// the interview was broken by a young woman walking out of the flats and stopping to greet and chat to the couple // J: This is what we mean, its the people.
Estate Life:
Q: How long have you lived in Leith for?
“We’ve had a lifetime in Leith; it’s the people that make this area”
Q: What’s the problem with Leith? A: Hard drugs, a little bit of hash is fine but nowadays they get the hard drugs if possible and they don’t respect the area. In my day there were more youth groups, like the YLT [Young Leith Team] which I was a part of. It kept us kids busy, I remember we used to make canoes and sail on the river. But nowadays there’s nothing for the kids and the devil
Estate Life:
PAUL
“the devil makes light work for idle hands”
GROUP ANALYSIS TARGETS - INTERVIEWS
through the interviews with the locals and careful obervation, we noticed a distinct seperation between the community in Cable’s Wynd and the community around it even though there is a vibrant and proud community residing in Cable’s Wynd, so lovingly know to the residents as the Banana Flats. so tenderly our masterplan proposal forms, with the intent of getting rid of the stigma the Banana flats have and by doing so revitalising the community both in and around it.
how?
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LEITH 2025 - STRATEGY
commerce & positive energy by demolishing as little residential buildings as possible to be later re-settled into the site dwelling. we create a wide path cutting straight into the neighbourhood from the main high street.
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with this, we place market stalls run & owned by the local community which would encourage people to wander into the neighbourhood. tearing down the psychological & physical boundry that has isolated the community for so long
LEITH 2025 - STRATEGY
To further increase the chance of commerce and positivity to be brought into the site whilst allowing people in Leith to be proud of where they come from, we aim to bring back the whiskey distillery that was once a prominent in the neighbourhood. An agreement with the town council could allow an increase in employment of locals, a social outreach program linked with the commmunity centre right at the site; to allow youths to find that sense of pride in work, the work providede by the distillery.
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DESIGN PROCESS - APPLYING DESIGN TO LEITH 2025 PROPOSAL
the Dwelling site location in the neighbourhood pg 20
active decision to keep the brick facade of the tenement house
MASTERPLAN - COMMUNITY CENTRE & WHISKEY DISTILLERY
the tenement houses would be repurposed as they need a new purpose in the community other than being just a residential building. rough idea of the community centre
by repurposing them removing the interior and sripping to put in the distillery and community centre that would be linked to the Dwelling site. - this would help the revitilising of Leith & the community
whiskey distillery
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MASTERPLAN - FACADE & ITS RELATIONSHIP TO THE DISTILLERY & COMMUNITY CENTRE
community centre & the whiskey distillery in context to the site dwelling
community centre & the whiskey distillery in context to the preserved brick facade pg 22
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DESIGN PROCESS - MONUMENTALITY WITH BRUTALISM
a reverence to Cable’s Wynd Flats aka Banana Flats so enduringly called by the residents and locals
searching for a sense of materiality, of monumentality and of a poetic spatial experience - to translate all these images into the project design
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DESIGN PROCESS - FACADE PRESERVATION
translating that idea of monumentality and respectfullness to the site locality. Preserving the listed facade of the tenement house which the site sits one keeping the the brick outer cavity of the houses as a seperate facade, lifted & pulled out from the mass to create intresting spatial quality
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DESIGN PROCESS - APPLYING DESIGN TO LEITH 2025 PROPOSAL
translating that idea of monumentality and respectfullness to the site locality. Preserving the listed facade of the tenement house which the site sits one thought: with the site being 15m x 32m, it was tough to get light into such a tight space, how woud i tackle this issue
lifting arches ? pg 27
DESIGN PROCESS - FORM DEVELOPMENT BRINGING LIGHT INTO SITE - ARCHES variation 1 & 2 of arch type in massing model and sketch
initial thought:
pushing the boundry of neighbouring buildings - community centre & distillery away by 5 - 6m to allow more light to enter
So the process of some intial ideas to bring light into site & apartment units. Via the lifting of the 1st apartment floor to the 2nd storey and the introduction of inverted arches in both axis to allow a poetic dialogue of ight and shadow in the space. pg 28
DESIGN PROCESS - FORM DEVELOPMENT BRINGING LIGHT INTO SITE - ARCHES variation 3 & 4 of arch type to experiment how light enters ground floor of site and circulation
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DESIGN PROCESS - FORM DEVELOPMENT ARCHES - VARIATIONS - SHADOWS
with a singular mass arch I decided to experiment with how the arch itself was, would it twist, would it twist the other way and affect the shadows it would place and by how much
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DESIGN PROCESS - FORM DEVELOPMENT FORM, SITE AND MATERAILITY
testing physically how these form variations site upon the site as the site itself has a very close relationship with its neighbouting buildings ie; the community centre & whiskey distillery
materials I was considering local sourced sandstone polished & unpolished pg 31
DESIGN PROCESS - FORM DEVELOPMENT MATERIALITY EXPERIMENTATION
materiality and spatial experimentation collage cut outs 1
&
experimentation on the the doubts oh having a singular massive arch block
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DESIGN PROCESS - MATERIALITY STUDY
materiality and spatial experimentation collage cut outs 2
this collage finally cemented (pun intended) what materials to use to not only respect the locality of the site but also allow design intergrity; concrete / cement screed lightened timber sandstone
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DESIGN PROCESS - UPDATED LEITH 2025 MASTERPLAN INTERGRATION INTO SITE
site plan in relation to masterplan proposal and new park design
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DESIGN PROCESS - SITE MASTERPLAN
vignette - re-imagination of park on site in use opening of the psychological & physical boundries whilst encouraging social communal activities such as weekend markets to happen.
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT- APARTMENT LAYOUT
vignette - concept of single massive arch on arches
experimentation of apartment layout and circulation to units. pushing the main cirulation to the front of the building. pg 36
DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - APARTMENT LAYOUT
alternating external ‘‘ corridors’’ leading residents from the main circulation core to their apartments - a communal garden on the 1st residential floor with a triple height void running through the ‘‘corridors’’ alternating external ‘‘ corridors’’ leading residents from the main circulation core to their apartments - a communal garden on the 1st residential floor with a triple height void running through the ‘‘corridors’’
form study was to test the shadows
alternating external ‘‘ corridors’’ leading residents from the main circulation core to their apartments - a communal garden on the 1st residential floor with a triple height void running through the ‘‘corridors’’
form study was to test the shadows
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - FACADE TREATMENT
community centre
whiskey distillery
park
community centre
whiskey distillery
park
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - APARTMENT LAYOUT
testing out on how the bottom space (arche/s) could be and how it woud affect the experience. top left: many thin column arches top right:singular monolithic arch Idecided to go for the singular monolithic one.
different components & experience that would be possible in the dwelling
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - FACADE TREATMENT
left: sketches of relationship between arch adn ground floor - would the ground be sunken or raised, how would that change the interaction with the lifted preserved brick facade right: sketches of intial apartment lay out in more detail of inhabitation & re-confirminng the idea that the circulation of the dwelling can be improved.
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - FLOOR PLAN LAYOUT
went into accurate drawings to figure out if the space is adequte when inhabited. however, it still seemed like the spatial layout and circulation could not be the ebst as it could be as there were many dead space and insufficient in the area of accomadation required from the brief a change is needed I feel
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DESIGN DEVELOPMENT - FACADE DETAIL CONSTRUCTION
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DESIGN PROCESS FACADE DESIGN DIAGRAM
the external facade parallel to the window is attached directly onto the window, however its position alternates from the fixed facade attached to the outer wall window would open & not get jammed
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1:25 SCALE CONSTRUCTION DETAIL MODEL OF FACADE DESIGN
after some sketches on the preliminary design, i decided to go ahead and create a physical model to help confirm the idea of the ease of window opening with the external facade and the seamless mass the facade suggests. pg 44
SITE CIRCULATION - GROUND FLOOR
site circulation at ground floor with park & amenities
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SECTION AA - SITE CONTEXT OF BANANA FLATS (CABLE’S WYND)
Cafe
Bar section with site context community centre cafe & distillery whiskey bar
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2ND FLOOR PLAN
with the new change in the circulation core position, it solves the previous issue about the lack of space within different apartment types and the problem of alternating circulation path resulting in outdoor corridors. The new floor plan repeats on each level, the only change is the mirroring of the bedroom’s position allowing for a simple elegant & functional solution
1:125
scale
1st dwelling floor plan with communal garden pg 47
FRONT ELEVATION - SITE CONTEXT OF BANANA FLATS (CABLE’S WYND)
front elevation ( community centre - site - whiskey distillery in relation to Cable’s Wynd pg 48
VIGNETTE - ATMOSPHERIC WHEN UNDER THE ARCH
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ISOMETRIC EXPLOSION SECTION
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SECTION ATMOSPHERIC RELATIONSHIP OF STAIRS & GROUN
this was made to show how the main stair core intersects the arch mass a & its impact onto the ground floor as that is a key space with high circula
pg 51
Cable’s Wynd
‘‘ Banana Flats’’
3D ATOMOSPHERIC OF GARDEN
Local Shops in undercroft
With the introduction of shops into the undercroft of the Banana Flats, and the lifting of the brick facade , it hopefully erases the choke point the intial tenement house created. Not only so, with the postive activity of the daily interactions the local community will have with all these changes, ie; new cafe below community centre, the centre itself, the whiskey distillery, the new local shops. The negative psychological boundry that exits would disappear.
garden scene pg 52
ATMOSPHERIC OF GROUND FLOOR RELATIONSHIP OF ARCH, PARK & CAFE
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APARTMENT UNIT PLAN - CIRCULATION CLOSE UP
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ISOMETRIC EXPLOSION - CIRCULATION VERTICAL RELATIONSHIP OF APARTMENT & GROUND FLOOR
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ISOMETRIC EXPLOSION - FACADE & APARTMENT RELATIONSHIP OF FACADE AND INTERIOR
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ISOMETRIC - FACADES RELATIONSHIP OF DOUBLE SKIN FACADE
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ATMOSPHERIC OF INTERIOR ROOM
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DESIGN PROCESS - CONCEPTUAL MODEL CIRCULATION AND INTIAL UNIT VOLUME
1:100 conceptual model of intial circulation and dwelling apartment volumetric layout, testing out how the overall form would look and the start of the choice of materiality. The arch, consisting of 2 direction of inverted arches was hard to create with my limited capabilities. I decided to try casting it with plaster but it failed which resulted me in sitting in front of a bin and craving the arch from a solid rectangular block.
pg 59
DESIGN PROCESS - FINAL MODEL
1:50 scale model that shows the spatial conditions of the park and the monumentality of the arch with its materials of the dwelling on the site.
pg 60
The engineering experience project presented us with an animation film to work and collaborate on; The Triplets of Bellville. The film was unique not only because it was animated but in the sense that it was absent of dialog and focussed on sound to portray its narrative. To accompany this key element was a strong emphasis on distortion and scale; character limbs and qualities were out of proportion and surrounding architectural features were elongated to such a degree that to physically construct these outside of the film would have been impossible. Within the film each group was designated a scene to form the basis of their film upon and relate to. Our group scene was associated with the cyclist (grandson) being kidnapped and shipped to Bellville, the scene focussed on the determined pursuit of the grandmother following the ship for many days through obscene weather in an attempt to save her grandson. Upon analysis individuals within the group took different key points from the scene, then as a whole we shared our thoughts and further worked to refine these concepts down to a focus of three; determination, distortion and journey. The scene and film is complex portraying many emotions and concepts within and so we felt mealy one concept was not enough to adequately depict the film but more three. Being an animation the film is playful by nature and we wanted to retain this in our film by focussing around a central paper made character ‘Geoffrey’. This character was a physical representation of distortion as he mimicked the animation style within the Triplets of Bellville. Distortion was not only brought to our film by using a variety of paper constructions but also through the setting in which we filmed. Composed of distressed film negatives, the imagery was printed onto acetate and fixed to a forced perspective cone which exaggerated the scene. Having printed the imagery onto acetate we had the ability to manipulate light and use it to distort the appearance of the maquettes within and create shadows which were integral to conveying our concepts. In order to bring other main elements to the piece we formed a new narrative which illustrates Geoffrey setting upon his own journey, one that was similar to that of the grandmothers in the sense that he was attempting to reach a destination which was ultimately unattainable. By using light as well as sound we amplified the drama within our story line and were able to create a short film which we felt not only portrayed the main concepts from the original scene but delivered to the audience something new.
pg 61
E studio
NGINE
ERING
XPERI
ENCE group 3
Elle May Simmonds Heather Ezekiel Gillam Hannah Hiscock Karim Fayaz Lilly Travers Megan Prudden Michael Choi Men Hin Prajwal Thegim Hang Limbu
pg 62
DISECTION OF FILM’S SCENE COLOURS AND MOOD
heavyness, gloom& strength of the scene represented in part 1 of the mood board
shades of blue and grey tones
lightness, joy of overcoming & calmness of the scene represented in part 2 of the mood board
shades of orange and light tan tones enforce the contrasts
pg 63
MAKING PROCESS - CONSTRUCTION
prop & set making
pg 64
MAKING PROCESS - CONSTRUCTION EXPERIMENTATION
experiment paper model pg 65
MAKING PROCESS - FILMING
screen grabs of props ready to be film and critique day
pg 66
MAKING PROCESS -EXTRACTION OF SOUND
done so using a `iphone app to anlyaze the sounds in each scene pg 67
SCREENSHOTS OF FILM
film trying to translate the idea of determination the grandmother has in the scene, fight the darkness of the storm to get to her grandson. Using lights and water and styrofoam balls to mimic the climatic & the emotive. pg 68
REFLECTION Personally the P 2.4.1 Engineering Experience was not only a good break from the intense work load of the typical architectural project. But also a great chance to work hand in hand with new people from different faculty background. Initially, I was hesitant on the prospect on working on this new project due to the fear of difficulty of such enterprise but decided to take on this project with an open mind, who knows, it would be fun. Upon meeting the rest of the group from engineering and from the fine arts degree, we quickly gelled as a team from what I could reason, the same open mindedness in tackling this collaboration. The project brief itself was a huge motivation, a study of films and in turn a production of our own interpretation of what it meant to us. The film we have received was the French animated film: “Les Triplets de Belleville”, in English, “The Triplets of Belleville”. It was an intriguing film not by its style but by its direction of photography, how each scene leads to the next even with its constant undertone of hidden symbolism. It was shocking similar to famous Japanese animator, Hayao Miyazaki and his studio’s style. The aspect of hands on approach into animation, the very expressive interpretation of daily life exaggerated in the movies that inspired our approach using paper models. Although it is easy for a team of different backgrounds to clash due to the fact of different views on what we should do. But we have managed great in the brainstorming of ideas, not restricting ourselves to our ego or pride. Listening to each other’s opinions and working of filtering what could have been the best approach. Even though we hit a hiccup at the final stages of the 3 week project we managed to overcome it and produce a film better than our expectations. Lastly, what brought the greatest joy was seeing the fire in the engineer’s eyes as they were constructing our sets as they have not done much of this in their own course. It reminded me so much of my first realization how the creative hands on approach can bring such joy.
Michael Choi Men Hin
The Engineering Experience project was a really interesting three weeks. I’m not familiar with collaborative aspect and chose to participate because I wanted to meet people with backgrounds in other disciplines who I could learn from and who thought in different ways to me. The first week was challenging with clashing timetables and different approaches to the task. As an artist, I took a very conceptual approach, thinking about incorporating the themes we discussed in an unconventional but visually interesting way working with light and sound. However, the engineers main interest was to develop structures that we could work with, thinking about ‘How we could make this work?’ instead of ‘How will this look?’. I found this an interesting way of thinking as I often get wrapped up in ideas and concepts. As a group, we all worked well with each person offering an alternative opinion. We were lucky compared to others because each of us were very open to each interpretation, and didn’t just stick within our fields. It was interesting to see how creative and artistic the architects are within their work, which made discussions easier for me. Everyone got involved in every aspect, whether it was filming, calculating dimensions, creating paper figures or presenting. On reflection, we could have worked a bit more effectively and assigned one person to do a specific job which would have saved us time especially in the final week. Our set film was challenging to get our heads around because it was an animation but once we discussed the themes and what we wanted to take from it to project into our film, it became more clear. The weekly tutorials were useful to keep us on track and focused because as a group we tended to venture off into many separate ideas that we had trouble bringing together.
Megan Prudden pg 69
REFLECTION
Throughout the duration of the engineering experience project, I feel that the overall collaboration as group was very successful. Upon hearing about working with both artists and engineers, I was initially wary of the variety of different types of personality and approaches to work that we would be presented with. For example, I stereotypically placed the engineers in a more practical category in terms of initial ideas, thought of the artists as the members with the most erratic imaginations and the architects as a somewhat midpoint. However, I was pleased to find that upon meeting the rest of my group, we all appeared to be on similar wavelengths with regards to our perspectives on the brief. When first addressing the brief, we all had an array of ideas, although they all seemed to stem from similar roots of thought. Initially, there was trouble collating all our ideas into one clear route towards the film, however once we begun being decisive collaboratively, the project progressed at a flowing rate. I believe that each member adopted a significant role in the creation of the film and props, my own role being involved in the production of the sound analysis, story boards and mood boards. Overall I feel that this experience of working with a range of different students, both outside and inside the architecture course, has improved my collaborative nature, broadened my own imagination and ultimately allowed me to experience a more intense group environment with regards to working on a project.
Hannah Hiscock pg 70
At start of the project, I was somewhat confused and lost by the contrasting approach of diverse members in the team. I was taken by surprise at how architects approach problems which was conflicting to the working behaviour of myself as an Engineer, where each member in a team was designated a part of the project. The group had no structure and very little organisation in the team but, as part of this learning process I have realised the importance of this for architects, particularly the creativity aspect. There were no separate working boundaries in the team and everyone worked as one unit in producing a coherent design. I believe that creative approach of the architects and our organisation skills as structural engineers let us excel in producing the film scene. Little consideration was given to second opinions generated in the team however, more effort could have been put into the execution and nurturing some of the ideas. I enjoyed working alongside such a creative group and was primarily involved in building the different structural components required for filming. I did not have any prior experience in filming and from working in the group I developed appreciation for the ‘behind the scenes’ work. I am proud of the finished film, which is able to highlight the inspiration and successfully interprets the motive from the original film. This project provided me with an opportunity to work in synergy with people from different disciplines and appreciate a creative and artistic approach from students of architecture and fine arts. This project has also made me realise that there can be different solutions to the same problem. Overall we were able to deliver a very powerful film reflecting our understanding of the movie.
Karim Fayaz
REFLECTION The engineering experience was unusual in the sense that the project did not in my eyes present itself much of an engineering challenge which in our case was largely due to the restriction of our film being an animation. As expressed in the group writing the architectural elements within our film were physically unbuildable and so we as a group directed our efforts down the narrative route which unfortunately did not present much of an engineering challenge. Having taken this route however was not a negative as it gave our engineer the opportunity to be opened up to conceptual, creative thinking from both artists and architects. I feel the engineer possibly gained more from the process than the architects and artists did however the task still presented benefit for all none the less. On reflection of the film and the process itself I feel the group as a unit were perhaps rather indecisive at times due to the lack of compromise and the aim of wanting to fit all ideas into one piece which as we found doesn’t always work and is not always possible. It did take time but we did manage to work our ideas down to a fine few which we executed successful within our film. If such a task was to be approached in the future I would like to step forward and have more of a leadership role to aid in finalising the decision process as I felt that a little more structure to our work ethic would’ve had a positive effect on the final outcome. This project has given me as an individual knowledge and insight which I can take away and utilise in the future to improve myself as a designer and so the process has certainly been of great benefit.
Elle May Simmonds
Throughout the past three weeks we have been working as a team to produce a short film inspired by a scene from ‘The Triplets of Belleville’. The group was comprised of myself, another engineering student, a fine art student and five architecture students. As the required output of the project was a film, I felt as though the art student would have more original ideas, a clearer vision on how to achieve this and a better skillset in order to carry it out. The animated nature of the film lent itself more easily to this discipline. As a result of this, initially, I was reluctant to contribute ideas. I was also hesitant as I was unfamiliar with the group members and the style of working. As the project went on I gained a greater understanding of what the tutors were expecting during the ‘crits’. This helped me build the confidence to suggest ideas within group discussions. The level of collaboration and integration between the team increased significantly over the duration of the project. During the final week I felt as though all disciplines were working together successfully, sharing ideas and producing work collectively. There wasn’t a noticeable disparity between the ideas from each of the separate disciplines therefore it was easy to work together. We were able to use personal skills, regardless of which discipline we were from to produce work. It was interesting coming from a very structured course to see how artists and architects work so independently. Myself and Karim, representing the engineers, struggled initially without members of the group being given defined roles. However, I quickly understood that this allowed all members to have more input to all aspects of the project and weren’t confined to their allocated role.
Heather Ezekiel Gillam
pg 71
REFLECTION
Engineering experience provided a new understanding and a realisation of the upcoming responsibilities as a learning architect. The project allowed us to get involved in the decision making both in terms of choices relating to the design and the practicality of the final outcome. We as the group in my opinion worked well as there were many different people from different practices and experiences, which meant each individual had something to offer. In any given group project, good communication is a vital asset and with the help of social sites such as Facebook, group meetings and all of our everyday progress and tasks were updated regularly. On the first week we looked at the animation that was given to us (Les Triplettes de bellleville) and looked at the key features and themes throughout the movie. We looked at scale, colour, sound and the environment as we thought these were the key elements to focus on and the initiating path for the project. We started off thinking of ideas individually and then made a uniformed decision choosing a suitable idea that can work at the end. The group was split into three parts; video making, model making and the sound. We set out the tasks according to the experiences we had, which made it easier for us to both work well and efficiently. I was set to do the sound for the video as I had some past experience using garage band. We decided to look at classical orchestral music to fit with the animation based around the three sisters who were singers at their time of youth. The Fine arts broadened our visual thinking and creativity and the engineering allowed us to think about feasibility and the process of developing our drawings and ideas into a solid reality. pg 72
Prajwal Thegim Hang Limbu
In the beginning of the project I felt excited about the prospect of working with people from different courses and mixing our individual skills. Although when we were given our video ‘Les triplettes of Belleville’. Which is an animation and has little to know narrative in it we found it difficult to try and recreate or describe the main aesthetics of the film. Finding a starting point for our group came much later then other groups I think, conscious not the run with an idea which the other participants in the group might not be as excited about as us. As always it was hard working in a group, especially with the group being a mixture of Architects, artists and engineers. The scheduling of free time and collating different ways of thinking was an issue to overcome. Although it was a great opportunity to see how they worked and developed ideas. Learning skills such as video editing and filming which I had only touched briefly on previously. Personally I really enjoyed the project. Although having a slow start and being confused as to what the finished project is hoping to accomplish, we got our ideas on the table and started to develop some of these. I began to understand the use of the maquettes we were making and this idea of exploring space became interesting and challenging at the same time. Hoping to transfer some of the aspects we explored within this project and leading it onto the next one.
Lilly Travers
pg 73
BERWICK
Titled Berwick and Beyond, the task of this project was the tackling of the idea of how the digital world/ reality affects the physical one directly or indirectly. Every studio had a different topic to handle and create a brief around it. And so happens mine was travel. That nowadays right after the wanderlust in us takes over, we explore the possibility of travelling through the medium of the internet such as google earth, maps, trip advisors so on and so forth. Our studio was to come up with a brief to allow the users to experience the , in a way feel of travel, digital or virtually. Maybe to experience the world, past present future? Or a museum. It was such a paradoxical flaw of the aim. Because travel itself is a physical act. What brief can I create for myself as a guide.
pg 74
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF FIGURING OUT WHAT I’M TRYING TO DO
Q:
virtual travel ; travelling while still staying still ? is this sufficient enough, what can I take from Berwick’s history? culture ? or even location to further build a strong arguement
pg 75
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF FIGURING OUT WHAT I’M TRYING TO DO
physical
vs
metaphysical
turning virtual travel into the specturm of transdimensional travel a tower? pg 76
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF FIGURING OUT WHAT I’M TRYING TO DO
a critique on digital travel / virtual travel that it, itself is a
physical metaphysical physical done so via
paradoxical flaw, travelling is on its own a physical action.
Transporting oneself from point A to point B. And that we can only achieve this to a certain degree, either the cheesy singular method we currently employ or re -imagine it to the extreme end of the creative spectrum to a point of science fiction. transfusioning the consciousness
into biomechnic subserviant avatars
pg 77
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF PLUG - IN CONSCIOUSNESS
transfusioning the consciousness a tower of Babel
pg 78
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF AVATAR ALTERNATE
pg 79
DESIGN PROCESS - FINAL BRIEF
hence a critique on digital travel / virtual travel
A dystopian vision 100 years into the future whereby travel is done so via this transfusion of the consciousness (plugging in) into biomechanic subserviant avatars.
plug in point A
pg 80
avatar release point B
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF ATMOSPHERIC TOWERS INSERTED GLOBALLY
International Corporation owns the towers situated all around the world pg 81
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF ATMOSPHERIC AVATARS IN USE
avatars in use in public pg 82
TRAVEL BROCHURE
pg 83
DESIGN PROCESS - SPATIAL LAYOUT
intial ideas of space layout deriving from the brief I’ve set out for myself
site 5 was a more isolated site surrounded by residential houses risding right behind an abandoned community centre and a few metres from the famous Berwick walls
pg 84
for my studio, E , our site choices are between site 2 & 5
site 2 is situated right in the centre of the commercial district of Berwick, right by the high street hence suitable for my proposal as it is a corporate building, to catch the eye of everyone to emanate power
DESIGN PROCESS - BRIEF ATMOSPHERIC
using the locality and conditions of the site to help start off the design of the tower and its restrictions
pg 85
DESIGN PROCESS - SPATIAL LAYOUT
spatial layout vertically
verticality form sketches
skyline possibility pg 86
DESIGN PROCESS - SPATIAL LAYOUT MASSING MODELS
having trouble visualizing the spatial arrangement in both plan & sections, I decided to solve this by building a 1:200 massing model by hand without the guide of the plans. So as to allow the size of the different spaces of different function to act as my reference. Like a sculptor on a pottery wheel.
pg 87
DESIGN PROCESS - INTIAL SPATIAL LAYOUT
diagram of inital finalized spatial layout skyline , exploded spatial layout and site plan
pg 88
DESIGN PROCESS - SPATIAL LAYOUT
human circulation - public circulation diagram
avatar circulation diagram
pg 89
DESIGN PROCESS - FINAL SPATIAL LAYOUT
diagram of new finalized spatial layout with passive design input ( nuclear fusion reactor in basement)
pg 90
activities happening in the building
DESIGN PROCESS - SPATIAL LAYOUT
sketch to figure out how to increase maximum amount pods I could arrange in the limited space I have on the 6th level.
intial 6th floor plan with layout of transfusion pod array and how it affects the amount of office space leftover that is required to achieve the panopticon effect I was aiming for.
intial 6th floor plan with layout of transfusion pod.
pg 91
DESIGN PROCESS - STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS
even though my design is of science fiction, I have to bring it back into the project objectives which was to explore how structural elements contribute to material and spatial experience. to make a credible building out of diagrams ignore the use of the old transfusion pod array arrangement as it does not affect the construction integrity primary: steel fram structure secondary: glass curtain wall tertiary: futuristic metal facade
structural exploded diagram - to show the primary, secondary, tertiary structural components. pg 92
DESIGN PROCESS - TRANSFUSION PODS
inspired or even infulenced by my childhood watching of Japanese animes such as Gundam Mobile suits whereby it was amzing how these people put so much thought and effort into a fantasy world. the detail and colours are amazing and I would try to replicate that in this project to bring it to its full potential.
pg 93
DESIGN PROCESS - MATERIALITY material exploration
intially started with the idea of using peforated green cooper as a the secondary skin of the facade - however was deem not science fiction enough.
skyline of Berwick with the Tower overseeing
pg 94
To live up with the brief - a non existent metallic material similar to damascus steel, a direction looking for a balance of oragnic yet corporate that acts like a two way mirror. Opaque from the outside, transparent from the inside, so that the users would still recieve sufficient light. And this viable as my proposal is of a dystopian vision.
DESIGN PROCESS - SITE RELEVENCE
pg 95
DESIGN PROCESS - SITE RELEVENCE
showing the futuristic metal facade material which acts like a two way mirror
pg 96
1:25 construction detail of front section pg 97
construction detail sketch pg 98
DESIGN PROCESS -FINAL LOWER FLOOR PLANS
ground floor plan :
1st floor plan :
2nd floor plan :
service station & storage unloading & loading bay travel agency office avatar recovery bay
staff lounge & toliets engineer supervisor office avatar recovery shaft
avatar storage avatar recovery shaft
pg 99
DESIGN PROCESS - FINAL UPPER FLOOR PLANS
3rd floor plan :
4th floor plan :
5th floor plan :
waiting room generator room transfusion bay avatar storage
avatar storage generator room shaft MRI room medical examination room
server room cooling plant monitor room
6th floor plan : main office transfusion pod array the transfusion array runs for 4 stories in the open, overseen by the main office that continues to the back of the building. The office runs vertically for 3 floors with a triple height space that connects all floors together.
pg 100
DESIGN PROCESS - FRONT SECTION
pg 101
DESIGN PROCESS - EAST SECTION
pg 102
DESIGN PROCESS - INTERNAL ATMOSPHERIC
the interior of the human habitable spaces are made to feel very clinical, polished white plaster walls and marble floors, accompanied by chrome curtin wall mullions and brass furniture fittings. pg 103
DESIGN PROCESS - MODEL PHOTOS
1:50 scale technical & conceptual model
pg 104
pg 105
pg 106