Digital Design - Module 01 Semester 1, 2018 Sandra lin
91520 Tutor: Dan Parker, Studio 6
Week One
Reading: Zeara Polo, A. 2010. Between Ideas and Matters.
According to Zeara-Polo, the diagram does not play a representational role in the design process but provides an organisational and can have a performative quality depending on how it is deployed. Explain how Diagram is different from Signs and Symbols? (100 words Maximum)
Diagrams are an organisation of matter within space. They do not represent the matter or object itself, rather they present a set of information. This allows for interpretation as the object or spatial area are not restricted to one form of visual representation and interpretation. Diagrams capture and convey the relationships of people and objects across time or location, creating a performance of sorts in space. For example circulation patterns show the spatial relation between thresholds and surrounding matter. A symbol refers to an object through representation (i.e. the focus is on the matter), a sign is similarly a material expression of the physical qualities. The meaning of signs and symbols do not convey information about the relationship between the spatial forms and content of their surroundings.
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Week One
Precedent Analysis
Top left: Plan view of layer 1. Top right: Arrangement of layers. Bottom left: Sweep 1 of layer 4 curve. Far left: Augustus, Rosemary. AA Summer Pavilions, 2015, photograph. Accessed March 11 2018. https:// project4rosemary.weebly.com/uploads/4/3/1/2/43121189/1655735_orig. jpg
The interlinking of each strand was very specific, each layer had a unique angle value. This made modelling somewhat difficult to translate the 2D plans, sections and elevations into a 3D model. It was difficult to generate the identical beam dimensions from the limited information in the drawings. The curves looked quite similar in plan view, so colour was needed to differentiate between layers. Photographs of the real pavilion were useful in conveying a physical idea of the structure and its construction.
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Week Two
Reading: Hertzberger H. 2005. The in-between and The Habitable Space Between Things, from Lessons for Students in Architecture.
Herzberger discusses how design should not be extreme in its functionality. Use your precedent study to explain how the pavilion allows for an appropriation of use. (100 words Maximum)
Explicit functionality limits the natural opportunities of a designed structure to be multifunctional. For example Bad Hair is simultaneously a piece of sculptural art, a meeting place, an event space and also street furniture. The scale of the pavilion is large enough to allow access through and around it. Whereas the form and curve beam endings offer a place to rest, to sit or lean against. If it was simply a park bench then the function would be limited to sitting or lying down. It would not particularly serve or interest the people it came into contact with, however the loose functionality assigned to Bad Hair allows for its appropriation.
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Week Two
Isometric
Bad Hair Pavilion Bad Hair is the product of an exploration of computer modelling and digital design with the aim to express hair in timber and create the shadowy space between the strands. The thick nature of the ‘hair’ strands means the pavilion can be appropriated to act as event space, a meeting place or as street furniture.
Hence, I chose to focus more on the curves and how they intertwined to create denser areas. Each strand acts as a threshold when the pavilion is circulated and accessed front on. The framed openings created by the layers intertwining create a nonphysical link between a more private (shaded) space vs and open communal area. The framed openings mark a transition of intimacy. The upturned beam ends cordon off a more secluded territory where the area between the beams can only be acessed through one entrace.
These thresholds dictate the circulation. The more comfortable people are, the more likely they are to stay longer. Less visibility in this case equals more comfort. The strands of the Bad Hair Pavilion create a gradual density moving away from the chosen vantage point, making the side opposite the main road the most secluded. Circulation never completely stops at any time. This is because Bad Hair is in a public space with little shelter meaning individuals can only stay temporarily before needing to move on. In a way the pavilion itself is a transitional space.
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Week Two
Main Thoroughfare
Diagrams
Circulation Diagram
Threshold Diagrams
The four main circulation paths come off the main thoroughfare and either through the centre or around the perimeter. The
The top beam layer has upturned ends that when circulating the pavilion the beam ends separate the pavilion into quad-
arrows indicate the direction people look when interacting with the pavilion, and the shaded areas mark the places people
rants of space. The layering of beams create a denser areas that create darker areas of shadows, acting as the transition
slow and linger at, particularly around protruding beams and the entrances. The larger the area, the more secluded and
between public and intimate space. The shadow gives the illusion of privacy in the centre compared to the well lit exterior
longer time people stay.
beams and areas.
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Appendix
Process
A lot of testing, repositioning and rebuilding was involved in modelling Bad Hair Pavilion. Separate sections were grouped individually and placed over the plan view to get the correct angles and positioning between layers. To get more difficult angles and twists the cross section curves were tilted and then the Sweep 1 command was used. Open extruded curves were capped and joined using sweep 2 or with the PlanarSrf command. A test arrangement of isometric views was done to ascertain the positioning of each layer as part of a whole
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