Pressed to Start

A Center of Information and Storytelling

Project Summary

Project Level: Master’s Thesis

Project type: Commercial / Mediatheque

Year: 2019

Location: Portland Southeast Industrial Area, Oregon

Main Tools: Rhinoceros 6, Grasshopper, Enscape, Oculus, Photoshop, Illustrator, After Effect, Premiere Pro

Pressed to Start is a collection of multi-media or a mediatheque that let visitors withdraw from the everydayness and journey through information and stories. It is located at the Morrison Bridgehead as a gateway to Portland South East Industrial District. It offers a destination to explore digital space through information, arts, virtual reality, internet, and performance.The building intends to be an large version of digital interface like virtual reality goggle provide users an access to journey in virtual space. Interface can be defined by Jason Farman as “the interface is a set of cultural relations that serve as the nexus of the embodied production of social space.” The interface acts like a two-dimensional plane on the surface with the intention of exchanging data between human and computer.

System Cavity

Stage

Administration

Reflective Surface

Cross Section of the Golden Sphere on MLK

Digital Screens

Kinetic Floor

Server Room

Mechanical Services

A Link between Glitches

One of the main objectives is to utilize the unusable site due to the awkward interaction between infrastructures: streets, freeways, and railways. They are identified as urban glitches. In this case, these sites are awkwardly shaped by the Morrison Bridgehead with two circular ramps.

To utilize these sites, two main attraction is set on each site, and they will be connected with a major circulation that runs through the building and connects to the outside as a linear movement. Furthermore, building’s masses will be extruded from two sites A and B on MLK Blvd and linked with two sky bridges as a single building.

Designing in 360 Space

This thesis is an exploration on space of virtualarity. One of key methods is to design a space in 360 environment. Typically, this can be done by designing in 3D model software like Rhinoceros and Sketchup. At the early stage, this thesis is designed by digital painting and collaging in Photoshop 360 environment to understand a concept of 360 environment in digital world.

This image can be view with VR goggles: https://roundme.com/ tour/359430/view/1219827

Making Realities

The building skin presents quality of virtuality in reality by using digital design tool like grasshopper. This skin intends to hold a building and skybridges with box truss system that is integrated in the skin. The concept of skin’s patterns is to hide and reveal the moving gondolas inside the building. The moving gondolas will excite the experience of travelers in the city.