ARCHITECTURE Portfolio
Sophie Lok Schoonderloostraat 155E, 3024TT ROTTERDAM +31 6 46 25 56 66 sophie.lok@hotmail.com
03. DIDACTICS Education in Design
AMBITION Focus on the Design Process In order to be able to participate in design education, it is important to gain a deeper understanding of the design process, which is, because of its personal nature, often left largely implicit in design education. Therefore, a series of small design exercises were performed, each focussing on a different aspect of the design process, to create awareness of the personal design process and making it more explicit. In doing so, extra attention was paid to the aspects of conceptualisation, abstraction and reduction, a set of skills that the young designer has to develop.
CONCEPTUALIZATION a Point of View One of the design exercises was developed to explore the possibilities of a guiding theme in design. The aim of this project was to elaborate on different interpretations of the guiding thene and accordingly the different ways to articulate this in your design. Once the guiding theme ‘view’ was established, an inventory of different interpretations of the concept was made, to be able to make a decision for the direction to move in for the articulation of the concept in the design process.
ARTICULATION Design Principles Based on the exploration of the guiding theme, was chosen to work with the concept of ‘ channeling’ of the view for the articulation of the design. Framing of the view gives the possibility of differentiation of the view, which in this case is connected to the difference in function, leading to a staged three-directional view. Because the view , an external factor, was chosen as guiding theme, the architecture is subordinate to its surroundings, asking for monolithic builiding and minimalism in the design of the interior, as well as differentiation of the volumes of the defferent functions in order to create differentiation in the channeling of the view.
Channeling of the view in three directions
Monolitic building with a minimalistic interior
N SLEEPING
LIVING
Differentiation of the view per function
Differentiation of the volume per function
WORKING
b.
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4. 5.
7.
3. 1.
ARTIST HOUSE 1:200 a. living 1. kitchen 3. storage b. working 4. atelier 5. storage c. sleeping 6. bedroom 7. bathroom
a.
c.
DESIGN the Artist’s Home The typology assigned was that of an holliday residence with atelier. For the design, the programme was split into three functions, working, living and sleeping, placed in three separate volumes, each opened up in their own direction. The monolithic structure and the incorporation of the sustaining functions in walls help creating an empty minimalistic interior to maximize channeling of the view outward. The openings of the volumes were designed in a different way according to the different characters of the functions. While the opening of the living volume has a more public and open character, with its partly covered deck providing an open view over the dunes, and the working volume is opend up to catch the northern light, the sleeping volume has a more private character, with its covered opening positioned towards the edge of the woods.
The innocence of childhood
The struggle of growing up
The conformity of society
Understanding and acceptance
ABSTRACTION de Kleine Johannes The art of conceptualisation was further explored by looking into the aspects of abstraction and reduction. Instead of exploring the articulation of a concept, the aim of the next exercise was to make a reduction of a finished product in order to retrieve the concept. An abstract representation of a story in architectural design was to be made, for which the book De Kleine Johannes by Van Eeden was chosen. Divided in different parts of the story, Van Eeden sheds light on themes like the innocence of childhood, the struggle of growing up, the conformity of society and acceptance. Reduction of the story to these themes were used as basis for architectural forms. As the book is divided in parts, each with their own theme, the architectural expression of the story consists of sequence of elements, each representing a different theme according the different parts of the story.
REDUCTION the Narrative in Design The first part of de Kleine Johannes describes the innocence of childhood, the fantasy world of children and the absence of awareness of the actual situation. The second part of the story descibes the struggle of growing up, becoming aware of changes in the surroundings and of feelings of resistance and discomfort with the confomity of society. The final part of the book concludes with the understanding and acceptation of taking part in the grown-up society. For the architectural representation of the story, a set of architectural elements were developed for each of the three themes, aiming to recreate the emotions the little Johannes experienced in his journey to adulthood. By staging the elements in order of the different themes, the visitor will relive the story by experiencing the same range of emotions.
ROUND SHAPES
SQUARE SHAPES
LOW INTENSITY
HIGH INTENSITY
FREE ROUTING
LINEAR ROUTING
ELEVATION
OVERVIEW
DESIGN a Path of Reflection For the design was chosen to create a memorial, because the abstraction of the story fits well with the concept of raising awareness. The memorial is formed by a concrete installation, situated in the dune landscape, which is accessible from the beach and leads to a viewpoint on top of the dunes. Here, the visitor follows the path of reflection, the journey of Johannes. The first part of his journey, his childhood, is represented by lower, irregularly placed round volumes, leaving room for free routing. The second part of his journey, where he is being confronted with groing up, is represented by the transition from round to square volumes, the increase in scale, hight and density and the introduction of the grid by change in direction which leads to a transition from free routing to a forced route, representing theconformity of society. The third part, acceptation, is represented by the viewpoint, so one can reflect upon his journey and see bigger picture, leading to understanding and acceptation.
SOPHIE LOK Schoonderloostraat 155E, 3024TT ROTTERDAM +31 6 46 25 56 66 sophie.lok@hotmail.com