STUDIO EARTH Thai Quang Bui 842574
CONTENT
1.0 Three relationships
1.1 Point, Line, Plane 1.2 Mass 1.3 Frame & Infill
2.0 Herring Island
2.1 Site analysis 2.2 Secrets 2.3 Conceptacle
3.0 Final Design 4.0 Reflection
1.0 Three Relationships 1.1 Point, Line, Plane 1.2 Mass 1.3 Frame & Infill
1.1
1.2
1.3
Royal Ontario Museum Daniel Libeskind
This famous museum in Helsinky is one of Libeskind’s signature building. The composition really dragged my attention because it helped me realise how more complex forms can always be broken down to simple and basic forms. In this case, a plan is made out of many lines, and a line is made out of many points.
Gallery of Cocoon Mochen Architects
Similar to the Ontario Museum’s style of arrangement but, in this case, on the inside, I found in this Gallery of Cocoon many more interaction rules between the three elements thanks to the intersections. Two lines always intersect at one point, one line and one plane also intersect at one point, while two planes’ intersection is a line.
Design
As I could not helping myself falling in love with the interactions, I wanted to build my Point, Line and Plane model based on the intersecting rules to show what I’ve learned through finding inspirations. The designed model was mostly made out of paper / card material because I found these types of material is better for folding / bending / cutting techniques, which could be very useful for demonstrating various rules.
Koshino House
Tadao Ando Ando is very famous for his signature usage of concrete for buildings, which I think is a really strong material in Mass Architecture generally. In this case, the Koshino House has really thick walls with smooth surface, representing certain aspects of Mass such as solid, stable or strong. Contrast in lighting further highlighted these characteristics.
Devetashka Cave
Bulgeria This picture of the Devetashka Cave also illustrated Mass being strong and solid, but it also revealed that Mass could be something natural and has a strong connection to Earth and the ground.
La Dimora di Metello
A hotel in Matera, Italy Furthermore, every characteristic of Mass could be exaggerated in a narrow space. This picture of the hall in a hotel in Matera helped me visualise the process of experiencing Mass Architecture in a very profound manner.
Dark Space Dark is incorporated with narrow in my demonstration. As going through spots where space is very limited, users will experience Mass Architecture through the Touching Sense, by feeling the natural and rough textures on the surface.
Light Space Light is incorporated with spacious in my demonstration. Users could experience Mass through the Visual Sense, with smooth walls. The space in between is where light is used to create ambience, highlighting and exaggerating all the characteristics that I found existed in Mass.
Mass Drawing
Tensegrity Sculpture Kenneth Snelson
The anti-gravity sense in his sculptures is pushed to extreme. The steel struts are held in their positions by the clever use of tension in the wires at the two end of each struts, which make the wires become the framing elements, holding the in-filling struts in the air. The common roles of the frame and the infill has been switched very cleverly.
Jewish Museum
Daniel Libeskind Continuing to think about the idea of not letting gravity to define the structure, I came back to Libeskind and this picture inside the Jewish Museum demonstrated exactly what I learned and also what was revealed in the lecture of the antigravitional aspect
Model As a result, my model is an unique representation of the two inspiring aspects: antigravity and role-switching within the two elements.
“You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.�
Buckminster Fuller
2.0 Herring Island
Site Analysis 1. Sunpath & Vegetation 2. Topography 3. Circulation 4. Noice 5. Chosen Site
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2
3
4
5
Kiasma Museum Steven Holl
As a modern architect who practiced phenomenology, Steven Holls is really good at dropping hints through the forms / composition in his work, which indirectly manipulate the movements of the users. This could be very helpful to lead people to the secrets.
SECR
RETS
Teshima Art Gallery
Ryue Nishizawa I found this gallery created a strong provocative feelings when experiencingthe space, which could possibly be another method of revealing secrets: making users reflect on their feeling in space.
Walt Disney Concert Hall Frank Gehry
This picture is taken inside the famous Walt Disney Concert Hall of Frank Gehry. Personally, I found the composition and the use of material is evoking a sense of mystery and challenging discoveries. This is the spatial experience that I want my design to create for the users.
Grid Matrix Sculpture Richard Serra
The sculpture of Richard Serra is the final piece of the precedents puzzle for me. It possesses all of the qualities that are needed for my final design in every aspect, composition, lighting, materials usage, spatial experience...
INTERSECTION
MASS
PROGRESSION
precedents...
LIGHT
TIME
CLUE
Concept Collage In an attempt to develop design ideas, I created this collage of all the precedents and previous works that I found to be useful, based on their similarities in form, function and spatial experience. The arrangement of the components are based on my personal keywords relating to the topic of Secret: Intersection, Mass, Progression, Light, Time and Clue.
... to concepticle
Concepticle The form of this concepticle was created by putting together all the curved edges of the Concept Collage, and then multiplied and exaggerated. I also visualised the usage of space based on the brief of how beside a place to keep secrets, there must be a space for operating and a space for children. However, the scale is not quite fully resolved.
3.0 Final Design
Narrative The whole design is based on the idea of Secret. There are questions to be answered about the secret such as: Who is experiencing, Who is revealing, When and How is it going to be revealed,... and finding the answers helped me to fully develop the concept. The idea is to create a place that uses natural lights to highlight predetermined areas, but only at certain times of the day, hence become a secret place to be discover. Therefore, the structure will give hints and suggestions through progression of changes in light marks, leading people to the secret place. The progression of changes will be determined by the changes of the roof / cover thicknesses. There are two pathways, with high enclosing wall to restrain vision, that both lead to the secret. The shorter and smaller path is for children, who will ‘become’ the Secret, while the longer and bigger path is for their parents, who will get there slower and discover the Secret.
Circulations Cinematography
At around 12:00 PM or noon time, when there the sun shines almost at a 90 degree direction, the light will be dispersed in the Secret Room, creating the effect of a bright and appealing spotlight in a dark path. As the parents come in, the room is lightened up and they could see their children standing under a beautiful dispersed spotlight, defining the Secret. The horizontal and vertical changes of the pathways, or the changes in directions and heights, is based on the principle of Cinematography in Architecture, which researches on the human eyes and how they determined the ‘shots’ with different focal lengths and perspective angles, to manipulate what users will be seeing when experiencing architecture. This technique has really helped me to decide the design of circulation, which is the most important aspect of the proposed design, along side Timing.
Scene 3 The Secret
Scene 2
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2
Scene 1 3
Perspectives As determined, the structure will be exposed to the sun most of the time, so I decided to use corten sheets that change colour and become brighter / red-er after time. I wanted the external look to encourage activities and discoveries. The design should appear as a mysterious / strange series of curved corten panels that are wrapping something as if they are protecting / hiding something inside. Shelters created by the covering panels should provide ideal seating / resting space in the hot atmosphere of the noon, and therefore, encouraging conversation / discussion of the structure and its purposes that could possibly lead to discovery...
SECRET OF THE HERRING ISLAND
Reflection The semester has been very exciting to me, as I discovered many new aspects of Architecture and its absolutely complecated but interesting relation to the Earth. I am glad I could apply a significant amount of what I have learned to my design, which is the ideal way to speak and represent who I am as a designer and a student in the Architecture Profession. I have taken risks, I have worked hard and I think it had definitely paid off because comparing to my previous studio, I have definitely improved a lot. Mistakes have been made, and mostly at planning my schedule of working which left a large amount of work at the end. As the results, some great ideas were left out and certain requirements and criterias were not completed. Furthermore, I think I should work on verbal communication as it is one of the essential skills to possess in this course. Studio Earth has definitely brought me memorable time.
STUDIO EARTH Thai Quang Bui 842574