History study notes

 

 

 

So, i hope you can read my writing,..here are PDF’s of my notes from last year..most are the main points of lecture slides on each topic. There are also highlight pages which are basically short essay plans with just the key points addressed. Here is the first one:

scan

 

The first few pages are essay plans/highlight points for:

-Frank Lloyd Wright’s Robie House (FLW)

-Arts and Crafts

-Ebenezer Howard: Garden City

-Regionalism

-Louis Kahn: Trenton Bath House

Next are the extended notes for Ebenezer Howard and Garden City, there are 4 of these (unfortunately i ascanned them in from last to first), then it’s arts and crafts, and everything from there is in normal order..so:

4 pages of Arts and Crafts

5 pages on Regionalism

2 pages on Rationalism V Functionalism

2 pages on Robert Venturi etc (post modernism)

7 pages on Le Corbusier

 

scan2

This one starts with a random regionalism one, then has:

4 pages on Influence of new materials and construction methods

3 pages on Louis Kahn

5 pages on Mies Van Der Rohe

 

History essay

Clock Tower essay

Subterranean spaces

For the Digital Carnival project that completes this semester’s work, we have been asked to bring together the development of the gathering project into that of gifting, and to further explore and realize how this design is then situated with: the immediate context, its grounding – how it relates and connects with the ground – we also need to zoom out to show materiality, further to show plans/sections/elevations, and then further to show the site context, and the site in relation to amenities for the colleagues of our office space.

the colleagues in our office space is something that our group hasn’t addressed so far, and is something i will need to bring into the final presentation of the semester. Thinking about my work critically so far, i feel that there is potential to bring together my gifting and gathering projects taking both projects ideas of monumental architecture, both making use of really weighty structure, this heaviness found in the concrete block and jig saw walls of the gathering office, and also in the cave-like monolithic structure of the subterranean tram stop design.

I think what was really strong about the gifting project (my tram stop) was its connection to the ground and the way i had realized the interior experience of the structure. I think that an intriguing development of the two projects would be to bring the office into the subterranean tram stop complex. Taking the existing tram stop and building into it, giving a firm connection to the ground and providing some interesting challenges with regards to receiving natural light into the spaces. Another aspect that was quite strong about the gifting project was my response to the weathering of the outdoor form, the design centred around erosion, and agents of erosion, whether that be the wearing down over time through human use, or suggestive of weathering elements, the way water might create creases in land, river and glaciers carving paths through the land. These marks and folds and pock marks that suggest such erosion mirroring the attention to surface picked up from Louis Kahn’s work in my gathering project. It was those creases and imperfections of surface that Kahn felt situated the user, gave a human presence to architecture in an increasingly industrial and mechanized world of modernity. This focus on the imperfections of surface was carried over from my gathering project and still serves to inform the designs for my final project.

I wish to take this opportunity to create a dynamic structure that progresses the ideas from my gathering and gifting projects, the inhabitable subterranean work space will be my launching point for this assignment

 

Derinkiyu – Turkey, largest underground settlement in Capadocia, reportedly eleven levels and up to 85metres deep. Built in 7-9th C (CE)

Petra Jordan

Underground bunkers of Berlin, established during Cold War period, in use from 1960s through to mid 1980s

 

Peer crit 4: Animation reviews

This week i was reviewing students from the animation workshop, this group had a slightly different task to ours; rather than designing a tram stop, their group continued with the development of the office space from the “gathering” project of the week prior. They were also given the task of coining a new word to define their own style of architecture, this was to be reflected in the design along with the clear development of the previous week’s project.

The first student i had the chance to review was Louis Ratana, Louis’ word was ‘MANAWALEAH’ a combination of the maori ‘Manawa’ meaning ‘blood flow’ and ‘Leah’ an anagram for the word ‘Heal,’ Louis explained that in his work he seeks to recognize and facilitate not only the physical, but more importantly for him, the psychological and physiological. For Louis, architecture should be used to facilitate a type of mental and spiritual healing.

Bringing his design from the previous project’s laser cutting assignment, Louis’ drawings depicted his ‘spaceship’ form building as an urban design that would facilitate a harmonious collaborative office space, even if occupied by disparate practices. Louis’  A1 sheet show his passion for this sci-fi style project, it is lively at times with sweeping gestural sketches, and diagrammatical in others, with his site plan clearly located in the centre of the page. Whilst this variety helps the viewer to understand the work with more depth than if he were to have just done a bunch of technical architectural drawings, i felt that given Louis’ emphasis on internal healing, he might have given the viewer a little more insight on how the design works toward this. Louis did talk about the inspiration for the form being mystical blue crystals said to have healing powers, it also seems very space-ship like, and i thought slightly reminiscent of Chrysler building with its sleek and slender layers and pointed head.

I am unsure how far Louis developed this design from his previous work, but i think that due to his previous project being unfinished with the laser cutting (due to circumstances out of his control) this week’s project gave him the opportunity to see this architecture realized as an office space. I felt that his project was unique and imaginative, but perhaps could have benefited from some closer detailed drawings, just something that tells more of his story than the exterior view of the physical form.

Helen

Helen’s term ‘Consider-atecture’ explains an all encompassing approach to architecture, design with the bigger picture in mind, a consideration for contextual elements such as weather or  geographical site, to the relationships between the users and occupiers of the designed space.

Helen’s design takes the top three stories of the five storied office block from her previous gathering project as well as incorporating furniture  from her ‘sustenance’ augmented reality workshop. The office block that she brought from her laser cutting project of the previous fortnight has been reworked in an attempt to find a physical articulation of this ‘consider-atecture.’ Levels have been removed from the laser cutting building, and new colleagues to fill the offices have been introduced to her design. Helen’s wish to facilitate more collaborative working practices between her clients finds expression in the voids she has placed in each of the levels, meaning each colleague although placed on their own separate levels have this connection to one another.

Helen’s front side of the A1 sheet shows an array of colour and working drawings displaying her progression of ideas from her previous ‘gathering’ project through to the back side where she has completed a neat, clear and simply presented series of plans and sections of the final design, the result is a successful communication of the finished design as well as clear presentation of her progression. I particularly found her quick series of small unscaled plans insightful for the way her floor plan developed, and for her limited colour pallette, using just pastel colours to give a sense of calm and serenity that she wished to bring to the design.

Im not quite sure exactly about how the full meaning of the term ‘considera-tecture’ was brought into the design, it seems the philosophical core of the design is centred around this idea of the connection between the colleagues, but i wonder if accountants and architects and the other disparate practices would in reality desire to have that connection with one another? I would think they would be more interested in getting on with their work, i also felt there were a number of other considerations such as weather or site context that weren’t addressed in this design. This aside, i felt the project was simple, successful and very clearly communicated through a combination of careful and quick sketches.

Lin Bing

Using the word “Subvert-tecture” to describe her style of design, Lin Bing explained that her animation documented her attempt to design a building that would push the envelope of design style..she spoke of architecture needing to progress past the rational grid of classic architecture celebrated by modernists such as Le Corbusier, and be free of such strict geometry. Her blob-like structure for her office reflected this desire, an emphasis on morphous shapes, walls blending into floors and pods rather than closed off spaces. Lin Bing’s animation was the real strong point of her presentation, here she showed a real detailed yet clear portrayal of her development of the project from her previous weeks laser cutting work, through working ideas, in to finally plans and sections of her realized design. The animation takes the viewer on a journey through each of the buildings she designs, giving us a strong sense of the interior experience of each space, a nice compliment to her beautiful detailed plan drawings.

 

tram stop design 2

post coming soon…

Blog entry the tram stop design

Due to the small amount of space available out the front of the vector arena, i decided to run the tram line underneath the ground and have my tram stop as the link from street level to this underground line. I conceived of my design as this moment of shear force ripping back the existing street level surface, and pulling it back to reveal the tram line below and the insides of the city’s underground. I wanted my form to be rippled and folded and appear heavy, almost cave-like with it’s subterranean pathways and solid stone walls..i wanted it to be like entering a tomb, or some ancient underground network of caves.

I was inspired by the monolithic architecture of Louis Kahn in his Exeter Library work – my precedent study for the previous project- and it was the surface texture in particular of my last project that i was excited about bringing an element of into this project. The way the surface of my concrete doors was set against the plastic when the concrete was wet, created a whole lot of lovely creases, and pock-marks from the air that was trapped..it’s skin-like in it’s appearance, and i had planned to laser cut some of this texture, (from my rubbings in charcoal on the panels) onto the top surface of my tram stop.

Skin-like texture of concrete ‘gathering’ project

I spent alot of time sketching by hand my ideas, trying to come to some sort of resolved form, and in hindsight i might have spent a little too much time drawing, because as soon as i started to actually make models and explore that way, i made way better progress. Using a bunch of materials i began to throw up a whole bunch of quick models, scrunching paper, twisting chicken wire, moulding clay, etc to find a form that could work for the top surface of my stop.

Above: Early rough ‘sketch-up’ clay marquette

Below: Series of quick sketch up marquettes from clay, muslin, paper, and wire

Below: I took these images of the marquettes and blew out the contrast to give an impression of an aerial view of crevasses of form

After having these printed out i traced over them to further discover the possible form of the tram stop. Though this process produced some lovely looking drawngs, it perhaps took a little too much of my time and was not too helpful in finding my eventual form. But i did enjoy exploring the possiblities of the design in this wau.

Below: I used non setting clay to mould a shape that could be a 1:250 model of the tram stop. The ripples that are caused from the rupture of the ground create the terraces that would provide seating for concert goers at the vector, or for office workers in the area for lunch time and of course for those waiting for the tram.

The pock marks in the surface are indicitive of the soft stone that would be used in this structure, it would be the material that could be worn away by erosion from weather and human use. The surface texture is also a reference to my previous gathering work, along with the heavy, weightiness of the subterranean form. The holes, north facing, provide dappled sunlight to the submerged cave like exit and entry stairways. The form is heaped to its rear, the raised form designed for its specific context to create a shield for the prevailing south-west winds of the area, this will benefit not only those terraces but also the whole outdoor courtyard area of the vector arena.

Below: Section and plan drawings of the Vector tram stop, immediately below, 2 sections,  corresponding with the section lines cut through the plan at bottom. Showing the descending stairway as it sweeps its ‘S’ shape down to the tram level, from left to right. The dark black shows the existing concrete of the area, with the lighter shaded area the stone of thick stone of the intervention/design.

Above: Close up of entrance section

Below: Impression of ‘roof’ plan, more an aerial sketch, i wished to give the idea of the folds and creases in the landscape that the ripples have created

Below: the section cuts that correspond with section above…slightly inaccurate, but the point it to show the heaviness of the structure, all solid stone, creating this cave like subterranean space. and the snaking steps that wind down to the tram stop.

Some images of the site

Southwestern approach

From (quay st) north end looking south

South west view from Vector entrance

Views from site

View looking s/sw

Toward apartment and office blocs to the north

Looking west toward CBD

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Erosion/Corrosion

Originally my idea was to design for the 3rd tram stop, at the dock end of Queen’s Wharf, i was thinking of the way the sea salt corrodes and rusts, eats away, and how the wind constantly batters and how the water laps, lashes, and takes away,..the nature of cycles erosion, constantly changing the shape of the earth that meets the sea. Unfortunately the Dock’s are outside of the triangle we are to design our tramp stops in, so i have needed to move to one of those stops inside the triangle, and have chosen the Vector arena stop, as it clearly facilitates an area of existing social gathering..I wish to still continue down the line of thinking about erosion and corosion, the stop is still somewhat outdoors, so will be exposed to constant weather however is a lot more sheltered being inland, tucked in next to the giant arena. Perhaps then the greatest agent of affect on the materials then may be the users themselves…like the stone steps of Antiquities that have worn away from thouands of years of life…like the feet of St Peter in St Peters Basilica in Rome, rubbed to a sheen from the millions of hands that touch them in prayer.

St Peter's foot

I’m particularly interested in having this stop as a reminder of the fluidity of the city, reflected in the malleability of the materials used…materials that can be changed and altered by the constant use of the citizens, a celebration of people utilizing these places of gathering..The stop becomes a record of movement through the space, malleable by both people and the elements. Perhaps with soft materials that will leave impressions of foot prints, or materials that react to certain acids of human hands and wear away. interstingly this whole area surrounding my stop is reclaimed land, it was once part of the Waitemata Harbour, and now sits as concrete pavers, roads, businesses, train lines, private homes etc.

1866 map of Auckland, note absence of reclaimed land

Hotere - Black Phoenix

The imperfect surface of my monolithic concrete slab doors from the last assignment is intriguingly appropriate to this project, the way the concrete plane is broken up by pock-marks, and creases left from the cast…i have begun to think about drift wood and its textural qualities, as in Ralph Hotere’s sculptures, the idea of something that has been eaten away degraded, eroded, comes through, and it would be lovely to achieve those broken up wood textures by casting concrete in such drift wood.

Oxidized steel

Tom Kundig - Delta Shelter

Designing our tram service

Our 12 stop Tram Route

I will be designing for tram stop 7. Vector Arena, this stop to be situated on the north western side of the arena, alighting at the courtyard space at the entrance. This area is spacious enough to house an opening and the area could be improved with greater access and social areas, seating, lounging areas for people as they arrive to the venue, or for people in the business area surrounding the arena.

Neighbourhood Amenities

Prevailing wind map

Workshop Four: Laser Doodling Weeks 8-10

Gifting

A typical Auckland city bus shelter...

The project for this workshop has been set out by our tutors as providing for the city an improved public transport system, by designing a 12 stop extension to the newly opened tramline at Wynyard Quarter. The line is to run more or less through the triangle area, however we were told it does not have to be kept so strictly to that area. Divided into groups of 5 we were to come up with our own ‘theme’ – for want of a better expression – for the tramline..suggestions included: a fashion circuit connecting top fashion districts and shops, another one was an architectural history tramline, with stops at historic buildings etc

Images from The Highline project New York, Charles Renfrow

 

 

 

 

We are encouraged to really put ourselves into the project ie as a potential user, something which i am excited about, perhaps constructing narratives about how this tram stop may be a part of various people’s days in the downtown area.

Some things to consider in the design of our tram line:

• Site Context
• Weather issues
• Shelter
• Site Connection with city
• safety
• access

We are each to choose one of the materials at least, from our last project, or form one of our peers projects if we prefer, and consider how this material weathers, using this to inform the design.

To think about how we design, do we respond to weather as in the idea of protection from the elements?

or do we look at the way the weather might degrade or oxidise materials used,

ultimately we are encouraged to use the laser cutter to show these things…so rather than just using it to cut nice perforated surfaces…perhaps use it for its different uses, to score, to scour, to burn etc.

CONSIDER CONTEXT AND SITE

CONSIDER WEATHERING

Our group is myself, Shirin, Sally, Jenny and Rachel, and we are planning on creating a tram route that can help facilitate the development of key areas in the cbd area that we think have potential to become strong communal/areas of civic social exchange. Our places will be chosen, or determined by their proximity to social amenities, such as bars, restaurants, markets, shops, major public transport routes, event centre, the water, parks etc.

The 12 stops we have initially chosen for this tramline are:

1.Wynyard Quarter

2. Viaduct (near wildfire/hilton etc)

3. A water stop – End of the dock with ‘The Cloud’ etc

4. The new Britomart courtyard area, so near tyler street garage and those new bars etc

5. A stop in a high rise or apartment block perhaps in the Dockside lane area, near food places and businesses

6. Perhaps in the parks near Vector, providing transport for people getting to events, or to the train line there, or businesses. Also to help bolster usage of downtown park area

7. Judges Bay, close to the Parnell Pools

8. Parnell Rise, – Shops, parking for inner city, parnell rose gardens

9. Near the courthouse, uni students and workers

10. University Quad, or thereabouts, perhaps albert park

11. Another hugh stop near short street and the law school

12. Vulcan/Durham lane, close to bars, restaurants, cafes, shopping, venues etc