Experiment 2

This experiment is laid out in a chronological way, so it is possible to simply read on from here and experience the entire design process in a natural way. However, if you wish to jump from place to place, the contents are as follows:

Concepts

From Concepts to Axonometrics

From Drawing To Model

Combining Parallel Projections

The Concepts Re-Worked

The Marker Evolves

The Marker Nears Completion

Thirty-Six Textures

The Marker Finished

Appendix

Concepts

Both Buckminster Fuller and Olson Kundig Architects have interesting and often-times differing views on architecture and design. These idiosyncratic concepts will be explored and used as the basis for a marker design.

"There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly"

"Love is metaphysical gravity"

"Doing more and more with less and less until you can do everything with nothing"

"Simplicity is the true measure of complexity"

"Reorganise the environment for prosperity"

"Nature is trying very hard to make us succeed, but nature does not depend on us"

"Contradictory objectives; open to environment, yet closed to create privacy"

"Architecture is the intersection between the poetic and the rational"

"A space is not constrained by area inside the building, a space is shaped by it"

"Architecture is a movement and it transforms its surroundings"

"Home as a primitive place"

"Architecture must be as intimate as a family member"

From Concepts to Axonometrics

I then took each of these concepts and used them as the conceptual basis for a series of axonometric drawings:

I was particularly taken with the model for "Simplicity is the true measure of complexity", and it will form the basis for my marker design.

From Drawing To Model

I then took  my favourite axonometric drawing and converted it into a Lumion model:

I feel it has quite a strong presence about it, and it is a promising base for a marker design. The challenge lies in refining it into something more sophisticated.

Combining Parallel Projections

I then took some of my favourite axonometrics and combined them to produce interesting new forms. Smoothing one member of each pair also produced some interesting results:

TOP: Simplicity is the true measure... + Architecture is a movement...

MIDDLE:  There is nothing in a caterpillar + Doing more and more...

BOTTOM: Architecture must be as intimate... + Homes as primitive places

It's interesting to see how the different models interact with one another, and it's particularly interesting if you imagine one of the pair informing the marker, and the other informing its position in the landscape. 

The Concepts Re-Worked

Of the twelve original concepts, there were two that particularly struck me as interesting:

Buckminster Fuller: Simplicity is the true measure of complexity.

Olson Kundig: Architecture is a movement and it transforms its surroundings.

There is something in the directness and accessibility of these statements that makes them appealing and interesting to me. When writing in Architectural Design, the great Dutch artist and architect Lars Spuybroek wrote:

"Why still speak of the real and the virtual, the material and the immaterial? Here these categories are not in opposition, or in some metaphysical disagreement, but more in an electroliquid aggregation, enforcing each other, as in a two part adhesive"

In this spirit, I sought, however clumsily, to fuse the two concepts into one:

By transforming their surroundings, simple forms, though complex as they are, transcend construction and become architecture.

This is the idea that I will use to develop the basic axonometric form into something hopefully far more compelling.

The Marker Evolves

With the new parallel projections complete, and the two concepts re-worked into an electroliquid aggregation, it was time to develop the basic and blocky axonometric form into something more sophisticated.

This represents a sort of evolutionary lineage of the marker concept, from its bulky axonometric ancestor, to its more refined descendents. The left branch represents a line of thinking that seemed promising at first, but in the end felt clumsy and awkward. Thus, I returned to when I was last happy with the design and set at it in a different way, quickly progressing to something far more interesting.

The final design maintains the sense of simplicity that characterised its original form, whilst the chamfering of the pillars, and the layering of the core provide a sense of lightness that was previously absent. Furthermore, the tiered base causes the structure to more strongly connect with the land below, helping it define the space even more strongly.

In striking upwards, the design alludes to the spirits of triumph and glory that pervaded the park during the days of the Olympics, whilst the powerful beacon references the torch itself. In short, the marker is an embodiment of the Olympic spirit as it existed in Sydney in the year 2000, and as it continues to this day at Blacktown Park.

The Marker Near Completion

With the blocky original axonometric structure having been transformed, it was time to test it out in Lumion.

I find the way the structure interacts with the sun and sky to be particularly satisfying. I think it is something to do with the contrast between the purely natural forms of the clouds and light, and the uncompromisingly man-made configuration of the marker.

I would argue that the marker's great achievement is that it manages to maintain a strong physical presence without being monolithic and bulky.

Thirty-Six Textures

I opted to arrange my textures into 6 groupings of 6, each of which formed an independent progression from light to dark. The idea is that each set maintains a unique theme, whilst holding true to the overall idea of tonal progression. 

The Marker Finished

I added three of the custom textures to the marker model to add a greater sense of depth and detail. The trio were:

The three textures provide the full spectrum from light to dark, and I positioned them in a way that felt natural to me, that is, with the darkest at the lowest point, and the lightest at the highest.

Here, we see the darkest texture facing off against the medium texture, whilst the lightest graces the top of the four peaks:

This establishes a sort of hierarchy of texture and lightness that I found both natural and satisfying. Thus, these simple textures, placed in a simple way, belie a more complicated system of thought that underwrites their arrangement. 

Uncluttered and simply formed, the marker effectively defines the character of the space, as it rises above the almost oppressively flat Cumberland plain. In short, its simple form enables it to perform a complicated act of atmospherics. 

By night the marker transforms its surroundings, casting a pillar of light into the darkened sky. Such a beam is arguably the simplest and most natural form of all, but here it performs a feat of transfiguration magical in its complexity.

N.B. I did had a rather nice night shot of the marker, viewed from the overpass with the floodlit park in the background (very cinematic), but between three hard-discs and two computers it got lost. Hence the unremarkable final Lumion capture.

Appendix

The Lumion environments are available for download here.

Both the marker and the sportspark Sketchup models can both be found on the 3D Warehouse. The relevant tags are <EXP2> , <marker> , <Blacktown International Sportspark> & <ARCH1101>.