Experiment Three

Concept Mash-Up

First Perspectives

Further Perspectives

Basic Form

Plans and Sections

Thirty-Six Textures

(N.B. The textures are only viewable via this link due to some unfortunate glitch)

Final Draft

Peer Evaluation

Appendix

Concept Mash-up

The project needed an underwriting concept or theory to inform its design, and this was to be generated by combining select text from three architectural news articles. The resultant paragraph reads as follows:

In short, I argue that the best way to produce a great, new academic space is to re-purpose an existing one, thus combining the best of the past, with the best of the contemporary. 

Red text: 

Karissa Rosenfield. "David Chipperfield's "Radical" English Country House Considered "World's Best"" 23 Jun 2015. ArchDaily. Accesed 28 Jun 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/645900/david-chipperfield-s-radical-english-country-house-considered-world-s-best-2/>

Blue text:

Karissa Rosenfield. "WEISS/MANFREDI Break Ground on "The Bridge" at Cornell Tech’s Roosevelt Island Campus" 17 Jun 2015. ArchDaily. Accesed 28 Jun 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/643328/weiss-manfredi-break-ground-on-the-bridge-at-cornell-tech-s-roosevelt-island-campus/>

Yellow text:

Sabrina Santos. "Hawkins\Brown Selected to Design the University of Reading's New School of Architecture " 19 Jun 2015. ArchDaily. Accesed 28 Jun 2015. <http://www.archdaily.com/643876/hawkins-brown-selected-to-design-the-university-of-reading-s-new-school-of-architecture/>

Black text is the author's own.

First Perspectives

With the underlying concept now formalised, it was time to begin creating the basic shape of the Squarehouse addition. The underlying form was to be a six-armed cross, but the proportions of each arm could be changed between designs, to the point of becoming non-existent, or even negative, or subtractive. Thus, the following perspectives were produced:

Further Perspectives

I then took two of the most promising single-point perspectives, and re-created them in two-point form, to further inform the developing project:

Clockwise from left:

Reaching away

Striking out

Diving down

Clockwise from left:

Bright smooth face

Great embracing arms

Reaching away

Basic Form

With the basic form of the cross refined, it was time to combine it with the basic shape of the Squarehouse:

The two moving elements move distinctly, that is, one moves vertically and linearly, the other rotates on the spot. This motion significantly changes the massing of the overall structure in that it seemingly truncates the length of two of the extreme arms of the cross, reducing the overall apparent mass of the building.

The challenge lies in how to incorporate these motions into a workable and useful building.

Plans and Sections

In order to make the new building workable, it was necessary to completely remove all of the original interior walls and to start from scratch, which necessitated the development of a new floor plan. Given the concept underwriting the project, using an historical precedent as a basis for the design seemed natural. 

Ultimately, I chose to base the  plan on the Villa Capra (1592) by Andrea Palladio, and this was for three reasons. Firstly, the logical, grid-like arrangement of rooms in the villa seemed particularly suited to the rigid, boxy external form of the appropriately named Squarehouse, and so I felt the two would mesh together rather well. Secondly, the Palladio design epitomised the rational and enlightened approach to design that was developing at that time, and these were values I felt were appropriate to embed into an educational space. Thirdly, and finally, my own personal interest in the architecture of that period meant that I felt rather at home working with the Villa plan, and so I reasoned that I was in a position to do better things with it than, say, the equally excellent works of Hadid or Zumthor. 

I took the basic plan and simplified it, rendering it in Sketchup:

I then converted its curved forms to straight ones, allowing them to engage more effectively with the overall shape of the building. Additionally, I skewed the layout off-centre, purely for the sake of interest:

Finally, I reconfigured this to the suit the exterior shape of the Squarehouse, removing sections of the floor to allow light to enter what was originally a rather dark interior:

This was to form the basic shape of each of the three upper floors of the building, that is, three large spaces stemming from a central circulation space, with a triangular elevator at the lower right corner to provide access to each:

For the ground floor, the floor space was to be cut back to an area consistent to the floors above it, thus removing the small spaces that currently jut out from the main ground floor area. This was to provide a cleaner, more regular appearance but also to increase the area encompassed by the retained colonnade.

It is worth noting that the section of the building was also informed by the shape of this plan.

This basic form runs through the entirety of the building, and is an allusion to the long gaps that run through each floor section. This section is repeated through the other aspect, and together with the floor plans, they great a kind of six-armed cross of empty space that sits at the heart of the building.

First Draft

The plans and sections finalised, it was now time to convert them into the basic form of the building. 

The positioning of the two physical bridges has been finalised, as has the location of the two negative bridges that form the cut through the building. These will provide the atrium and circulation space at the centre of the structure that allows easy movement within each floor.

Thirty-Six Textures

It was now necessary to produce a range of textures to accent the finished building. These were to represent different aspects of motion, and were thus to be used to help visitors navigate the unfamiliar building:

Linear

Radiating

Rapid

Scalar Transition

Unstoppable

Rotation

Final Draft

With the basic form of the building done, it was now time to finalise its details, and to produce the completed model:

By retaining a significant amount of the original structure, the building sits comfortably in its' surrounds in a way that a brand new construction would struggle to. Thus, modernisation takes place with a minimum of contextual disruption.

The new bridge is inspired texturally and formally by the original concrete balustrades, whilst the proportions of the glass louvre section is analogous to the pre-existing windows. Thus, the added features are directly inspired by the original design, and constitute a fusion of the old and the new.

The newly added magnetic elevator acts to link the different academic functions that characterise each floor of the building. In short, it combines and unifies academia and education in a rather literal way.

The long, cut through atrium space acts as a kind of empty space bridge, in that it draws people  from outside into and through the main bulk of the building. It is through this flow of human traffic that the building interacts with the surrounding buildings and its context.

The extensive skylights act to provide light into what was once a dark space, but in an unobstructive way that only moderately alters the external appearance of the building. Thus, they provide modern amenity and comfort to a pre-existing space, once again embodying the combination of old and new.

Besides the obvious necessities of finishing the actual fabric of the building, it was also necessary to include a number of custom textures in the final product to help enable visitors to interact with the structure:

Linear is used to indicate the motion of the elevator and to advise visitors of its functionality.

Unstoppable is used to indicate the entries to the workshops, and to remind visitors of the potential hazards therein. 

Rotation is used to highlight the presence of the movable glass louvres.

Rotation is again used to highlight the floor surface made dangerous by the descent of the lift.

Peer Evaluation

At the time of writing (Sunday evening), there were no visibly completed projects for me to complete a peer review of. Given my inability to reach a computer on the Monday, this section has unfortunately remained incomplete.

Appendix

The Lumion environments from the project are available for download here.

All of the Sketchup models can be found on the 3D Warehouse.