Grounding

For these final two weeks leading up to our final crit for the semester, the theme behind it is grounding where we must think clearly about our buildings relationship with the ground i.e what type of ground it is situated on, whether the gradient changes and whether our building sits on top of the ground, burrows into it or even perhaps adding a basement.

For our final we must produce 8 x A4 of plans and sections at these scales- 1:500, 1:200, 1:100, 1:20.  All of these focus on different elements and details of our building and the ground surrounding it.

We also have a pdf submission which is due after our crit of 8 pages from our previous workshops, reviews from our blogs as well as our final matrix.

Peer Review 4

Today I crit the laser cutting group for the final time.  This time I crit group  3 again but it was the first time in which the workshop they were working on was something that I had already done before in the first workshop.
For the laser cut group this week, they had to map out 12 stops for a train and choose one of the places as their tram stop and create a design for it.

Sam Peters - http://spet559.blogspot.com/
Sam's group decided to create the 12 tram stops in a way of alfresco dining where people could eat surrounding the tram.  I thought that it was a unique idea that unlike most who laser cut their models, he used the laser cut to engrave the facade of the railway station in which the tram stop is situated in front of.  The actual tram stop itself is a transparent object so that the attention is not taken away fro the old railway station.  It has been created by cutting different shapes such as triangles and gluing them together to create a unique form.  It is a tram stop that doesn't stay on one level but there are stairs on the other side of the railway tracks which lead downstairs to the alfresco dining.

Matekitatahi Rawiri-McDonald
Tatahi wanted to take the idea of traditional Maori gifting in the way a gift is presented - wakahuia.  The 12 tram stops that Tatahi and his group mapped out were places in which buses weren't en route to go but they were still places in which people would like to be able to access. He chose the park by Vector Arena.  He wanted to take the idea of weathered wood, how parts can be taken away and added. The laser cut layers represent weathering and resemble a piece of drift wood.  There is an entrance within this piece of 'drift wood' in order for a train to enter.  I liked the idea of the traditional Maori gifting being incorporated.  There was only an entrance for the train but no exit was visible.  I think in order to take the weathered wood idea further, there could have been a different type of wood used other than mdf but the form of the tramstop was reminiscent of a ship which once again connects with the idea of weathered wood.

Sulin Wang - http://soupii.wordpress.com/
Sulin chose a site in the park next to Beach Rd.  This spot caught her eye because she was captured by the grafitti.  At first she was thinking about the idea of weathering, however after seeing the grafitti she decided to develop her idea furhter and think about man-made weathering which related back to the grafitti.  In terms of the tram stops, her tram route went around to the art galleries around the City.  By choosing this site, she wanted to portray art, but not usual art.  She wanted to portray street art (grafitti) which people often overlook.  The shape of her tram stop was inspired by the ways in which grafitti is written where it consists of both smooth curves but also sharp edges therefore she has created a tram stop which is almost skeletal with smooth curves on one side and sharp edges on the other.  Inside the tramstop there are panels which allow grafitti artists to portray their work and to be acknowledged and by people.  Although there may have been forms produced from lasercutting before similar to Sulin's form, I thought that she had a great development process from her starting point which addressed and backed up her form and made the relationship between her idea and form of the model understandable.

1:1 Model

 This is my final 1:1 model where the jigsaw pieces have been laser cut.  However my concrete did not last and was stood on at the crit so it crumbled.  There was not enough time left before the crit in order for the concrete to dry therefore I had no unscrew the mold on the spot in the level 3 exhibition space.

As shown in the photos below the concrete crumbled due to insufficient water in some parts.  Also i think because I filled the centre with polystyrene to make it lighter, there were some parts in which only a few centimetres of concrete were holding it together therefore it wasn't as strong as it could've been.  

Development 3

I have received my laser cut pieces and sprayed my mdf.  I have decide to alternate wood and perspex as it creates a nice contrast in texture in order for the shapes of the jigsaw pieces to stand out.

I have made the concrete mold and I have begun to pour the concrete in earlier in case anything comes up.

Development 2

Over the weekend I tried many different models and alternatives of how the puzzle pieces could sit together in order to create light as well as sit together.  I also produced a small 1:5 model of what potentially my 1:1 section could be made from.

 I drew a 1:100 scale plan and section in order to see how the public can move through the spaces.

When I think of puzzle pieces I think of wood and plastic so I wanted to use one or the other.  After todays discussion, I am now taking out the clay organic shapes and just leaving it with a pathway.  And I have decided to use both acrylic and wood for the puzzle pieces in which I will make four shapes for the puzzle pieces that tessalate.  The two materials will give a nice contrast since if I only used acrylic even with the puzzle pieces it would still be one skin.  I have overlapped pieces and re-orientated them in order to allow more light in.

I have decided where I want to model my 1:1 section. I wanted to model the entrance and its relationship to the ground so that it could be seen that the building leads up from the steps as if the building is welcoming the public.  So i will need to make a concrete mold for the foundation and I will get my puzzle pieces laser cut to ensure that they are precise when fitting together.

Development 1

For Thursday we had to produce another augmented drawing at the least as well as beginning to experiment with making models.

So I decided to use some foamboard and experiment with the facade of how I could allow more light in.  The facade almost looks like jigsaw pieces so i tried cutting pieces and overlapping pieces in order to see how it would allow light in.  Within the beginning hallway I also added a path in which the public could walk through instead of just walking past on the stairway.

However I found it difficult to draw this into a new augmented drawing as from the front view, it looks the same.

I need to think about different ways in which light could enter as well as different ways of placing the puzzle pieces.  Also since there are two paths, 1 for the public and 2 for the colleagues I need to find a way in which people know that one certain path is for the public.

Drawings

I produced my two augmented drawings for the Wednesday.  Out of the two though, the Secondlife builidng conveyed more information as some of it was lost in the augmented drawing.  For the sketched augmented drawing I tried out two different types of paper to draw on.  One i used black paper and a white pencil since the idea surrounding my building was about starting from darkness and allowing light to enter.  And the other I used tracing paper for the idea of penetration of light but I decided to use the one with the black paper as the one to show.  For my three materials I thought of using clay as the flooring as the transition spaces between the colleagues' work spaces were fluid and organic.  I wasn't sure about the development therefore I chose glass as a way to let more light in as well as aluminium but all three materials were very light in colour and after the discussion, it was clear that glass was not needed in order to allow more light to enter the builidng and that there are many other various ways of allowing light in.

My gifting idea is that the building in itself is a gift to the public.  Since it is situated in the middle of a public walkway, I decided that allowing the public to experience the space of the colleagues building would be a gift to the public.

My gifting link I put on the digital carnival page - This is the Massimiliano Fukas Congress Centre in Italy.  http://www.arcspace.com/architects/Fuksas/congress_index.html.  It is an incredible piece of architecture that can be shared with the public as well as the capability to hold a lot of people.  I thought that this link went with my concept of gifting where the building is a gift to the public and is welcoming.