Exp 3: final submission

Connecting the community through vertical meeting spaces in order to both observe and preserve the city landscape.

Mashup news article

The act of inhabitation is enriched by the potential to manipulate ways of observing place and landscape, by taking the existing city plan and flipping it to create a new vertical typology. School buildings follow the logic of sprawl, they are familiar, small scale, easily accessible buildings. Collective spaces create a sense of connection, improving the lives of the citizens. All spaces are gathered around a central square, utilising ‘urban voids’ that currently exist within the city's plan in an ‘appropriate’ response to place. “In the realm of social sustainability, the anonymous feeling of immense cities is challenged by interconnecting typically isolated diverse city zones.” It becomes a 'society building', a space of possible multiethnic exchange and comparison. The city will increase in density but reduce in scale, favouring the exchanging of knowledge, experience and socialisation and no longer suffering from an identity crisis. Cultural identity can evolve through a contemporary 'landscape of memory', and at times these are specifically framed views, at other times they are abstracted views. Encouraging the increased connection of social and cultural ties leads to the development of a sequence of platforms for observing the landscape. All the spaces face each other, with a distinct desire to hover above the ground, re-thinking how we perceive the typology of the city by reducing its environmental impact and creating places of knowledge preservation.

Green text: "Vertical typologies in Shanghai: Pinkcloud proposes vertical masterplan."

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=19876&q=editorial

Blue text: “Heavy setting: Contemporary farmhouse touches the earth ‘heavily’?”

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=10668&q=touch%20the%20earth%20lightly

Pink text: “Learning through living: Sustainable, affordable school building sets example for children and community alike”
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=21694&q=schools


I then derived my overall theory from the main ideas of these three articles, condensing the Mashup into:

"Connecting the community through vertical meeting spaces in order to both observe and preserve the city landscape."

18 Sketch Perspectives

Based on famous architectural theories.

36 Custom Textures

The Bridge and the Folly

Plan used as basis of design:
Diller and Scofidio, Slow House

The distinctive twisted forms were created by merging a simplified version of this plan, in both plan and section.

Draft Cryengine environments:

1.

2.

3.

My Dutch heritage informed my choice of location, the 'urban valley' that is formed from the canals of Amsterdam.

Developed Cryengine environment and model

Overview of space allocation:

Image captures:

The school bridges the canal right in the heart of the city in order to connect the community. Being perched across, from one bank to another, it allows the visitor to observe the landscape but also preserves the heritage in these canals.

Walkways connect the pathway to the rooms within the school, the path emphasised by the custom texture. 

The folly is accessible via two separate platform lifts and represents a miniature city, a concrete jungle. However ironically it simply floats on the surface of the canal, moving from one end of the school to the other and having little impact upon the environment. 

The forms are inward facing, creating a sense of interconnection between students, staff and the community. Their distinctively curved and overlapping form is also reminiscent of the Dutch national flower, the tulip, further connecting the architecture to the landscape.

An outdoor seating area adjoining the food court affords views of the city and its height accentuates the notion of a vertical meeting space. 

Please note: I had serious issues with exporting my Sketchup model to cryengine (it took many hours) and as such many of my textures and entities are not quite correct. 

Peer feedback sheets 

From final tutorial, based on draft submission post. 

Links to files

Sketchup Model in 3D warehouse:
http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=489b16b1bddbe6ddc1ade5a15d1133c3

Cryengine file in dropbox:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/iijutxiuokg7mhd/3461066%20Elise%20Vanden%20Dool%20Exp3.zip

Credits for models used in Sketchup/Cryengine (from 3D warehouse:)

- "Bike" by 15beckean uploaded Feb 12, 2009

- C1 Concept car - Low Poly by COL 1 uploaded Feb 7, 2010
- Old Dutch houses, Delft uploaded by wouter on Mar 4, 2009

- Row houses in Amsterdam, Netherlands uploaded by  Pascal March 13, 2010

- Large diamond lamp post uploaded by  SketchUp May 1, 2007

- Dutch motorsloop uploaded by AnnaBlume Aug 2, 2007. 

Submission draft: Experiment 3

Mashup news article

The act of inhabitation is enriched by the potential to manipulate ways of observing place and landscape, by taking the existing city plan and flipping it to create a new vertical typology. School buildings follow the logic of sprawl, they are familiar, small scale, easily accessible buildings. Collective spaces create a sense of connection, improving the lives of the citizens. All spaces are gathered around a central square, utilising ‘urban voids’ that currently exist within the city's plan in an ‘appropriate’ response to place. “In the realm of social sustainability, the anonymous feeling of immense cities is challenged by interconnecting typically isolated diverse city zones.” It becomes a 'society building', a space of possible multiethnic exchange and comparison. The city will increase in density but reduce in scale, favouring the exchanging of knowledge, experience and socialisation and no longer suffering from an identity crisis. Cultural identity can evolve through a contemporary 'landscape of memory', and at times these are specifically framed views, at other times they are abstracted views. Encouraging the increased connection of social and cultural ties leads to the development of a sequence of platforms for observing the landscape. All the spaces face each other, with a distinct desire to hover above the ground, re-thinking how we perceive the typology of the city by reducing its environmental impact and creating places of knowledge preservation.

Green text: "Vertical typologies in Shanghai: Pinkcloud proposes vertical masterplan."

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=19876&q=editorial

Blue text: “Heavy setting: Contemporary farmhouse touches the earth ‘heavily’?”

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=10668&q=touch%20the%20earth%20lightly

Pink text: “Learning through living: Sustainable, affordable school building sets example for children and community alike”
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=21694&q=schools


I derived my theory from the main ideas of these three articles, condensing the Mashup into:

Connecting the community through vertical meeting spaces in order to both observe and preserve the city landscape.

18 Sketch Perspectives

36 Custom Textures

The Bridge and Folly

Plan used as basis of design:
Diller and Scofidio, Slow House

The following twisted forms were created by taking the simplified form of this plan, and merging the shape in both section and plan. 

Cryengine image captures

Location: canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 

Boxes will be staff offices, looking out onto the view.

The folly - a miniature floating city that can move from one end of the bridge to the other.

The spaces will be able to face each other, to create a sense of connection  within the school. 

The upper levels of the tubes will be the common areas, lecture theatre. The two middle portions will be the library, joined by a horizontal walkway. 

Folly ideas

- The folly as a mini city, a city within a city, with vertical forms.

- But floating like a pontoon on the surface of the canal - unfixed, unstable. 

Inspired by these initial F-shape configurations (from one-point perspective drawings), which evoke skyscrapers, and which intersect like gears, machine-like.

Experimenting

Condensed concept from my mashup article:

Connecting the community through vertical meeting spaces in order to both observe and preserve the city landscape.

Chosen plan from lecture:

Diller and Scofidio, Slow House.

Initial experimenting in sketchup 

These forms were created by merging the simplified form from this plan in both section and plan. 

Very rough in cryengine:

Mash-up news article.

The act of inhabitation is enriched by the potential to manipulate ways of observing place and landscape, by taking the existing city plan and flipping it to create a new vertical typology. School buildings follow the logic of sprawl, they are familiar, small scale, easily accessible buildings. Collective spaces create a sense of connection, improving the lives of the citizens. All spaces are gathered around a central square, utilising ‘urban voids’ that currently exist within the city's plan in an ‘appropriate’ response to place. “In the realm of social sustainability, the anonymous feeling of immense cities is challenged by interconnecting typically isolated diverse city zones.” It becomes a 'society building', a space of possible multiethnic exchange and comparison. The city will increase in density but reduce in scale, favouring the exchanging of knowledge, experience and socialisation and no longer suffering from an identity crisis. Cultural identity can evolve through a contemporary 'landscape of memory', and at times these are specifically framed views, at other times they are abstracted views. Encouraging the increased connection of social and cultural ties leads to the development of a sequence of platforms for observing the landscape. All the spaces face each other, with a distinct desire to hover above the ground, re-thinking how we perceive the typology of the city by reducing its environmental impact and creating places of knowledge preservation.

Green text: "Vertical typologies in Shanghai: Pinkcloud proposes vertical masterplan."

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=19876&q=editorial

Blue text: “Heavy setting: Contemporary farmhouse touches the earth ‘heavily’?”

http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=10668&q=touch%20the%20earth%20lightly

Pink text: “Learning through living: Sustainable, affordable school building sets example for children and community alike”
http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=21694&q=schools

Valley inspiration

Part of my heritage is Dutch, however Holland is a very flat country without a lot of valleys to be found. So I am considering basing my location on one of the many canals found in Amsterdam and around the rest of the Netherlands.
At the moment I am thinking of having the architecture school bridging the canal, perhaps with various bridging points, since the canals are not very wide, with the 'meeting space' being a pontoon-style space which floats on the surface of the canal and is accessible via elevator from the above bridge (as per the brief).

Experiment 2 final submission

Nomadism is the dominant social force in a growing city where dynamism replaces stasis.

The process

Clients:
Archigram
Winka Dubbeldam

Axonometrics with chosen concepts

Archigram

Winka Dubbeldam

Merged axonometrics with concepts

Chosen combination:

36 Textures - Light to Dark

Chosen textures

5 Image captures

Electroliquid Aggregation:
Nomadism is the dominant social force in a growing city where dynamism replaces stasis.

The waterfall flowing down a steep, rocky cliff creates a constant sense of movement and dynamism, whilst the use of vegetation connects to the concept of a ‘growing city’. The sprawling form evokes a nomadic lifestyle and integrates with the landform.

Entrance

The ramp leads down from the first monument to the meeting space, the diagonal lines forming a dynamic pathway which travels in and around itself. This is enforced by the texture with more slanted lines, criss-crossing to encourage movement.

Meeting space

The overlapping staircase represents nomadism as it is spread out and varies in size, reflecting this changeable lifestyle often situated in wide open spaces. The open-air platform not only reinforces this idea but also allows the dynamic outdoor environment to infiltrate the space. 

Link to SketchUp model via 3D warehouse: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=a8cbc4944561db09c1ade5a15d1133c3 

Link to CryEngine file via Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/o8ynr6d3dbw5klx/Elise%20Vanden%20Dool%20Exp2.zip