Belvedere College, 19 Students + 1 Art Teacher + 1 Architect + 10 weeks = ???

10 Weeks70 +35mins

+ + = ?

Week 1

With palpable anticipation, excitement and some nervousness, we (19 students, 1 art teacher and 1 architect) gathered under the timber trusses of the beautiful art room, on the top floor of Belvedere college, in the heart of Dublin city: our base for the next 10 weeks.

Having introduced the project, myself and overall structure of the workshop programme, the students, using post-its, shared their expectations for the 10 weeks and some words that came to mind when they heard the word architecture.

Using the courtyard space in the centre of the school as a study space, we looked at how it we might begin to describe a physical environment in visual terms. Dividing into 6 groups, each with a different aspect to explore, we left the art room behind and braved the January cold to investigate, armed with pencils, sketchbooks and coats!

With the exploration complete for the day the students set about recording what they had found in words, sketches or photographs. This would be used as a basis for discussion in Week 2. For some inspiration, I showed the students my favourite group project from college, which used photographs of small details to describe the experience of occupying the Richview Campus in UCD.

Week 1

S t u d e n t s d e s c r i b e A R C H I T E C U R E i n 5 W O R D S

B u i l d i n g s ; S h a p e s ; A n g l e s ; D e s i g n s ; S t r u c t u r e ;G r a n d e u r ; I n v e n ti v e ; G o l i a t h ; A n g u l a r ; S l e e k ;

D e s i g n ; B u i l d i n g ; B l u e p r i n t ; F u n c ti o n ; E ffi c i e n c y ;B u i l d i n g ; D e s i g n ; A p p l e ; D r a w i n g ; I m a g i n a ti o n ;

D e s i g n ; B u i l d e r ; S t r u c t u r e ; A r t ; H o m e ;S h a p e s ; I m a g i n a ti o n ; D e s i g n ; C o m m u n i c a ti o n ; F u n c ti o n a l ;

D e s i g n i n g ; S t r u c t u r e ; B e a u ti f u l ; I n n o v a ti o n ; B u i l d ;D r a w i n g ; B u i l d i n g ; M e a s u r i n g ; D e s i g n ; S k e t c h i n g ;

F u n c ti o n a l ; A r ti s ti c ; D e s i g n ; S k e t c h ; B u i l d i n g s ;I n n o v a ti o n ; I d e a s ; C r e a ti o n ; I m a g i n a ti o n ; P r a c ti c a l i t y ;

F r e e d o m ; S t r u c t u r e ; U ti l i t a r i a n ; S u p p o r t ; D e s i g n ;S k e t c h e s ; P l a n s ; D e s i g n ; S i t e ; I m a g i n a ti o n ;

S t a t u e ; D r a w i n g ; D e s i g n ; B u i l d i n g ; A r t ;B u i l d i n g s ; S c u l p t u r e s ; C r e a ti v i t y ; K n o w l e d g e ; D e s i g n ;

3 D D e s i g n s ; F u n c ti o n a l / U s e f u l ; A r ti s ti c ; I m a g i n a ti o n ; Q u e r k y ;A r t ; B u i l d i n g ; C r e a ti v i t y ; D e s i g n ; S t r u c t u r e s ;

Art of designing buildings, Structure of buildings, Design, Putting your emotions in building, InnovationWeek 1

S t u d e n t s d e s c r i b eH o p e s a n d E x p e c t a ti o n s

“I would like more knowledge about it”“Better understand the design process.”

“Become more knowledgeable about architecture & think about it as a possible career choice. “

“To build something/ Design something good.”“To come up with a viable plan for a structure in out school.”

“To create something.”“Make up a good idea and see it come to life.”

“To design a buildable structure.”“To create something to add enjoyment to our school.”

“Become better at drawing your ideas and make them come to life.”“Come up with good ideas and get involved.”

To get a better understanding of Architecture.“Learn a lot about architecture and might give me ideas of a future career.”

“I hope to learn more about the career of an architect.”

Week 1

Form?

Week 1

Environmental

Week 1

Use and Users

Week 1

Route and Connections

Week 1

Week 2

With everyone settled in, Week 2, kicked off with a discussion on what architects, artists and buildings the students found inspiring. Beijing’s National Stadium, the Bird’s nest featured highly, the leaning tower of Pisa was mentioned for how it challenges the viewer to reconsider what can stand up and Gaudi’s sagrada famila for the fact that it is still being built. Some students also found the Eiffel tower and skyscrapers inspiring but it was generally agreed that small buildings could be inspiring too.

To get the body active as well as the mind, the students then did a drawing exercise in pairs. Each student found an object from around the art room, then took turns to describe the physical characteristics of the object to their partner without saying what the object was. The partner tried to draw the object from the description and guess what it was. This made for an interesting, energetic exercise and led into a discussion on ways to describe physical objects and environments in language and drawings.

Returning to the courtyard exploration of the previous week, the student showed their drawings and discussed the observations they had made. The discussion covered such aspects as how the courtyard was used, the position of the sun a different times of the day, the routes people took to cross it and the size was even equated to three 50m swimming pools.

To finish the students were set the task of exploring the wider school campus , to identify areas that they liked and disliked.

Week 2

Week 2

Week 2

Week 2

Week 2

Week 2

Week 3

Ear Chair – Makkink & Bey Week 3

Week 3

Week 3

School on the principle of open spaceBuilding gymnasium Orestad in Copenhagen, designed by 3XN, a real piece of modern art, both inside and outside. In 2007 the school was named best building in Scandinavia. This is the first school opened in Denmark in the national educational reform.

Container for Learning

Week 3

Container for Learning

Spiral staircase connects the 4 levels which the students called the heart of the building. During breaks, they lay on the pillows and looking at the bright circular lights decorated the ceiling, reminiscent of a starry sky.

Week 3

Container for Learning

Week 3

Week 3

IDEAS:

•Adaption/Re-use

•Problem Solving

•Innovation

Think about which area most interests you?