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Designing EnvironmentsPortfolio

Semester 1. 2016Erin Sartori

832874Tutor: Gumji Kang

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CONTENTS PAGE:Page 1 Cover Page

Page 2 Contents Page

Page 3 Site Plans

Page 4 Spacial Composition

Page 5 Landforming

Page 6 Assemblage 1

Page 7 Assemblage 2

Page 8 Program and Narrative

Page 9 Superimposition Collage

Page 10 Experience Collage

Page 11 Final Project 1

Page 12 Final Project 2

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SITE:

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Spacial Composition:

Criteria: To create a form reflecting a Frame and Grid style.

Precedents: De styjl (addition of smaller squares and rectangles to form one bigger artwork with asymmetric balence). I took this concept (as shown below) and made it 3D, excluding the colour to minimalise the structure.

I started with a square/rectangular frame idea. To follow the grid criteria, I chose to take four shapes and place them amongst each other forming junctions between the pieces. This gives a very geometric and angualr effect. Essentially these should hold up without glue but I used it for insurance anyway. By adding on the long strips of balsa wood, it continued to enhance the in-terconnectedness of the individual pieces and holds them all in place better. The addition of the diamond frame on the end isn’t completely necessary, in hindsight I think it would look better with out it.

Initially I wanted a stronger grid representation so I weaved a 10cm by 10cm grid out of cardboard. This too held without glue, hence I thought it would be appropriate with the initial constrcuted model. But I removed it from its place perched on top of the model, curved over like a dome. Overall it created a distraction from the rest of the model.

A good addition to the model, besides more grid representation, would have been the use of more materials. However I like the simple balsa wood shapes, it creates a minimalist feeling.

Destyjl

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Landforming:Criteria: Landforming techniques of Subtraction and Extrusion.

Precedents: The shape of a hill (image below).

In order to create the shape of a hill I used extrusion of the uneven vertical beams, which enforce a motion like effect in its rise to the peak height, to create half of the hill. With the other half, I made a ladder of uneven sized balsa pieces. I used brown twine in this mod-el to follow the criteria of more materials in the one model. The overall shape then represents the curved shape of the hill. Subtraction was used in the space below the ladder being void instead of being solid like a hill and the same with the spacing bewteen the vertical balsa wood beams.

The growth in beam height doesn’t go at a strictly consistent rate. I have used varying heights on each row, creating natural ups and downs, to enhance the effect of the natural, more organic hillside. In the end, the final piece is created from rigid, regular individual pieces that form one whole despite the many gaps. Essentially, this piece contrasts flexibility and solidity.

I initially wanted to carve a curve out of a thick piece of balsa wood to create a more fluid shape out of a rigid material. However it didn’t succeed and the simple geometric shapes carried on from the spacial composition assignment through to this one, yet forming a more natural shape.

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AssemblageGrafting:

Peter Eisenman’s Wexner Centre Frank Gehry ResidencePlant Grafting

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AssemblageGrafting:

Criteria: With influence from the Spacial Composition and Landforming assignments, use the technique of Grafting (arbitrary and artificial conjunc-tion of two distinct characteristics, essentially a violent collision) to seamlessly combine the two.

Precedents: Frank Gehry Residence in Santa Monica (1978) and Peter Eisenman’s Wexner Centre (1989) (As shown on the previous page)

Firstly, I decided to use the two materials I had previously used, being balsa wood and brown twine. Then I took elements from both structures. From the first, Spacial Composition form, I took the two square frame pieces and a long strip of balsa wood. Then from the second, Landforming model, I took the vertical beams and twine.

I did my best to meld them and not place them directly next to each other. In my attempt to form a violent collision between the two forms I physi-cally placed the beams inside the frames. Then by cutting into the gradually growing beams and placing a balsa strip, essentially helped hold most of the model together like the first one. The beams don’t follow a straight line in this model, they alternate sides from the centre line to create an asymmetric design. This effect gives the model a feeling of movement I tried to acheive with the landforming assignment. The twine placed over the top finalises the shape of the hill I created in the last model as well as including more than one material in the form.

The strip of balsa is going in an upwards direction at an opposing angle to the growth of the beams. This disruption in levels shows how this model reflects the technique of grafting. The conflicts of the two individual forms isn’t as clear to see because of the consistent use of balsa wood. How-ever this could be a good thing as you can’t separate the two structures therefore the successful collision of forms.

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Narrative: Where the sky meets the snowy ground, lightly touching the built up mounds of snow, forming the horizon, a bright orange fire burns away the solid ice, smelling of toxic smoke fumes far in the distance. Seeing this contradiction of ice and fire repli-cates the juxtaposition of the elderly women’s weekly tea party in such an unusual frosty, deserted landscape. As these women meet, the sound of their gossiping, laughing and clinking of china is heard by the ravens, drawing their attention. These ravens met up, yearning to taste the assortment of cakes innocent-ly sitting on the table, which these women feast upon.

Program and Narrative Meet:

Criteria: Using Program (how space, form and script intersect), create a narrative and a collage to represent the narrative.

My word is MEET, therefore I chose to create a scene of unusual meetings. This formed around an elderly womens tea party in the snowy forest, fire burning in ice and ravens meeting near the women. This central concept can be a public or private meeting, focusing around the interaction of two or more entities. The juxtaposition of the women there is reflected in the unnatural burning fire in the cold snow. My narrative centres around the senses, therefore I have mentioned all five in activities of the women, ravens or fire. This specific construction of the narrative makes it more abstract, however it is still a clear depiction of the moment in the collage.

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Superimposition Collage:Criteria: Using Superimposition (‘overlay’ where autonomous or differenciated systems are brought together and lay-ered) to create a collage with a Site plan, Assemblage plan and the Program collage.

For this assignment, two collages were required. One with the collage as the base and the other with the movement (my choice from the site assignment) site plan as the base. From the latter I took the most important aspects and traced them out to use for the next assignment. By doing this, I highlighted specific collisions between adjacent lines from the site plan and the assemblage plan. I also pointed out the use of the plan of the beams being used as seating for the elderly women’s tea party. I chose to align the shapes from the movement plan and the trees to highlight the motion of the collage. The trace of the second collage (shown in the bottom right corner) has more abstract shapes than the origi-nal, and gives a different affect with the simple outlines.

By increasing the scale of second collage (to the right) to 1:200, I had to selcet a certain area of Concrete Lawn. I chose the corner with both the Union House and Raymond Priestley buildings being visible.

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Experience CollageConcrete:Criteria: Design intersecting elements to produce a particular atmosphere or character of space, using scale, materiality and light to create moods, emo-tions and senses.

In order to create an experience scene with the use of Conrete, I chose to place my section right next to the MSD. This placement is where people meet outside a cafe and also shows a reference building as to where the collage is situated on Concrete Lawn. Fistly, I wanted to go below ground so I placed a hole in the ground with concrete stairs leading down to it. I then placed interactive precast concrete blocks to sit on and arched concrete strips to provide shelter.

A few of the ideas that influenced me were the Melbourne Univeristy South Car Park and Zaha Hadid’s work with concrete. Hadid used curved concrete which inspired the curved structures on the right of the sectional collage.

Melbourne University South Car Park

Zaha Hadid

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Final Project:

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Final Project:Criteria: Create a model, 1:200 Plan, 1:100 Full Section and 1:50 Partial Section on Concrete Lawn.

This design on Concrete Lawn is influenced by all the past work done this semester. Therefore I took momst of my inspiration from my Program Collage and hence the Superimposition Collages as well. The main concept of my idea focuses on the interactive concrete trees (from the snowy forest in the program collage) which I collaged on my plan and sections then used grey plasticine on my model. Specifically, the tree roots are the highlight of the piece. The largest tree on the lower level of the design has roots above ground that supply a place to meet (from my narrative) and sit on. The three trees on the upper level have roots that go below ground into a room (as shown in the sections). This room is cold a dark reflecting the effects concrete can make in a room, especially below ground.

These concrete trees defy normality creating an unusual place to meet as aforementioned in my narrative. The use of concrete makes the trees cold and seem as though time stands still. This stillness contrasts that of the movement of the main staircase and the minor spiral staircase. These show a juxtaposing motion taken from the movement site plan from the Superimposition Collage. The shape of the tree roots also show a bit of movement contrasting with the stillness of the materiality.

On the Assemblage Plan placed on the Superimposition Collage, the plan view of the vertical beams were seen to look like seating for the women in the narrative, therefore I placed concrete blocks in the room below ground to sit on under the featured roots coming out from the ceiling.

The use of balsa wood for the stairs was convenient. It gives a clear cut shape to the stairs the cutting out of the polystyrene base wouldn’t have given. I chose to use curved stairs because I think concrete isn’t conven-tionally used with curves but is very geometric. Whilst that does reflect my Spacial Composition model, I chose to be mostly influenced by my Program and Superimposition Collages.

Inspiration for stairs and upper and lower levels (photo found on Pinterest)