Final Presentation.

These slides made up my final presentation:

Final Presentation- Panel.

This is my a1 panel for the final presentation.

A New Manifesto

Hope is the belief in a positive outcome for the future. In times of hardship and strife, in times where the outlook seems bleak, it is hope that humanity holds on to and hope which gives the strength to persevere.  The history of the Howard Smith Wharves site is one which embodies the hopes of the Brisbane community, from the wharves themselves which were built through an employment initiative toward the end of the Great Depression, to the air-raid shelters which represent hope during impending invasion, the idea of community hope is prevalent. This community came together during times of hardship and found hope in each other, and le Danse de L’espoir represents the coming together of the community.

The Dance School is influenced by its site, but set apart from it- its fluid, sculptural, curved aesthetic is in juxtaposition with the rigid, linear forms around it, setting it apart.  The structures at the Howard Smith Wharves are all industrial forms built from basic materials, but their purpose inspired hope amongst their community. Similarly, the materials chosen- glass, rusted iron, concrete- are industrial, but their form is sculptural and beautiful, symbolising this dichotomy. The individual materials give respect to the site- the concrete of the air-raid shelters, the steel of the story bridge and the wharves, and glass to represent the water of the Brisbane River.

The form of Danse de L’espoir represents the coming together of the community through its extensive sculptural elements in the terrace which joins the two buildings.  The theatre is designed to be somewhat shaded, while the school building receives sunlight which filters through the folds and gaps within the façade.  The façade hugs the building as a protective cover and provides connection between the buildings, similarly hope comforts and joins together communities during hardship. Despite this exterior, the building is open and accessible to the public, due to a pedestrian path which bisects it, and a café and amenities which draw people.  The program of the building also engages the community- it is not only a school, but a centre which can be booked by community groups and the general public to present their own performances and express their creativity.

Site Location- reasoning.

I realised I have not written anything about my site location in regard to why my building is located where it is.

Primarily, it is located for maximum sunlight.  The educational building will receive more morning sun, while the theater will receive afternoon sun.

The cafe and outdoor seating are located strategically for views through the archway of the story  bridge footing out to the river,  and redevlopment of the area will change the pedestrian path so it passes through the space between the buildings, drawing people into them- a factor which is enhanced by the lack of "main entry" to the building. Simply put, when one crosses the "threshold" of being within the schools vicinity, they feel like they are in the building, a fact which adds to the "openness" of the buildings.

The following diagram outlines these facts:

Light.

One of the concerns in my original proposal was the way that light entered my building.  I have designed this one to have natural light in all educational spaces, as well as the theater lobby and theater itself.  In the educational building, the floors are stepped to allow light to enter from above at each level, while in the theater building, light enters through the spaces between the layers of the facade, as outlined below.

The following images show light within the internal spaces.

 Lighting in the library is soft and concentrated away form the books and computers, to allow for a comfortable environment without damaging direct sunlight.

Classrooms have skylights which allows soft light to enter, as there is little direct sunlight in the area.

Dance studios also have soft light, however they can be blacked-out if necessary.

 Soft light in the library

The theater lobby is has light entering the gaps between the facade which makes interesting patterns on the opposite wall and floor, while illuminating the area.

Spatial Arrangement

I've come up with a floorplan, and below is an outline of the spatial adjacencies in my design.

I've also decided to put my theater on the first floor in case of flooding, and the storage for the theater above it, accessible via a goods lift. The following diagram also outlines the vertical spatial adjacencies that were decided upon.

Basically, I opted for two buildings, connected on the ground level, one which housed the theater, and the other for educational spaces, as I did not think the two needed to be together.  The theater, being a performative space, will only be used in the educational sphere during performances and practice, at which point there would be no need to be connected to the educational spaces.  Below is the outline for my vertical circulation.

But wait, will it work?

Looking at my design, I'm starting to wonder if the sculptural forms will work- I was envisaging reinforced (very reinforced) concrete, or even some sort of cladding, but I'm a bit nervous, so I decided to find examples of buildings or sculptures that have similar forms and have found the following:

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The above images are of the Holon Design Museum.

In looking at all of these, it is obvious that yes, with some clever engineering it will be possible to get my forms to work.

My design

I have decided on an aesthetic, now I just need to work out the intricacies of it.
The element in the middle is highly sculptural and interesting, and it symbolises the coming together of the community.  My belief is that architecture should represent something or have some purpose, and this gives my design purpose.  My original idea was to have the "ribbons" randomly cross each other, but this ended up looking quite messy, so I have decided to go for a more regular pattern, as outlined below.

My original idea

The final design

Some design ideas

I've come up with a few different aesthetics and created simple massing models to explore each one, which are outlined below.

I need to do a little more work on these before I can come up with a final idea however.

Internal experiences

The internal spaces of a building need to provide an interesting experience for users.  I, therefore, would like to create spaces that are quite interesting for my users.  In terms of learning spaces, soft lighting and calming spaces without distraction are necessary, and therefore I do not think windows should be used, but rather skylights as they provide less distraction.  In a theater, generally a blackout is required, however for practice perhaps natural light could be used.  Eating and recreating spaces, however, should have views and a connection to the outside, or be located outside.  The diagram below outlines these views.

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But what about a form?

I've decided I need to overhaul the form of this building from its previous underdeveloped monolithic state. I want to, however, keep my original ideas from the folie- the curve, the intersection and the horizontal plane.  I've done some very basic sketches (its not really my forte), just to get some idea's about what I could do.

Conceptually, I would like something quite sculptural, even surrealist, which can excite and engage.  I want to keep going with the idea of hope and community as I think the idea of mateship is important to Australian culture and I want to represent that. I also want to keep concrete and perhaps rusted iron (or copper/brass/something), and glass for connectivity between the three.  Below are some projects which I  have found interesting and inspiring and am using to help me find an aesthetic I am happy with.

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Design is an iterative process

After spending many hours attempting to revive my design, it feels like I cannot take it any further. I have, therefore, decided to take a few steps back and re-visit my initial ideas about the experience of being inside my building, and what I am trying to achieve, and then take elements of the last proposal, as well as back from the folie, and try to come up with some alternatives.

First, I have decided to back to my ideas about spatial relationships and public/private spaces, and the following diagram shows some decisions I have made.

In looking at the site, I also decided that in terms of scale, I would like to design a building that does not get "lost" in the site, so I may have to look at a more vertical building, rather than a single or double level which sprawls as the site is narrow and long.

This has led me to the conclusion that I need to think of a vertical building, or perhaps a few seperate vertical buildings based on functional relationships- that is, I need to look at what functions need to be next to each other and whick ones do not. I have defined the functions as either educational or performative, as I assume that one would not be educating in a large scale theater.

After the Crit

I left my crit today feeling slightly disenchanted.  I'm not really happy with my form, which seems to come across as a shrouded series of boxes, so i worked on trying to "unpack" the boxes to discover the interior spaces behind the exterior intersections, which Nuno said would be quite interesting.  I admit, my original way of doing this has been quite elementary, simply curving the interior walls, but its a good starting point.  I also want to look at my circulation a little because it hasnt really been looked at.

But first, this is an example of the curved walls which I have been looking at, but even now, I know it needs more work.