When it comes to materials, I'm going to use very large posts and beams cut from the California Red Fir (Abies magnifica). I'm also going to use the concrete tilt-up wall system for the back half of the building. Because concrete wall panels are usually detailed with simple reveals, I want to create a stamped concrete look on these panels! Here is how I want to do it:
1- pour and stamp the basement concrete slab.
2-Pour and stamp the first wall section on this slab using appropriate forms and methods
3-pour and stamp each subsequent wall section on top of the first untill all wall sections have cured and are ready to be lifted into place.
4-lift all walls into place
5-pour a second layer of concrete on basement floor to remove the original stamp.
Of course, this will only work if certain conditions are met. The stamp pattern used must look the same in positive and negative form (if you want the walls to all look the same). Walls must always have a stamped surface to be layed out on (if you want both sides to be stamped).
What do you think?
Can this stamped wall procedure work?
Has it been done before?
Thursday, September 23, 2010
NINE
The interior of this building is only an interior as long as the fabric membrane hangs down from the 60' tall wooden structure. To allow a cool breeze to pass through this space, the fabric can be lifted. Once this is done, es the space enclosed inside or outside?
I decided to MAKE it outside, even when the fabric is closed. From the atrium space, the other rooms in the building will appear to be a stone and wood buildings modeled after the very general Asian tradition. Though I want to stay away from the influences of Asian culture, the beautiful ancient Chinese and Japanese architecture fits so well with this design and the idea of a paper lantern that I decided to move in this direction, despite the attached culture. Below is a very rough sketch of what such an indoor exterior may look like.
I decided to MAKE it outside, even when the fabric is closed. From the atrium space, the other rooms in the building will appear to be a stone and wood buildings modeled after the very general Asian tradition. Though I want to stay away from the influences of Asian culture, the beautiful ancient Chinese and Japanese architecture fits so well with this design and the idea of a paper lantern that I decided to move in this direction, despite the attached culture. Below is a very rough sketch of what such an indoor exterior may look like.
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| click to enlarge! |
EIGHT
The exterior of this building must be beautiful. I want visitors to spend a lot of time outdoors exploring the surrounding gardens and vineyards, but I want this building to be central. It is a centerpiece. I want people who see it from the road or the river to question, "Can I go inside that?"
What do you think?
Is this a beautiful place?
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| click to enlarge! |
Is this a beautiful place?
SEVEN
When it comes to structure, I return to my parti to begin. The supporting elements of a paper lantern are usually wooden and cube shaped, or wire and spherical. I chose to go with the square shape because its more effective when organizing space or maintaining flat floors!
The very hot summers of California push me to consider solar protection. At the back of the building, on the south side, I will use concrete tilt-up walls to block the summer sun. Also, these walls will radiate stored heat during some of the colder nights in the winter. The internal temperature can be controlled by opening and closing the fabric envelope that mimics the paper of a paper lantern. I also drew some elevations of what this would look like from the outside.
What do you think?
Do you like how this looks?
Will my passive heating and cooling idea work?
The very hot summers of California push me to consider solar protection. At the back of the building, on the south side, I will use concrete tilt-up walls to block the summer sun. Also, these walls will radiate stored heat during some of the colder nights in the winter. The internal temperature can be controlled by opening and closing the fabric envelope that mimics the paper of a paper lantern. I also drew some elevations of what this would look like from the outside.
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| click to enlarge! |
Do you like how this looks?
Will my passive heating and cooling idea work?
SIX
The floor plan is where the function and organization of space is decided. After redefining the assigned program into something more specific, I came up with the following plans and sections. These plans only show the main building. In it, I will include:
-Small rooms for afterschool music lessons
-large versatile areas for art exhibition, performance or private functions
-Administration and building support spaces
-a very large storage/workroom in the basement for exhibit storage and art/sculpture/pottery classes
-kitchen to serve private functions
Farther up the hill from this main building I will include a manicured garden and pergola that surrounds a stone courtyard. This outdoor space will serve weddings and private functions year round. The California weather allows for year round outdoor use. I had originally included a large outdoor amphitheatre (all three shown in the image below). I wanted to have a space that could be used for medium to large scale music festivals in addition to the Healdsburg music festival (which has since been moved away from Healdsburg because it has grown so large).
Also, I organized the site as follows. The grayscale image is meant to overlay the bubble diagram.
What do you think?
Have I organized my spaces in the most functional manner?
Have I created a program and series of structures that will be useful year round?
What do you think I should name this place?
-Small rooms for afterschool music lessons
-large versatile areas for art exhibition, performance or private functions
-Administration and building support spaces
-a very large storage/workroom in the basement for exhibit storage and art/sculpture/pottery classes
-kitchen to serve private functions
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| click to enlarge! |
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| click to enlarge! |
Also, I organized the site as follows. The grayscale image is meant to overlay the bubble diagram.
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| click to enlarge! |
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| click to enlarge! |
Have I organized my spaces in the most functional manner?
Have I created a program and series of structures that will be useful year round?
What do you think I should name this place?
FIVE
PARTI!
The parti of any architecture project is its inspiration, its motivation, its reason and its abstraction. A parti is something unrelated to architecture, yet when called "Parti", the welcoming arms of architecture embrace this strange alien and it becomes a part of architecture. It becomes connected.
I have chosen the paper lantern as my parti. I arrived at this parti because of the iconographic impact paper lanterns have. I want to take that beauty and set it into the Californian landscape. The marriage of these two beautiful elements will create a sublime space that invokes a sense of transcendence to whoever may experience it. After all, events such as music, things such as art and milestones such as weddings are all celebratory expressions that lift the human spirit above the daily human experience. These things are special. I want my building to enhance and augment the spirit moving effect of celebrations.
What do you think?
Will paper lanterns inspire a beautiful and transcendent building+location?
Will a beautiful building take away from any of the celebrations? (Music, Art, Weddings, etc...)
What are your favourite parts of a paper lantern?
Can I express the feelings of a paper lantern without the attached cultural origins? (ie, a Chinese paper lantern)
Would you want to spend a day, or an evening at a space that made you feel like the above images?
The parti of any architecture project is its inspiration, its motivation, its reason and its abstraction. A parti is something unrelated to architecture, yet when called "Parti", the welcoming arms of architecture embrace this strange alien and it becomes a part of architecture. It becomes connected.
I have chosen the paper lantern as my parti. I arrived at this parti because of the iconographic impact paper lanterns have. I want to take that beauty and set it into the Californian landscape. The marriage of these two beautiful elements will create a sublime space that invokes a sense of transcendence to whoever may experience it. After all, events such as music, things such as art and milestones such as weddings are all celebratory expressions that lift the human spirit above the daily human experience. These things are special. I want my building to enhance and augment the spirit moving effect of celebrations.
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| Click to enlarge! |
 | |
| Click to enlarge! |
 |
| click to enlarge! |
 |
| Click to enlarge! |
Will paper lanterns inspire a beautiful and transcendent building+location?
Will a beautiful building take away from any of the celebrations? (Music, Art, Weddings, etc...)
What are your favourite parts of a paper lantern?
Can I express the feelings of a paper lantern without the attached cultural origins? (ie, a Chinese paper lantern)
Would you want to spend a day, or an evening at a space that made you feel like the above images?
FOUR
The first step for the Celebration Center project is to find a site.
The Criteria I used to determine an appropriate spot is as follows:
-Elevation higher than the surrounding area to create views
-Beautiful surrounding area, preferrable close to a body of water and vineyards
-Within fifteen minutes driving from downtown Healdsburg
-Enough space for vineyards, possible future outdoor amphitheaters and a park
-On a North facing slope
In the end, this was the site that I chose.
In the following image, the site is in the middle of the photograph. Many shrubs and small vegetation cover the site. The photograph is a birds eye view looking toward the North.
What do you think?
Is this a good place for a museum/proformance venue/music school/ballroom/private function center?
What if my building requires the removal of many of the native plants on the site?
Is it "green" to remove the native plants for vineyards?
The Criteria I used to determine an appropriate spot is as follows:
-Elevation higher than the surrounding area to create views
-Beautiful surrounding area, preferrable close to a body of water and vineyards
-Within fifteen minutes driving from downtown Healdsburg
-Enough space for vineyards, possible future outdoor amphitheaters and a park
-On a North facing slope
In the end, this was the site that I chose.
 | ||
| Click to enlarge! |
In the following image, the site is in the middle of the photograph. Many shrubs and small vegetation cover the site. The photograph is a birds eye view looking toward the North.
 |
| Click to enlarge! |
What do you think?
Is this a good place for a museum/proformance venue/music school/ballroom/private function center?
What if my building requires the removal of many of the native plants on the site?
Is it "green" to remove the native plants for vineyards?
THREE
Here is the final board for my school Bus project. We had little more than two days to begin and complete it.
What do you think?
Is the layout functional?
Is there a better way to accomplish the conversion?
Has this design removed too much "school bus"?
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| Click to enlarge! |
Is the layout functional?
Is there a better way to accomplish the conversion?
Has this design removed too much "school bus"?
Thursday, September 2, 2010
TWO
The first project has been assigned! For the next seven weeks I'll be designing a celebratory building, more specifically an arts center that supports the biannual Healdsburg Guitar Festival in Sonoma Valley, California.
One of the first tasks of the assignment is to give a 25 minutes presentation on the peripheral variables that will affect this project. Peripheral variables include things like local culture, climate, building vernacular, civic building design and music festivals to name a few. My team: Lisa, Ryan, Kyle, Justin, Jeremiah and I will design separate buildings on separate sites, however we will share research and bounce ideas off each other as the project progresses.
The rest of the section is designing a celebration space in either Northern Manitoba or Goucester, Massachusetts. My first inclination was to choose the Canadian site because it would be familiar territory, but as I thought more about what I would learn, I thought it would be a better opportunity to design for a warm dry location, a climate I've had little experience with so far.
The California climate is going to present a unique challenge. The abundance of sun provides a lot of passive solar opportunities. That, and the required wood structure will result in a unique structure! I'm pretty excited for this project!
On another note, my studio section visited the Hjemkomst center this past Wednesday. The Hjemkomst center houses the hjemkomst, a homebuilt Norwegian boat that was sailed from Lake Superior, Minnesota, across the Atlantic to Norway. Behind the center is a Norwegian replica church. The church was built with almost no nails, save for the few metal hinges and latches serving the doors and windows. Though this building was very interesting to explore, I don't think I'll be using its construction style in my Celebration center project.
Next week we'll begin to design. Can't wait!
One of the first tasks of the assignment is to give a 25 minutes presentation on the peripheral variables that will affect this project. Peripheral variables include things like local culture, climate, building vernacular, civic building design and music festivals to name a few. My team: Lisa, Ryan, Kyle, Justin, Jeremiah and I will design separate buildings on separate sites, however we will share research and bounce ideas off each other as the project progresses.
The rest of the section is designing a celebration space in either Northern Manitoba or Goucester, Massachusetts. My first inclination was to choose the Canadian site because it would be familiar territory, but as I thought more about what I would learn, I thought it would be a better opportunity to design for a warm dry location, a climate I've had little experience with so far.
The California climate is going to present a unique challenge. The abundance of sun provides a lot of passive solar opportunities. That, and the required wood structure will result in a unique structure! I'm pretty excited for this project!
On another note, my studio section visited the Hjemkomst center this past Wednesday. The Hjemkomst center houses the hjemkomst, a homebuilt Norwegian boat that was sailed from Lake Superior, Minnesota, across the Atlantic to Norway. Behind the center is a Norwegian replica church. The church was built with almost no nails, save for the few metal hinges and latches serving the doors and windows. Though this building was very interesting to explore, I don't think I'll be using its construction style in my Celebration center project.
Next week we'll begin to design. Can't wait!
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