Mid-Semester Crit.

After today's crit I've decided to focus on the idea of connection. In the House at Riva San Vitale, Mario Botta uses a red bridge to connect the building to the land, and to emphasise on the idea of connection between the interior space and it's natural surroundings (exterior space). I am going to take this idea of "connection" and design a structure that connects the two sites (the old railway station and the Arena carpark) out of materials that reflect modern and historic architecture.
*The image shows an example of the two sites are connected by a red bridge. The Vector Arena reflects modern architecture through its materials, and the old railway station reflects historic arhitecture through its maaterials also.

Applying 3 principles to our chosen projects.

Wednesday 24/08/11 - Group Discussions.In groups we had to decide on the two projects (one for sustenance and one for waking) which had the weakest ideas. This was our starting point. So now we are going about ways to develop on Soni's (http://soni-havili.blogspot.com/) idea for "sustenance" and Sang's (http://wakeupsang.blogspot.com/) idea for "waking."

WAKING:

Sangs idea was focused around the reuse of materials. In these images, he has replaced the original material (red brick) with metal - adding 'character' to the existing building. 

SUSTENANCE:

Soni's idea for the sustenance project was focused around the feelings imposed when looking at an old historic buildings, and a contemporary building. Looking at an old building was boring, and looking at a contemporary building was exciting and inviting. In the end we concluded as a group that he was focusing on the mental and emotion sustenace obtained from the views of buildings.

Principle: Material Restriction.

With the 'House at Riva San Vitale,' Mario Botta uses a lot of concrete. In fact, the exterior of the building is mainly brick masonry and concrete slabs - materials which are often used in contemporary buildings. He restricts his materials. The edges of the building are carefully defined, and clean cut. I thought about how these materials could change the character of the existing railway station.  The building materials used on the exterior of the railway station are not as restricted as with Mario Botta's design. It uses red brick and white limestone which has some ornamentation - reflecting historical value.

Principle: "Connection between two spaces"

The purpose of Mario Botta's 'red bridge' in his design was to emphasize a connection between the interior space of the home, and it's surrounding. It also emphasizes the characteristics of the site itself, which is a sloping hill. I thought that the idea of a bridge would be ideal to not only connect two spaces (in this case, the site of the chosen projects, which is the railway station and the carpark of the vector arena), but to also allow the gathering of people as they cross each other to get to these spaces.

Principle: Structure.

In this image I suggested that the project on this site could have a really strong looking exterior - as also shown in his design of the House at Riva San Vitale. Whilst the home looks strong and think on the outside, the walls as seen fro the interior are quite thin. Also, the home is not completely surrounded by a concrete wall. There are spaces in the concrete walls which emphasize on the importance of staying connected to your surrounding while on the inside of the building.

AUGMENTED REALITY.

TASK: 1) Research building given in matrix earlier this semester.
            2) Produce 3 augmented drawings of your buildings - each showing a structure, material, and philosophical principle.

BUILDING: HOUSE AT RIVA SAN VITALE.
Architect: Mario BottaProject: 1971
Location: Riva S. Vitale, Ticino, Switzerland
Construction: 1972-1973
Building type: House
Construction system: Brick exterior
Commisioned by: Carlo e Leontina Bianc hi 
Site: 850 m ²Area: 220 m²
Height:8.5m 
Helpful website: http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com/2005/07/family-house-at-riva-san-vitale-by.html

"The house at Riva San Vitale, on a sloping site facing Lake Lugano and distant snow-capped mountains, is entered at the upper level via a long steel bridge painted red. The house itself consists of a cubic tower frame with heavy corner pillars built of oversize concrete blocks. The volumes of the various living spaces fill in the frame, starting with one quadrant on the top floor and concluding with three quadrants, four floors below at the living-room level. Unfilled quadrants provide steplike sequences of exterior terraces. A square staircase located almost at the center of the square plan ties the blunt clarity of the massive exterior, the interior is labyrinthine and intimate. Emphasis on the large openings cut into the cubic mass of the house achieves a monumentality similar to that of the local vernacular."

— from Stuart Wrede. Mario Botta. p24. (http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Res._in_Riva_San_Vitale.html)
Photo by: http://www.besthomesdesign.com/residence-in-riva-san-vitale

Photo by: http://www.besthomesdesign.com/residence-in-riva-san-vitale

Photo by: http://www.besthomesdesign.com/residence-in-riva-san-vitale

Photo by: http://www.besthomesdesign.com/residence-in-riva-san-vitale

MARIO BOTTA:

Born in Mendrisio, Ticino , on April 1, 1943. After an apprenticeship with the architectural firm of Carloni and Camenisch in Lugano, he attended the Art College in Milan and then studied at the University Institute of Architecture in Venice . Directed by Carlo Scarpa and Giuseppe Mazzariol he received his professional degree in 1969. During his time in Venice he had the opportunity to meet and work for Le Corbusier and Louis I. Kahn. His professional activity began in 1970 in Lugano. He built his first single-family house in Canton Ticino and subsequently all over the world…

PRODUCE DRAWINGS:

Here I was thinking about material, and having a wild imagination about what the building would  look like if it were made of chocolate :) I later discovered that this wasn't what we were actually supposed to be doing.

In regards to the 'philosophical' principle, I wondered what else the building could be like. At this point, the concrete columns reminded of those used at harbors. Hence the reason I transformed the bottom of the building into a place that could have been a harbor.

Showing the main material used in the structure is brick masonry. 

Showing structure of the building, and how the materials are connected to each other.

"His facades are not simply a question of decorating the exterior surface of a building. They express a relationship of the interior of the house with the surroundings, the movement of the sun, or the direction to an existing historical construction; they have a geometry that corresponds to the abstraction of the surrounding landscape." (http://storiesofhouses.blogspot.com/2005/07/family-house-at-riva-san-vitale-by.html)

Matrix...

Peer Reviews:

Group: 2 -  Augmented Reality

Tutor: Dermit and Padma

Task: Design a place of "sustenance."

Kibeom Park (Sean) (http://kibomkun.wordpress.com/)
Interestingly, Sean's idea for a place of sustenance was a public toilet - situated along a pedestrian.

As shown by his research, public spaces of this sort exists along pedestrians. One of his image showed a public toilet that has to be pulled up from below the ground. Once one has done their business, it is pushed back into its original position. Most of these public toilets however, are made for males - guess it's coz their quicker.

His structure was to be made from cardboard - inspired by Shigeru Ban and his cardboard architecture.

In terms of connection, I really liked the way he used joints which would minimise the use of nails. I thought that was very sustainable. I also took note of the fact that because it was to be made from cardboard, it's life expectancy was obviously going to be short. Sean said "maybe 3 years."

Lingbing Chen (http://fatinachan.blogspot.com/)
Lingbing's building was influenced by her main source of sustenance - coffee. She came up with a space where you can sit down (comfortably) and have a cup of coffee. What I really liked about her design was the fact that upon looking at the structure, I would think that it was just a checkered wall. But it actually has a function. Each square lining in the wall can be pulled out from the wall to act as a seat, a table, or a cantiliver for shelter. It was interesting because the amount of timber that could come out of the wall, meant that everyone, of all sizes and heights could be catered for.

The detailed model showed clearly how it works.

Lauren Collins van Rangelrooy (http://archikidd.blogspot.com/)

While Lauren was explaining her design, I had a flash back to moments when I was in a park, under the moon-light, with my ipod. I enjoyed that flashback. It was the simplest way to distress. And on a chaotic day like crit day, it felt nice to have that feeling.

Lauren's source of sustenance was her ipod. Her main idea was to build speakers around a lamp-post. Somewhere that you could connect your ipod at night, and listen to music while sitting in a park at night. While the materials she used to replicate the speakers weren't too convincing, the whole idea of a relaxing scene been made up in my head made up for it :)

Building Process...Final Stages

FINAL PROJECT:



The first thing that came to my mind when I thought hallway was 'darkness'. Which seemed perfect because this would make an avatar demand for light. I also thought about using timber to make the space feel warm, which would make an avatar command for wind. I thought about using concrete because concrete actually absorbs a lot of heat during the day - but because I was using glass on the inside of those walls, I didn't think it would be safe as it would cause the glass to crack. The idea of a hallway was the pefect way of showing precission through a building. With my floors, I originally had the idea of it being transparent to make it seem as though an avatar had no support when walking through the building. But when an avatar steps somewhere, the floors would light up and show that there was actually some support. The hallway was the perfect space for this experience. Unfortunately, the script had its own default settings which made the floor red, then light up yellow when an avatar walks on top of it.

I like how the installation wraps around the building because as an avatar walks into the hallway, the hallway actually guides you around the building. With my original square box, an avatar would just enter it and feel as though there was no need to explore because it was "just a square box." I was thinking of adding plants inside the hallway so there would be a need and command for water - which would then show how some of the walls of the building grow. A structure which simply acts as another access way into the existing building.

The site I've decided to work with is the apartments on "Te Taou Crescent" Road. Not too sure what it's called though (???)

SITE:

Transparent glass structure on the inside of the think green walls.

How the walls appear when an avatar commands for water. The walls grow. Just how water makes a plant grow.

Inside the hallway.

How the hallway appears from the inside when an avatar commands for "light". The thick green walls go down for a certain amount of time, and then resumes its original position.

How the hallway appears from the inside when an avatar commands for "wind". The walls rotate to allow air circulation. Like with the rooftop. They rise and rotate for a little while and then assume it's original position. The whole idea with this is while the tiles of the rooftop are rotating, interesting patterns of shadows will be cast onto the hallway floor.

How the hallway appears from the inside when an avatar commands for 'water'. The walls grow.

Building Process...

When I finally got building I realized that it was difficult, if not, impossible to script a building that could respond to senses. There were some things that I wanted the building to do, but wasn't able to create or find a script for. So I decided to use scripts that would do something very similar to what I what I wanted to happen.

I opted for a building that responded to demands. A lot of the scripting was made possible through  scratch for second life which I found really difficult to use last semester. Amazing how much difference it makes when you actually read the tutorial!

Anyway. The idea is still based on the four main things needed to sustain a plant. Sunlight, water, soil, and temperature. I mentioned in another post that humans and plants are very similar, so these four things actually become important for sustenance in the life of a human being. I decided to script the building to respond to our command for light, wind and water.

Here I was thinking about how the coloured circles would be arranged on the structure. There wasn't any particular reason as to why I used black for the walls. I just really liked how it made the colours stand out a lot more.

Tuesday 16/08/11.

After arranging the circular coloured glass, I played around with the effects to make them glow more. Just to give some sort of idea of how it might look if light was shinning through them, or how they would look at night.

Seeing the lights from the outside or the inside of the building wasn't the idea I was going for. So I decided to place them within a thicker green wall. There is a problem though. I want the walls of the building to bloom open like a plant when I command for wind. But if I do this, the walls with the lights on it will be in the way.

I wanted the roof of the building to open up when I command for wind. I tried scripting a single roof and I didn't like how the single roof moved. I thought it would be more interesting to have a checkered rooftop so that every single prim in the roof can move when the building opens up.

*I wanted the red prims to move and rotate in a different direction to the prims in green. I only chose red so I wouldn't get myself confused when applying the script to each and every prim.
At first I tried applying the script to one prim, and then just copying those prims. PROBLEM. When I did this, some of the prims moved another prim. I'm not sure why or how it did that. But the only solution I discovered was to copy and paste each prim (but make sure there was no script to it before you copy and paste) and then go through each individual prim and apply the script :( HARD JOB that was.

So here's what the roof top, and each individual prim did when I commanded for 'wind'.

At this point, I discovered that it was actually possible to apply more than one script to a single prim! That was such a relief! Now I was able to move the black walls with the lights away, while the green walls opened a little bit when I commanded for wind. When I command for light also, the green walls would move away for a short period of time, and then resume to its original position.

When an avatar commands 'wind', the roof top and the walls of the building open up a little bit. Not entirely. As I wasn't able to create or find a script that could pitch the walls at a 45 degree outward, then return to its original position. I know this might have an effect on the main idea. But...

6:41PM...

Out with the red and in with the green :)

The whole of last week I was struggling to find a way in which I could get the room to respond to something related to soil. Today, I decided that since soil acts as a SUPPORT for plants, I could do something related to the idea of SUPPORT. I thought about having the building floored by transparent glass, and suspended between two buildings. The idea is that when you walk over the floor, it would look so transparent that you'll feel as though you'll fall through because there's no solid SUPPORT. It's not until you keep walking however, that you realize that there is a floor to support the avatar and the building at that height. To show this, I wanted the floor to glow when an avatar steps on it.

I managed to find a script. The only problem was, the script had its own default settings. It would only allow me to change a red floor. So every step an avatar took, the red area the avatar stepped would turn yellow. I actually wanted the floor to have a transparent texture, that turned to a brown colour when the avatar stepped on it. I couldn't change these colours - or at least I didn't know how :(

Another problem was something to do with the site itself. If I wanted to show the structure suspended on top of a glass/transparent floor between two buildings, I would either have to move the entire building (which I found difficult because I would then have to select every single prim) OR, change the existing building underneath my structure.

Others decided to add a little humor by trying to slice me with their sword while I was building. Even trying to run me over with their flash vehicles! I really liked the space ship though. 

Another struggle I came across was finding a way in which the building would respond to water. Today I thought that I could make it sort of metaphoric. Like the soil idea. The floor was transparent to look as though there was nothing supporting the avatar or the building at such a great height, and then the floor glowing as the avatar took a step to show that there was in fact some solid support. 

Plants need water for growth. Without it, growth will stop and the plants will eventually die. I decided to take this idea and represent it in the walls of the structure. When an avatar commands 'water' the walls of the building will grow. It didn't exactly grow the way I thought they would...but they grew! (???)

PROBLEM: I wanted to use the square as a starting point for my building. I orignially wanted the form of the building to change - for it to morph. But I haven't been able to do that. At the moment, even though its reactive, it looks and feels as though I'm in a green cage - like a plant trapped in a green house. Also, the space feels so tight that it would only be suitable for one person. I may need to make it a little bit bigger so that groups of people can experience the building's reactions too.

Judy has just given me an idea. I have reactive architecture, but I don't have the 'architecture' - which is always the problem with me :( The building/structure should give you a reason to actually move through the space. Currently the structure just looks like a green box on top of another building. I need try and find a way to relate it to the existing building. She mentioned "wrapping around the existing building" which I thought was really interesting. The idea of having a "hallway" wrapping around the existing building really got my attention. As soon as I pictured hallway, I thought about darkness, and tight space, which was an idea I addressed in my last project too.

When walking through a dark hallway, there would actually be a need for light and so an avatar will actually command for light. If the architecture makes an avatar need something, or want to discover something, I won't have to create a prim that would hover a floating text explaining how this structure should be used. The structure itself should be able to tell the avatar how it should be used, and where you should go through it, instead of the avatar having to try and figure out what their purpose is within that space.