DesignStudio4-Sydney Theatre Walsh Bay

I will write more about it later, actually I quite appriciate how the architect try to hide all the stuff which is not related to the performance/ theatre and highlighting those feature. But as we are doing master plan this time, it is much more about the idea and the development of the whole area, so those details may not be helpful for this project. However, the idea of this theatre which is combined with the old part of it and now it is used as the office and also studio for two artists is great and the way he used is an good example in my point of view.

DesignStudio4-Project2

It is located at  Venice Biennale and built in 1960s. It is a winning scheme of a competition.
A place away from the city core and be isolated by the trees and green elements. I believe the first impression of this place by Sverre Fehn will be the quality of nature here.

Poster A2 - Nordic Pavilion

1. Site Plan- From it, it is not hard to observe that it is located quite at the centre of the area. Arrived by ferry and walking though the main road with trees on both side, the building will be on your right side.

2. We study the project with starting at the earliest stage, site analysis and thus testing different approaches. As removal of trees is illegal in this area, possible designs could be the following three: an L-shaped building, keep the trees outside the building; A building with a central courtyard where the place for the trees; and with a lightweight roof with hole for the trunk to pass though.

-For a exhibition centre, the area is one of the major consideration, the floor area of first choice would only be 60% of the entire site. However, its shape do encourage the circulation of the whole area, letting people walk though the pavilion to other side where the US pavilion is located. 

-The second approach wrapping the trees and this would be a good connection between the nature of the artificial building itself. But with this hollow shape, the inner circulation may not be the best. As openings would be on the bottom and right side (on the plan), visitor may only visit the building with " ┘ "path and miss the other half of the exhibition.

-The third one which is the one used, letting the whole building without any columns and internal walls. This open space creates infinite possibility of exhibition setting as well as free circulation. opening two side can also encourage the number of visitors.

3. 3 circulation diagram- experiment the way of entry from each side and showing the free circulation. Also, it also indicates the difference between Nordic Pavilion and the surrounding buildings. Others are enclosures and totally separated with the site, while Nordic Pavilion is like a shelter built on the site, you cant really recognise the boundary of the exterior and interior. 

4, Section - the trunk though the roof and continue to the sky, it looks like the column of the building. I think architect also bring up a message that our life is supporting by the nature, and the relationship between is cannot be separated. 

5. Construction axonometric- the roof is simply constructed by the joist and beam, this method able easy construction without damaging the tree. joist and beam are thin concrete element which give the strength and at the same time thin grid structural roof let the sunlight goes in and become the light source of the pavilion. 

With this exposed structure and white purify appearance, the tree become the most attractive element when you study this building. And as there is also a tree at the corner of the pavilion, the beam is brunched into two direction and become a Y shaped to prevent any effect to the tree. 

6. Light analysis and roof plan-  showing how clever the structure is, it diffuses sunlight and as result only soft light can reach the exhibition area to protect the art works. with small grid pattern of the roof, light will be even and the whole roof will become the light source, the same principal can be found in kahn's building. On top of the structural elements there will be a thin plastic to cover  the whole roof to used as rain shelter.

The map of the 2000 EXPO in Hanover
The Theme of the year is Humankind, Nature and Technology

It has already be deconstructed and now the site is used as car park.
Other countries' pavilions are reused as showroom or office building and so on...

A2 Poster - Swiss Sound Box

1. Site plan- Analyse that it is at the middle of both kind of circulation, on road/ cable car

Peter Zumthor want to build the pavilion as a place for visitor to take a break after taking tonnes of informations from half pavilions. A place for relaxing, drinking, seating and a place different to outside.

Humankind

2. Structural Element/ Materiality- Fresh-cut Pine from Switzerland. Wood are usually seasoned and become timber for construction but Peter Zumthor use the exhibition period, 153 days as the drying time. After the Expo, they will be sent back to Switzerland and reuse as normal timber material for building. That's why there is no bolt/ nails during the construction of sound box. They use the same technique when seasoning  wood, laying them up and then use the spring n steel rod to stable them.

Nature-Technology 

3. Circulation analysis of different possible approaches- From free standing to the plan of Swiss sound box, we can see how he play with the orientation and arrangement of wall to create three kind of space, the stack wall itself, the cross court and the service units which are those in elliptical shape. Different approaches causes people to have different experience and will surely affect the way they visit, for example the way they enter the building or the walking speed. Using the complex arrangement of stack, this structure can show down the speed of people and try to experience the space (lose himself), like in a forest..or a maze. He also used the orientation of the stack wall which lead people walk pass the service units which are for storage and kitchen.
Humankind

4. Sound- Because of the structure of the stack wall, gaps between wood stick allow sound wave to pass though. There are team of musicians which are participle to play music with different instruments according to the time schedule. Various basic sound will alter according to the real time surrounding and wt is happening in this building. It is like a response to the nature to the space we live in.
Nature

5. Section- How the narrow space give individual an own space to listen the music or sounds from the bar or reading the lightscript projected on the wall. With about 7m ceiling height, even in this narrow space, people wont feel stressed. But because the whole structure is built with these stacked wall only, it will make people feelings like inside an forest and would increase our hearing sensibility, which is an normal biological response. Moreover, in side some larger stack wall, area are formed by subtraction. The lower ceiling and larger space for people to gather and chat. Lastly, all these area are covered by large gutters to protect from rain. But winds and light are still able to pass though though the gaps. Although they are clearly separated with the exterior, the connection of both side is still there.
Humankind-Nature-Technology

DesignStudio4-Project1 Conclusion and Starting point of the Project

I have done it two weeks ago as Poala asked us to do a A3 conclusion, but seems you havent asked for it so I didnt show you

After doing some site analysis, I think the way how the design and arrangement of town hall square encouraging people to use the place is great for me to consider it as reference. They got green lawn, although it is next to a relatively busy pedestrian, the flower lawn in-between act as the break and transition area which makes the lawn is good for sitting and charting. Also, there are outdoor stage for locals to share their music. The most important thing is the multi use of the steps, they are there because of the difference of street level as well as for the seating. In our site, I may do something similar as we need an open-air theatre as well, and the site itself is slanted. It would be great to sit there and enjoy the view of the lennox bridge and the parramatta river.

I may design the main entrance is located at the river side which fix the problem of riverside theatre nowdays, lack of connection to the river, while private car access entry is at the north side. With the consideration of the green space around the size, 3 path are designed to easy access to anyone of them and at the same time, the theatre will become the centre/ the core of the whole area.

This is just a brief idea how I may want to do, I will further develop them into a well conceptual idea and bring it after the break.

DesignStudio4-Project1

Satellite of Parramatta

a brief look at how Parramatta is at plan view and get the idea of the location of the site

Clearly observation of the city form and the relationship between the river, and the railway.

And Church Street is the "bridge" which is  linking both of them. The central Axis of the city

Concertina Book

is combined by 3 layers to emphasize how the space created/ defined by the building affects human movement, and also wanna notice which kind of area create comfortable environment, which is one of the major factors of public space.

Sketches

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Location Map
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Colored Human Figure

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I also draw a concertina book which is all the tracing of old parramatta map.

I think it is much more easy for both of us to study the change of parramatta, and how it did its evolution and the raising importance of church street among decades.

1792-1804-1823-1844-1989-2004

with trace paper...the development of parramatta is clearly showed by 2 maps in different years

Street Grid and change of the Property Size

Posters

Street Grid...Figure Ground(Form)...The Location of City Core & so on...

The similarity between the site and the town hall square and notice its potential of becoming a public space is greater then the square...

Stage Model

The stage model, we inspired from one of the famous scene in West Side Story, the actor runs along the New York City, we both think the Church Street is really great for this. As along the street, there are historical buildings as well as modern aspect; commercial area but also lots of green open space. This dramatic street will bring up a brilliant appreciation to audiences when they watch the show.

We have also use the height of building to create more depth in such narrow stage and extend the stage by the Lennox bridge to increase the stage area for the actors to sing around.

Lennox Bridge-Shops at both side of the street-Town Hall-St John Cathedral Church-The Square

Project3-Design Concept and Final Submission

Design Concept

Potts point is a residential suburb near Sydney CBD and it is a lovely area as it sit on a hill which is able to play with different design technique.

Stair is one of the major element which is used for connection of different area. In this area, because of the different elevation on landscape, spaces are linked by slanted street and also stairs. And I noticed these staircases has already been as part of life of  residents, they use it daily and they even has their own name.

Therefore, I choose to use stair as my design element, and separate rooms and area on different levels while using stairs to connect them. It is try to create a mini version of suburb inside the house.

Butler Stair next to the site.

9 stairs in my design

The basic idea of my design is the positive and negative. From the plan of the area. it is not hard to observe the buildings are positive, while the streets are in opposite. This relationship is very clear and does not overlap. 

While inside our building, public and private sector should also be clearly divided. So i decide to make the area which is positive in the gallery space will be the negative in residential area.

Followings are the plans, sections, elevation and the axonometric.

In the site plan, we can see the stairs which sit on the south of the site and their orientation is the same as the  long but narrow site.The long one which is connected to the public garden is designed to have a virtual connection with it.

Plans

Sections, one of the house ceiling height is lower to 2400mm in order to make the height of the gallery space is met the standard

Elevation, The site has only one side which is facing the street, and i use the terrace house which is symmetrical and practical  next to it as the  basic design. It has the basic proportion of the windows and doors, however some of it are shifted towards the corner in order to have the closer view of the trees. They are also enlarged to have more morning natural light.

Shows the two void in residential part, they are the centre yard of each housing but also the top of the gallery space. With bi-fold doors which make a seamless transition between inside and out. Each house also has a roof garden to provide wonderful living environment even in a denser suburb. 

Models

1:100 Site model, using card board for the surrounding building and balsa for the street to emphasize the  connection of the building and the street. It is also easy to notice that there are number of terrace houses sit in this area. Also, due to the landscape, even the gallery level, which is lower than the victoria street can also have the open view ( it is the same height of the roof of the front building)

 There is no opening on the side as both side are buildings,and on the left of this image, it seems there is open space however trees and stone wall are on that side in reality. Due to the bad view on side, I just focus on the front and the back view. 

Public Garden at the bottom and 2 roof garden on top for 2 clients, each of them will have their own view of city  and due to different levels, the views are different. The glazing on the first floor is moving backward to increase the privacy and is used as a balcony at the same time

There are two aluminium sheet sit in front of 2 windows on the ground floor. They are used to increase the privacy and control the view of resident only to the trees at Victoria Street but not to the cars and road. However, it seems that i have missed the connection between the house and things happened at the street after having the feedback from guest tutor.

The basement will be the gallery space, with 2 small room for sculpture and photography . The corridor is designed as the starting is narrow but when you walk though it, the space become wider and to the end the open public garden. this also try to drive people toward the public garden.

Two gallery space is made with fostered glass as it can diffused the  natural light, so it can prevent direct sunlight damaging the artwork but there will have enough light quality. 

Detail of the glazing wall. It is made of separate pieces of fostered glass to encourage the natural ventilation . 

The skylight which provide the natural light to the pathway and the gallery space is built with mesh. It is because mesh can let light in and also wind pass though. With this features, the pathway, which is also the outdoor gallery space, will have all natural weather conditioned and this emphasize the concept of extending the street into the building. It is also used to connect the yard and the living area. 

That stair is connected to the storage room and a large door is designed for easy moving  huge sculpture. 

The stairs on the gallery level are also designed for seating as well.

Two residential foyer and also the laundry on the right side of this image. The one step up platform clearly divided the street and the residential houses and they are also the first step of the stairs. It is totally opposite to the public gallery space. the former is separated the residential from the busy street and urban life, reminding residents that they have reached home, while the gallery is extension of the street, driving people into the gallery and garden. This is also part of the positive and negative concept.

The corner window is designed and opened to trees which is planted in front of the building. and the wall of the bedroom is also cut with a large opening. So, there will be a clear room separate line but client inside can still have the tree view. In the other house, the bedroom has the same quality, but this time is the view of city. They can both ensure that there is enough light in the core part of the building.  ( sorry that the wall between two bedrooms is missing)

The top of the building would be the office and have two glazing cubic structure. These are come with the Gehry's residence and I try to design it to have fantasy feeling when people is in that area.
For the small one, it is designed for standing so people standing there can act look at the roof surface of his building and it looks like you are floating on the air and having a bird view to the green Victoria Street.
The bigger one is for seating, the glazing structure can act as a low platform for putting books or used as rail for hold the hand. It will be great are for reading and relaxing.  

  

The 1:50 part section model

Please leave comment or feedback for me to improve, so I can do even better next time. Cheers.

Thanks for teaching us this semester.