A precedent that I forgot to mention...

This is the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.  This building inspired our archs of greenery and was precedent for a building that works with the ground plane.

Finally A Light Bulb

So we met for class today to discuss our ideas for the project and presentation.  Travis suggested to our group to think more abstractly and take the form of the "building" farther underground.  So, being really stuck on the relatively straightforward shape of the building, we decided to take a break to come up with some fresh ideas that still relate to the concept.  We have now been modeling for three hours and I think we finally came up with something that is abstract, interesting, and involves more of a manipulation of the site. 

I came up with this model after realizing the true importance of our concept lies in the middle of the two sections.  I envision a community space that is open to the outdoors but completely underground and the program spreading from side to side, underground accordingly.

This is a sketch of Stacy's that better shows the ground plane.

This form represents the "coming together of the two, now-separate segments that are education and community.

Group Sketching

Group earthworm found a common theme in our drawings and as we looked over our goals, we found that public(community) vs. private(educational) was a main concern of everyone's.  So we decided that the private should be less accessible to the public by putting it higher above ground level.  We eventually came up with a chart like this.

Once we had a common goal, we took a while to draw out some fresh ideas.  We knew we all enjoyed the interaction of the land with the building and we all wanted to incorporate more organic shapes.

Finally we began to see a common shape emerging.  This wrapping type symbol puts emphasis on the connection of public and private, educational and community.  We were all happy to have found such a good way to emphasis the literal purpose of the project in such an abstract shape.

Manipulating the Ground

After studying site manipulation as a trench, I began to work with creating variety in the site by manipulating the ground plane in other ways.

I also began to program certain general areas to get an idea of the circulation that was possible in this kind of building.

Expanding

This is an idea that I came up with after we discussed my "trench" in class.  It was really interesting to draw but really impractical for the site. 

This was a second take on the trench idea.  I imagined using pathways to create interest from the road and intersecting them to provide a feeling of unity among those who would use it.

NEW IDEAS

So I spent all weekend trying to come up with new ideas for the site manipulation group ("group earthworm").  I am really fascinated with the idea of an underground building but completely stumped by how to maintain natural light throughout.  Another hitch is that I want the building to be visible from the road which is proving difficult.  I have been working with ways to drag the eye down and create interest (shown above).

Here are all the sketches....

Here are a few more models

The New View

These are the models I made Tuesday in class.  I was concentrating on a concept related to the railroad.  I think that it would be a good way to connect the college to the twon and also provide a linear program that more closely relates to the site.

When I talked to Travis, he made me more aware of the site in relation to the building and suggested stretching the footprint across the whole site.  That is what I am working on now.

These are the sketch models I worked on up until Tuesday.  I was having a hard time being abstract at first but when I began to think in a smaller scale that helped a lot.  I also didn't really have a concept guiding me until class on Tuesday.

These are some of the images from the assessment of the existing building.

General Summary of Spaces

Building Program Summary

This building program will establish the required spaces in the facility meant to replace the interior architecture department occupation in the Gatewood building.  This program describes the square foot space allotments intended for the new interior architecture building.  The space for this department has been broken down into six different areas.

They include:

I.1.1 DEPARTMENTAL/FACULTY OFFICES

I.1.2 STUDIOS

I.1.3 RESOURCE

I.1.4 COMMUNITY SHARED SPACES

I.1.5 EDUCATIONAL SHARED SPACES

I.1.6 EXTERIOR PROGRAM

Building areas not listed, such as circulation, freight elevator, building service and storage, are included in the net gross ratio.

Following this page is an adjacency diagram that shows general where each section should fall in relation to the whole.  Also, following each section is an adjacency diagram of the required spaces within that section.

Each section contains an outline of general use, room, system, and equipment specifications in accordance with the research done on the existing building, precedent research, and the opinions of faculty, staff, and students.

Input for Programming

To All:

The programming group has emailed and put up a list of necessary spaces that we would like the whole class to give input on during class tomorrow.  We don't want to make the program too restrictive but we need this input to get started on the data sheets.  If you have comments please post them on the board (magnet board) or email Debbie or myself.  Thank you.