Here come the floor plans!

I have been going for crits and listening to how other people and my lecturers perceive my building. It is really interesting to see the space through the eyes of other people. I had a design layout that 'worked' but i knew it wasnt IT! Mary critted the space, and desribed that the spaces seemed 'forced' into the building - mainly because I had my theatre in a diaginal posistion and thus causing strange and uncorftable angles.

Crits with Philip showed that I needed to address the entrance and circulation onto a main axis point and therefore open up the space. I changed the floorplans, working with the structural grid system (now - no longer have to remove columns) have have managed to achieve a multi-volume sapce through 6 floors where natrual light and ventilation can penetrate all the floors and areas. This meets a design requirement of my brief that all students in the studios and around the building space will be on display. So no matter where you are in the building, you will always have a visual link of the other students around, under and above you.

Epic EMPAC!

I have found an amazing Media and Arts Center to use as my main precedent study. It is the Experimental Media and Performing Arts Centre (EMPAC) in Troy, New York. It took nearly a decade to design and build this masterpiece! Grimsaw Architects (New York) designed a building that is "loud on the outside, quiet on the inside".




Although this university campas bulling is much larger in scale,2220 000sq foot, with a 1200 seater concert hall, and 3 x 400 seater theaters - the aspects that I will be taking from this building is the attention to detail. The building as the description says - is "quiet" and has amazing acoustics and the latest design technology in sound engineering. here are some pictures of the building. i love the "shoe-box" effect of the concert hall and how the large span of glazing envelopes it.

looking back on the first half of the semester i have realised that the industry and varsity are two different worlds. May I even be bold enough to say that industry, being the real deal is in some way - easier? where a designer works with a specialist team.... mmm... thinking about my proposal - perhaps so, as designing a space as specialized as mine - ALONE - is hard and daunting.
BUT
this is what i want to achieve form this year! I want to push myself out of my cardboard box and learn to design magnificent spaces with restrictions and technicalities. and yes its been a hard first 3 months.

the other night i saw my space in my head for the first time. the happiness i felt was that of a pregnant woman feeling her baby kick for the first time. I am now able to gather all my thoughts and group them. I still have so much work to do.... my layouts for one - bothers me endlessly - but hopefully now i can start shining my proposal's identity through the presentation layouts, which will aid me in all the other design areas...

What is this all for?

Oh dear oh dear oh dear... truthfully a few colourful french words could be right on the dot to how I m feeling at the moment. And how can one design and feel insprired whilst in this mindframe? My designs are going well, so are the theory resarch submissions, and thankfully i havent failed anything yet, BUT! but there is FRASTRARTION... and i need to vent!
What are our varisty fees paying for?! Its rediculas, we hardly see our lectureres, if we do, its such as short amount of time, 10 minutes a week, that we cant explain and produce our design process and receive a crit that will help within 4 minites! We dont get printed out notes, briefs or textbooks, we dont get plotting credits and we dont get software (that works!) Why pay R10 000?
AT the moment I am trying to once agian load 3D MAX onto my PC - and it fails. No one else can get the 2009 MAX to work... I havent slept, and yes - in a bad mood. How am I going to submit my 3D MAX tut when I cant get the programme to work... Im going to make some coffee, have a chocolate muffin and out my thinking cap on....

what a week!

oh wow... what a week! two sleepless nights. one presentation and one submission and as always (in my case) a great allergy attack to leave me lifeless!

On Thursday we presented our "exhibition space". The brief was abstract, but i felt that it was so important that i explored my design theories about deconstructive deign and composing it with contemporary. I focused on developing a already existing public space and improving the spatial design as well as providing a function. So i chose a bus-shelter, as i saw this to attract and serve all target markets. I needed that space to be simple yet carry the design language that i wanted to explore and achieve within my spatial design for mu building.

I liked my bus-shelter, but it was so hard to determine what the lecturers wanted, and looking at what the class presented, with such diversity, it is really hard to pinpoint where one stands. but considering that my design was finally finalized at my SECOND crit, the day before the presentation - i think i pulled off what i was aiming for...

On Friday, after another sleepless night, we had to submit our 3D cad rendering. Oh... that was the lowest point, CAD was "killing" me! Having not been using 3D cad for 2 years - i had to teach myself all over again. I suppose it was a really good exercise, but what i submitted looked like a magazine cut-out collage... oops! but in all honestly, as shocking as it was, i learnt a lot, and can only hope that with more practice - i will improve.. WATCH THIS SPACE :)

theories and philosophies

I found something.
Something that made me smile.
A tear even came to surface.

I found my design philosophy which was handed in to my contemporary design lecturer 2 years ago. This past week i have been determined to finalize me theories for my thesis, but most importantly for the theories to be implemented into a design language in a 3D space and for me to create a new design philosophy.

so here was the piece of paper which reminded me - whats it is all about...MY DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
"It is important to create an experience; an atmosphere; not just a room. One must taste the room, feel the room and automatically create an emotional connection to it.

Balance for the space is vital. It needs to balance the mind, body and soul so that the inhabitants release a high productivity yet in a relax and natural way... Balance is achieved by symmetry.

inspiration is achieved by voids and solids. Emotion is achieved by light, room temperature and proximity. Colour is played with to create moods. One feels comfortable with repetition of line, pattern and colour.

Spaces need to become a friend. One who you need to talk too; listen and relax with. Laugh and cry with. Our 'friend' protects us from the worldly stresses and must help us produce our daily task; thus circulation; texture and arrangements must release positivity...

A happy friend makes us happy... A happy environment makes happy inhabitants. We find ourselves within our friends and partners, therefore should we not find ourselves within environments and discover?!?

What is bedtime? and whats plotting without trouble?

Ok - lets be honest here... the time is 03:56 am. Yes i am still up - which is very common. I have just been moaning and using decorative french at my PC, my laptop and my A3 printer. As usual something technical HAS TO GO WRONG! Its the night, oh sorry, pardon, the MORNING before a handin. 4 and half hours to be exact. My one eye is extremely itchy and im shocked at how bad my eyesight has become! We have our first design presentation, something I am usually very good at, but Im nervous - honestly - unsettled is a better word to descibe why i have not fallen into my bed yet, and am still up behind my slave-driver (aka my PC).

So i guess Ill toughen up. I like what i have designed, i have answered the brief according to my concept. the layout works. BUT (there is always a but) what is my new design lecturer looking for? I like to try somthing different, experiment, this is known as "out-of-the-box" thinkers and designers. now whats troubling me is, what is my box and how "out-of-it" can I go OR not go???

"to be or not to be" is : " to box or not to box" for me...

The birds are starting to sing now - i think that is every architect and designer's worst sound.... the sound of "Yes you are still up and the day of your presentation is here!" so let me go and nap.. nap for 2 hours..