"Creative Whack"

I was thinking. The position of the young architect is to speculate, WHAT IF?... Not to solve all the detailed how to's, Just enough to provoke further interest.

image via Atelier Subterranean - Roger von Oech

Grid form can get lost...

sketch by Will

sun rule2

Southern walls may only be as high as there is clear space south of them.
This rule is derived from Adelaide's sun angle of 35º which is then approximated to 45º. Over Adelaide's main streets like Franklin st. of 30m this would allow 30m high or 6 stories to be happily built all over the city.

Structural calculations

Using span to depth ratios we did last semester I was able check column widths. By my calculations a 130 square closed grade c350 steel column could take 6 stories at 9m spacing.
The main thing for me here was that 500 square would be enough for structure and services, it looks ok

Cross pollination : form finding

From pixar's MOMA exhibition book. Sketch by Anthony Christov for cars, it is an automotive interpretation of a canyon landscape From the foam block modeling I was reminded of this kind of form.

Multiples of 5m W&D, Height of 3.5

 

The dimensions shown here are able to work easily with multiples of each other.

This allows different size spaces to coexist with in a uniform structure.

multiple modules 4.5 and 9m

Here I have increased the large module to be double the scale of the initial module (which was set by the stair case length)

!Looking at it now however I have left out the structure spacing in the mosaic composition in the background. The problem will be that between each single modlue there will be a 500mm structure, while the the double module will be this much shorter. 

Here you can see the columns not matching up.

NEXT EXPERIMENT get this system to work with structural spacing.

Stairs = dimentions : ceiling height@3m : f-f@3.5m

U-shape staircase in pink.

Straight staircase with a landing in red.

Lengths created by the stair length and structural divisions are then multiplied.

Im looking for matching units of modules eg. 2pink=1red

Now altering the larger module size to force match ups.

Here im trying to work out module sizes.

Starting from the requirements set by heights then the length required to fit a legal staircase in.

level-by-level build up - lanes/courts/sun access

Ground level: I allowed for lanes to penetrate the ground level. These lanes stem from existing axis' within the context and divide the mass into similar scale chunks.

Courts/squares have  been generated at the interior termination of lanes. these would form outdoor rooms and meeting spaces, attracting permeation through the lanes.

Level 2 & 3: Building vertically with two rules. 

• North, East and West edges go straight up.
• Southern edges step one cube back, I did this to increase sun access.
  

 The rule is broken on the south west corner where i thought the warehouse roof could do without sun.

 

Full Form 4 levels: Even though I was meant to make 6 stories? I stopped because the real limit was 21m for a Parisian urban height which if done throughout the city would allow light to reach the streets.
I found this a great experiment even though the cube dimensions are totally unresolved, I think of it as an incorrect resolution like a low-res digital image. Still the essence is there and this is practice. Other elements i left out in this model are spans and cantilevers which I would like to use much more as they are an inbuilt ability of the cubes. I propose that a cantilever of 2 cubes and a span of 4 cubes to be the maximum limits. This should be explored soon.

FoaM Modeling 02 low res. MAX MASS 4 storys

How does it feel on the site? Im thinking a limit of 6 storys~21m is a generous use of height so as not to over shadow too much. 21m I have found to shadow 30m which is perfect for Adelaide, allowing a building on the south side of a main Adelaide street to not be in shadow. This is a Paris/Barcelona type scale, very dense but not too high.

FoaM Modeling 01 low res.

Max mass on Franklin Street site, with 2 story cubes, 10m3

 

Here i used 10m foam cubes at 1:500 filling the site with a single level. 

This is the first mass exploration in the real, fast and manipulative. In this experiment i am just getting to know the spaces of the site and the forms which are the way of the cube.

This is a low resolution experement as the cubes are 2 story's high rather than 1.

Crit 21102009 review

They want to know what it will look like.
I have been zoomed in to the details, engineering and industrial designing the components.
However all the tutors have kept asking me;

What is the building?
Test your system.
What will it look like?

 I have been attempting to solve the details, without a master plan. My reasoning has been that i would resolve the components, like the lego brick and then with that build any structure desired within the ability of the system.

My Architecture tutors want to see architectural compositions - whatever that may be.
I argue that architecture does not need to be produced in that way and this could be a paradigm shift. However to present the architecture there will need to be a composition made at some stage and as this is my assignment I MUST COMPOSE THE ARCHITECTURE.
There is also limited time 3 WEEKS LEFT this design does not need to be fully resolved and the important thing is the IDEA and the sensations which accompany it. THIS IS WHAT MUST BE PRESENTED.

I have now been given free reign to assume that the system works-
A superstructure carrying all service networks [aneX living Network] and providing an interface for a secondary structure of componentry with ikea scale and complexity. This secondary structure aneX' can be carried, assembled, disassembled and reassembled elsewhere by a single user.  An nonspecialist user is able to assemble their packaged house, apartmant, office, store or whatever it may be into the aneX livingNet. connections for electricity, plumbing, data and HVAC are as simple as plugging in your TV and eliminate the need and cost of specalised trades.

The setup of this system is supposed to achieve these goals:
-motalbilist architecture (growing, changing, indivdulised dwellings)
-reduce costs, for materials, labor, transport, cranes and 1:1 services
-reduce construction time
-reduce construction waste
-generate a market for second hand building components
-enable easy recycling through sensible material selection and ease of disassembley.
-enable ease of technological integration and upgrading
-standard networks and interchange for resources (rain, mains, grey, black & underground water, grid & alternative power, data and whatever else may be desired eg. beer on tap through a city.) and meetering to and from the building, enabling charges, credit and trade of all these.

stay tuned for the architectural interpretation of this system!