Experiment 3 Final Submission

Proof of Attendance and Peer Review

 

Eighteen Selected Sketches

Textures Representing Movement

From here I decided to use these following textures for my bridge/school.

Draft of my Valley

First Draft:  
For my first draft valley I decided to base it off the many recognizable components of Jiu Zhai Gou which resulted in a messy landscape with my bridge covered by the hills and vegetation. I decided to use my valley in the season of winter due its compatibility with my bridge as during warmer seasons, the plants overpower the significance of the bridge.

Second Draft: In my second draft, or what eventually lead to my final environment, I kept the aspects of my previous draft which works and discarded the unnatural formation of the mountains. Also by this time, I hade a cleared notion of what my bridge will look like and what its dimension will be. Thus giving me better control of what scale the environment should be at. 

 Finalized Environment: The bridge in the finished environment. I decided to add small bits of vegetation around the based of the web/foam tube. Making the environment more realistic and less barren.

Image Captures of finished environment and bridge 

 

The bridge touches the ground lightly at the bases with the platform situated above. This clear resemblance to the warren truss bridges exhibits the idea where new materials and technology can lead to unique architecture.

 

The long platform sandwiched between the two foam like frames form the main walkway of the school with rooms inserted into the foam like structure. This results in a school opened and exposed to the environment and forms dynamic spaces that gives different views of the valley.

This ellipse like foam coned structure forms the folly for my school, where its size and height illustrates the notion that, gravity defying structures, like this, can be produced with new design strategies formed by a better understanding of materials and forces. 

The folly below the giant web/foam tube structure that provides space for the student and dean to discuss how technology can be implemented in design.

The student elevator is situated in the middle of the bridge where there is the highest flow of students. The elevator has the form of a squashed sphere, which exaggerates the effects of compressive forces on its shape and form. 


 
The Dean's office along with the elevator that exhibits the effects of tension and torsion in its twisted form. The office for the dean is located at the foam bubble that acts as a pin for the bridge, symbolizing the importance of the Dean in providing stability and leading the school.

Sketch Up
https://www.dropbox.com/s/qhepcfafy9uogiu/EXP3KC.skp
CryEngine
https://www.dropbox.com/s/t71cvalgdsd7p86/ARCH1101EXP3.rar
Press Q for Dean's Elevator
Press E for Student's Elevator

Update on Bridge and Folly

After last weeks discussion about my concept, I decided to represent my idea of how the development of materials and technology affects architecture, through its ability to change how we perceive forces acting in a structure. This can result in a bridge that is supported by a form that diverges from the simple truss.

This resulted in an idea where a foam like organic frame would be used to hold the bridge and also be used as rooms for the engineering school.

Here is some following images from Sketch-up of the model.

I then imported this into my Sketch-up environment. I still need to modify the land and the details to better resemble my location, however I settled on a winter landscape in the higher altitudes of my location.

I have yet to place detailing or access paths into these rooms. Also I am thinking about reducing the thickness of the white between the membrane structure. I am also considering making the windows to have a membrane mesh as well.

Continuing with the idea of how 'new age' materials can better support forces, I decided to emphasise this in my folly through creating a visual that highlights this sense of balance, almost as if the building is held together by the weight of the two cantilevering elements.

After reviewing my work with my tutor we decided on the bridge to be more structural. Hence resulting in my final sketch up model.

Using the ideas and concept developed with the aid of my perspectives, I decided for the folly to be a space that exhibits this idea of a webbed/netted structure can provide a more appealing and visually interesting way of holding load, in contrast to the more traditional use of trusses. This reflects the concept of my mashup where in engineering, research can provide us with new and a better understanding of materials to work with, resulting unique architecture.

 

Below are the elevators I have decided to use. In these elevators I decided to explore the different type of forces that act of structural elements in an exaggerated fashion. I wanted to exhibit these forces through the exploration of shape and form.

 

The round platform is the student elevator where the general shape resembles a compressed ball. I thought this would be appropriate due to its ability to transfer more students.

 The cylinder tube like elevator exhibits a sense of tension and torsion in its form. This is used by the dean as it only can fit one person.

MashUp

Advanced Materials for Civil Infrastructure lead to innovative design strategies whereby the architecture responds to individuals using it and harnesses the surrounding environment.

By implementing "smart" materials that are lighter, stronger and more durable, it has the ability to shape design strategies to create astounding plans, carving new paths for futuristic designs.

2013, 'Russell Cole is Green Engineer of the Year,' ARUP, 10 April, 28/05/2013

http://www.arup.com/News/2013_05_May/22_May_Russell_Cole_is_Green_Engineer_of_the_Year.aspx

1999, 'Researchers Building Lightweight "Bridge For The 21st Century",' Science Daily, 28 January, 28/05/13

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/01/990128073337.htm

2011, 'World's First Sustainable Bridge,' Design Build For Source, 25 July, 28/05/2013

http://designbuildsource.com.au/world’s-first-sustainable-bridge

Environment

 

Due to my Chinese heritage, the environment I decided to base my cryengine on is Jiuzhaigou Valley (Valley of Nine Villages) in China on the edge of the Tibetan Plateau.

This landscape stretches across 72,000 hectares and is made up of waterfalls, dozens of blue, green and torquize-coloured lakes and snow-capped peaks. The vegetation is made up of broad-leaf forest and woodlands where it also is a home to bamboo and rhododendron (brightly colored purple flowers). 

I decided to choose this landscape due to its tranquil atmosphere and its ability to appear unaffected by the rest of the world. I admire its timelessness and its portrayal of uncorrupted beauty.

Here is a draft of my environment. I wanted the environment to exhibit the season of Autumn/winter. I also found difficulties in finding appropriate vegetation that are found in my environment. 

I might also consider scaling down my environment as cryengine is starting to lag.

Exp 2 Submission

For this experiment, we had to create a monument for Frank Lloyd Wright and Aires Mateu, who both worked with the landscape in very different ways. I wanted my monument to juxtapose their two forms of architecture, while considering how the "two" monuments connect with the landscape and articulate the space created between. 

After discussing my concept, I decided to aggregate "Domination of geometric models" and "Artificial cultivation of the environment" and arrived at my final concept, "Dominating geometric forms articulate the landscape." 

 

Using this concept I developed my textures, Sketchup model and Cryengine environment revolving around this idea.

 

This exhibits how geometric forms can both dominate and compliment the landscape.

This is done through the use of dark texture and shadows, which emphasizes the missing volume.

This is the bridge that connects the two separate styles in the monument through the combination of subtraction and addition elements.

 

Downloads: SketchUp: http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=d982350ea66163116047a41aa41cf2

Cry Engine: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/gn6gptr9ucdnbuw/G9gOXyqDbmEdit: My Cry Engine download does not work, my model disappears when I opened the file in cry engine, please use this link instead.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/pn8jobsqp3n9lif/ARCH1101EXP2WK2VS1.rar