Interim Presentation

My presentation boards for the interim presentation yesterday.

1. Inspirations for my design. From the lotus flower, a common symbol in Buddhism as it grows from the mud but becomes a beautiful flower. This influenced the form of my design. The 8 sided wheel, another symbol, also influenced the design.

Temples on Hua Shan. The temples are perched on top of the mountain, above the dust and distractions of life below.

Chinese architecture. The structural systems of columns and dougong influenced my design. I interpreted these using digital design tools like TopMod and Rhino to create tessellated and folded shapes. The roof was also important in the way it protects the structure but also allows light to enter by turning the end of the eaves up.

2. A quick rendering my of concept design. The columns and dougong were created in TopMod and arranged in Rhino. These can be made using tessellation. The roof was created in Rhino. Folding the roof and using this form allowed the eaves to be upturned.

The design sits on legs and is perched on top of the grid structure. I'm not too sure how the grid works yet though, is it horizontal or vertical? Either way should work with my design.

3. An interior view. Windows direct the view away from the rest of the grid to give the feeling of being away from life below. Seating is built around te structure and meditation is done on the floor. I might introduce a screen on top of the stairs to block the view through the door.

Workers or students can ascend the grid and meditate in the hall during lunch or after hours.

4. An exploded view of the concept. A folding roof. Upwards facing windows. A skeleton structure. The floor.

5. A elevation of the concept. The legs folding in to sit above the grid gives the impression of a parasite.

6. The floor plan. A simple layout. I would still like to work on the clearance under the arches when climbing the stairs. I tested it and a person can walk under them but there is not much extra clearance.

Parasite Legs

Testing a couple of options for the parasite's "legs". This roof concept is looking much better. I like the concept but the scale may not be right, depending on how I go with the legs. I really need to get the legs sorted before I can progress any more. It is going much better now though than it has been. I may even get a chance to start work on my Tech design which is worth 50% of the subject and due next week and I haven't yet started....

More Inspiration

Another buildings that has inspired my design. Paul Discoe's cardboard zendo. I like the way the roof holds itself together.

Blogger

Just a note: I still haven't figured out formatting on this blog. It looks fine when I am writing it but after I publish, the formatting gets all messed up. I don't know what I'm doing wrong.

Progress

Some progress made this afternoon. I'm still not entirely happy with the form. I will play with the roof a bit more (still not actually sure if I need a roof, being in a grid). I need to work on the connection with the ground, or more so the connection with the grid. Not very happy with how it sits at the moment. Maybe it should "grow" out of the grid like a lotus grows from mud. Then I need to add in some details, "windows" and "doors". 

Inspiration from Chinese Buddhist architecture, upturned eaves. I should also use the way they sit the building on a raised pad somehow.

Niemeyer's cathedral in Brasilia.

Gerkan Marg and Partners' Tempodrom Events Hall.

Progress so far. Using tessellation the roof should be able to support the large eaves. More options will be explored during the week after work. 

Reversal

Looking at the 斗拱 (dougong) in Chinese architecture and thinking of ways to incorporate this into my design (one of my original ideas) made me experiment with flipping the skeleton around. I like the more enclosed feeling form it has created and the resemblance to a lotus flower. The reason for the 斗拱 was to give the roof a wider overhang, protecting the structure from rain, and to enable the eaves to be upturned, permitting light to enter despite the extra wide eaves.

I thought I could build a roof structure using using dougong and turned the skeleton around to allow this. I don't like how complex the structure is becoming though so I may think of another way to create the roof form I want without using dougong. The upturned eaves will also give the form a resemblance of lotus petals turning up and the ends. 

It is taking me too long to figure out how to do this in Rhino so I will export my file and try it in Revit for the concept.

Concept Development

A sketch of an option for a roof.

Concept Development

Using SketchUp for the first time. I've been experimenting with how the files I create can be transferred between programs. Starting in TopMod I have made shapes which I have imported into Rhino and played with. Then I have tried exporting to Revit and SketchUp to play around with the programs. It is the first time I have used any of these programs (except Revit). 

The screen shot below shows an idea I have been playing around with of having a central column. Cables come from the column and over the skeleton to suspend the floor. The column could also be used to support a roof, though I'm not sure a roof is needed as I'm still not too clear on what we are doing with the hexagonal grid structure our buildings are meant to fit into. The finished concept will obviously not look like this, I'm just playing around with SketchUp to demonstrate my idea.

Octahedron Concept

Another concept along the same lines. This time extruding 4 sides of an octahedron in TopMod and arranging in Rhino to create my 8 sided lotus concept.