This is the link to my partner Mariam Bahmane's blog: https://tililablog.wordpress.com
At the last desk critique of this project, two days before the deadline of our print job, we were instructed that our design was "taking too much into consideration." We understood that the form might be too complex because our benches and trunk seemed to be two separate pieces that do not belong together. The professors encouraged us to "brainstorm," to look at the site, to make sure our form has more rational connections to its location, and to make sure that the functional aspects of the complex are more apparent and intuitive.
With their comments in mind, we spent hours in the studio/Hick on that Wednesday, from 3PM till midnight, trying to come up with better design solutions. None of the designs were completely satisfactory--they either have to be compromised by diminishing the functions, or the trafficking of human/bikes are too crowded, or the form just would not make sense at all. We did not want to simply super impose a massive complex at the site with random shape. We wanted the shape to echo with the building.
We went back to the site, spent an afternoon there, and took all the pictures and put them on a powerpoint. This building is rather miraculous. I have heard from many students about how it fails to fit with the remainder of the campus, due to its lack of stone as a facade material. But its interior was rather transformative. The highlight was the angled glass corridors in the middle, which offered so much lightness and transparency that cuts across the seemingly-massive architecture. Unlike the open and horizontal window in Sci Commons, these corridors had a much lower ceiling, thus the glass served a framing role to the view outside. The two massive tree on opposite sides of the corridor were truncated by this elongated frame, and you can see all the intricate wood patterns on the trunk because they are so close to the windows. The windows themselves are slightly green tainted, along with the leaves canopy, the corridor was thus infiltrated by this relaxing green atmosphere that gave a sense of nature.
We wish to incorporate this architectural experience with our model. Hence, after careful consideration, we believe that our tree trunk model was the best form for our design. We deleted the bench, and used laminated plexiglass spacers for our bench, in order to create a similar airiness that cuts across the trunk's mass. Every millimeter of the benches are designed carefully, with multiple attempts at different number and thickness of layers, how much each one modulates, how intuitive or comfortable they are to sit on, how to best draw these curves so they are echoing the trunk but not the same as its curvuture. We also used the same colored aluminum material dotting the bike rack, to suggest its connections to the sun shields at the back of the building. The final material of the trunk would most likely be a slightly lighter steam-treated wood.
We experimented with scale, material, color throughout the week. We hesitated to give you updates of our new design, mostly because how it was almost completely denied last minute. Thus, we turned to other art professors, design students, shop technicians, even J, Doug and Jeremy, who all gave us valuable suggestions on the project's artistic and functional aspects (surprisingly Doug studies a lot about bike rack designs).
After spending so many hours on this project amidst of final's week, we finally finished with pride. At the final presentation, however, we felt the same lack of support coming from you as our last desk critique. The critical and constructive comments mostly came from our classmates, not as much from you. For example, Simon suggested that Whitter is a new building on campus without an identity yet, and whether or not our product would serve an unnecessary addition to the package. Tess asked if there will be outdoor seating on the grass already. Whitter will be put into use soon, and it won't be until next year we could figure out how the large crowd interacts with the architecture. But it is currently lacking any outdoor seating and bike racks around the building, hence we saw it as an important addition that can better serve the students population.
At the last desk critique of this project, two days before the deadline of our print job, we were instructed that our design was "taking too much into consideration." We understood that the form might be too complex because our benches and trunk seemed to be two separate pieces that do not belong together. The professors encouraged us to "brainstorm," to look at the site, to make sure our form has more rational connections to its location, and to make sure that the functional aspects of the complex are more apparent and intuitive.
With their comments in mind, we spent hours in the studio/Hick on that Wednesday, from 3PM till midnight, trying to come up with better design solutions. None of the designs were completely satisfactory--they either have to be compromised by diminishing the functions, or the trafficking of human/bikes are too crowded, or the form just would not make sense at all. We did not want to simply super impose a massive complex at the site with random shape. We wanted the shape to echo with the building.
We went back to the site, spent an afternoon there, and took all the pictures and put them on a powerpoint. This building is rather miraculous. I have heard from many students about how it fails to fit with the remainder of the campus, due to its lack of stone as a facade material. But its interior was rather transformative. The highlight was the angled glass corridors in the middle, which offered so much lightness and transparency that cuts across the seemingly-massive architecture. Unlike the open and horizontal window in Sci Commons, these corridors had a much lower ceiling, thus the glass served a framing role to the view outside. The two massive tree on opposite sides of the corridor were truncated by this elongated frame, and you can see all the intricate wood patterns on the trunk because they are so close to the windows. The windows themselves are slightly green tainted, along with the leaves canopy, the corridor was thus infiltrated by this relaxing green atmosphere that gave a sense of nature.
We wish to incorporate this architectural experience with our model. Hence, after careful consideration, we believe that our tree trunk model was the best form for our design. We deleted the bench, and used laminated plexiglass spacers for our bench, in order to create a similar airiness that cuts across the trunk's mass. Every millimeter of the benches are designed carefully, with multiple attempts at different number and thickness of layers, how much each one modulates, how intuitive or comfortable they are to sit on, how to best draw these curves so they are echoing the trunk but not the same as its curvuture. We also used the same colored aluminum material dotting the bike rack, to suggest its connections to the sun shields at the back of the building. The final material of the trunk would most likely be a slightly lighter steam-treated wood.
We experimented with scale, material, color throughout the week. We hesitated to give you updates of our new design, mostly because how it was almost completely denied last minute. Thus, we turned to other art professors, design students, shop technicians, even J, Doug and Jeremy, who all gave us valuable suggestions on the project's artistic and functional aspects (surprisingly Doug studies a lot about bike rack designs).
After spending so many hours on this project amidst of final's week, we finally finished with pride. At the final presentation, however, we felt the same lack of support coming from you as our last desk critique. The critical and constructive comments mostly came from our classmates, not as much from you. For example, Simon suggested that Whitter is a new building on campus without an identity yet, and whether or not our product would serve an unnecessary addition to the package. Tess asked if there will be outdoor seating on the grass already. Whitter will be put into use soon, and it won't be until next year we could figure out how the large crowd interacts with the architecture. But it is currently lacking any outdoor seating and bike racks around the building, hence we saw it as an important addition that can better serve the students population.
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