Friday, 21 September 2012

WEEK 9 - LECTURE AND READING REFLECTION

Considerations:
-Making and using
-Thinking and reflecting
-Learning and taking action
-Selling and buying
-Presenting and watching
-Sharing and collaborating

These will be three criteria in which I will strongly consider developing throughout project two’s architectural proposal.

The lecture brought forward the issue that differences and conflicts occur everyday between people - so how can architecture provide solutions for this in residential or public spaces?
To answer this more in depth research needs to be conducted as to what kinds of spaces are used for different functions and activities in peoples everyday lives?
I believe diversity within design may be to a degree the answer to catering to a wider range of people, especially when considering individually dwellings within a complex. BIG architects won many awards based on their multi residential complex in copenhagen with over 60 variations to individual dwellings within a singular project. 


 Apartments are designed as individual ‘unique’ dwellings that are pieced together as though a puzzle to form the exterior shell of the building. 

VM houses by BIG architects


FUNCTION FOLLOWS FORM:

Function follows form vs. form follows function - we have all heard this debate throughout the years as developing students; although with greater knowledge acquired, form follows function seems to deliver this view of ‘selfish architecture’ for a buildings shell may never deliver an empowering user experience if the function has been completely neglected within the development process. Bjarke Ingles from BIG architects explains that, ‘you should never get attached to a form to early in a project, as the true essence of the project may end up lost’. The reading by Yona Friedman again conveys to us what exactly it means to create architecture where function follows form. 


The dual of the linking scheme. 



WEEK 8 - BREAK DOWN OF CRITERIA


INDIVIDUAL CRITERIA FOR ASSIGNMENT TWO:

An affordable residential precinct within the heart of the CBD that delivers:
-1 and 2 bedroom apartment living aimed at generation Y
-Offers a commercial base with café/restaurant /bar
-Roof top public garden


Offers a roof top garden with integrated:
-Individual and communal study pods
-Bar and lounge area taking advantage of views with function area incorporated
-Cinema screenings
-Lagoon?

Street Infrastructure:
-24 hour street activation techniques (multi-purpose entry functions- (day to night function transformations)
-Laneway connection strategies linking to the precinct with entertainment throughout
-Links to public transportation including bicycle promotion

Sustainable Components:
-Locally sourced and raw materials with low embodied energy


Description:

Continuing on from progress made in project one, due to technological advancements and introduction of products such as interactive glass touch interface; work will progressively begin to be conducted from home or environments that stimulate higher productivity levels other than the stereotypical office environment.
Many vacancies throughout the city will begin to appear due to this change occurring; slowly the 9-5 working environment will no longer be a standard routine in which the CBD will begin to mold itself into a more livable and people orientated center.

This brings us to the purpose of project two in correspondence with the needs and desires of future citizens.  More affordable residential accommodation needs to be made for the lifestyles and interests of the upcoming generation Y, that provides the opportunity to work from home or other stimulation environments, to be in touch with a variety of services and importantly to have access to entertainment and relaxation spaces in order to obtain that community orientation.


 Interactive glass touch interface
-originally sourced by Jacqueline Fick. 




Maintenance:
If the development is linked with Brisbane Myer center and public from the Myer center have access to these facilities – then a maintenance fee may be negotiated in the up keeping of the public space.

‘Virtual’ Works and Maintenance:
Virtual operation will be revolved around individual data purchases that will be able to be accessed anywhere. Installation of interactive screening devices in individual study pods will be installed within the construction fee.




Thursday, 20 September 2012

WEEK 8 - SITE SELECTION



 This site is located on Elizabeth street just off the corner of George street in the CBD. The site currently consists of a heritage listed facade which is situated between the Myer Centre to the right of the images and an old pub on the left.
The site is a completely vacant block hidden behind this facade, which does present greater opportunities opposed to a renovation fit out of an existing building. The existing facade will be interesting to develop in relation to historic and future representation in a singular building, this contrast may help develop an ‘identity’ for the newly proposed site.



Pub on the corner of Elizabeth and George St. 

Myer Centre Building facade on Elizabeth st. 


This simplistic diagram illustrates the site in relation to its surrounding context and what architectural opportunities this presents. Highlighted in blue shows an existing retail store function located on Queen street that backs onto the proposed site; it may be proposed that by 2020 this retail space may be repositioned or be conducted virtually, in which case the space could be linked to the usable space for this project. This presents a major accessibility advantage as the development could be accessed via two of the busiest pedestrian streets in the CBD (being Elizabeth st and Queen st). 
As this diagram also shows, highlighted in pink are two lanes ways that link George street to the mid section of the site. In relation to the multi-use architecture I am considering developing for this project, this accessibility advantage will be the key for the successful circulation and user experience of the architecture; this may also contribute to the overall sustainability of the architecture for decades to come. 
Highlighted in green represents the currently un-used roof top space of the pub directly next to the site; having the potential to be developed into a roof top garden space with function facilities and as well as integration of individual (separated within the space) study pods that link to development for project one. In previous lectures Yasu has stated, to clearly identify how these types of roof top spaces will be maintained as they are very costly if neglected. If the public from the Myer centre have access to this roof top space, then the maintenance fee may be covered by the centre management as the space would be apart of an overall user experience for their clientel as well as general public and those who have residency within the site. 



Lane way photograph - entry off George st aligning with the existing pub.  


Second lane way photograph - off George street aligning with WestPac bank

WEEK 8 - EFFECTS OF INTERACTIVE DEVICES

https://vimeo.com/daanroosegaarde/lunar

The link above explores the interactive artwork 'Lunar' by Studio Roosegaarde, featuring a series of interactive light objects placed within a Youth division of Mental Health Care GGZ in Breda, the Netherlands. The objects are designed to 'come to life' upon detection of children's touch. The clip documents not only the function of the artwork, but the positive mental effects to be had on the users.

Social interaction can be controlled per-say, with the integration of interactive systems that combine play and everday life. This stimulation is what stems social interaction and essentially permites a more intimate relation with strangers.

An extreme example of public interaction generated by interactive projects, is that of the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) architects from Denmark who provided the city of New York with the "City Pulse" heart sculpture on Valentines day. Made from 400 transparent acrylic tubes fitted with LEDs, which radiate light in the midst of the urban bustle. The lighting system is triggered by a heat sensor, in which the public generate.



Facades play an important role in both the energy-efficiency and in the aesthetic qualities of a space. What will deem to make a building more sustainable is greater interest and activation of the space. With currently knowledge expressing the interest gained by incorporating interactive works into a project, developing notions of interactive facades, may deliver a more stimulated and 'life like' environment in which prompts the public to truly interact, explore and discover. In this instance social interaction becomes inevitable, creating positive endorphins through unexpected interaction in which people will directly relate to the experience of the architecture.

Croma is an inter-disciplinary research initiative at MIT led by Daniel Cardoso, Dr. Avni Argun and Carlos Rocha in New York; who have developed the very first touch-senstive organic electrochromic device (OECD). A basic premisis of this work is that a programmable and responsive facade element can not only be aesthetically provocative and improve energy-efficiency of architecture, but also has the potential to alter the ways we relate to buildings and surfaces, opening exciting avenues for new kinds of interaction and experience.

https://vimeo.com/8126613 - Link to watch how this interactive facade functions. 


Local control of an electrochromic facade affords new kinds of gestural control over architectural surfaces, revealing potential new experiences and design opportunities.  



It is estimated that 50% of the heat that enters a building does so when there is no one to look through the window. Croma is developing a smart facade that saves energy by regulating the amount of sunlight that enters through windows. 



Sunday, 16 September 2012

WEEK 8 - LECTURE

GREENING ISN’T NECESSARILY SUSTAINABLE:

sustainability definition: 
Conserving an ecological balance by avoiding depletion of natural resources. 

It is important to consider the consequences of incorporating ‘green roofs’ into a design - is there a meaning or a need for it? Green roofs are extremely costly and time consuming to maintain, if this rate of maintenance is unable to be maintained, then funds and space are ultimately wasted. 

Issues that are related to green roofs include:
- embodied energy
- Transportation expenses of products
- Maintenance
- Adaptability 
- Disassembly
- Recyclability

Life span of a building in relation to Assignment two: 
Being one of the most important aspects to consider in the design process it is necessary to assess resources, manufacturing, locality of materials and future cradle to grave dynamics. 

The change of youth or functionality should not make a building redundant, I believe this to be a key criteria to work by throughout the development of a design to ensure a sustainable outcome is achieved. Therefore researching previous architectural projects that deliver a sort of modular systematic design concept that enables the building to grow throughout its life span will be a investment for the development of assignment two.


This clip from www.quadror.com - presents an interesting structural concept that offers a flexible, easily dismountable and deliverable structural design strategy.
But could this concept be developed into something greater than purely a structural support system? Could it be enhanced as a modular shelter than expands and contracts based on occupancy rates and demographic factors, that is both affordable and low maintenance?

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

WEEK 7 - DEVELOPMENT




This sequence of images above are taken from a motion picture by Tessellate Adaptive Facade Systems, that deliver interactive facade screening devices. The devices are self-contained, framed screens whose perforated pattern can continually shift and evolve that regulate light and solar gain, ventilation and airflow, privacy and views.  The panels can be constructed in various metals or plastics, with these  layers moving and overlapping on another.
http://www.tessellatesurface.com

These screening devices are very similar if not the same to the techniques used by Jean Nouvel.

 Exterior Facade of the Institute of the Arab World-Paris.

Interior perspective of the Institute of the Arab World-Paris.

The building was designed in the 1980's by French architect Jean Nouvel, who created the arab inspired motiffs consisting of metal lens shells that gradually open and close depending on the amount of light. The interior offers an inspiring user experience based simply on this movement, although Jean Nouvel has used a similar concept in another commercial office design in Dubai - indicating that incorporating interactive facade surfaces to a building may have a sustainable advantage as it easily adapts to difference building occupations. 

Monday, 10 September 2012

WEEK 7 - READING REFLECTION

ENVIRONMENTAL ADAPTABILITY - by Kevin Lynch.

This weeks reading established design strategies that successfully portrayed adaptability and flexibility and certain systems that may prevent future adaptability. Lynch quotes that 'preparation for a known change to come may have its complications, but can be approached and solved in a straight forward manner. The more adequate our predictions of the future become, the more will our anxiety for flexibility be transmuted into such tangible problems'.  The debate begins that creating an environment of low differentiation, such as an area where uses are highly mixed, is often more resistant to change than otherwise. Similarly when a designer states he/she is being 'flexible', generally he/she is only being vague. On the other hand complexity of organisation does not necessarily entail inflexibility, perhaps even the opposite, if the complexity has a purpose. For example, A complexity of organisation such as an arterial highway network may realise new potentialities of functions which enhance the adaptability as a whole. 

-And yet city environments may be more inflexible if designed for specific purposes. 
This raises the question, will a building still be adaptable to future changes if designed with complexity due to a specific purpose? 

One solution - Analyse what specialised components are required and what unspecified components are needed within the building, and place them apart from each other in the design. 
This way the necessary remodelling in the specialised zones for example, can occur without disturbing the unspecialised units. 
A simple guide to follow includes: Separate permanent from temporary, lightly built areas from heavily built areas. It is also important to note that residential requirements change less rapidly than production requirements. 

PROBLEMS WITH MODULAR SYSTEMS
Modular systems can be highly flexible considering they can be picked up and re-located with minimum effort, however if change is required in the module itself, if the trailer becomes obsolete, then the system is a dead loss, presenting no means of sustainability. To avoid this modular systems do require to be at a neutral and simple function in order to reduce the risk of its function becoming obsolete.