The Couch by MVRDV
Historical context of the British seaside
The British seaside Started off as a place of vacation for the wealthy and upper class in Victorian society, and offered a place of retreat, leisure, and an escape from the industrial cities. As the rich started to visit places such as Blackpool and Brighton, The money spent there was usually retained own the local area, creating an economic cycle of sustainability, where seaside towns could become self sustaining for things like food, whereby local fishermen would catch fish and sell them to the local fish and chip shops, that would then sell them on to local tourists.
Because of this, more more was retained and invested in the local area, resulting in investment in infrastructure, such as various pier's, and Architecture such as Blackpool tower, which was specifically designed to resemble the Eiffel Tower, replicating foreign holiday destinations for a cheaper price. As well as this, new attractions were added in order to keep tourists coming to the destination, such as fairgrounds, circus's, and food stalls selling food that we now associate with the traditional seaside.
Seaside destinations went from being only the destination for the upperclass, to being available for lower-class workers; particularly those in industrial factories that didn't have a lot of money to go abroad, and didn't get a lot of holiday. This provided them with a relatively cheap getaway, where they could spend a couple of days with their family and get out of the foggy inner city. An example of this is the transportation link set up between Blackpool and Manchester, for easy access to the seaside from the city.
The various British seaside locations can be tracked through the Butler model, which shows how a place goes from initial exploration, through to investment and development of the area as more people are attracted to the place, leading to its stagnation as the place starts to become unpopular as everyone has already visited it and it is not new anymore. This then causes a decline in the tourism for the area, meaning less money is spent in the area, causing declining profits and investment being taken elsewhere; which in turn means that there is no new attractions being added to the area and less money for upkeep causing buildings to fall into disrepair.
The British seaside nowadays remains in a state of declining popularity, with not much being changed since the 1960's, combined with the fact that overseas travel to warmer countries has become a lot cheaper, meaning that British seaside towns are struggling to compete with overseas competition.
References:
Coastal Regeneration in English Resorts, by John K Walton and Patrick Browne: http://www.coastalcommunities.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/coastal-regeneration-handbook.pdf
Comme des Garçons entrance, Contemporary Doorways by Catherine Slessor
Interesting use of a tunnel to elongate the entrance, with a gradual downwards slope as the users enter the building. The entrance actually ends in the middle of the floor, making the users already in the middle of the building when they enter. The materials used in making the tunnel is a reflective metallic panel, shaped to look like it is sucking the outside in and encouraging visitors to enter the store. This material allows light to be reflected off the entrance that stands to be the focal point of the store. I found this entrance interesting as it uses different materials from the outside that stand out from the exterior and interior. It is yet another interesting way to create an extending opening using materials that deliberately stand out from the building.
Honkpuku-ji Water Temple by Tadao And, Contemporary Doorways by Catherine Slessor
The Guggenheim Bilbao by Frank Gehry, Contemporary Doorways by Catherine Slessor
Roman Temple carved into rock
This ancient threshold is carved into the rock, there for using existing materials and obstructions, and shaping them to form openings.
Interesting use of the natural environment to create a threshold: Some thing that could be incorporated into my site.
Initial research
After initial research I have a better understanding of what is meant by the term 'threshold', and the types of projects that have been undertaken in this area. The projects I have looked at have been in a variety of sectors, from commercial to residential, and have explored mostly the external entrance to a place on a smaller scale, looking at individual building instead of the whole urban environment. Upon reviewing these projects, I noticed the different ways Architects and designers were able to create openings and connect two spaces together, such as David Adaye's proposal fro the Holocaust memorial, which uses slots to create a transition from indoor to outdoor spaces.
Using this research, I will go on to develop my own threshold, using these images as reference and inspiration.
The Couch by MVRDV
This project is a good secondary resource for me to look at, as this project has a similar idea to mine, by using a sloped curve to create seating on top, and use the space underneath as a social interaction space. This shows a similar in a real life environment, and shows how people use the space both above and below. This can give me an idea as to how my design would work, and how people could inhabit the space around it.
Granary square site
Upon observing Granary Square and taking primary photos and researching secondary photos of how the place is used during summertime, I was able to pick out key points of observations that cold influence my design and project:
- During summertime, the fountains become a key place of interaction between children through play.
- Whilst children are playing in the fountains, the parents gather on the seating surrounding the fountains, which also becomes a place of social interaction.
- The fountains are the focal point of the square, which is where the majority of people are gathered, with surrounding cafe's nearby making it easy to get food and drink, meaning people can stay there for longer.
- However, there are no places to change and dry off once children have been in the fountains, and the whole area is very open, with little to no privacy for the users.
- There is also little shelter from things like the sun and wind.
From observing all these things, I hope to use these problems to influence my design to find a solution for them. After reviewing the area, I would like to base my design around the fountains, and incorporate them into my structure. I also plan to use the research I did on the British seaside to shape the design, and perhaps look at elevated structures and boats for my main inspiration.
Maritime Youth House by BIG
This building was one of the first projects by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG), completed in 2004 in Copenhagen, on the island of Amager. The thought behind the design was to create this raised wooden deck in order to avoid the polluted soil, therefor saving the money that would've been spent digging up the soil. The building is designed for a sailing club and a youth centre, and is able to cater for both groups as the raised decking means that boats can be stored underneath, whilst providing a sloped landscape for children to play on.
I liked this design as the raised decking reflects the rolling waves of the harbour, which I could incorporate into my design for granary square, by creating a raised form that reflects elements of the beach, whether that be sand dunes or waves.
References:
BIG website: https://www.big.dk/#projects-mar
Tadao Ando's Church of Light
Looking at Tadao Ando's design for the church of light, I found his entrance interesting and inspiring, particularly how he uses interlocking walls at an obscure angle, as the outside wall intersects the side wall of the building, creating this opening. This use of angular walls particularly appealed to me, as it clashes with the regular right angled layout that we as users expect. The actual entrance is created by the absence of material, simply an entrance cut away from the wall. I used this entrance to help inspire my Malevich model, and to also inspire my final design, through the use of angles.
4/12/17
I was able to conduct secondary research at the CSM library, and look at books on thresholds and doorways. One of the books I found was called 'Contemporary Doorways' by Catherine Slessor, and this book was particularly helpful as it contained a variety of images for different projects, with a bit of text to explain what each project was about, and who the architect was. I was able to pick out a few key images of different projects that I liked and that inspired me, and see different ways of forming interactive openings, and create a transition of one space to another. From researching, I can now use this material to start to think about my own design on my site, with different ways of creating an opening and establishing boundaries in different spacial areas.
Some of the work that really stood out for me was Frank Gehry's Guggenheim Bilbao, and Tadao Ando's church of the light and Honkpuku-ji water temple. All of these designs I found uses separate elements and faces put together in order to create an entrance, with the Guggenheim Bilbao being made of separate panels that slot together, and give different angles to the walls it creates. Curved panels of metal and glass help form the entrance, by creating gaps in the space for people to enter.
In the church of the light the access to the inside from outside is formed by having an outside wall put at an angle to the perimeter wall, so that it intersects it. Where it joins, it creates an opening on the outside, and where the external wall meets the back wall, it creates a second entrance to the space inside. By doing this, Ando intersects different planes to create an entrance that is at a different angle to the space, with the entrance being very minimal and brutalist. Ando also plays with light, as the openings let light in, that create shadows on the wall.
I like these aspects from both of these designs, using intersecting planes, panels and walls create gaps and spaces that slot together, and will take this forward into my own work when thinking how to open up the obstruction on my site to form an entrance.
Crescent house and the Guggenheim Bilbao
Both these buildings use elements put together to create an opening, using both curved and straight panels and walls that intersect to form openings that are at a different angles to the hallway and foyer. By using different materials such as transparent glass and opaque concrete and stone. These different elements create very angular entrances, something which I find would be interesting to explore the intersection of different faces that could create openings, that are may e not cleanly aligned together.
proportion
after working on measuring out our studio, we then looked at drawing out the plans to a 1:100 scale. From this, we talked about scale and proportion, and using parts of our bodies, such as our hands for measurement. Both the Vitruvian Man and the Modular Man are examples of exploring proportion with the body, and how it occupies the space around it.
The vitruvian man is a diagram that shows the space the body occupies through stretching out the mans hands and feet, whilst also demonstrating that his wingspan ( length of his arms outstretched) is the same as his height. This is useful when thinking about creating spaces and entrances, as the body needs to be able to fit in the space, and the person needs to have the ability to move about.
The Modular man is also useful when thinking about the proportion of the body as it works out how many body parts can fit into the body, and splits it into sections.
24/11/17
The secondary research I have conducted looked at architecture that tackles the constraints of the urban environment by looking at using different areas of space to increase urban density. I first started looking at micro homes, which use spaces and gaps found in-between buildings and around the city, and uses less space but is able to hold more people. The forms I looked at challenged traditional homes, with some having different pods for living, eating, and sleeping. I initially looked at micro houses as a way of looking at ways to increase urban density in an overhead site. I also looked at combining green space in with urban living to allow residents to have communal space to share with one another, and looked at buildings such as Bosco Verticale as a way of combing green space with housing.
As my project started to change, I started to look at buildings that were attached to original buildings, which are examples of parasite architecture. This particularly linked in with my idea of trying to connect buildings and communities together. Architecture like the Antwerp Port House looks at combining existing and new buildings, combining different styles that clash. What I liked about Zaha Hadid's design was how she makes a very bold statement by placing her design on to p of the existing building as a way of contrasting the two styles whilst clearly adding her own renovation. Hadid's design is very modern, with the vessel on top made of glass, with different angled faces that hake the light reflect of the sides different. The vessel is propped up by horizontal thick, white beam, and a vertical beam, which balances out the cantilever. From this research I have been able to find and respond to appropriate images that have influenced my design, and from Zaha's design, I have been influenced by how she integrates old and new buildings, which I have tried to apply to my own design.
15/11/17 secondary research
I also went to the library to conduct secondary research into urban density and social housing, looking at both the history of social housing, as well as different ways to increase urban density, which is seen as more sustainable the higher the density of people. Social housing is one area that is often overlooked, and whilst most tower blocks try to fit as many residents in as possible, I feel that with a reorganisation of structure there could be more space for residents, with an integration of green space and shelter, and on different levels. These books looked at both the architectural, political and social impact of these types of housing, including things such as crime that comes as result of the living situation and the wealth and class of its residents.
I intend to take this research forward when thinking about designing for urban density, and to also think about the social issues that are impacted by the design and layout.
15/11/17
The research brief asked us to conduct primary research into an site that could sustain more urban density, record its environment and the people that live there. With this in mind, I chose to look into social and council housing, and chose as site Near Whitechapel that I thought could be modified to contain more life and activity in it in order to make it a thriving community. When walking around the area, I noticed how the houses were stacked together in close quarter living, yet the brutalist architecture used was compiled using blocks that only went up. When analysing the site, I found that there were various blocks of flats and houses spaced out around the site, and that they were all laid out around a green space at ground level. The residents of the area were predominantly of Muslim faith due to a mosque located nearby, and the social class of the residents are lower class, with the flats not being particularly big, and residents living in close quarters to one another.