Final image captures

My theory: ''Architecture is inherently public, and therefore should be designed for the good of the community"

The school consists of a central tower containing the library, offices, research space and meeting rooms.  This central tower is the first moving element: it rotates to give all users panoramic views over Launceston.  The rusted steel beams mimic not only this rotation, but also represent an 'explosion' of creativity and ideas occurring at the school.  

The library is at the centre of this school, both literally and ideologically.  The library houses an extensive collection of books on art, architecture and related disciplines.   This library is open to the public, making it a centre of knowledge for both students and the public alike. 

The workshop and studio rooms are covered in glass, which allows the public to observe the students as they work and gain further understanding of the creative process. 

The rusted steel 'branches' extend towards people passing by, inviting passers-by to enter the building and discover it for themselves. 

The second moving element is the folly, which extends below the deep waters of the gorge below.  This movement serves to inspire the students and the public to dream large, as the impossible may not be out of reach. 

Links to final model

Sketchup: https://3dwarehouse.sketchup.com/model.html?id=u85db967f-bcaf-4216-9afe-8fd52904a930

Lumion: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0mjCBrdyPKhQmlFWm5GNXZGUFU&usp=sharing

Draft version 2

Here is my second Lumion draft with trees.  I've thought a bit more about the internal structure of the building and realised that turning it into a 'round' structure would give better circulation to the bridge below, which is vital to my concept.  The glass building in the middle of the structure is the library, and its location in the centre of the structure highlights its central role in learning and studying at my school.  The other rooms still need to be added in.  As in my last draft, the rooms will be attached to the branches.  I envisage these rooms to be able to fully rotate 360 degrees around the central library tower, allowing users of the building to be able to change their point of view.  My other moving element will be the folly, which will be able to extend below the water. 

I've also tried experimenting with camera angles.

  Entrance to the library.

An interior shot of the library.  I chose this light custom texture for the floor because it is not too visually distracting.

Draft in Lumion

Here is a very rough draft I've done of my bridge.  As you can see it's just a bridge so far, I still need to sort out internal structure.  I've also re-done the Lumion environment to take the structure, but I still need to add trees to make it look more realistic.  

The tree-like bridge appears to grow from the seed-like folly, mirroring the sequence of designing this structure.  

The steel beams are made from rusted iron, alluding to the mining history of the Launceston area. 

The longitudinal beams on the glass folly make it resemble a globe, representing how knowledge is formed from the world around us.  The texture used for the floors resembles the movement of the water below. 

I like how the beams resemble an open book, again emphasizing this as a place of learning.  I imagine the studio, labs etc. to be placed in the space between these beams.  The space between also resembles the shape of the Slow House by Diller and Scofidio, which I could use as a design template for the interior structure. 

Draft folly

After reviewing the work I had done so far on this project, I realised that this project needed a total re-think.  The 'light bulb' library looks too bulky and awkward to be also aesthetically pleasing.  There is no coherence in structure in the sections I had drawn - it all looks like random buildings thrown together without any real sense of purpose.  Speaking of random, while I was thinking about what I can do with this structure, an idea for a folly popped into my head out of nowhere...

The draft folly above was inspired by the sculpture 'Diamonds' at the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra (pictured below).  While this is a piece of art and not architecture, it has many qualities in common with an architectural folly; it serves no functional purpose, is designed purely for aesthetics and draws the viewer's attention to itself and the adjacent buildings.  It is also located in a 'valley' of empty space between the Gallery and the High Court.  

Obviously more detail needs to be added to my SketchUp model, including the addition of a 'structure' for the outside (possibly a lattice) and textures as well as working out how it will relate to the main structure.

36 Textures

Developing the model - SketchUp

I've attempted to make a SketchUp model of my section, but I only got as far as doing the library, as it proved to be complex.