Wednesday, 4 June 2014
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.
Developing the plan
There were two main elements of the Nolli plan which inspired me in my design:
- The streets - form arteries which connect all buildings, both public and private. Originally I imagined placing all the rooms in one single building, but I thought instead I could have several buildings linked by a public walkway (the 'street' of my design), allowing the public to interact with the building.
- The Pantheon - a major civic centre of Rome, a public space. It is in the centre of the map, highlighting its importance. I thought about what part of the university is really important to me, and the answer came to me instantly: the library. The library is a place of knowledge and learning, and again will be a public space.
Original trace of the Nolli plans
Revised section
My chosen plans
My theory: Architecture is inherently
public, and therefore should be designed for the good of the people.
I've decided to base
my architecture school on the Nolli plans of Rome. When reviewing the lecture content in
deciding which plan to choose, I recalled that I had heard about the Nolli plan
somewhere else, but I couldn't recall where.
Later, I realised that the Nolli plan was referred to in one of the
articles I used to create my mash-up. In the interview with Snohetta Architects, Kjetil Thorsen said:
The Nolli plans of eighteenth-century Rome are very close to how we perceive relationships between public and non-public spaces within the office. In the [Nolli] plans, you see the division in black and white between private and public. There is no differentiation between interior and exterior public spaces. The interiors of the churches are the same colour as the streets. It reveals something about the way we can think in terms of distinguishing inside and outside.
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
My valley: Cataract Gorge
Cataract Gorge is a natural reserve located near Launceston, Tasmaina. I visited Cataract Gorge on a school trip in 2010 and remember it as a place of stunning natural beauty.
Here is my Lumion environment inspired by Cataract Gorge.
Here is my Lumion environment inspired by Cataract Gorge.
Article mash-up
Architecture, or most of it anyway, is a
public good: what any one person or institution builds, others must live
with. Today, there is a danger of buildings
becoming architecturally barren, soulless places rather than considered
structures enclosing special public spaces.
All too often, designed “iconic” buildings are indeed objects, and often
vanity projects designed to show off the aspirations and egos of certain
clients and architects. This situation surely produces buildings
that reliably serve clients’ interests, but less reliably serve the
public. How to shift the balance of
power so that the rest of us get buildings and places that are good for us
too? Never let anyone forget that
architecture is not like the other arts.
Architecture envelops us all. Everyone sees and experiences it. Architecture
is an art that everybody deserves to enjoy precisely because it constitutes the
life of our inhabited places. The level of engagement acted out and
demanded by the public must be reflected
in architecture. Architecture should elevate public
experience by providing opportunities for heightened sensations. Space should be a series of sequential
and hierarchical spaces with a driving narrative of experience. Architecture is
more than just a result of emotion. There
is so much opposition and contradiction at play, because when you design, you
design with your whole body. It is the way you are bought up; it is in the
culture, it goes back into your own history.
Sources:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)