ARCH101 -FALL 2012-

Final Project Learning Portfolio

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Research on Built and Natural Environments

As the very first step for the last half of the semester, we did some researches on built and natural environments. As the built environment, I chose SFMoMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Arts) designed by Mario Botta. This museum itself did have some interesting things. In the middle part of the building, it had a diagonal cutout in a perfect cylinder which showed the hierarchial quality of the whole building. The ceiling above the entry way was too low, but by the time when I got to the point of atrium, I felt it was gorgeous because of the sunlight coming through the cutout cylinder. The center line in the middle lead me to the stair way. After I went through every single room, I started to notice the benches in the rooms. It was mimicked by the brick patterns outside of the building. As the natural environment, Chuck and me went to the Ocean beach located in San Francisco. It gave us the taste of freedom, and all our anxieties were taken away by the wide ocean. The sound of the wave hitting the rock really dragged us to get close to the ocean side. By comparing these two different environments, the built environment gave me the feeling of suffocated life, and the natural environment created much more freedom especially the beach.

Built Environment vs Natural Environment

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Inspirations

Milwaukee Art Museum, Michigan, USA. Mode-Gakuen Spiral Tower, Nagoya, Japan.

The above left photo is the tower located in Nagoya, Japan. I got inspired by their intentions behind the building. According to my research, it is “a house educational facilities for three different disciplines in three tapered ‘wings’ – fashion design, computer programming and a medical support.” I like the idea of combining different ideas and thoughts together. The other photo is Milwaukee Art Museum in Lake Michigan. I am inspired by the type of holding the long pole together with strong metal strings. We incorporated this idea in one of our “spider legs.”

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The Site

As the last half of the semester continued, we all just tried to focus and work on our group project instead of individually after our individual or group research on built and natural environments.. Before we decided and tried to build our project outside at the courtyard behind the Batmale Hall, we did the site analysis. As the analysis went on, we saw six face panels, rain gutter, the vertical patterns along the curved wall, the grid lines on the concrete, the two planter squares, the eight-or-nine-feet-height pine tree, the large geometric form of Batmale Hall, and the thick columns and beams along the breezeway of the Batmale Hall. More than that, we also tried to look on the weather condition: sun, wind, fog and rain. San Francisco has an intense weather which is so windy and foggy.

Batmale Hall

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Major Concept, Intentions, and Site Responses

Our semester theme was all about “Architecture as Sculptural Autobiography.” So what is “sculptural autobiography?” Actually it was all about what we have learned, faced, and passed through in our entire life- which meant that what we faced through geographically, culturally, memorably and so on. For instance, the timeline of my childhood memory. Our major concept behind our finalized design was the biographic aspects in regard as geographic location that we shared as San Franciscans. We intentionally created and provided diversities of space as a node for visitors to feel the spatial experiences as a group or individually based on the life of living in San Francisco. As the site responses, our installations faced to the east where days begin as a good start. We had two giant spider legs which were mimicked from the columns and beams along the breezeway of the Batmale hall. One of these pointed to the east, and the other one was to the heart of the civic center, National Historical Landmark of San Francisco. The long spider leg reached beyond the concrete of the courtyard and was grounded in the soil which symbolized that we San Franciscans lived in a built environment; it reminded us that we remained in touch with the natural environment. Our installation was located in proximity to the entry way into the courtyard. The spires in the walled enclosure showed the continuation of the path of the curving stairway.

Spatial Experiences

As the journey of the installation, the first spatial experience that visitors encountered was the space under the spider legs. It was a place for groups of visitors to hang out. At the same time, the converging spider legs and the crack on the ground drew attention towards the walled enclosure. The walled enclosure was for private experience, and within it, a visitor would see the spires which gave them the feeling of aspirations and desires for greater things. Even though it’s a more individual private space, they could still feel that they were not alone because of the open slots in the walled enclosure which still kept connected to the outside community. The third spatial experience was that we provided visitors a seat to recline and relax. At the same time, the open slot in the canopy would point them towards the east, and we intentionally framed the east view by using the canopy and two vertical supports. The last space was just right behind the seat where the fog was located. It was the last stop for reminding one of the intense weather condition: fog to feel, and at the same time visitors were ready to depart for the next installations.

Finalized Design Concept

The above photos were the finalized design concept by combining five of the group members’ ideas. Even though the circulation was not so smooth, the visitors could still feel diverse spatial experiences in one place. In the design, we intentionally created different kinds of spatial experiences to feel as a group or individually.

North South West View

North West View South

Perspective

Iterations

To come up with this finalized design, firstly we worked on individually, and came up with different ideas and thoughts. Based on the research knowledge and iterations we tried to work on adding good things and omitting bad things. By looking at different iterations, we tried to take out the similarities among group members, and we tried to come up with a design which was in association with every members’ idea like the linear and planar elements in our design, the spiral things and the fog. With the combination of these, finally we came up with the design. We tried to build a small scaled model so that we could see more strengths and weaknesses in our design and the reasons behind these. We still did a lot of changes like switching the spider leg from the middle of the west side walled enclosure to the corner of the south faced enclosure, changing the layout style of the seat and adding some repetitive patterns like the diagonal cut slot in the enclosure. Then we started to think of the materials and the organization principles based on our finalized design concept. Finally we went out and built the actual scale model.

Materials

What materials were we going to use primarily? It was a headache because of the budget limit and the design concept. We did a group shopping at first to look on some materials that we think doable. We came up with a list of materials, then tried to make an estimate cost. Our design was mostly comprised of planar and linear surface. As the model was bigger than the human scale, we had to think on how to build strong and stable. We came up with different ideas of connection types, and finally we decided to use brackets to seal all these planar elements. We took time to think on the materials, and how we connected and hold them together safely and efficiently before we went outside the courtyard for construction. For spider legs, we decided to use screws, bolts, and washers to hold two pieces of 1”X4” lumbar together. Then we also decided to use screws in everything instead of using nails for the purpose of easy handling when taking down.

Brackets Lumbar Plywood PVC Pipes

Tectonic Language Planar and Linear elements were two main types of elements we used. As a walled enclosure, four pieces of plywood were used. We created an entry way to the spires by not allowing two planar surfaces meet in the east side. We created a four-feet-wide arch in the entry way of the walled enclosure to make the visitors feel that it was an individual private space. We intentionally created this private space for visitors to look up the sky above. Planar elements were introduced in the canopy too. Linear elements were used in the spider legs and the vertical supports. Apart from that, PVC pipes were used in the spires, and fishing lines were used to hold and stable these PVC pipes. Apart from holding these pipes, we created geometric patterns of the web and showed up the fleeting beauty. For the use of brackets, we made a decision by not hiding yet making them more obvious and prominent to add layering and complexity to our design in efficient and consistent way. As the last thing, additional pieces of lumbar were used to hold the walled enclosure stronger and more stable. We cut off the exact shape of the open slot, and put this parallel right above and below of the walled enclosure, so that it was not only served for bracing the enclosure, but also created the repetitive patterns as part of the design.

Construction Process As part of the construction process, safety was our first priority. Some of us were not used to some tools or machines like table saw, jig saw, hand saw, etc.. During the construction, we started to notice that time management was important. We had to manage our times well in order to finish before the deadline. At the same time, we also faced with the intense weather condition. As the winter came up, rain followed behind it, so we had to take in consideration on rain too. How were we going to cover up our construction not to get wet with water for the plywood. We realized that it was not an easy thing to do like we created a small scaled model. We made good plan, and managed our time well to finish our construction within the deadline. We had like four or five weeks for construction. In the first two weeks, we finished cutting off the slots and pipes, and we got only ten percent work done. We had all the required materials ready and was good to go more. In the third week, we faced with big issue which was the weather– it rained the whole week and made slowing down our work. Finally, we got our work done three days advanced due to the hardworking members and good time management. What I learned from it was how important the collaboration and time management within our group members to finish our installations within deadline.

Post Mortem, Critiques and Comments from Jurors

As the strengths, we felt that our design concept was the most complicated one with layering of so many ideas, primary, secondary and tertiary structures within the whole model. The response to the site in interesting ways was another strength. As the weaknesses, the use of different materials. It undermined the idea of the context within the materials and the structure of the design. Another weak point was that we were not really responding to the tree beside our design. One of the major missed opportunities was that if we had much more time, we would work on the sectional array of the seat. Another thing was we also tried to relate to the whole model. Andrew said that we gave good presentation. The management board was well organized and not confused with anything. He liked the arrangement on the board. Jurors felt that we were in good thought on responding to the site and the area around San Francisco in interesting ways. For instance, the long spider leg pointed to the civic center, the heart of San Francisco. For materials choice, plywood, pipes, lumbar and foam board were used. As the matter of connection, we chose plywood and lumbar because of the linearity and planar qualities, so that these were easy to connect. PVC pipes were used because it was doable like bending and another reason was in the matter of cost. But by using PVC pipes it lost the quality of logical relationship within materials. On site, the weakest point was the crack on the ground because of using duct tape. Jurors felt like it was not a tectonic language instead a graphic art. There was also a conflict within the context of the whole design which was the idea of fog and the spider leg pointing to the east where the sun comes up. Andrew felt that “center space doesn’t read as the center of the project.” Andrew liked that layering of so many ideas into construction was good and so strong, and there was nothing wrong with the project to deal with media content like the letters on the spider legs. They also felt like we worked as more opportunity rather than necessity.

Conclusion

Right now the semester was almost over, we all came along as an individual for the first half of the semester, and we worked as a team or group for the rest of the semester. We experienced a lot of different ideas , qualities, and issues during this semester. As an individual project, we had to build our own model like two iterations per week. Personally, at first, I felt that it was difficult. But as time went by, it became like a routine, and I started to use to it. At the same time, I realized that “quantity leads to quality.” The precious thing about working as a group was collaboration. It seemed easy, but actually it was not. I could not just go with whatever I want. I had to make discussion within the group for every single change that I want or suggest. Along with collaboration, unity also followed behind. Without unity within a group, the whole process could be collapsed. Now I agree that “unity is strength.” Another important thing that I learned was that time management. As we worked within the deadline, every single minute was precious. I think planning well on every step could not only be helpful for time management but also reduce the problems and issues during construction. Safety also played an important role during construction because I did not work by myself, but with others. So I needed to be extra caution on what I was doing. However, we Team X finally constructed our design concept. I am really thankful to Professor Jerry Lum and my group members: Cheuck, Jose, Lily and Tom. Without you all, I could not do it. Thank you.

Advices to New Generation ARCH 101 Students

Be in mind that it is a four unit credit class. It meant that it is a busy class. Once it starts, you will be struggling with it, but as time goes by, it becomes a routine if you do on regular basic. This class will take much more time than any other classes. You have to be physically and mentally dipping your mind into your iterations to show the qualities of your objectives. Jerry always says, “Quantity always lead to quality.” I agree with that because the more you practice, the better your ideas and thoughts will be. Another thing is there is always at least a pain, but a gain follows behind it. Never give up. Always be prepared before coming to class. As I am not a late night working person, I want to advise that not to work too late at night on your class project and try to get enough sleep. It will lead your mind with freshness and less stress. Good time management will also lead you better outcomes throughout the entire semester. Never be stressed out with Jerry’s critiques. His comments and critiques are really helpful to move onto next level of critical thinking on architecture. Be a good and fun semester to you all.