Second Year Portfolio

o Skills Seminars

o Reading Seminar

o Body Survey

o Seat

o Room

o Collectors House

o Dance Centre

DOUGLAS WALKER

AD2 PORTFOLIOS0811464

IN PLACE/ANY PLACECONSTRAINT

CONTENTS

Detail Drawing of Roof connection

Roof Plan

Skills Seminars

A series of lectures formed the basis of the skills seminars. Each lecture was tailored towards a specific area of draughtsmanship, after which we were required to produce our own drawing of a selected building.

LAWSON/WESTEN HOUSE- ERIC OWEN MOSS

Section on A-A

Section A-A

Skills Seminars

Perspective Drawing

Interior Visualisation

Sarah Wigglesworth and Jeremy Till 9/10 Stock Orchard Street

HABIT

‚Table Manners‛ celebrates messand the lack of conformity between intended use and actualuse. From the disarray comes a true reflection of life; a carbon copy of the imperfections which personify a person or place.

While the ‘Straw bale house’ could be passed off as nothing more than an experimentation with unconventional building materials, it also blossoms from a very interesting design process which in itself is worthy of discussion. It may not be universally well received but its clarity in design intent and reasoning make it a fascinating study.

The process of taking a study such as this through into a final design addresses many similar issues to my own work and it is interesting to observe how literally the topic of another system of order has been dealt with, by breaking from the grid of ordered architecture and creating a seemingly messy floor plan.

Reading Seminar

Shoulder

Elbow

Wrist

Body Survey

Tracking and recording motion in sports offers an interesting insight into the intricate movements of the human body. Analysis such as this has long been used by professionals to further understand and improve their game.

The question posed was whether this method could be extracted and used in the context of everyday life.

The Tiger Woods golf swing analysis led on to further studies in movement and interaction with the environment in our desk study and study of ascending steps.

The asymmetry of the swing stood out as a key concept in designing for the human body.

Seat

Seat

The 2D dot and line analysis diagram has been worked into a 3D structural language.Thin steel members with cast spherical joints produce a lightweight, efficient design which visually echoes the analysis drawings. The spherical joints allow asymmetry and freedom in design as they can connect at any angle.

Seat

Asymmetry of the human form is apparent in the way that we adapt to an environment.Often the place we choose to sit is not intended to be used that way. Sitting on the arm of a chair being one example. It seems that we enjoy the stimulating experience of balancing or adapting to the surroundings. Based on this logic, the seat is warped from its symmetrical form to present an object with no determinate seating arrangement.

ASYMMETRY

Room

HABITATIONDISSASOCIATION

Set within the same parameters as the body study, we investigated the adaption to, and usage of a desk. The study shows the extremities of movement which prescribe a modular basis on which to design a study/ library.

To be fully immersed in work, you have to extract yourself from the surroundings. As a psychological step, raising the study space allows the user to rise up from the distractions of every day life and feel lifted from their problems.

DISTORT

Continuing the theme of asymmetry in the body, the room has been manipulated.The walls have been angled and distorted to create an enclosing space for the study. The walls lean in as if they are bearing down on you, intended to focus the user on work.

Room

Plan

ElevationEnd Elevation

Room

(Below) Light Study

(Above) Room visualisation showing secluded, stimulating work space

Natural light provides a stimulating environment that is constantly changing. The reaction to moving from a low, artificially lit library space to an elevated platform bathed in natural light is intended to improve work ethic and provide an enjoyable study space.

Advocates Close is situated in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, just off the Royal Mile. It is one of the few remaining sites still vacant and open to development. The site invites a number of interesting proposals including the opening of a passage between Advocates Close and the News Steps situated on the West boundary of the site.

Collectors House

SITE STUDY

Collectors House

Site Section

Collectors House

2nd Floor- Entrance levelMuseum/House

Ground FloorMuseum Space

1st FloorMuseum/House

3rd FloorHouse

Collectors House

Initially the parte was concerning the axis of

public, private and semi-private movement. The house

was to have one central connecting axis intersected

by an indirect axis for public movement. In

developing the idea, the triangular light well became

the linking piece between the private and semi-private

areas of house and museum and the facade became a

barrier to public movement that creates the indirect

axis.

CONVERGING PATHS

Section in context

Usage Study

Red- MuseumBlue- House

Collectors House

Elevation and End elevation in context

Collectors House

Visualisations and Model

Collectors House

Exploded Axonometric

Plaça de les Camareles, 08001, Barcelona

Body- ‘Architecture constrains bodily gestures, while supporting its own gesturality’

This is particularly interesting in relation to a dance centre or singularly, a dancer, where the gestures of bodily movement are being constantly challenged and pushed, with the dancer only being limited by the constrains of the human body.Architecture and dance share common ground in that architecture can only explore certain elements within the parameter of the physical limits of the materials used.

The project enjoys the gesture of a rising ground plane, extending from the ground to allow the elevated performance of dance. This derives from the image of a dancer ‘En Pointe’ rising to limits enforced by nature and gravity.The element of rising is apparent in the whole building beginning with the preparation of dancing. The changing rooms are located below ground at car park level from which the journey towards dance is a constantly raising and uplifting affair.

This is continued in the materiality of the studio where light elements such as glass, wood and slender metal components are used. These are used in contrast to the heavy concrete foundations prevalent on the site. The car park is a heavy, industrial environment while this studio is intended to sit lightly just kissing the surface of the raised plane. The manual louvres allow the user to define the qualities of the

studio, allowing it to be bathed in light and visible to the public or closed off with diffused light.

Dance Centre

BARCELONA STUDY TRIP

Dance Centre

Location Plan

Locating Aerial Views

Site section

Dance Centre

SITE SURVEY

The first maquette- Generating move of the ramping roof line mimicking the sloping of car park ramps below and showing the ascent of the dancer from ground level to an elevated studio for dance.

Ribbon- The roof line cuts into and appears out of the ground plane linking both the courtyard and the car park by threading this continuous ribbon between the two.

Combination of a folded ground plane and ribbon-The ground plane is altered to accommodate its usage. At parts it is lifted to provide public circulation underneath and dance above, at others it is lowered to provide a lower roofline while still accommodating dance. The ribbon then weaves between these folded elements defining areas of enclosure which then become the programme.

Manipulated ground plane with a refined ribbon-The ribbon is refined to a gesture of the circulation path. The simple roof line is reinstated.

Dance Centre

PARTÈ

Site Plan 1:500

Location plan 1:2000

Carpark plan 1:1000

Dance Centre

Dance Centre

North Elevation

MOVEMENTSituated at the mouth of a proposed opening to the MACBA courtyard, the building invites public interaction.The U shaped plan draws the public in, generating a new public space within the courtyard. The transparency and seemingly minimal barrier between inside and outside combined with the passage of public traffic underneath the cantilevered dance studio root the building firmly, making it a part of the site rather than a hindrance within it.

Dance Centre

East Elevation

West Elevation

Section on A-A

Section on B-B

Section on C-C

Sections 1:200

Dance Centre

1st Floor Ground Floor Carpark Floor

Plans 1:200

Dance Centre

Perspective Section 1: 100

Dance Centre

Timber primary supporting structure at 5m spacing

Aluminium frame supporting internal glazing panels2.5 x 1.8m

Louvres frame housing the manually operated louvresbolted back to aluminium frame1.25 x 2.7m

Fully adjustable wooden louvres1.25 x 0.15m

Roof Detail 1:10

Dance Centre

STUDIO 1

The feeling of weightlessness of structure is strived for in studio one. All columns, beams and frames are as slender and visually light as possible. To achieve this in the walls the enclosing elements have been designed on a modular grid which only have minimal connections to the ground plane and each other. The structure is exposed to maintain and celebrate the slender profile of the roofline.

Studio 1Exploded Axonometric 1:500

Floor Detail 1:10