progress

after a very reassuring critique from my studio instructor about my design, I am starting to get more in depth with articulating the building now.  I know that the overall form my building has taken is a very strong one with great reasoning.  now, I want to make it even more successful with great interior spaces as well.  here's a quick snapshot of the school, and I will try and update with another photo tonight as I plan on getting a bunch of work done on it.

p.s.  my finals week has been switched from 11th week to 10th week.  that means that I will be even more crunched for time in this next week since I will have 3 finals, and 2 papers due.  its crunch time!!

I made the south wing (studio section) larger to fulfill a greater program and
have started to play with the idea of a hard vs soft shell.  More on that to come!

continuing the process of design

throughout this project I have constantly tried to find the best design for the desired program.  ive done the site analysis, researched school layouts, analyzed the program, and done everything to create a strong design.  however, I have felt like ive been fighting myself and the design this entire time.  so yet again, I took a step back in the design, and truly looked at what was desired.  I kept it simple, and because of this I have made a radical change to my plan and it is definitely for the better.

below is the concept description of how my new building's form has taken shape.  this time, I have found what I believe to be a strong solution for the school and I have a new found push to create some good work.

new program!

I was given the privilege from a fellow classmate, the program called V Ray.  it is a 3D modeling program, with this one being specifically linked to Google Sketchup.  now, whenever I need a quality render of my designs all I have to do is simply click a few buttons, change a couple settings, and then I get the improved photos as shown. this project could very easily be one of my very best...in presentation terms at least.

also, we had a preliminary pin up today and I must say that I have a ton of work in front of me.  I realized that I was trying to hard to FORCE a design, rather than let it develop.  I latched onto one strong idea from the beginning, but was not open to other possibilities.  that is why tonight I am going back to square one and really analyzing the program at hand as well as the site in which the campus is placed.  from there, I hope to come up with a more cohesive design that responds to the site as well as my concepts and design goals.

for now, i'm enjoying this wonderful program!

*notice how elementary and cartoon-ish it looks

*this program transforms simple drawings into what

appear to be actual built models with shade and shadow

 *this program will not only present my project better, but serve

as a learning tool throughout the process.  for example, I can do

thorough sunlight analysis and studies that I could not have done before

site adjacencies/circulation/concept

I made great progression tonight with the project as I was able to design a preliminary site plan with adjacencies, circulation, and program layout are initially solved.  I use the words 'initially' and 'preliminary' because it is still a little too early to have a finalized scheme.  my hopes are to print these photos and get as much feedback tomorrow as I possibly can.  once the program layout is finalized, the fun parts of design are able to take shape, such as material selection, form, in between spaces, and interior design.  I have many ideas floating in my head and many of them on paper so I cant wait to get them out and further explore them.

Much focus is placed on the studios and library in order to go with the 

concept of "learning with practice"

This plan largely came from earlier diagrams of the flattest parts of the site 

along with the areas in which the least amount of existing landscape and 

trees would need to be demolished for construction.

This diagram shows the main green spaces that will be designed.

This diagram shows the main circulation through the site and indicates 

where areas of high traffic occur, creating nodes.  The largest and most 

central node will be landscaped and developed to be the place of main

interaction on the site between students/faculty/visitors.

keep it simple, achieve a lot

these are the most basic ideas/concepts that I will be mainly working with for my newschool design:

1)  Simple volumes

2)  Lots of glass

3)  Controlling Light

4)  Cantilevers

5)  In-between green spaces

6)  Inspiration for community/architectural world