balboa park nature center

our newest project is going to be to design a nature center in balboa park, San Diego. the actual sq footage of our center is to be around 10,000 but the site is much larger as you can see.



required in the program are public exterior spaces, public interior spaces, and caretaker spaces. however there is much room for interpretation within this program which will make each project unique in its own.

a very unique aspect is the fact that our site spans across a HUGE canyon. we are allowed to use as much as we can of it but are not required to use it all. this canyon will serve as a strong connection between balboa park and the opposite side of the canyon where joggers, bikers, and walkers are prevalent.



due for friday:

-site analysis depicted in 5 very clear diagrams
-3 concepts
--where the site of the center will be and what we preliminarily think the form of the building
will take

tuesdays at morrie and mitch's

project overview:
design a 200 sq. ft. home for two characters in a story (my characters being mitch and morrie).

main concept: intersecting lives at a critical point

from this main concept i developed my home as T shape with a slight tweak. this form represents the coming together of two very separate lives (mitch and morrie). where these two lives crash into each other i placed the most critical room in the house, the library. the library is the place where these two characters will come together to read and learn about the world around them and each other. also, i used to very distinctly different materials, wood and steel, to also represent the coming together of these two characters.

the final part of the program that i added was a music room because both of these characters had a passion for the art of music and ultimately lost it. with this additional music room i intend for them to rekindle their love for the art and express it together with their families and the world around them.

the presentation:

i think overall my presentation went pretty well. i had a good site model with a great 1/8" model on the side that i was very proud of my craftsmanship. my boards, although the drawings were done really well, was not up to par with what was expected. i did have higher expectations for myself but just could not quite get there. i had a hard time really making it flow together so i tried using green bands, but ultimately over saturated it with green. plus the printer did not help me much since the green came out even brighter on the print out than it did on the computer screen.

anyway, i did receive one comment that was very valuable that i thought was more important than the criticism about my boards because i already knew i could improve on it. the comment was this: "matt has very good architecture here. although his board doesnt do it justice, he has a very simple form that creates some really good spaces" *picks up my model to show the class* "look at how he tweaked the building ever so slightly, but created so many of these really cool in between spaces. like look at this one!" *pointing to my upper deck level* "this is such a cool space and i could this building with so much architectural potential"

with that here is my project:

*my presentation board was 40" x 60"

*floor plans of the two story home

*my main perspective of the
home from the grass park

*basswood model at 1/8" = 1' - 0" scale

today is full of work

today and tomorrow are my last days for completing my project work.

todays agenda:
- scan my rendered drawings into the computer
- set up my presentation board
--i really need the board to flow and although it is supposed to be made of 6 individual boards i
want to make it flow as though it were one board. this will make it very attractive for the
viewers
- edit site plan to add streets and side building masses
- basswood model
- review my concepts and establish a good verbal presentation

i know this sounds like a lot to get done in a day but as dorky as it sounds i love it! it also makes it easier with a nice 23" lcd tv mounted on the wall in front of me playing the lord of the rings trilogy. so here goes, ill post the final product withing the next few days

project update

just wanted to give an update to let you know where im at with my project. currently i am in the process of designing my presentation boards which means i am completely done with my building design. i must say i am pretty pleased with what i have designed. of course there is always room for improvement in ANY design so my design is not perfect but i feel that it is a very strong proposal for my two characters to live in.

our presentation is to be placed on no more than (6) 20"x20" boards arranged two boards wide by 3 boards down. im working on blending these boards together so that it becomes one composition rather than individual boards.

i plan on having my boards mostly finished by saturday which leaves the entire weekend for me to construct two house models and additions to my site model. i want to plan on donating as much time to the models as much as i can because im really excited to use my dremel for the first time!

stay tuned for the final product!

first project of winter quarter

monday was the beginning of the quarter and it started with the introduction to our first project. we were given a pre-existing site in the golden hills area of SD (just east of downtown) and a story with two main characters to analyze. these two characters are our clients and we are given a program to create a two family house for them. analyzing the character's ideals and emotions drives our program and the rooms we decide to incorporate in our design.

for my story i read Tuesday's with Morrie. the two main characters from the story are the professor, Morrie, and the student, Mitch. Morrie is a older man who has been diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease. although he knows of his inevitable fate, he faces his end with a smile and a desire to share his love with every person he encounters. one person who he specifically wants to help is his previous student, Mitch. Mitch is a very self centered man who revolves around making money. throughout the story, Morrie serves as an anchor for Mitch in bringing him back down to being a loving person.

with this, i came up with my primary concept that i call "intersecting lives." i have a basic design with two intersecting rectangles that crash at one specific point. this point is where i placed the library. its symbolically serves as the anchor between the two characters as a central place in the home where they go to read and learn from one another. through this concept i am developing a 2,200 sq ft home for these two families. my goal is create a place that is cohesive for each person's needs and also serve as a building block for the two main characters to grow and learn from each other.

my project is due on jan 25th where we will present our final proposal. stay tuned for my final boards and models

winter quarter

tomorrow kicks off the start of the winter quarter. pretty excited to see what design projects are in store for me.