Lecture and Tutorial Blog: Week 4

Lecture

Introduction to Project 2:

Following the critiques of some stand-out work of project one, which reinforced the fact that I need to work on my drawings to make them effectively communicate. In project two we now have to look at the house in much more detail, as we are now focussing on individual aspects, paying them closer attention than we were able to pay to the whole house. I am fascinated to explore the ideas of life, and consider the way in which houses can manipulate and facilitate life over the coming weeks. I also have considered the statement the “House is the product of the spirit” by Le Corbusier that was raised in the lecture. This held a lot of meaning to me as the house is not simply a building; it is a dwelling associated with our deepest emotions of belonging and safety as well as being a place of memories, both of joy and sorrow. I hope to explore in the coming weeks the way in which a House can shape these feelings and emotions.

Tutorial

Ideas for Project 2:

I used the tutorial to explore early ideas on firstly the aspects I would like to analyse and secondly the way in which I hoped to explore my thoughts on these. I decided to examine Gehry’s House closer as I felt that I hadn’t been able to convey the many ideas I had about the house in an effective way, firstly because I didn’t have time to develop my thoughts completely, and secondly because of my poor drawing communication. The first idea I wanted to explore was, for me, the most central aspect of Gehry’s design, and that is the sense of enclosure and separation of the house from the street. This urban aspect of the design is achieved specifically through the material of the house, but through breaking the outside barrier with irregular glazing, Gehry blurs this line through interesting reflections of light inside and out. I aim to explore this through the use of a box-like model in particular that has light sources connected to it’s inside and outside, shining through the few breaks in this barrier. In order to try to experience the sensation that is felt in the kitchen and dining room in particular. The second idea I wanted to explore is the regular and lateral circulation that occurs almost in unison on both floors of the house, as the occupants aim to break away from the urban street outside into their more pleasant and personal garden at the back of this house. I aim to explore this idea through possibly an exploded axonometric view showing circulation patterns, but also through the use of pendulums in a less detailed and stripped back model of the house. Finally, I wanted to explore the raising of this traditional bland Bungalow to a shining force above the complicated and harsh design below. Furthermore, on the inside, in particular in the sitting room and main bedroom, the house also explores this hierarchy as these two rooms seem to sit, detached, above the rest of the house observing from above. I aim to examine this interesting idea through both direct drawings and models of these two main spaces as well as more abstract models showing the hierarchy of the space within this design