Final presentation

Final evaluation of the project:

Concept:

A way to bond/blend the building to site using the experience of memorial spaces and to show a clear connection of familiar atmosphere a continuum, from the exterior to the interior, the environment to the building. In order to do so one must understand the identities found in Coogee the nature formation of the site, the journey of the beach the curvature the level changes of the landscape (rock cliffs) and lastly look deeply into materiality as been a source of strength.

The journey begins with the experience the walk of Coogee from the busy streets of shops to the mind blowing views of the beach to the high cliffs and hills. My first impression of Coogee to me is a safe place quiet and settle compared to the Bondi beach and Mainly beach more glamorous and floods of people may be due to the time of day and certain season who knows for certain but one thing for sure was that the Coogee community consists of a range of people and ages in contrast to the image of young spirited Bondi and Mainly. With limitation of shops and crowds Coogee still stands firm as a tourist site for many but to me it’s better known to locals as a friendlier family place. History of Coogee is really interesting as it was use to be a well publicized place as tram trains were accessible few years back. The site itself was a lagoon which had creeks running through it.

I must say I’ve spent a great deal of time studying the site, analyzing everything, but this time I’ve made a conscious decision to direct my focus away from study the obvious sun, wind, direction architecture elements or terms but to search deeper finding more meaning of Coogee the identities, ‘memorial’ spaces/places/things of the site. As the result my collage was made. Using simple black and white photos as words is limited meaning to one man’s dictionary as photos/pictures can explore more than stories history background and feelings and emotions. The collage is made into a oval shape a circle as it symbolizes the unity the community as a journey, which is connected. Connected visually also texturally explaining the materiality as an emotion of strength. The decision of presenting it in black and white is to draw the attention not on the beautiful scenery but to the bond/blend created by lines, the connection the exploration of the nature ‘curve’ of the site.

ROCKCLIFF

THE MAN THE ROCKCLIFF

From this collage there were two things that what really inspired beyond one was the ‘Great rock cliffs’ as being a part of history, site and community as it is composited many things bricks, concrete stone sand this challenged my thinking and the second thing is how man blends/bond to all of this. These two things are very interesting to me, the fact that they are completely different things but when together it blends/bond completely telling a story in itself a metaphor being as a whole community.

Sadly I failed this exercise I guess different ways of exploring one thing is not greatly accepted, I guess I must draw myself back to being safe doing obvious architecture grammar.

The second exercise is a very inspiring exploration of the site the sections as it informs my decisions and become more conscious of the nature slope of the site. The introduction of the site starts with a challenge the connection of the oval and road. For this I’ve revisited the site several times later trying to find the nature balance. As my solution turns out to be ‘ramps’ using the concept of level changes of the rock cliff the experience.

The design starts with playing around with massing inspired by the site curve and old grandstand, as I have decided from the start to replace the grandstand for the reason of being a bad spot to view the oval games.

The planning starts with a logical grouping in my mind four main groups the office, the café, grandstand and the gym. Then connect them in a sensible manner. The decision to lift my building the main functions it is to create a journey the experience of the rock cliffs the beach of Coogee, also a metaphor of a journey to a place of gathering as the Cogge oval is a gathering place as an important centre point. The hall way or the pathway movement flow is very simple in the middle of the building to minimize wasting space to maximize working space.

This project I have encountered many problems such as if the community centre is run publicly or commercially, the size from the brief for the gym is not sufficient for a normal basketball court. My answer to these questions is community centre is more of a commercially building as the original building had gates it was a sign which a public building but privately was owned. The size of the gym could be solved by combining the two large gym halls into one made into a flexible space.

The new grandstand is situated in front of the building as it provides new exceptional views of the oval and which is connected to the café which is positioned at the old grand stand as views are limited but can also enjoy the great views of the oval to the beach/sea a great selling point to the café. Office is below which staff can easily monitor the building and the oval. For the access I’ve made a main ramp entrance for the public to the building and stairs for players and staff to the oval using level change to identify public and private areas. The building expands to the whole site being a settle size two levels but grand of its size and material used. The building is connected in a way which is connected to the old seating at the front creating a nature curvature which can be better understood by the above roofing.

The roofing is how building opera rates and seen by the public as I used elements of above lighting to create large space illusions and side windows for gym and café to collect all seasoned warmth and lighting. The roofing is my way of exploring the concept of interior to exterior the familiar atmosphere a continuum.

The materiality is really derived by exercise one the composition of the rock cliff, brick, concrete, stone, sandstone the feeling of harsh and age/history grounded.

FINAL PRESENTATION:

Final design I’m really pleased how it has turned out as it is well thought through, planning to the looks taking elements of nature and historical columns/piers to break the complexity. It was a fun project as first time encountering the usage of ramps to create journeys. For my presentation I concentrated on the perspectives as my concept is all about experience of the building therefore for not doing elevations as it only explains materiality also can be seen from the model which I made. It was ashamed that I wasn’t able to present my 1:20 section model which explains my usage of material well it is now uploaded because wasn’t able to take it back.

PERSPECTIVES AND SECTION

PLANS

SITE PLAN

1:20 SECTION MODEL

GROUND FLOOR PLAN MODEL

FIRST FLOOR PLAN MODEL

PLAYGROUND VIEW

GYM VIEW OF THE BUILDING

SKETCHUP MODEL VIEW 1

SKETCHUP MODEL VIEW 2

SKETCHUP MODEL VIEW 3

SKETCHUP MODEL VIEW 4

PASSAGE TO OVAL VIEW

ROAD SIDE VIEW

PLAYGROUND SIDE VIEW

MAIN ENTRANCE INTERIOR VIEW

MAIN RAMP ENTRANCE TO BUILDING VIEW

OFFICE/OVAL ENTRANCE VIEW

OVAL TO BUILDING VIEW

GYM VIEW

GRAND STAND VIEW

CAFE VIEW

Excerise 3

SECTION AND ELEVATIONS GROUND AND FIRST FLOOR PLAN
MODEL VIEW 1
MODEL VIEW 2
MODEL VIEW WITHOUT ROOF 1
MODEL VIEW WITHOUT ROOF 2
MODEL VIEW WITHOUT ROOF 3

Proposal

Initial concept sketchs 1 Initial concept sketchs 2
Initial concept sketchs 4

Development planning ground floor
Development planning first floor
Development section of site and building

Development planning on sketchup

Devlopment 3D concept model

PROPOSAL:

To bond/blend the building to site using the experience of memorable spaces and show a continuum, from the exterior to the interior, the environment into the building. In order to do so one must understand the identities found in Coggee the nature formation of the site, the journey of the beach the curvature the level changes of the landscape (cliffs and sand) and lastly look deeply into materiality.
My main focus of the community centre is really driven by the concept of the ‘community’ how it is been recognized and be used, heavily depended on its function how people use the building. Form is created to blend to the nature site which won’t be glamorous or bold as the site but stunning in a way from its size and the use of materiality.

Key words:
Reminisce /familiar à function: access/usage
A material: light/atmosphere
A space: emotion/ level changes/ size/ perspective view

FEELING:
(The site to me is really quiet explored by the group of people which are mainly local users and shown by threshold as been tight together and materiality as I call it ‘strength’ a term for solid material shows the site for been more of a private local usage)
(I am really fascinated by how the building is formed into the landscape trying to create this mutual bond as something you are familiar as it fits into the community not something different outrageous. As it started off no more than a feeling which one day on a mislead trip to a place which I didn’t recognize, only buildings were in the content, big modern buildings as it suggested somewhere in central as I walked I realized it was a street I’ve been before. The thought gave a deep understanding of modernism trend as it has no bonds to the landscape gave which feared me as building we build are clean of ornamental and are pure geometry shapes, as in doing so we destroy the stories and history of buildings which bonds itself to the site..)

ARCH 1202

The challenge for me is to make something which describes the feeling of the site but restrains to become abstract and from that branch itself in developing more concepts rather than knowledge straight forward plain data an add on to existing mappings. This is my response as represented as a form of art using photo collage creating a sense of interconnecting relationships between the five categories, as pictures photo can speak for itself.
The five categories in order as I have presented in my collage as a journey starting from the right bottom corner as the runner:

1. Threshold: First you must have a site a boundary. A conceptual boundary is created by nature landscapes as different surfaces create a boundary like the sea and land, level changes also creates bearers. As you can feel from the collage there is a sense of boundary line which connects each individual photo into a whole.
2. Materiality: Is one way of looking at boundaries as buildings surrounding the oval is like the landscape like mountains creating a cave effect as the site has one opening at the East side meaning wind sun will prevail. Materials found surrounding the site are very strong weatherproof materials such as brick, timber, concrete and stone. What I found interesting about materials is the fact how people made fillings in the holes of the stone to make it smooth it’s the gesture of making nature perfect.
3. Infrastructure: Material really defines private and public, the buildings surrounding the oval all mostly private dwellings which creates a closure a gathering point in the centre oval, the centre of Coogee.
4. Reciprocity: Infrastructure uses natural materials buildings starts to blend into the landscape as they mold it become as one like a hill. As the collage clearly shows how they blend in as black and white shades.
5. Insertion: Infrastructure ties with the idea of reciprocity it’s really important how it’s situated like a stone placed on the sand it creates a flow of the outside. As infrastructure is situated on 3 sides it creates a flow from the east as there are car parks at that end.
6. People/Community: As a whole I believe we must look to the people as well as we are designing for the people. In the collage the man is also blended into the landscape as like infrastructure. The question is what kind of people will blend into the infrastructure. As community arise and minority groups such as tourists, local residents, surfers, rugby players, families and so on. The key to assemble them as one.

PROJECT 3 ART GALLERY,SHOP/HOUSE

Jenny Green's Sculpture: Backflip
Oil paintings by Peter Francis Lawrence
Oil paintings by Peter Francis Lawrence
Oil paintings by Peter Francis Lawrence

The contemporary artworks I have chosen to display in my gallery uses the simplest abstract forms and colors to represent movement in nature also can be interpreted into a journey or circulation flow in architecture terms. Jenny Green an Australian born sculptor who lives in Sydney a quote for her approach to her sculptures’ my challenge is to capture a moment in time. I see my sculptures as drawings in space evoking both mood and movement’. I am very inspired by her artwork as movement can invoke emotions which I try and capture in my design using circulation a huge design concept. Peter Francis Lawrence also another well known Sydney artist which his oil paintings draw the approach best described as movement in nature. Also in his artwork we can see a relationship of movement and flow, what I like about his work is the nature colors in architecture terms materials this will be my main focus on the selection of materials I use in my design. Materials which I took out of these paintings were stone, wood, and concrete, very simple but a touch of modern taste.

Site: location
Initial drawings
Sketchup development 1Sketchup development 2


Final Ground floor plan
Final first floor plan Final 2nd Floor plan Long and short section

Section of the office,bathroom and interior courtyard

Views from Sketchup View of building from King street

First level view of the gallery lounge
Interior view of the front gallery to the back
The view of the masterbedroom and walk-in wardrobe
The upper main gallery view
The office view

The art of picking a site was not easy as the brief mentioned to be located in the heart of Newtown on King Street. My first impression to King Street was it was a busy place with many backgrounds as the upper street was filled with University students from Sydney University while the lower street was a crowd of people dressed very expressively commonly known as in the fashion of ‘Punk’. King street’s buildings all mostly Victorian heritage buildings where little modern architecture was found, from this I made a decision that my design would not be too dramatic which is bold, simple but creative in its own unique way.

I ended up picking a place in the lower part of King Street where the atmosphere is peaceful and quiet feel where it was not as busy. To me a gallery’s atmosphere is very important as it is also a dwelling; a busy road creates noise which will disturb the beauty of the experience of viewing the art. The location is sort to be perfect in my sense as it is very accessible 5 minute walk to the train station and the surrounding shops were somehow relate to art. The rare access street is a residential area which also contributed a part of the consideration of picking this place as it is good location for living.

My interpretation of the brief was to design an art gallery, shop/house for an art dealer.’ A gallery/shop in a dwelling’, this is very important concept to my design as I focused on the dwelling part more as I interpreted the building to be a gallery as a courtyard of a dwelling. Many things I have considered that have determined my decision on focusing on the dwelling rather than the gallery. My argument is that the building would be used as a dwelling more compared to being a gallery and if we concentrated on the gallery the space would be a waste because you can only use that space for the gallery. I believe a good living comes first above all. So my goal is to try and make spaces which cross the boundary which can be used as both shop or dwelling purposes.

My development is very simple as I first tried to design like an exterior massing which had a traditional façade and picturing the interior as the concept coming from my research of Le Corbusier’s La Roche-Jeanneret villa having the second floor looking over looking of the artworks. Then I looked at Kimbell art museum by Louis Kahn that really sparked my inspiration in design above lighting as a key element and different king of light such as green light. Testing if the rounded arch roof is the best way to go but I ended up changing because I wanted to do something of my own.

Then I started to develop the façade and the front gallery keeping in mined of a display area which all shops/ gallery have I made a small window. With a concrete wall blocking inside blocks any views of the interior. What I’m trying to do is making security in the sense of a dwelling and a preview of what kind of shop is it hanging paintings. Only diffuse light will enter into the front gallery, it is the darkest room only lit by lighting it is a sense which I try to convey. Relates to my concept of flow like but in a sense of tone it gets lighter as you go further the’ journey’ to search for light. And putting where the stairs are at the other side of the entrance later on changed it to in front of the entrance which I believe is much better as a gesture of welcoming that the positioning of the stairs is very important as hidden stairs means it’s private. (Talking about stairs I decided to install a see through staircase because it acts as a window a preview of what the main gallery would be)
Keeping in mind with all the rooms I have to develop I made a quick analysis of which spaces would be where, and that it goes public to private from ground to top level. So in logic terms I listed down the functions of each room related to each other as a sense of flow leaving me ground floor having an office, toilet, gallery, garage, and storage space. As you can see from the photos I have extended the window of the façade using up maximum amount of space. I started to introduce a curve in my rectangle site which later on I changed as introducing a curve might disturb the rhythm of the design. Also you can see from the picture that I have put a stone path on the left side of the ground floor it acts as a non visual bearer but a bearer to protect the paintings and a sense of flow is seen from the stone path.
Then I started to play with the level changes giving distinct areas of the gallery as level and height of space will contribute to the experience the front gallery is in smaller. I made the front gallery much lower in height because I discover the nature of shops as; the front gallery is mostly a browsing area which is the decision where people would want to continue or not very an important space.
Then I got a problem which I solved later putting an interior courtyard was the positioning of the office and toilet if I made it to the wall it would disturb the flow of view, which is my main focus.
My design is really focused on natural lighting as each room has its own portion of the sun light. The main 3 areas which give natural light, first is the main gallery strip as it gets above south sun light which is even it also gives an opportunity for artwork viewed from above. The second area is the interior courtyard which its main purpose to give green lighting to the office and the bathroom. The interior courtyard will be filled with shrubs and bamboos a Japanese garden which is clean and neat. I think the experience of gallery must be taken to every part of the building even the public bathroom must be considered. The window acts as frame as the landscape garden acts as the painting which also relates back to my artworks of nature. The bathroom can be accessed from the office or the main gallery which is very convenient.
The third area is the main outside courtyard which provides a space for viewing a sculpture by Jenny Green it also acts a divider to spaces as it divides public and private as the back part of the building is where the garage and storage area is and the bedroom/workshop for the artist.

The first floor’s purpose is very simple as it acts a upper viewing platform and also a function area which parties and meetings could be held as it occupies a kitchen and lounge and 2nd main gallery. This is the area I explored as the space that cross the boundary, having sliding doors it enables the owner to make the kitchen private or public. Also the lounge at level two can be used as a spiritual space when needed when the gallery is not opened.
The kitchen is connected to the back building as I mentioned earlier my focus is the flow of circulation. This is very convenient for a dwelling purpose as an example if the owner comes back using the car buying food his/her first place would be to the kitchen putting a access there it meaning shorter route rather going to the front stairs going up. It also acts as a private access not disturbing the main flow of the gallery. The workshop/guestroom is situated at place where easy access to the storage when finished or needed supply from the garage. I made enough space to become a bedroom also when not used as a workshop as it too has an ensuite access another space of the idea of crossing boundary purposes.

The third level is accessed by a private stair as positioned in a more private manner, first you arrive to the lounge it was very hard designing the third level as it has to match the existing floor plan of the lower. Trying to make efficient use of the space and keeping in concept of walking in wardrobe to the ensuite I ended up having the above design. As you can see from the plan I made the master bedroom bigger compared to other rooms as an office can be installed inside as what Adolf Loos said it is for the owner to decide what how they would like to decorate it. Maybe another room can be later on installed if they plan to have a child.
Last point I would like to point out on the third floor is the light catcher for the main galleries it’s shape is a half cut arch having only the top half glazed how it works is using reflection on to the wall it diffuses the light going down giving a more even light for viewing art.

My third project is really simple but detailed in every way, my main concept focus is about the dwelling and the ‘circulation of people’ and view because this is how they experience artwork and ‘circulation of view’ lighting etc. To achieve this I incorporated concepts of level changes and different types of light turning it into a journey. The material I used is very simple as I mentioned earlier I picked materials from the artworks ‘nature’. Using the materials I was also able to identify public to private as ground floor concrete, first floor timber and then second level carpet. The interior walls I have chosen are white because it gives a sense of clean and neat as it has no certain sense of background at all because each art work is different so I did not want to make certain assumption of a style etc.
The exterior of my design uses concrete which gives it a sense of modern also does not make a bold statement to the rest of the street.

You may tell I have used what I have learned from my pervious projects to this design. From the Bawa office I learnt how to use the flow of movement functions and from the second project the experience of views. I leave with this last message of this project is that I focus on the function of the design rather than the look, Frank Lloyd Wright ‘form follows function’.