Week 15 - Due

This week I finished up my sections, making sure the hatching and everything was correct, shown below

Below I have presented my drawings properly to show that I have understood the brief. I made sure that my A1 summary poster would be appealing to the public - adding a hero shot of the final perspective and a floor plan for someone to easily follow. My descriptions I thought were very to the point and succinct. See A1 poster which will be presented in class.

Final A1

Final Hero Shot Perspective

Week 14

This week was the final week to do up the plans and render them. Last project, I had a few issues with perspective so I used sketch up as a guide for perspective drawing and I am very impressed with my final results. I played around with sketching/rendering and overall the final drawings looked quite appealing on my A1 board. Shown below.

Week 13

This week I saw Yasu with some more drawings that I had worked on over the weekend. He asked me who would be using the amphitheatre and would it be used for the adjacent towns or backpackers maybe? This made me think about making it a day entertainment area, for anyone from the locals or people outside the town who wanted to perform and explore Pomona - a place for everyone to gather. After the performances, the visitors could then walk into the interactive library space and hop on the wifi etc.

Another thing he brought up was the crossing of the road that I have put in over the railway - is it safe? Consider the traffic flow and around what times. This crossing will be monitored at busy times, otherwise they will organise a safe-crossing advert to all who are making their way over to the other side. 

The difference between the gallery/art display and library is quite large. One area is quite interactive for the public, computer usage and coffee areas for communicating. Whereas the other area is more of a tranquil space, a space to reflect on Pomona or look at future decisions or art works that are being displayed. The visitors or local have a choice, encouraging them to also come back with different things being displayed/performed every two weeks or so.

These two places is to encourage visitors to walk to other areas of the town, to make them want to venture over the railway and see the other side… This middle entity will do this with community involvement. 

Discussing the overall form of the building with Yasu was good. The form with the skillion roof and slight raise makes the building look interesting form afar (exterior) and also whilst the visitors are walking through the space (interior). Yasu also suggested the middle interior part (that was originally designed to be outdoor) could be joined together with the roof - so the people don’t feel as though they are walking into a dead end.

Week 12

This week I was able to see Julian about my scaled plan. Take note: this plan was easy to explain as it was TO SCALE - remember to always be prepared in tutorials - you get a lot more out of it! 

A couple of things he said, people don’t like going down dead ends, which is fair enough, hadn’t throughout of that. So instead of making the middle area of my two split areas outdoor, I decided to use the roof to make it part of the interior, this would make the people walking through more comfortable with the space. They are able to walk through to the coffee area, have a treat and then walk onto the next experience. Another thing that was mentioned was that one entrance is enough, fewer entrances is more practical. So instead of having number of doors everywhere, one main entrance into the complex made much more sense. The amphitheatre also made it easier to make the space more open and inviting for new comers.

When I put the floor plan on the master plan, I considered the orientation and geographical aspects of the site. It was clear that one of the lounge areas had a glass facade and was facing the western sun - which isn’t great in the afternoon. Instead of flipping the plan around the other way and destroying my circulation, Julian suggested I needed to MANAGE the problem rather than try and change the design. I decided to manage these issues with extra shading from the roof and double glazed glass to protect from the rays of sun. The ventilation throughout the building is good, with the breeze going right through the middle and throughout the enclosed areas through the large doors. 

With the amphitheatre design, I was inspired by one from London

I had seen this before and it came to mind. I liked the way they were able to make an outdoor theatre space and connect it to one of the main building, seamlessly. I was able to do this with my system by making the bottom of the amphitheatre an entrance to the library offices on the ground floor of the building. 

Week 11

I first wanted to create my building form, and I attempted to do this in sketch up so I could see how it came together as a whole, before I started putting my particular spaces inside. This was a great way to start and SEE what I could do with the form of a building and how I could make it unique to any other. Otherwise I have the typical problem of starting off with a boring box building. After I was happy with my form, I was able to draw out my collection of systems, referring to my diagrams. I was now able to see how the circulation of the building worked - the most important part.

Sketch up forms:

I was able to see the connections/disconnections of the movement too and from my space to others, and throughout my own space. I encountered a few design problems, but was able to work them out by putting myself in the visitors or locals shoes from Pomona. I asked myself some questions, ‘where would I want to go next?’ ‘And why?’ This helped heaps, printing out plans and drawing over them - imaging as if I was walking through the space myself. I considered it for the disabled as well, they are still able to experience the space as well, with no stairs accessing the space.

Some changes made to the form - Week 13

After thinking about the spaces of each building I went on to have a look at the aesthetics of it. I want it to be a mixture of modern, but with a little bit of nature/wood areas to not take away from Pomona’s history. I have a couple of glass facade’s (Which I have drawn details of) that will bring in a lot of sunlight, but I have managers this with a larger edge to the roof and double glazed glass to refrain from too much sunlight. Along the concrete walls, I have timber framing to give it a ‘rustic’ natural look. These add character to my building form. See these in section renders. 

Week 10

I started to brainstorm for this project with my original ‘node’ concept in mind. 

The node is an easily transportable space that reflects the history of Pomona in terms of its growth an development - essentially a timeline of Pomona, represented by the axis.

The slow-moving panels, guided by an individual, reflects the measure of time and journey of Pomona. The design enables the people of Pomona to learn about the growth of their town whilst interacting with the space. This journey echoes the essence of their town; the community’s influence on Pomona’s history.

I wanted to reiterate this idea throughout my architectural entity. To make things interesting, splitting the library in half, to create a pathway between the two buildings, was one of my first ideas. It also then reflected the division of Pomona via the railway - I could then relate this division to my concept; that without the locals’ input, Pomona wouldn’t be what it is today. Also, this entity will help evolve Pomona’s future. 

One main entrance would be ideal, from the main round-a-bout and shop area. With the foods cape or another building encouraging people to walk towards my building (over the railway line), the town will come together, as a whole. This design is initially supposed to be quite humble, not too overwhelming for the small town. It still has to be quite significant so others from all over Queensland wish to experience the space.

I was cautious of what composition sat where, a few diagrams helped me with this.

Also had to make sure this was part of the town, by bringing in buildings around it to encourage the people to WANT to come and experience my space.

Keeping in mind the spot I wish to place my building is in a high flood zone. With this in mind, and finding information about the majestic theatre (flooded 1 metre high), I raised the entire entity, using dirt from the mountain areas, to be prepared from any flooding. The raised area is a slow slope, no stairs (for all to access) which helps to make the building prominent in the area of Pomona. 

My library is a multi-media library, storing the vinyls, for everyone to listen too. Free wifi, for maybe backpackers that might enter the town is available. The library is an interactive space for the community to all become a part of -  a lifestyle they haven’t yet created. Behind the shelves for the vinyls, is a place for the computers - the wifi area - with a great view outside to the next part of the town. The other half of the larger space is a walk through art display. This is more for the quiet ones who wish to appreciate the history of Pomona, or future endeavours that people want to display.

My original node design proposal, ‘a timeline of Pomona’ is incorporated into this design but creating a future for Pomona for the locals and welcoming new comers to the area - a place to relax, research and appreciate what Pomona has to offer.