Assignment 3: Wooden Horse

A resdience for the Park Attendant for Brompton Site :
street frontage is north east and has views to the centre park square.

Progress Screen Shots:

The above shows the "tower" shaft of light that travels from the upper window to the lower level through a window in the floor.

The Fence to the rear of the site is in response to the existing property on the block to that side. There were privacy and aestic issues which are resolved through the timber screen.

Creating a mezzanine

Introducing curves and interesting moments in plan

Potential solution to other facade in concrete surface treatment.

Opening up the facade. I have made the block between the high and low glazing a operable peice in which the entire side can open out to the garden, and experience nature from the inside. Connecting inside and out.

Ground and First Floor Plans.

The front fence is repeated with my neighbour which introduces the camouflage element as per the brief. It disguises the boundry to where one property ends and the other begins. It is a composite of concrete and timber both the primary materials of each residence.

Final Model:

Rendered:

Assignment 2: Mystery Play

Equus Self Criticism

Self Critisism:

I feel that that design 1, while works in terms of organisation of space is generic and not dynamic or exciting enough for the residence. design 2, a continuation of design one into sketch up helped explore the lighting in terms of designinf fenestrations. I liked the effect of the tower/light shaft. Over all i feel it lacked something, perhaps it may have worked better if it had been split inot levels or someway incorporated into the ground. Design 4, again lacked soemthing, a more dynamic form perhaps could have been more effective.

I liked design 3 the best and felt it has the most potential to carry on to the next assignment. I am pleased with how the plan and section have been interchangable and i feel it works well. I also think the overall shape work aestetically. Although the tower for this residence looks like an afterthought and while the idea is ok, i think it could be done much better.

The next step (as advised in todays crit session) is to further incorporate the character into the design. The space should feel more of the Park Attendent. How can i use the park attendant and the notion of the panther to be further infused into the architecture of the residence, now that an overall form has been decided (not set in stone though)...


Things to think about:
-the phenomenological
-re-evaluate the tower for this design
-futher infusing the character with the building
-i think i need to re-look at internal dynamics also.

Submission 1: Equus

The Four Designs here are for a residence for the male park attendant. The client here is a man living on his own who is disconnected to the outside world and uses his home as a retreat from society that surrounds him. However he feels a deep connection to the environment to which must be taken into consideration. I have captured this idea of hiding and embracing nature and in particular, views.


In Design 1, I have the front facade closed to the public view, which in turn had no view upon the public. This is in motivation of his solitary attitude. The entrance to the main body of the house is located well within the site allowing a private entry which is in signifies his disconnection from the outside world. The House is formed around the courtyard and is accessible from the entry so that the park attendant can see visitors whilst keeping his privacy.

The detachment of the study zone and tower is so that it is a retreat from day-to-day life and is uninterrupted by the noise and clutter, and provides an escape. In this design the tower is in the study zone- a tower of light streaming into the space, to which the mirror is on the floor reflecting the heavens. Metaphorically it is a gateway to his late wife, who passed away from illness many years ago.









In design two similar ideas have been incorporated into the design. Views are limited to that of the surrounding environment and closed off from society. The tower, in this design, is a shaft of light coming from a vertical window, to which the mirror is affixed to the wall running perpendicular to the window, to which would be illuminated when the sun strikes it at the particular angle.









The client at hand shows an obsessive interest in the Black Panther to which he his behaviour has undeniable similarities to some of the characteristics of this wild animal. Just as the panther hides waiting for prey, the Park attendant hides away in his home, away from social interaction. In house Design 3, the large solid wall on the side of the house essentially ‘hides’ the home; the wall shields all public view of the house. At the same time it emphasises his dislike and disconnection with the outside world. As a person he has disconnected himself from society but immersed himself in the environment. View of nature is vital, thus the full height glazing on the back facade allowing a comprehensive view out upon the surrounding landscape. The view to the forest surrounding area is directed and focused; no other perspective can be seen from his living area. The tower in this design is located at the base of the living/kitchen window [tower not in photos] it acts as a tunnel to look down, when the client looks down he meets his own own reflection.










Design 4 follows on with this approach, in that there is a large wall acting as a blocking device from external views. Here the rear of the residence is open to the surrounding landscape as to satisfy the client’s passion for nature. The tower in this residence takes the form of a glass wall within the living space looking across the walkway to the mirror situated on the backside of the front wall. This is to serve as a reminder to the client that the client cannot exist without the external world.















THE WORKING DRAWINGS:

Design 1:



Design 2:



Design 3:




Design 4:

The Ghost of the Forest- character revsion

I have revised the profile of my character after researching the behaviour and traits of the black panther as Hedjuk described.



“The ghost of the forest”

Park attendant Brian Hones-Smith stays silent as he watches the Black Panther pounce on its prey. The bird falls limp and is gripped by the jaw of the predator. The animal retreats back into its hiding place and waits. Brian wonders onwards wondering how much longer the panther will wait before it surfaces again, sometimes days go by without the panther moving out of the darkness. Brian walks alone. Brian spends little time with others, the park and the animals are all he needs. A life of solitude. The lines on his forehead speak of his 64 years on this earth. He has walked alone for many years now; His wife and the mother of his now grown children was the prey to a predator we know as cancer.

Animals intrigue him, and the natural environment is his primary interest. While the park has always been his life, it has not always been his career. Brian studied economics in hopes of making his parents proud and to be able to someday support a family. Though happiness did not follow. To put on a shirt and tie and talk of values and rates, to Brian, was not living. One day, when he visited his favourite place as a child, the national park, he met the woman who he one day made his wife and raised two children with. He took it as a sign the park was where he belongs. He left the suit and ties behind and joined the national wildlife park as a park attendant. His role as park attendant was originally an administrator’s role, though nothing could keep Brian inside for long. A curiosity of the animals and in particular the Black Panther consumed him. To be confined to an office only brings back unwanted memories of a long summer’s afternoon locked in the cupboard by his trickster older brother. Brian loves the outdoors, the dirt and dust underfoot and the call of birds and other animals in the distance. To read is his escape. He lets his mind wonder from reality and jump into the fictional realms of Charles Brockden Brown.

The sun begins to set and brings the end to another day, Brian retreats back to his hiding place and waits.

Hejduk Berlin Night Character: Park Attendent male

"He records the habits of the black panther and reads the books of Charles Brockden Brown, 1771-1810, US novelist. The american panther is more vicious than the brazillian, it tracks night and day and licks the blood off the snow. "

Research:

- Charles Brockden Brown = American fictional author "the father of the american novel"

"Born to intellectual Quaker parents in 1771 and trained as a lawyer, Brown was one of the most important literary innovators of his age. His mind was molded in that last moment of the late Enlightenment when the desire to master the arts and the natural sciences was one, and knowledge was freely disseminated. Not only was Brown the most ambitious American fiction writer of his day, but he was also a probing literary theorist and a keen political thinker whose interests ranged from Cicero to Rousseau and from women’s rights to U.S. foreign policy." http://www.brockdenbrownsociety.ucf.edu/brown/default.htm

-The Black Panther:
-How does this influnce the perosnality of my character???

-Vicious?Threatening? Dark side? Misunderstood? Determined?

-Hows does this influence the grandfather figure i had imagined?

Character Profile: Park Attendant

Brian Hones- Smith. Wonderer by nature and nature he wonders. Brian is the national wildlife park attendant, and to this post, he has served God’s creatures for 33 years. At 64 years old, Brian has walked many roads, taken many paths and nothing gives him more happiness than to stop and look back upon it all. Born into a large family Brian was the youngest of five siblings whose love built him into the man he stands today. Though some days this love came in the form of bruises and an eye-full of tears from taunts and teasing, underneath it all lied loyalty and trust. Brian today stands in the eyes of society a senior, but to his family he will always be ‘little b’.

While the park has always been his life, it has not always been his career. Brian studied economics in hopes of making his parents proud and to be able to someday support a family. Though happiness did not follow. To put on a shirt and tie and talk of values and rates, to Brian, was not living. One day, when he visited his favourite place as a child, the national park, he met the woman who he one day made his wife and raised two children with. He takes took it as a sign from God; the park was where he belongs. He left the suit and ties behind and joined the national wildlife park as a park attendant. His role as park attendant was originally an administrator’s role, though nothing could keep Brian inside for long. To be confined to an office only brings back unwanted memories of a long summer’s afternoon locked in the cupboard by his trickster older brother. Brian loves the outdoors, the dirt and dust underfoot and the call of birds and other animals in the distance.

Burdened by the loss of his wife to cancer, his one and only love, Brian spends his days devoted to the park. Brian spends little time with friends of the past; all that Brian needs are his two children, now adults standing on their own feet starting their own families, and of course, the park.

He walks the trails, tends to the park life and helps anyone who seeks his guidance, in the park and in life. Shining through his glasses are his kind eyes. The lines that crease his face, are the indents of a live truly lived. His hands are rough round the edges; the result of his hard work over the years gone by. Brian misses his wife with every inch of his heart and hopes that God is looking after her until the day he will be with her again. Brian stands a tall, proud and loving man. He will never stop loving the park and all that lives and grows within it, and he shall keep serving the park until his body no longer lets him. Until then he lives a grandfather, a guide, a storyteller and a wonderer.