Journal Entry 3 - (Semester 1) Precedent Studies

21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art by SANAA (Kanazawa, Japan):

• Circulation is an important factor to consider in any museum design.
• The Kanazawa Museum has a quite free circulation, when compared to the Porsche Museum. Each person who visits the museum can create their own journey.
• My interest in the expansion/flexibility idea: meaning the building can allow for future expansion, development and growth, this building demonstrates the possiblity.
• The four courtyards, each having their own characterstics, play an important role within the complex, creating a play between light and darkness, solid and void, openness and closure. This relates back to my concept of having light as a universal architectural element in enabling the timeless character of a building to emerge.
• The placement of volumes and courtyards were designed so that when one exits from one gallery, and before entering the next, they must go past a courtyard to refresh the mind. (A Japanese tradition).
• Circular boundary was used to create no corners, creating a constant continuity along the boundary, leaving it unbiased against one certain direction.
• Demonstrates similar characterstics with Le Corbusier’s Venice Hospital - the mat building typology.
• Question of whether there is a difference between displaying artwork and cars? (Diffused light vs Natural light)

The Model was made out of white card, grey box board and perspex.
It was designed and modelled in a way so that it explores and demonstrates my ideas from my literature review - The Timeless Building.

Removal of the roof

Exposing surrounding grid system

After the removal of the glass circular boundary, the builing can now be "expandable" and "flexible". Building blocks can now be added to the building complex without disrupting its original organization / circulation / building form etc.  It thus can be observed that the glass boundary confines the building which restricts expansion...The idea of flexbility and expansion are the main characteristics of the Mat Building Type which I think successfully demonstrates my interpretation of a 'Timeless Building".

Porsche Museum by DELUGAN MEISSL (Stuttgart, Germany):

• The Porsche Museum has quite a controlled circulation path, hence creates a controlled journey through the building.
• My interest in the expansion/flexibility idea: meaning the building can allow for future expansion, development and growth, this building demonstrates the unlikeliness of such growth.
• Doubts on the irregular (random) form of the building. I believe there wasn’t a strong enough reason behind such a form design.
• Comparison between a car museum and an art museum with a similar circulation path - Porsche Museum VS Guggenheim Museum.

The Model was made out of white card, grey box board and perspex.
I chose this particular precedent because its quite the opposite of the Kanazawa Museum in terms of circulation and building form.

How is it a Porsche Museum without a Porsche!

Note: Special thanks to my friend / photographer, Benjamin Sung, who took all those gorgeous photos of my, of course, gorgeous models.