Journal Entry 10 - Design development

The most important feedback that I got from week 7 was again, not surprisingly, that my building blocks have not developed sufficient relationship with its context. At the moment it can sit anywhere on any site, which I totally agree...this has always been my major issue..

FAQs:

1) Why are you designing a car musem?
Refer to design statement....and why? Because I'm a car lover!


2) How did you decide where to place each block? Does it have any sort of relation to its surrounding context?
I started off by developing two grid systems on the site. One relates to the alignment of the heritage buildings, and the other relates to the alignment of other surrounding buildings. Those then became my formal and informal grids. 


I have certain grid lines that the building blocks follow, but while I was placing the blocks I sometimes offset or inset them, to create a sense of hierarchy, and to create voids. I would not deny that during the process it was somehow quite random, but in the end I am trying to create a place where one's journey is unexpected and self directed. If every block was placed accordingly to a grid system, wheres the excitement? One would always know where to turn..


Lastly my concept is to have a timeless building, one that allows for expansion and flexibility. Say, if some of the surrounding buildings gets knocked down, and my entire building was based on a grid system that was derived from those buildings, the building is no longer timeless...it has developed its own set of grid system that defines its placement on the site during a certain period of time. Each block to be added will have to follow its existing grid, thus no longer allows for flexibility. 


3) One suggestion from week 7 was that I already have two distinctive levels above ground, is there a reason not to  have another level/layer underground? 
No there is no reason not to, so this week I have considered the opportunity of having a third layer, which I consider to be the layer that connects the building to the landscape.


4) Why does my building have to expand outwards from the 'centre'? Why not have building blocks over the whole site?
Because the upper level galleries are connected by walkways at the moment, therefore they had to be be clustered together in order to do so. And by doing this, I would be able to create more of a 'maze like' structure to enhance the sense of 'self exploration' and 'self discovery'. Also, the site is still a public park afterall, therefore I would like to have relatively big portions of parkland to remain intact for public activities.


5) Are the upperlevel walkways necessary?
I tried to sink the whole building down one level, then eliminate the walkways on the upper level, so the top level/ground level then becomes the public domain, and private entry is one level below ground. The two levels then interact somehow by ramps or voids or lightwells, and....


IT DOES NOT WORK!


Considering the turning circle for a vehicle, and all cars are to enter the galleries on ground level, so most of the buildings are 6 metres apart. If walkways are eliminated one will just be lost within the building. Although self exploration is desired, some kind of direction should be given to the visitors. (Kanazawa Museum has corridors that are 3 metres wide so they actually work as walkways that guide people around.) The scale of an art museum and car museum is very different.

Journal Entry 9 - Week 7 Interim Submission

Attached are my week 7 interim presentation panels, and some photos of my study model:

Open publication - Free publishing - More submission

Model experimenting with solids and voids using lights

Comments and feedback:


1. Contextual: the project needs to look more closely at the existing grid and has to show more integration with the context. At the moment the project can stand alone in any place. 

2. Spatial: develop the fine grain of the project inside the exhibition spaces displaying large objects.

3. Spatial/Formal: explore ideas and consider the spaces you develop on the lower part of each cube within the walls of the solid/concrete lower part of each cube. What kind of spaces do you develop for the people working there?