House Typologies

Commentary for assignment 1 design process

I looked at various themes covered in my initial blog introducing the client.

These are: dust, sleep, rotting, seclusion, death, clear skies, hidden passages, still spaces.

I chose precedent pictures of buildings that had interesting towers for my inspiration.

I considered what towers are used for and how they could stand up.

They could be used as a lookout, watching people, living in seclusion, watching the stars, organization of space on available site, form a presence within the surrounding urban setting by being visible.

Towers have better vertical stability if there is a core that goes into the ground. They can support other structures or be supported by them. The clients requirement for a tunnel can be accommodated within a core.

Still life painters usually paint things like plants and rocks so I explored an aesthetic for some of my buildings that evoked that style.

If the tunnels were like roots, it would be an ideal way of stabilizing a structure and providing an excellent way to exit the building for my client.

The clients ‘works in progress room’ is to be located away from the bedroom.

There is to be a gallery space and also a drying/storage space for paintings.

Certain rooms need to be able to accumulate the client’s need for more dust than usual, so dark interiors are one option in achieving this. Another way is to position objects such as columns close together as to catch passing dust. This will also give the impression of the dust covered bars pictured in the first blog.

Unit 7 is a secluded area because the client requires still controlled environments to cope with his impediment in experiencing moving objects properly.

I started drawing my designs by hand after considering some of the key requirements of the client.

I chose some of these images and began modelling how they might look in 3d with Google SketchUp 6.

I chose four designs that I liked and thought had some potential to be developed.

I determined which two of these would be modelled in card and continued to refine some of the details in the SketchUp models.

I worked out roughly which elements would house which units so that I could decide what to do with all the remaining space considering the scale is not limited and there are other requirements of the client.

My first house typology is a tower within a tower. There are multiple floors to lookout from and they share a common column that they are either supported or cantilevered off. I left panels off the model design as to show the various layers it is made up of.

Unit 7 is in the top compartment of the tower.
Units 5,6 and 8 are housed on the floor midway up the building.
Units 1-4 are on the ground floor on the main plate.
Units 9-12 are on the same level as 5,6 and 8 but in the central tower section.
This house is an imposing structure that is self contained but allows good views. In the SketchUp version there was a tunnel system below the building.

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House 2 explores the use of objects as props to support other elements, even though the physics are impossible to calculate at this stage. The tower is stabilised vertically by root-like structures that double as tunnels and horizontally braced by surrounding structures and wedged rock formations.

Unit 7 is an area on top of the rock formation propped up by the tower and the structure on the right. (pic 1)
Units 5 and 6 are at the top of the tower.
Units 1-4 are in the rock-like structure wedged between the tower and another formation on the left. (pic 1)
The body of the tower contains units 9-12

Unit 8 is in the left structure. (pic 1)

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The third house typology is a fortress with two suspended towers. In the original sketch up design, there are lift shafts that run from the bottom of the towers to the underground tunnels required by the client. The bars that are running down the side of one of the walls holding the larger tower up are a response to the picture in the previous blog.

Unit 7 is in the open area outside of the towers but within the surrounding walls.
The larger of the two towers contains dwelling quarters for Sklyksk
Unit 5, to 12 excluding unit 7 are housed here also.
The smaller tower contains dining/cooking areas that include units 1 to 4.

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House 4 looks a bit like a cake but is actually responding to the rusty/dusty bars pic and also the one of the man sleeping because not only will the columns collect dust but they create interesting effects when lights passes through them.

Unit 7 is a courtyard that lies at the bottom of the area within the crescent circle tower.
Units 1-6,8 are internally placed in the circular substructure surrounding the tower.

Units 9 to 12 are located within the secondary tower structures running along the same perimeter surface as the columns adorning the front/open side of the crescent tower.