INDIGO SLAM

KEY CONCEPT:

The plasticity of the weaving concrete forms are breathed from a study of the interplay of light within the interior spaces. Pinned off the building, the façade is supported by the steel mullion elements used to house the glazing and mechanical elements. Smart Design Studio experimented with the idea of cutting, folding and stitching together flat planes to provide privacy and create dynamic space. In doing so, the building’s exterior not only serves as a sculptural piece, but also informs the manipulation of light for the building’s interiors. As an integral architectural element, light was an important function in the design of the house, as there was only one façade that could be glazed a reflection pool was placed below the sill of the ground floor entertaining space so as to reflect light up and into the spaces above. This language of weaving carries on through to the composition of interior spaces and how you meander up through the building. In addition, the building’s brief was to last over 100 years and to be as manual as possible as electronic technologies change rapidly over a few years and have a tendency to fail and need repair. These elements include, the oversized vertical timber blinds that turn and retract by means of hanging chains and awning windows operated by geared winders. The brass armatures for these moving parts lend finely grained detail to the interior and to the steel, glass and concrete of the building façade.

SELECTED DESIGN ELEMENT:

I have selected to create a sectional detail model of the front façade system cutting through the reflection pond that sits beneath the dining hall on the lower level, through the structural mullions that form the housing for the glazing system, support for the façade, and for the oversized timber louvers behind. This detail will reveal how each component intersects with the other, highlighting the main structural connection between them. In addition, the aim of the model is to create several concept models of scored and folder paper Marquettes to inform my study into the architectural techniques behind the design.

CONCEPT INTEGRATION INTO THE DESIGN STUDIO:

For the past couple of years, I have been interested in the use of a 30-45 degree curve as an architectural element that can be used in several ways throughout a project. In my last studio assignment it was employed in a similar function to Smart so as to provide visual privacy to residences and a strong visual frontage to the commercial tenancies. The interplay between the fins were of an overlapping nature like scales on a fish, as opposed to a manipulation of a single plane. By modelling this single plane method hope to gain an understanding of minimising conceptual and material complexity while being able to provide a solution to a design problem in an aligned manner, in the same way Utzon made use of the spherical geometric rigor in his approach to the opera house shells.

PROPOSED SCALE, MATERIAL & TECHNIQUE:

As mentioned above, I first want to create a series of concept models out of paper to effectively communicate how the peeling and stitching is achieved. Stemming on from this, the model scale will be at 1:50 and will make use of heat bent acrylic sheets for the façade form which will attach to aluminium vertical fins. These will be cast into a plaster base that will enable the detail model to stand on its own while providing a solid base to cast a relief of the pond into.

HOURS AND BUDGET:

I estimate that the model is going to take around 10 hours of man time plus another 24 hours for curing the cast base. I am hoping to ruse materials from my first model for the mullions along with $25 for laser cutting the acrylic, $16 for the acrylic and the plaster is also free.