Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Project 2: Model
















Project 2: Narrative

A bridge for a ‘lifelong’ bachelor to entertain, while having his process of longing left unseen.

- Edward Hopper, Excursion into Philosophy

Project 2: Final Submission Drawings and Text

PlanSection of 'Entertainment' Bridge




Short Section with shower centered



Section of 'Private' Bridge and a cut into 'Entertainment' Bridge




Front Elevation





Angled Front Elevation






Axonometric Drawing


A bridge for a ‘lifelong’ bachelor to entertain, while having his process of longing left unseen.
- Edward Hopper, Excursion into Philosophy

- Parti:
The bridge/or series of adjoining bridges determines the Parti. There is an ‘entertainment’ bridge and a ‘private bridge’. The private bridge is made private through a doorway in the bathroom, unknown to the female quest; therefore the use of entry also determines the Parti. The Parti is also activated by the notion of ‘unseen’
A bridge: implies movement from one destination to another. This is a bridge that connects his journey from empty bachelorhood to a search for inner fulfilment beyond. The spaces are about movement and rest, the abundance of light triggers movement/exploration. Rhythm creates kinetic space. Light is used as the catalyst for thought. Light establishes the narrative of the space. In relative order, light is seen as a mirage, monumentality, hierarchy, contemplative, exposing, revealing, awakening and freedom. The bridge marks the succession of events from the bar, to the bed and so on.
‘Left unseen’: the bridge is not entirely hidden, but reflects the visual ability to see it or not. The window cut at the entry plays with this idea and the room unseen behind and unsuspecting door.
The morning routine: The narrative reflects the frozen moment in the painting. The progress of spaces develops with time, his routine from the night before to the morning after. It also reflects the woman’s ‘morning after’ routine.

- Site: the Massif des Calanques: Near Marseilles
Steep, dramatic coastal valley, emphasises the horizontality of the bridge. The glamour of location, and proximity to Monte Carlo, adds to the 1950’s James Bond ultimate bachelor.

- Windows and Doors:
In reference to Qian, the entry to the bridge is a window that must be manoeuvred into – the head-height and rise up. It emphasises the act of illegitimate sexuality. The sound of the waves enters the room through the slit in the curtain glass against the sliding walls, reflecting the 1950’s exploration of sexuality in film through the use of waves. There are no conventional door in the entertainment part of the bridge, but as the persona progress so does the ‘validity’ of the door. The idea of the window is blurred with open cuts, reflecting the idea of an open bridge. Windows and openings create the progressive narrative.

- Architectonics:
Design: reference to Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth House: with the notion of abundant light, degree of solitude, context of 1950’s and aesthetic reference in idea of sliding curtain walls. Design reflects the planar qualities of 1950’s modernity, a symbolic reference to 1950’s social change for the development of bachelorhood. The horizontality of the bridge reflects to single men moving to city apartments or pads.
Sliding wall curtains create chaotic order of movement along bridge
The columns: reflecting the structural quality of the bridge, but also referring to worship of sexuality; the columns of light draw before the podium of the bed.
Major internal design elements: the entry, the columns, the bed, the shower, the stool, the cubicle, the exit.

- Materiality:
Bridge is very open; although there is a roof and in part walls, the play of walls, glass balustrade and reference to the outside confirm it is a bridge.
As such, the Bridge is constructed of concrete that is painted white, with glass balustrade built in furniture laid appropriately. All furniture is in built, emphasising in the unadorned, structural quality that a modern bridge possesses.




Sunday, May 10, 2009

Project 2: The Bridge




A bridge for a ‘lifelong’ bachelor to entertain female friends, whilst hiding a world of hopeful longing.

Edward Hopper, Excursion into Philosophy


The building is built as a bridge, with a bridge connecting the entry and a bridge connecting the two spaces – the two worlds. The bridge is symbolic of the journey that this man takes in the painting, realising his emptiness and longing for more. The site is a steep coastal valley, which the bridge leaps over; the verticality of the site, through contrast is to heighten the horizontality of the bridge. Also, the glamour of location adds to the 1950’s James Bond bachelor representation.

In reference to Mies Van Der Rohe’s Farnsworth House (In the notion of ‘abundant light’)I considered the idea of curtain walling through the idea of ‘skins’ of walling, as such my design plays with that (my reference is more aesthetic). The world that he entertains his female guests has an outer skin of vertically folding walls to connect this part of the bridge to the ideas carried from the site, whereas the ‘world of longing’ experience Villa Savoye inspired horizontal slits, to connect with the idea of the bridge connecting two worlds – to show contrasts. The holistic design is aesthetically derived from 1950’s modernity; this is the time that the idea of bachelorship began with men moving into bachelor pads/apartments, hence the focus on horizontality.

The ‘entertainment’ part is entered through a ‘window’ – highlighting the sense of illegitimate lovers. From this part of the bridge, the other ‘longing’ part is hidden, which I play with perspective and the balcony across the entry plays with teasing the idea of not being able to see it. In the entry there is a bar for the bachelor to entertain. This bar is also wide and deep enough to act as a ‘bed’ to start off the succession of events. As things heat up the bachelor and his guest move through the double column like entry – as a temple worship into the bedchamber. The sound of the waves enters the room through the slit in the curtain glass against the folding doors, reflecting the 1950’s exploration of sexuality in film through the use of waves. Also there is a space next for this sophisticated bachelor and the guest to dance the night away. As the bachelor awakes the next morning, programmatically before the guest, he first hears the sound of the outside and then sees the abundant light as it hits his face; it provides an awakening of his inner self. The bachelor’s excursion occurs in the morning setting (the painting is a morning scene), the bridge incorporating the man’s morning routine to almost force him into this journey. As he enters the bathroom, he takes a little leap across (obviously symbolic) the water and closes the sliding ‘wall’ and amongst other things needs to have a shower. To have this shower he must enter a bridge and close a hidden door in the folding walls behind him; I explore the evolution of the entry throughout. As the guest awakes, the light doesn’t allow her to procrastinate in sleep. As she realises the bachelor has left she changes in the bathroom in case that he comes back. She cannot hear the shower as she is distracted by the water feature that extends across the floor. The feature also disallows her movement to the balcony – as she will see the ‘other world’. As she leaves the bathroom through the entry, the alignment of the sliding wall, to the bedroom glass panel, to the entry bridge directs the guest back out the illegitimate window entry, and away. On the other hand, the shower that the bachelor is in has no roof, acting like the window in the bedroom, acts as a downward well of thought (as with the painting), where he looks up into the sky to reflect on the world around him and back onto his own life (this shower provides a long enough moment for ‘excursion into philosophy’). The wall adjoining the shower is actually the door into the world of longing; after cleansing away the filth of his bachelorship he may now enter. Here he is met with a single built in stool and a large floor to ceiling glass curtain which looks back onto the world of bachelorship, reminding him what he has just left. As he begins to yearn over his shallow life and long for something secure and real he can retreat to his safe cubicle to think of what he is longing for. This is a reminder of the emptiness of his current life and a juxtaposition to the show glamour of the 1950’s bachelor. The main light entry into this cubicle is from a cavity-like slit to a large glass exit door that extends a vista to the world beyond. As he, in his longing, decides to leave this safe cubicle in the power of wanting more, he ventures through the rhythm of balcony/wall to suggest movement to the door that he allow the bachelor to explore to fill his longing. He is on the other side. The bridge is complete.

Project 2: Development of the Pad

I spent a few days exploring the ideas of the pad. However, as expressed in the last image (with the red corrections and black pen circles), I was not able to express the 'hidden' entry for the bachelor into his space. Moreover I was not able to justify certain design elements like the rising entry and exit stairs; the idea of the 'pad' was to keep things simple but I soon came to realise (as in the elevation) the design was not aesthetically pleasing, nor was it expressing my narrative effectively










Project 2: Development of Inspirations and Sources

The impact of these sources will be expressed afterward.


Calanques de Massif: The Site

James Bond: This monastery was featured in 'Casino Royale'.


The 1950's Bachelor Pad

Mies Van der Rohe's Farnsworth House



Project 2: Tutorial And Subsequent Days

A Pad for a 'life-long' bachelor to entertain his female guests, while hiding his world of emptiness

I was playing with representations and plays of space to reflect certain ideas.







Project 2: The Beginning

This is the material that I presented to Felicity during the first tutorial of Project Two. I also had a model that


NOTE: This is all in the development.

The ‘lifelong bachelor’ is distracted in his prosperous retirement by the tearing thoughts of emptiness.

This is an older man feeling trapped by his habitual bachelorship; the curse of emptiness that pervades into his mind in light of the fullness of the landscape. But light is reflected on his face, there is hope for him if he wants it; he can find his solitary happiness. But the road most taken, even though it is darker seems more probable in his indecisiveness, which may take him over the edge if he is not careful at a time where such a thing is alluring to a mind in pain. Or, as even such a junction of choices is quite difficult to experience, he may want to remain in what is known and sure; what is portrayed as glamorous to those around him.


Design Ideas Projected
- The site: luxurious in location but contemplative in vantage point. Dramatic scenery reflects the height of drama in his thoughts

- Horizontal building on vertical site: contrast – people strive for prosperity for happiness, where it is actually an empty life.

- Top of cliff: Eagle – top of the food chain – reflecting the stage in his life, and the Darwinist view of life.

- Bachelor: a welcoming, but solitary experience in building.

- Retirement: place of contemplation in life; memory of past

- A drop off: a large part of area with no railing extending beyond site edge – the course of mind! Will he jump into despair

- Immense contrast (duality): contrast between glory and failure – light and dark – open/showy and hidden. What poor choices that were hidden in his mind have been dredged up – dark coming to light

- Horizon – can he find freedom from his mind – freedom from memory in big blue sea – observation in part for hope.