Project Three: Narrative

"A warehouse of weightless bay for artists such as Vexta to connect with people"

Final Comments

I have thoroughly enjoyed the design course for this semester, but I have not been challenged to resolve issues of space as I have with Project Three; it was by far the hardest for me to resolve (due to the conflict that I felt in containing street art in a gallery), but honestly the most rewarding in its results.

I ask that as you may view this blog that you understand that it is a development, and an expression of my progress through my design resolve, therefore I ask that you read from the beginning to the end. This means to totally understand Project 3 you must begin at the first post, which is titled 'Project Three: Design Preferences'

Thank you

Nicholas

Project Three: Model

The solid areas are the gates where the workshop/entry is.

The folding of the King Street corner revealing bays and gates of entry/workshop space



The impact of the graffiti wall

The expression of moving through the lane, between the graffiti wall and the weightless space

The corner where the existing lane turns as part of the gallery lane. Clearly visible is one of the panel entry/backboard of the entry/workshop space. The existing lane and the workshop are connected in the debris that exists in both (the debris in the workshop is the material used)

The existing lane

The folding, weightless corner into the lane from King Street

The framed window into the gallery. The wall folds into the adjacent lane

Looking down King Street to Enmore Road. The cantilever connects and blends with the adjacent buildings to resolve the corner well.

Looking up from the Enmore Road intersection. The graffiti wall is a billboard, addressing the road exposure of the wall and the need for very large scale to grab attention from afar. It is also reflecting on the 'I have a dream' mural on the opposite wall

Perspectives

Plans

The plans show how the entries into the galler spaces are on the lane that is given back to the community, which connects to the existing lane. The gallery is cut into bays, interwoven bays of workshops and gallery spaces to host for more than one artist or more than one experience. The different bays, which can be shut off (Ive actually drawn them all to be shut in plan) allow for different experiences of the lane, a bay close to the chaotic liveliness of King Street, to bay that experience different aspects of the middle lane and a bay that reacts to the debris and intimacy of the back lane. The workshop bays, although in modulation as a warehouse, react to the community graffiti on the lane wall that exists as a billboard to Enmore Road (reflecting the expression of the 'I have a dream' mural on the opposite wall of the same building).

These workshop bays also act as the entry points for the public into the gallery. When one, two or three of these workshop bays are in use they are closed off to public access on the lane, but the remaining bay opens up with a panel doorway that ramps up into the gallery spaces; the panel is used in the making of the art as a solid backboard (This ramped entry is the same point where the artwork is brought in). Therefore the statement is that it is not the building that dictates where the opening should be, but that the living art that connects with people and that connects to the street and the lane determines the parti and circulation.

As seen in the poche drawings, the paintings have the ability to mould the movement in this weightless shell, and it is seen in these plans that these bays can easily be separated by partitions or artworks as each part is designated for different artists, or be cut off while it is being prepared for some exhibition. Exhibitions can be easily held each of the bays and partitioned off with artworks to avoid meandering at that point. The scheme is highly interchangable and relates more to the work than the building itself.

The front of the building reveals how it folds in and out, reflecting the manner in which tight urban shops fold inwards to draw the traffic in. There is only a tall window, that frames a lane into the space to prepare the pedestrain for the lane to come as the corner folds gently into the lane.

As shown, the kitchen, public bathroom and the hybrid artist chillout/sleeping space are contained downstairs.

Ground Floor

The apartment is accessed through the kitchen, reminiscent of how inner city apartments that are above shops are connected through the back of the building, which often is the kitchen. It is designed for the dealer to be able to see what is happening inside her gallery and to observe the liveliness of King Street, which she loves. The elevation reveals transparent slits between opaque glass, refering to a mix between the delicacy of Japanese lines and the facade experience of the upper levels of King Street, revealing possibilities through windows to be seen or to dwell safely away.

Balcony/Apartment Level

Short Section

This section reveals the minimalism of structure. It also provides ample definition of the staircase that flows between the exterior and the interior which prepares the beholder for the balcony experience, where there is a lack of distinction between what is outside and inside, what belongs to the lanes and the urban scene outside and the interiority of a gallery space.

Long Section

This section cuts into the folding bays of the gallery. There is a great degree of modulation and lack of distinction between the outdoor workshop bays and the interior gallery bays is highlighted in this section. This section also shows the contrast between the solid structure of the King Street facade (which needed to react to the street) and the light weightlessness of the gallery space; it is reminiscent of warehouse architecture where the office and administrative spaces are the only finished spaces (the long, scaled window from the upstairs apartment, as an executive's observation point down into the gallery also reflects this). The cantilever, as an awning is shown, reflecting the building's aware response to the pedestrian experience; the manner in which the building interacts and folds with the pedestrian, as the artwork interacts with the beholder is very important.