Monday, December 6, 2010

ANSWERS: Project No.10: San Pedro Skate Park Pavilion - Notes

1) Due Date
Your Skate Pavilion, located at the skating rink at San Pedro Springs Park will be due at the beginning of class on Jury day, 3:30pm December 6, 2010. Your jury will be located at: place to be determined. Your model is to have at least one stair at 6:12 and one ramp at 1:12 from the rink surface. Also required is at least one skate-able feature. Drawings: (1) floor plan and (1) section elevation. All drawings and models at ¼” = 1’-0” scale.

2) Overview of Skate Pavilion Model Components
Your Skate Pavilion model will be judged in the following areas:

· Use of museum board representing concrete and/or masonry construction and basswood representing metal construction and/or wood construction.
· Completeness and Cleanliness of your model.
· Straight and true quality of your model.
· How closely your model reflects a real building.

3) Model Cheat Sheet

· Concrete areas need to be the appropriate thickness: concrete walls 8” thick and floors 12” thick, these are minimums.
· Wood construction: walls 6” thick and floors 12” thick.
· All floor areas where pedestrians are expected to stand need to have appropriate guardrails and handrails shown:
· Guardrails are to be 3’-6” above floor, handrails 2’-10” above floor.
· Windows: to be shown as openings, no requirement to depict glass.
· Headroom – ceilings should be no lower than 7’-0”.
· Stairs and ramps to have landings.

4) Advice
Everyone in studio has the tools necessary to complete their Final Skate Pavilion Model but completion rests on more than tools and skill alone. Please consider the following points of recommendation:

· Budget at least two to three times more time for the overall construction of the final model than what you allocated for the Project No. 6 Final Volume model. This is a recommendation and should be looked at as a general statement and assumes that you have a completed study model. I would expect most to spend even more time than this.
· Strive for high quality standards and don’t settle for sloppy, dirty or crooked work.
· Start on your final model now, not later. The semester finish line is in sight but you have not crossed it, do not let up now! The semester can be lost in the last week.

5) Closing remark: it has been a joy helping you and thank you for letting me accompany you on your architectural career. I wish everyone the best in their future studies and on this Arch 1303 Final Skate Pavilion Project. “If architecture isn’t killing you, you’re not doing it right.” Zaha Hadid

ANSWERS: Project No.10: San Pedro Skate Park Pavilion

1) Background
Your Final Architectural Design 1 Studio Project will be a design problem on a specific site with a simple program. You will be applying all that you have learned this semester, specifically you’re: a) Volume Model, b) Span, and c) Architects Photomontage.

2) Overview
You are expected to site, locate a Pavilion, for a skateboard, roller blade and BMX bike recreational and competitive uses. The Pavilion is to be located on or at the edge of the existing concrete slab called the “Skating Rink” at the San Pedro Springs Park. For this project you will specifically need to address a) the pavilion location, b) approach, c) ramp and path configuration to and through pavilion, d) structure of the pavilion and cladding.

Through this project you will explore the main elements of a buildings circulation system as it responds to the human scale and it’s relationship to the buildings form and function.

3) Assignments
.1 Photo Body Montage
Photograph and scale your body in (3) three separate and different skateboarding/blading/ biking positions at ¼” = 1’-0” scale. At the same time you are to cut two vertical sections, one cross and one longitudinal, through your final Volume model. You will then combine the two, photomontage and drawings, exploring the potential spaces that result from the combination.

.2 Group Drafting and Model Site Exercise
a) Group 1- (assigned members) - you are to draft the site in plan and section at ¼” = 1’-0” scale.

b) Group 2 – (assigned members) – you are to then construct a base model at ¼” = 1’-0” scale. The model will be constructed of corrugate cardboard with a 3” deep base. The walkways and existing slab are to be represented and made out of chipboard.

.3 Sketches and Study Model
Study, through both sketches and preliminary models, your new building using the ¼” =1’-0” scale bodies to investigate the potential spatial relationships of the pavilion. This new building is to be intentionally and specifically sited on or at the edge of the slab carefully considering a vertical circulation element (ramp) into and through the pavilion.

4) Schedule for Final Project

Week Twelve - START FINAL PROJECT - ANALYSIS
11.08.10: Introduce Project No.10 – Final Project, Architect Influence, site analysis, Site Visit, bring volume model to next class
11.10.10: Assign / Lecture: section cuts with scaled figures, (3) building location studies, team site drawings on-going
11.12.10: Team Site Drawings Due; site analysis due and section cuts due, desk crit on (3) site location studies, assign first study model, lecture on stair, ramp and half pipes, bring volume model to class, last day to drop.

Week Thirteen – STUDY DRAWINGS AND MODELS
11.15.10: First pass at Study Model due - Desk crits, Team Study Model Due
11.17.10: Start study Pencil Drawings – plan and section / elev., study models on-going - desk crits
11.19.10: Study Pencil Drawings and Study model class pin-up

Week Fourteen – START FINAL DRAWINGS
11.22.10: Study Pencil drawings and study model due: Assign Final drawing format and final model materials
11.24.10: Final Drawing Desk Crits
11.26.10: College Closed

Week Fifteen - START FINAL MODEL
11.29.10: All Final Drawings Due (plan and section / elev.)
12.01.10: Final Model Desk crits
12.03.10: Final Model Desk crits - LAST CLASS OF FALL 2010

Finals Week - FINAL PROJECT JURY
12.06.10: Design 1 Final Review: 3:30 pm – 4:50 pm.

At 4:50 pm the Fall Arch Design 1 semester is concluded.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

ANSWERS: Project No.9: ARCHITECT research

1) BACKGROUND
You are going to shift from your own approach to architecture and that of your design studio to study the design process of a famous architect. You are further going to study the design process of your architect as exhibited by a major multi-storied work with a significant stair that is visible in both plan and photographs

2) VOCABULARY

Photomontage – excerpt from article on the Dada movement
......like superimposition – also attempts to develop a technique for the recordings of events occurring on the threshold between dream and consciousness: a tumultuous collision of whimsical detail from which meanings flash; visual poetry with bitter jests and sometimes with blasphemy. Most photomontages demand a concentrated gymnastic of the eye and brain to speed up the visual digestion and increase the range of associative relationships….

3)ASSIGNMENT

.1 ESSAY
You are asked to collect biographical information on your assigned architect for a verbal presentation to be read in class. It is to be one page in length. You are also expected t to collect images in both scalable plans and photos of a stair / detail from a project of your architect. This will be shown in black / white / color photocopies.

.2 ARCHITECTS PHOTOMONTAGE
Based on your continuing investigation of your assigned architect:
- Essay
- Collection of images / scalable plans / sections of a stair.

You are to assemble a 3D photomontage / collage of your collection in a form that captures and communicates the essence of your architect and focuses in on a specific stair. The overall composition will be made up of photocopies of plans, sections, photos, and should incorporate samples of materials used by the architect. The final size, materials used, and composition are up to each student, but each project should be able to be pinned up in studio!

The sum of the parts of your photomontage, the entire composition, should be greater than each individual part.


4) ASSIGNED ARCHITECTS


1) Caroline Garcia: Rem Koolhaas

2) Beli Ponce: Santiago Calatrava

3) Jessi Khatena: Zaha Hadid

4) Megan Head: Itsuko Hasegawa

5) AJ Lane: Toyo Ito

6) Desirae Barron: Maya Lin

7) Emmanuel Guerrero: Emilio Ambasz

8) Jessica Kisling: Ricardo Legorreta

9) Jason Na: Renzo Piano

10) Olivia Diaz: Thom Mayne

11) Daniel Zuniga: Tadao Ando

12) Gabe Winter: Frank Gehry

13) Joshua Rodriguez: Bernard Tschumi

14) Rob Bishop: Richard Rogers

15) Sanjin Ha: Jean Nouvel

Suggestions: at a minimum please highlight: family history, education / training, carrier highlights, style of work, favorite building materials, notable projects and awards.

ESSAY TO BE ONE PAGE SINGLE SIDED.

ANSWERS: Project No. 8 – Transformation Space – SPAN - //// EXPANDED ////

1) Supplies: sketchpad, camera and your anthropomorphic proportions.

2) Reading: Architecture: Form, Space and Order, Francis D.K. Ching
5. Circulation: approach; entrance; configuration of the path; and path - space relationships

3) Objectives: human body proportions, site measuring, photo documentation, drawing in plan and section, importance of line weights, and understanding different scales.

4) Background
You have already explored your Transformation Space – SPAN at ½” = 1’-0” scale, human scale: the stair and architectural element relative to the proportions and dimensions of your body. Now we will study our Transformation Space – SPAN at 1/8” = 1’-0” scale and 1”= 20’-0”. This will entail now expanding your investigation beyond the relationship that your site has with your human scale. You will now develop and understanding of how your site relates to other features and spaces that lie around them. This will involve an exploration of approaches, circulation elements and path configurations.

5) ASSIGNMENT

Span Expanded
As has been discussed in class, using your site, (the stair and architectural element at ½” = 1’-0” scale) you are asked to expand your scope of investigations to both 1/8” = 1’-0” and 1” = 20’-0” in both plan and section elevations.

6) SCHEDULE (SUBJECT TO CHANGE)

Week Eight
10.15.10: Discuss Reading, Assign Body Sketches, Photomantage discussion.

Week Nine
10.18.10: Site Visit
10.20.10: Pin-up Body Sketches, Pin- up Field Notes, work in class
10.22.10: Pin-up photomontage, pin-Up ½” Plan and ½” Section Drawings

Week Ten
10.25.10: Final Review ½” Scale / Photo Montage, Assign 1/8 scale
10.27.10: 1/8” = 1’-0” preliminary pin-up and desk crits, Assign 1”=20’-0”
10.29.10: 1” = 20’-0” discussion and computer room tour

Week Eleven
11.01.10: 1” = 20’-0” preliminary pin up and desk crits, assign brochure
11.03.10: Brochure draft due, assign Architect Essay, lecture
11.05.10: Final Brochure Due, read draft of Architect Essay

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

ANSWERS: Project No. 7 – Transformation Space – SPAN

1) Supplies: sketchpad, camera and your anthropomorphic proportions.

2) Reading: Architecture: Form, Space and Order, Francis D.K. Ching
5. Circulation: approach; entrance; configuration of the path; and path - space relationships

3) Background
Across the street from our SAC campus is San Pedro Springs Park, aptly named for it’s natural flowing spring water. San Pedro Park is the point of origin for the City of San Antonio, meaning, the beginning of settlement in this area. San Pedro Springs Park is the second oldest named / designated park in the United States, second only to Boston Commons. The park is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the home to San Antonio’s first branch library. You will learn this place using your body as a measuring instrument.

4) ASSIGNMENT

.1 Human Body
The measuring of the human body, in order to use the information as a design determinant, is not a new exercise. You are asked to draw your own body in plan, front and side elevation.

.2 San Pedro Springs Park Visit
You will be conducting a site visit to San Pedro Springs Park in order to select a 22’-0” x 22’-0” site on which you will base your next project.

a. Site Selection Criteria
Using your body as a “scale”, you are literally asked to select a section of San Pedro Springs Park that you are able to “SPAN” in between. The span must occur between a stair and another appropriate architectural element.

b. Photomontage
You will be using a camera to take multiple images of the site you have selected. You are encouraged to work in teams of two. Multiple images taken close up is what is desired and not one image taken far way. We will start this activity in class but you are encouraged to return to the site as needed.

c. Plan and Section Sketches
Using only your body, without the use of any measuring devices, you are asked to draw a plan and section sketch of the 22’-0” x 22’-0” site you have selected. We will start this activity in class but you are encouraged to return to the site as needed.

d. Plan and Section Drawings
At ½” = 1’-0” scale, you are asked to carefully draft exact hard lined drawings of your plan and section.

5) SCHEDULE
Week Eight
10.15.10: Discuss Reading, Assign Body Sketches, Photomantage discussion.

Week Nine
10.18.10: Site Visit
10.20.10: Pin-up Body Sketches, Pin- up Field Notes, work in class
10.22.10: Pin-up photomontage, pin-Up ½” Plan and ½” Section Drawings

Week Ten
10.25.10: Final Review ½” Scale / Photo Montage, Assign 1/8 scale
10.27.10: 1/8” = 1’-0” preliminary pin-up and desk crits, Assign 1”=20’-0”
10.29.10: 1” = 20’-0” discussion and computer room tour

Week Eleven
11.01.10: 1” = 20’-0” preliminary pin up and desk crits, assign brochure
11.03.10: Brochure draft due, assign Architect Essay, lecture
11.05.10: Final Brochure Due, read draft of Architect Essay

ANSWERS: Project No. 6: Volume

1) Reading: section on Volume – Form, Space and Order – Francis D.K. Ching.

2) Supplies: 1/8” x 1/8” square section basswood – 3’ long, 1/16” Chipboard, and 1/8” thick cardboard.

3) Background
Volume: “A plane extended in a direction other than its intrinsic direction becomes a volume. Conceptually a volume has three dimensions: length, width, and depth. All volumes can be analyzed and understood to consist of:

- Points or vertices where several planes come together
- Lines or edges where two planes meet
- Planes or surfaces that define the limits of boundaries of a volume

4) ASSIGNMENT
Volume
Using your composite, shallow relief, and base line drawing as guides you will be constructing a three dimensional model. The dimensions of the model are as follows:

- 5-1/2” x 7-3/4” x 5-1/2” deep (the original open box, envelope, is to be used as a starting point).
- This volume is to be bound on three sides and open on top and bottom.
- The envelope volume is then to be subdivided by the vertical line and thickened planes if/as directed by your base line drawing.

At this stage the models will only be viewed from above as plan, or from the ends as sections. Additionally, the volume of the envelope is to be placed within the 11” x 11” field space, which is to be constructed of contrasting chipboard as in your shallow relief, and is to be understood as a solid. In all cases, both the shallow relief and composite are to be carefully analyzed and should influence your decisions to have various planes advance and recede from the original 2-D field space.

Exact instructions as to the making of the study and final models will be given in class and are to be followed precisely. Kraft and care in the conceptualizing of the studies as wells as the making of the final models will be critical.

5) SCHEDULE

Week 6
10.01.10: Final Review for COLOR, discuss study model materials

Week 7
10.04.10: Begin study model for Project No.6, charette
10.06.10: Study model due end of class; discuss final materials
10.08.10: Begin Final Model, Assign reading

Week 8
10.11.09: Desk Crits
10.13.09: Final Review of Volume
10.15.10: Discuss Reading and Lecture on Plan and Section

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

ANSWERS: Project No. 5.5 – Composite

1) Background
Composite – material - a material that is made up of other materials.
- particle - a particle that is made up of smaller particles.
- alloy – a composite metal and another element.
- concrete – a composite material composed of cement, aggregate and water.

2) ASSIGNMENT

.5 Composite
You are asked to explore a COMPOSITE of your two EXTENSION studies taking the qualities of saturated primary and unsaturated muted color spaces that were found to be most spatially stimulating. You are expected to compose your COMPOSITE using color photocopies cut up and pasted onto a final interrelated space drawing or photocopy.

Note: not all of the surface of the drawing needs to be colored. The selective aspects of each of your two Extension studies are to be combined into one final study based on visual perception and your knowledge of color and light as compositional elements.

What's Next? This will be your final color study, from which you will embark on your first three dimensional volume study interpreting the new “color space” that has resulted in your COMPOSITE, along with your previously completed shallow relief model.