Week 8-9 Giving (Second Life)

Our group is working on second life these 2 weeks. Today we made a simple sculptie on Autodesk 3DS Max. It was meant to be something that was in our office we designed last week. So I desined a very simple chair in 3ds max:

So here is my sculptie in Second Life

I decided gardens are like beautiful gifts back to the landscape and to the public. So I found a website of 13 beautiful gardens around the world:

http://www.thegrowspot.com/index.php?pageid=amazing-gardens

This is my building so far in SL:

 left wing:

 

 right wing:

 My idea of gifting would be a gift for the public. The gift is an open foyer, which exhibits projects that my architectural firm has worked on. The public will be able to see what this office has been up to, and will be able to walk through the foyer and to the other side of the building; like in my previous project.

I think I will also keep my original idea of a courtyard/garden area for the public. The garden also acts as a gift for the public; it is a visual gift. 

The foyer looks like this at the moment. I think I'll add a screen that displays the works this firm has worked on. Only office workers are able to access into the office areas through the glass doors with an access card.

 

I added an elevator that takes people up to the foyer, public and office people are both allowed in the foyer.

26 sept:

 

I got rid of my elevator that brings people up to the foyer. My tutor suggested that I link the front of my building to the rear of the building so the public can really get a sense of 'walking through' the building; because my main idea of gifting was a foyer and courtyard area that was open to the public and displays for them to see, and because there is a walkway at the rear side of my building and I didn't want to block it off from the public.

My movement for gifting is the forward sweeping motion of the pictures on display for the public to see. When you say "hi" the pictures will move towards you.

Sept 27:

I decided to add a deck, because  the right wing and left wing of the building is supposed to be linked to the courtyard in the middle. The deck acts as like a transition space between the outside and the inside of the building. All around the interior facades, large window panes cover the surface. This is so that everything point in the direction of the courtyard, as it is the centrepiece of my office building. I have also added a fountain, because my last project consisted of a fountain as the centre of the courtyard, which was also related to my augamented reality 1:1 model of the experience of being able to hear the sound of water running nearby.

These are the steps I added to the front of the building...I changed to stairs rather than the elevator going up into the foyer. This was because I wanted everything to link, from walking up the steps to through the courtyard, then through the foyer and to the other side. Having the steps instead also meant that you could already see the courtyard up there. It feels more open, as this transition space is for the public as well as office workers.So this is what my steps look like when idle:

I scripted the stairs so that when you say 'stairs', they will come out at you and you can walk up to the courtyard. My original idea was for them to all come out of the top prim (as if all would come out of the same prim) in a downward then forward motion one at a time, like the steps were welcoming you and inviting you to come up. However, when I did the scripting, the prims would only move for a maximum of 10m...so the steps did not move how I would have liked them to. I was also hard because the lower you go down the stair, the steeper the slope of the land was, therefore I required more and more prims.This is what my steps look like what they've positioned themselves into place for the avatar.

Sept 28: Final design

So here are my final steps, I decided to change the texture of them to match the grass in the courtyard so that everything links.

My fountain...

Since my courtyard is supposed to be my main idea of gifting to the public, I added flowers to make it look more elegant.

 Inside the right wing:

Here is the space for the architect and engineer. They required similar office equipment which is why I have grouped them together in the same room. Here you can see the drawing board for the architect and the storage for safety equipment when they go on site.

 

The workshop for model making, and the bathroom.

 

This is the view from the other end of the courtyard (looking towards the stairs).

 

Inside left wing: 

There is an elevator to the right, couches in the middle for when meeting clients, and a tv on the left wall.

 The tv turns on when you say "tv". It is of my animation.

 Inside the right wing is the working area for the accountant, advertising director and the construction manager.

This is the view looking up from the foyer where the couches are. I decided to make it so that you could see up because I wanted the downstairs to relate to the upstairs. Similarly why I made my elevator out of glass inside.

This is when you first exit the elevator upstairs:

The bathroom, kitchen and through the glass door is the conference room.

Inside the conference room

Large windows for a great view outside

And this is what my building looks like overall

 

Compared to this from my last project:

So to some up my concept:

My idea for gifting in my office building is the courtyard and foyer sitting in between the two wings of my building, acting as a gift to the public. In the foyer are displays of project my architecture firm has worked on, and a lovely fountain sitting in the middle of the courtyard. The steps that lead you up to the office building at the front move towards you on demand, as if welcoming you and inviting you to come through. At the top of the steps is the main courtyard area where the fountain is. Office workers can also cross through the courtyard from the left wing to the right or vice versa through the sliding doors on the interior facades of the building. All the windows are facing inwards to the courtyard. This is because the courtyard is the centre of my whole office building. The decks I have added because they link the inside spaces to the outside spaces. Through the courtyard and into the foyer are where the display of projects are. When an avatar says ‘hi’, they will move towards them. The foyer is open overhead rather than having a closed roof because I wanted the public to not feel intimidated from being under our roof when coming to see our work. After the open foyer is the other side of the building. All the outside areas are link so the public can easily access through and walk to the back side of my building. There is a walkway behind my building at my site, so public can walk through easily to get to the walkway.

My Matrix:

Peer Review

The group we reviewed today did augmented reality. The people I reviewed were:

Tessa Forde

Her idea was to make a building that was wrapped up in white fabric. She got here inspiration from the Millennium Dome. I liked how her building had different rooms with different functions, but the whole building was wrapped up in white cloth so it all seemed as one big mysterious building. This made all the rooms in her building connect. I thought it was mysterious because the form of the structure was visible through the white cloth, but you couldn't actually see anything, and this made me want to go inside. It was great how you could actually go inside her model.  Her structure reminded me of a tensile structure. Overall I liked her 1:1 model because it was unique and mysterious.

Xiang (John) He

What I really like about his building was that there were stairs that go up the hill in the park, and that the public could use the flat roofs of his office building as public space. What I think he could have added was grass on some of the roofs so his building blended in with the surroundings more. This is because I think having an office building sit in the middle of a park might be a bit sore to the eye.

Zoe Phillips

She wasn't here for the crit, but I went on her tumblr page to have a look at what she got up to. It was quite difficult to tell what her concept were because there was no information on it. But this is her final project I'm assuming:

The people who reviewed me were

Jeanny and Linbing

Week 6-7 Gathering (Animation)

For these few weeks, we will be gathering information to build upon a design for a building. My design group will be working on some drawings and produce an animation as a result.

The 5 people who will be working in my architecture firm include:

1. An Architect (me)
Requires: drawing board, desk, computer, workshop for model making, place to store files.

2. A Structural Engineer - we will rely on him to do all the technical stuff, and he will sometimes go on site to see the construction.
Requires: Computer, possibly a drawing board, desk, computer, filing cabinet, safety equipment for site visiting.

3. Construction Manager - overseas the projects, makes plans, contacts the clients, builders and suppliers. Will often go on site to see projects etc.
Requires: Computer, desk, computer, filing cabinet, safety equipment for site visiting, telephone.

4. Accountant - Makes sure we keep within our budget, calculate expenditure. Deals with the clients, bank and suppliers.
Requires: Computer, desk, computer, filing cabinet.

5. Marketing Director - The public figure, advertises our firm, ensures our business develops.
Requires: Computer, desk, computer, telephone, files.

The site I have chosen is Te Taou Reserve, which is beside the old Railway Station.

An influence in my design will be the convent is France by Le Corbusier: it encloses a courtyard area, similar to how Te Taou Reserve is enclosed, except it is enclosed by roads and building.

In the end, I though putting a building in a reserve was not such a good idea, so I decided to have it opposite Te Taou reserve instead, and just add a courtyard area enclosed within the building.



One of the criteria was to have all the services needed within a 10 minute walk from the office building. Because my colleagues will most often be working in the office and occasionally at the construction site, not that many services are required. However, the 10 minute walk radius encompasses an ASB bank, Kalmar Construction, a post box, a children care centre and a cafe just to name some examples.

The problem with putting my office building here is that it blocks off the walkway from the main road to Anzac Avenue. Therefore I have made a section of my building to be accessible to the public. They can walk through the foyer of the office building to get to the other side. Staff in the architecture firm also uses the same entrance, however upon entering the foyer, the have a special access card that will get them into the building. The courtyard area enclosed also acts as a threshold for the people working in the office. It is a different transition space to what one would normally see, as it is incorporating the outside and natural environment.

I then drew a bubble diagram of the rooms that are to be in the building such as the rooms for work, the workshop, conferene room, bathrooms etc.

To incorporate my previous work into this project:

My fountain for my awakening project was made completely out of concrete. Therefore for this office building, the main material will be concrete. In the middle of my courtyard will be a fountain. My second project, the repair stall, was made out of wood. For that project I wanted to investigate the pattern the light makes when it enters through the gaps in each second piece of wood. I will incoporate this by having outdoor blinds for some of the windows.

The draft of my building looks like this at the moment.

After seeing my tutor today, I received some helpful advice. It was to make my building more 'contemporary looking' and less domestic by having larger window panes on the front facades, and a more contemporary looking fountain rather than adapting the one I did in my awakening project.

 Here is a new design of the fountain I came up with:

My tutor also got me thinking about the interior of the foyer. Rather than leaving it as an empty space simply for people to walk through, I thought I would design for it to have displays of projects that the architectural firm has completed up on the walls.

I came up with some rough plans of how the layout of my office building might look like...

...and decided to add a footpath so people wont have to walk on the grass.

Then I came up with my final plan of the layout for the ground floor...

 and the first floor.

Sectional drawing:

Lastly, final design:

Finally....my animation!

My matrix:

Peer Crit 3:

Vasilije
What I like most about his offic was that it was like a continous journey, you could walk over from one area to another on the planks and that was an interesting transition space. There were lots of connecting spaces, and what I like about his project was that he utilised other people's walls/prims and integrated it into his own design. He really thought about what his 5 colleagues would need in his offic and this is evident from the interior design. For example the light channels that point downwards for the artist, and the viewing area of the train tracks for the engineer. It seems he really evaluated his work throughout the whole project and came up with better ideas in his final design.

Ye Jin
I really liked how she used many scripts to make objects in her office move, such as the table that expands, and having walls move so that the space can be a private area/open area. Her matrix building was one by Mies van der Rohe, and she used the idea of heaving a floating building. I also liked how each storey had one specific function/use. The objects she traded were interesting and decorative. Her design was simple, but suited the purpose. She chose a good site for her office, and really though about it in context.

Yumeng (Angela) Feng
Her matrix building was the Dymaxion House. Her main idea was in the simplicity of her building, because the main idea was to use the least amount of material to create a greater area of space within. Her other idea for gathering was to have the flame in the middle, I liked the use of the flame as the centrepiece in her office, because it has this attractive quality, like people gathering around a fireplace. She really though about the people who were in her office and the space they were to occupy; for example, for someone who like privacy she had a wall that could move to create an internal space for privacy.

The 3 people who reviewed my work were:
Huicheng (Emily) Wu
Louis Ratana
Jian Xiang (Mickey) Ma