Post Crit

My final crit was yesterday and I think I'm quite happy with how it went. There were some criticisms but they were mainly things that I can work on this next week ready for the portfolio. Events is now finished so all of my energy can go into producing the best portfolio I can. I am slightly concern about the communication aspect of it though: my first portfolio had too much writing but my second had too little. I think I had a similar problem to this last year. Hopefully I will get it right this time around though. 

Tomorrow, I am working solidly on the drawings and making sure that they are completely finished. I didn't hand draw them as such but instead used them to create an exploded isometric drawing and a sectional perspective. I am really happy with the way these turned out but I think they still need something just to finish them off. It's been suggested that I look at the drawings of Aldo Rossi to help me with my own and, as I have used his work as a precedent, look at how David Chipperfield presents his drawings. 

I still have to finish looking at the materiality and showing it properly in my montages. I think my detailed section is good to go though so that's one less thing to worry about! Although I do have to get my physical model done and photographed. But that can wait until friday.

After that, it's just a case of organising it. And sorting it out in my Integrated Design Report. 

9 days left

All Coming Together

Today, I have been getting my work organised for the final crit on Tuesday. I spent two days building the theatre on Sketch up and I am really pleased with how it's turned out. 

This morning I was working on my photo montages and I chose three views that were key to my design, in particular, the view up the stairs to the theatre. I want to also do some from the inside and at night when the theatre is in use but I will have to see how much time I have left. It might be something I do tomorrow or Monday. 

I have also been working on my detailed sections for the new building. Later on, I am going to make a start on hand drawing my technical drawings. I marked on the print outs the mistakes I made so I will know which bits to add on the final thing. These will then get scanned in and I will put them into my presentation tomorrow evening or Monday.

The End is Nigh!

With event's month and various other things happening, I am so glad that I did as much work as I did in those three weeks around Easter! 
Yesterday, I finally made a start on my digital model and am currently working on the first floor. 
Yesterday was also tutorials and I feel that I am now ready to start really selling my idea. The design work it practically done and all that's left is to sort out the materiality and do some killer images. Looking at my sketch model from the outside reminded me of David Chipperfield's restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin. And I think I can definitely take some inspiration from how he presented his idea. I am also planning to look at some of Peter Zumthor's work and how he uses stone to create some bold finishes on his buildings. This relates back to using classical buildings and theatre as precedents in my design. I think using stone on the extension will make a bold statement against the brickwork of the original theatre and having the grand staircase leading up to it will be similar to the ancient and classical theatres. 

Finished Design

Yesterday was one on one tutorials and as I had been working on the landscaping of the site, this was discussed. I have more or less finished my design now and it is a case of presenting my idea.
I am yet to start my final model but I have already finished my technical drawings on AutoCAD. These need to be printed and I was thinking about hand drawing them as well. Over Easter break I saw some drawings that dated back to 1911 and there was something really nice about seeing hand drawings so I might take my inspiration from them for my own drawings.

Still going

I feel like not much has actually been done this week in terms of working on this project - I've done plenty of other work in aid of getting all of it done a lot before the deadline!

Wednesday, I updated my sketch site model so that it shows the new intervention. I also extended the model so that it includes the whole of the site, including the community garden centre. Now that I have this, I can look at how I can link the two together. 
I am going to do this by creating a communal space beneath the stairs up to the theatre entrance. I still need to work on this space on my plans which is probably something I will do today. 

I also want to look at how I can use the space in front of the stairs, and give the stairs more function than just as a way to access the theatre. it was suggested that I make it into a outdoor performance space so to help me, I think I need to look at similar spaces and how they are defined from the rest of the site. At the moment, I feel that I could just leave it clear and explain that it is a performance space, with the stairs doubling up as seating for this space but it seems a bit like cheating so I am going to look into existing spaces. 

I have been working on my technical drawings but having a lot of difficulty with the line weights of my drawings. I wanted to use them to distinguish the existing building from my intervention but it's not going so well. I will, however, persevere!

A Design

After struggling to come up with my design, over Easter I was able to finalise it and draw up my plans of the theatre. 

I looked at the Carre d'Art in Nimes. Designed by Norman Foster, it is built opposite a Roman temple and mirrors the design of it. I decided to look at the profile of these buildings and compare them to mine to help inform my design. After trying several designs, I decided one I was happy with which followed the same design as the buildings in Nimes and also allowed me to keep my idea of circulation through the building and  site. 

Over Easter, I also made a start on my Integrated Design Report and I found referring back to this blog really helpful - especially for the past projects. I am planning on writing the report alongside working on my project now that I have caught up with it.

To help me gain spacial awareness of my design's footprint on the site, I made a sketch SketchUp model. This also helped me to arrange and finalise the design for the front of the building. By creating a large staircase up to the theatre's main entrance, there is space underneath the steps, which will be used for the box office and cafe. I was also able to incorporate the disabled access into this although it moved to the other side of the stairs from how I originally built it. This was for a couple of reasons. The first was that with the car park around the back of the theatre, it made sense to have the disabled access on the road side of the stairs, meaning there is a smaller distance between the ramp and the car park. By swapping the ramp from the site side to the road side of the stairs, a large space has been created facing the site. This means that I can make the link between the site and the community gardens and the theatre, something that was important to my concept.

Today I have been working on the sections and although they still need a bit of work doing to them to finalise them before I put them into Photoshop, they are more or less done.

Next, I need to look at materiality and environmental aspects of my design. I will also need to make my final model which will probably take me a while (if my White Water model is anything to go by!)

Theatre Re-arranging

I am currently in the process of arranging my theatre so that it all fits into place. It's really difficult due to floors lacking in some area and seating in others. 

The most difficult bit at the moment is finding places for the toilets and the lift in the main auditorium. I am planning on also putting toilets on the second floor but I haven't got that far yet. I thought I worked out where to put the lift but then I started on the first floor and the lift ends up on the balcony, in the middle of the seats. Time to re-think. I think the problem I have is that the only foyer space I have is above what I want to be rehearsal/multi-functional space and you can't really put a lift or a flight of stairs right in the middle of a dance studio! In order to work it out, I will have to mark out on each floor where it can go and match up my plans.