Japanese Garden Design -- THE ASYMETRICAL

JAPANESE GARDEN DESIGN --- LOOKING AT THE ASYMETRICAL

- I will look at incorporating a green environment reminscent of a Japanese garden to add an asymetrical edge to the very regulated buildings. 

This will provide contrast

It will also allow me to extend the space beyond the 500m2 perimetre without using built forms.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

TUTORIAL FEEDBACK!
We had tutuorials yesterday and I was not happy with my design at all.
I liked it originally when it was simple and the way I had been going about orientating views was just not working. The plan was too chaotic and there was far too many different spaces being made purely due to pathways and connections to other spaces.

I took this to Yvonne and she like the more angular design but we discussed this and came to the conclusion it needs to be a mixture. At this stage it is ALL chaotic and angular. Now I need to simply my building so it has a strong central component/s and create the landscape as you would if you were designing a japanese gardens. I will lose the angles and look into the asymetrical as seen in their gardens. I will look at an organic surrounding for the 3 buildings and they will still be orientated towards views only this time they will be much more clean and elegant shapes.

I will begin to look at spaces under the earth as a humbling experience as seen in the Peter Zumthor building.
Travel back to framing views as seen the example.
And will look at Japanese garden design

Still very open. The courtyard area I will play with levels so that it is a useable yoga teaching platform area but is technically not enclosed space, either is the water that runs around the building so that is not included in the 500m2.  The courtyard sort of area that is the green area currently will be a sort of bamboo forest. 

New more open floor plan. Not all spaces are enclosed,, most have at least one side open to the outdoors. 

Still have 3 sort of separete sections to allows for glimpses of cliff unobstructed but is more integrated. 

Am yet to connect areas with glass/bamboo ramps. The pods appear random but they actually occupy only 3 different height leves so only 3 large ramps will be required and access should then be available to each pod efficiently. 

DIFFICULTIES!

I am having some difficulties designing the structure.
Previously I has a basic idea of a form but had not considered the rooms and spaces that needed to be included
When I include these elements it seems to be really "bottom heavy".
I am really having trouble trying to create a layout that works with the views and the concept.

Final Building Design Development

The final design will use EXACTLY the same concept - surround light, memories, ghostly shadows, ect to remind us of lives lost and offer a humbling experience where we can understand our problems in light of larger ones. People visit this area to cleanse themselves, exercise, have some time to think in a peacful environment and can pool, sauna and learning facilities.

These are mock up floor plans of the basic first 2 levels.
The floor plan was to be orientated to specific views and this is how the outside of the building determined. This is so the building is not just plonked on the site but considers views to generate the architectural form. The architectural form also responds to the floor plan and the floor plan was to be fragmented - why?
It had to be fragmented for the following reasons:
1 to capture necessary views specific to the site
2. to allow light to filter in through the building, around the smaller pods and so that light could also weave through the bamboo and shine onto the cliff. (This bamboo in these plans has not been put in yet)
3. The plan and form was also to be fragmented like memories - memories are not perfect insights into what happened, they are a personal, emotional reflection on an event and that means that you usually only get a fragment of how the event actually was because everyones memories and experience differ -- therefore the floor plan was to continue reflecting the idea of memories.
4. The floor plan was to be "fragmented"or made up of smaller indiviudal elements after the base was established because it has to MIMIC a plant cell/a plant stem. This will add strength, use less materials, and allow us to use bamboo in an efficient way making it a sustainable structure.

FLOOR PLANS DERIVED FROM SETTING UP VIEWS FROM SITE

Floor plans!

Open areas in pink for public to walk though. allows visibility from river through building to back area near cliff which is a little hidden bamboo forest. Allows for public access. Seamless connection between land, water and buiding. Uses different materials to evoke different experieces. Small stones/pebbles as you emerge from wading through the water around the buliding. large rooms for group class sessions. A private reading room open to the public. 

Level 2 --- large open group space with framed views. Saunas, hot pools and toilets.  These are located on a lower levels because they are larger spaces, these spaces will allow the buiding to have a sturdy base to ensure the vertical elements are able to stand ridgidly.

Pool pools, walking areas and offices/learning spaces with electrical outlets are situated here. Offices/learning spaces comprise of pebbeled floor, water, stone and bamboo, encorporating different calming materials to enhance the learning experience. All materials were taking from site or inspiration from site. 

Small walkways connect pods. Would prefer to design the walkways in a more interesting fashion. Want people to be weaving in and our of the bamboo, sometimes on glass, sometimes on stone, sometimes through water. A cleansing journey. 

Walkway on very top level connecting building to cliff and new farm. Walkways are open to the public, they run through the "tree tops" and activate the space from above. May need to include a cafe/bar/restaurant in one of the sheds and do a revamp on a shed so as to attract people to the space at night. 

I began to look at how to create a more dynamic, more integrated floor plan that is not simply plonked on the site but is derived from something important. Views are essential to this design, the important views and vistas were located in the week 1 site analysis. 

I drew lines to th various view points and generated a  form based on angles to capture views and size requirements so I would not exceed 500m2. 

Views include:  Kangaroo Point Suburb, Cliff, Mangroves/Turning point of river, Meriton, City, Sandbank, Cliff/escapment and the Bridge. 

Looking at root systems and how a plant keeps itself  upright I decided to continue with a majr vertical component but will use smaller horizontal elements for access and stability, mimicing the root system. 

The floor plan may be comprised of compartments like this, mimicing the inside of a plant cell, so that not only the form and structure take ques from the plant cell but so does the layout. 

Initially I thought about a long floor plan with major walls through the centre that the pods would cling onto.

I realised the floor plan needed to utilise the corner space better and also needed to address the site and not simply work with what looks good. 

Here I am still looking at having 3 separate elements. I soon begin to combine these, keeping the verticality of the bamboo but integrating the form into one form/model that are better connected. 

Too detached. 

Connecting these would simply mean adding pathways at many different levels, which would look like little bridges and would really be a quick fix, not a design solution, it would be an obvious and boring way to connect spaces, it would not heigten experience. 

how water may be integated. 

Interior views, how views may be captured. Second drawing is the inside of a pod, one side is clad in bamboo, the rest is opaque perspex, this still allows for a silhouette and shadows but also allows for privacy and will stop some heat. The floor is bamboo and on the corner is glass, people have the option of relaxing, mediating ect on either area. 

FUNCTION AND DESIGN DEVELOPMENT!

I began looking at some ideas to further the function with tutor Yvonne. We discussed the idea of having  the pods/boxes with 2 layers, a layer with air between that still allows for transparency but will cool the space so that it does not need a typical solid roof, walls ect. 

Started looking at breaking up the space. Raising the ground platform to create a shaded public space beneath the larger platform that contains the private spaces. This elevates the sort of 'status'of the private spaces, takes them further from ground noise and I may be able to create some sort of floating feeling later on. 

Again I look at breaking up the space. The first platform raised and maybe an opening in the bamboo to have pools, amenities and access to pods above. 

I began to look breifing at floor layouts with a new idea in mind. That being - the idea of sollid wall within the bamboo screening. The solid walls stand tall and the pods and elevators are attahed to these adding structural support. They will be designed in the way that the bamboo plant is. Looking at the bamboo plant cell and copying this idea to ensure structural stability and less resource usage. 

Again I look at wall configuration. 

From here I will make a sketchup model. I always want to ensure that inserting these solid walls is not going to take away from the metaphor but help to support it and really draw from  it.

The  above images were taken from my presentation. These images are final images only! They are not in the correct order - please see powerpoint upload to view these in their correct way.