STATE CHANGEJOSHUA W K BURNS

Year 2 - DIGITAL PORTFOLIOWATER GROUP 3

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STATE CHANGEExploring Ice and its characteristics.

Having looked at the different properties of water, our group decided that water in the state of Ice is the most interesting characteristic to explore. It can form many different shapes and structures governed by the molecular structure of ice itself, and the immediate surroundings when the ice is formed. Examples are Icicles, snowflakes, ice stalagmites amongst other forma-tions. Through exploring the various structures formed as ice, we found that the most intriguing concept is that of the me-dium between state-change, and the consequences of this. We were able to represent this as 3D models in 3DS Max, and then through section drawings from the models. The density of the particles in the models can be controlled by a ratio that creates a more or less dense physical model. The video opposite best represents the idea of state change, going from solid to fluid.

Change of State Video.YouTube, Water Freezing, < http://www.youtube.com/

watch?v=tHU0vlJ0pcg > [Accessed 15/10/11]

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STATE CHANGE// WATER & ICE DYNAMICS

3DS Max,variations of models

based on stalagmites (left), melting ice (bot-

tom right) and nega-tive space (top right).

Numerous section cuts through a 3D model.

FORM FINDING 3DS MAX

Through the exercise of form finding, the group man-aged to create various models and drawings that would exemplify the concept of state change. These can be seen as models made in 3DS Max (on the right), which explore various ways in which to map the Ice. There have been three variations, which are based on stalagmites, melting ice and negative space. The negative space model has been taken to the next step where we made section cuts to give the drawing below. This drawing shows different cuts through the model in order from least dense to most dense. This diagram has become our group concept drawing as it is the most explanatory to our design concept of density change and transition.

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Group Model

Resultant models of our form finding task can be seen here. The model is mad out of wax and has been exploded to a simi-lar state of that of ice. By pour-ing melted, hot wax into a bowl of cold water, we were able to freeze the wax in a state that has been aerated. It is a freeze frame representing the changing state of Ice from solid to Liquid.

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Group Site PlanAs a group we devised a plan for the design having made an analysis study. We were influ-enced by the concept of semi-private zones, as seen in Funabashi Apartments. The court-yard is the equivilant to this, and so the design includes semi-private courtyards on different levels throughout the building. This means that in order to access your apartment, you may have to climb up stairs from the main street in order to get to your shared courtyard.

Having looked at the local cycling and pe-destrian routes in Cardiff, it was clear that a passage through the middle of our site would be suitable to accommodate for this. The conceptual diagram on the right attempts to explore how this pedestrian passage is de-livered on site. For example, we envisaged the site to be a grid of solid and void (den-sity), which reacts to the passage, creating a two dense areas of housing either side of the newly formed street. This idea of density in the design is taken from the initial form finding studies of the properties of ice itself.

Site Plan and Site Section

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The site is located between the river Taff, the Stadium and the Train Station. It is an ideal area for residents who wish to have an ease of access to local facilities and public buildings. The Victorian Water tower located on the site used to hydrate steam engine trains on the railway line, and is grade two list-ed. Previously there used to be offices and an old bus station on the site, which were demolished in 2005. Years ago, the river Taff would have been used as transport to carry the coal to and from the bay. It still has the potential to be used for boats, and the site is on an excellent location for a small dock. I have also noticed that the site sits on a cycle/pedestrian route which runs through the city centre and past the Millennium Sta-dium. This is an ideal area in which to link the routes together and open up a forgotten cycle route. It also gets the best of the sun during the majority of the day as there is little but the railway line blocking the sun in the south. It can be said that the site would be able to achieve high thermal gains on a clear day. I think the site is also of importance as it connects the urban city centre to the sub-urban residential area on the west of the Taff. Here, there is also a regular market that appears once a week selling fresh farmed

goods. This could be incorporated into the design somehow.

PollutionNoise Polution

SITE ANALYSISSite One

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Funabashi Apartments are located in Chi-ba, Tokyo. The building is located on a small urban site and has been built to the maxi-mum size permitted. Containing 16 apart-ments over three floors and a built area of just 243.04m2 results in small, compart-mentalized rooms so that the occupant cant organise possessions and not spend the entire time in the same space. Nishi-zawa aimed to diminish hierarchy amongst rooms so that each room could have uses beyond the usual interpretation. For exam-ple, he envisaged dwellers growing plants or listening to music un the bathroom. I think the main concept that I took from this precedent study was the idea of en-tering your apartment through a semi-private space, e.g. a courtyard. By entering your apartment through a courtyard, you have created a zone that enables the use of multiple people yet is more secure than a street. This is exemplified in plan on the circulation drawing, that shows the dis-persion of people as they enter the build-ing, then into their shared courtyards, and then into their own apartments. I also appreciated the way in which SANAA have varied the window sizes in order to allow maximum light into each room.

Funabashi Apartments,Ryue Nishizawa,Chiba, Tokyo, Japan.

Diagrams on next page:- Circulation Routes- Residential Areas- Green areas- Commercial spaces

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DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING

For my Digital Image, I decided to explore the relationship of the inside living area and the outside living room. Here I have shown a view from one of the private terraces looking out towards Car-diff Bay. I have tried to respond to the site by including a marsh-land, mud and reeds in the centre of the terrace as a way of sug-gesting you are in wales, which is very much a rural land. On the other hand, it is an urban environment, so the walls and roof are a heavy concrete, but appears to be floating as it is above plates of glass. All this combined is meant to give a look that has re-sponded to the immediate, and exterior, surroundings. You can imagine that this perspective would still be beautiful in the rain, which is one of Wales most frequent conditions. This can be seen as the concrete has been weathered, leaving streaks. In this way the building can adapt to over time, and yet keep its beauty.

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PRAXIS AND DIGITAL FABRICATION.

In my comparative board, I have aimed to show how each housing unit is made up. A housing unit contains three apartments with an inner courtyard (taken from the precedent study). It is almost like a massing project where a rectangular cuboid is carved into to create the access point, and other green areas. I have then repre-sented these green areas with colour. Finally, by connect-ed numerous housing units together, I have shown how all the units sit together on the site, like a jigsaw puzzle.

I am interested in solid and void, and this is the reason why I have perceived the units as a massing project. In this way, I am able to explore the negative space, which we had done as a group in form finding, with my own design. Negative space is important here as it is the outside areas (green areas) that the residents and pedestrians will use. I can then take this further by finding out which parts are darker than others, which are oriented the wrong way etc.

Taking this one step further, I have been able to make a plaster cast of the massing model, us-ing the laser cutter. To do this, I have unfolded the model into a cut out that can later be glued back together in order to make the cast (next page).

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FABRICATIONLASER CUT & PLASTER CAST

Here, you can see the plaster model that has been taken from the laser cut mould. It is able to be folded and glued together using the flaps. This plaster model has also influenced my fa-ade detailing as it enables a close interaction.

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FINAL HOUSING DESIGN

Page 24:- Apartments Ground Floor (2m above Ground level)- Long Section.Page 25:- Left: First Floor of Apart-ments

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Section Perspective

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Perspective Renders

My Final design consists of a group of housing units, each with shared courtyards for semi-private space, and a street running through the centre of the project to accommodate for pedestrian traffic including cyclists. The ground floor of the housing development is raised 2m so that enough room can be made for a car park underneath. Access to the street comes from two large ramps, with a very low gradient, on either end of the site. In this way, cyclists are able to take an easy route avoiding heavy traffic from the main road. As you walk or cycle down the street, you would see arch- ways on either side that lead into the courtyards. This idea has been tak- e n from the town- planning of Cambridge, as a similar effect happens as you walk d o w n the main streets.

The renders opposite show the change in level with the use of the r a m p s and steps. T h e y also show h o w the housing u n i t s as a m a s s i n g

a p p e a r from eye level, as

if you were walking through the

street.

F r o m an aerial view, the design looks like a min- ia-ture city in itself, one that could almost be compared to a shanty town. This is of course intentional, as the project is meant to have a very person-al feel, so that the scale of the housing can relate to the people that live t h e r e .

I am pleased with the outcome of this project, and have found the work produced i n the DPM Module to be extremely helpful in the process of designing and rendering.