Catching up with my tutors Roberta and Anthony today

Meeting up and discussing my idea with them was a really good idea. I was confident with it but to share it with them and get some positive feedback was great!
Using the watercolour and the surface tension of the water I've focused on that to make the shape of each part of the building- the 5 levels as an organic form.

Through my experimentation I hope to create new forms and ideas that will shape the building- that it isnt the same each time... more leaving it up to how the paint and water flows in that moment.

My matrix building

Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art- Zaha Hadid

The colleagues spaces in the building

As well as my watercolour studio I am including 4 other colleagues spaces:
*Tattoo parlour
*Bookshop/writer space
*Street Art
*Photography Gallery


I chose these ones as they are all themed as creative and they all meld really well. 


Now to look into their briefs and see what they require in their spaces:
Photography Gallery:
Since it is a photography gallery space I would like to have:
-Half the walls a white plaster
-The other half a black colour
-Temporary partitions i.e. easily movable interior walls
-approx. 90% of the area easily lit by natural sun light, the other 10% can be very dark
-approx. 20% of overall exterior wall area be of glass face, other 80% matte
-Mostly wooden flooring, does not have to be flat
-Mostly straight walls, couple of curves would be nice
-The ability to accommodate photographs as small as A5 up to Several A0's stacked
-A logical yet interesting sense of 'flow' for public traffic visiting the gallery
-Seating for casual loitering while viewing photos
-Overall a professional yet welcoming feel to the space
In addition to the above:
-A small office-ish space to accommodate a computer/desk for orders and enquiries
-An area which can be turned into a working space while being separate from exhibition space-Everything adjustable to be easily done


Street Art I want a floor of street art gallery where anyone can come and freely express themselves through their artworks. This gallery will need to have: A maze type interior to allow maximum areas to draw on, Various textured walls that will result in more interesting artworks and the height of the walls will not touch the ceilings for ventilation


Bookstore/writer space:

My own personal space would be a bookshop where people can come and read books freely + small working studio for the author.

My bookshop will be selling just one type of book. (haven't decided what kind of book I'm going to do) Maybe it can relate/ link with the other stores in the building. 

Space requirements:

-Small space for the writer to work (must be separated from the selling area) to create more privacy 

-Quiet, relaxing atmosphere

-Not much sunlight --> can damage the books

-It will be good if the view is good from where people are reading books

-Good display for the books

-Comfortable sofa/ seating area for the readers

Tattoo ParlourA new style of tattoo studio is needed. The tattoo shop should be different from the traditional tattoo shop. The studio should be designed architecturally, but be careful don’t design a place look like a dentist office. The design should show the spirit of tattoo:  out of common.
Function

• the studio has 3-4 independent spaces of electric chairs, but they can be opened as a public space
• The spaces should be quiet enough for tattooists to concentrate on their work
• Has place that for tattooists to rest and have a discuss with their customers
• Printer, computer are needed for they design work. Touch screen for customers to choose patterns.
• Ultraviolet radiation light for killing the bacteria
• Nice ventilation
• Best to have relationship to the site, nice  view

Actually just to be the special tattoo shop,dont make something like a dentist's office!)
Material

• Large glass windows/wall, that people can see interior and they can be attract to the studio
• Can be shined by ultraviolet radiation
• Modern enough with some metal or "rock and roll" elements

thinking about the building..

 Using the shape of the watercolour as the basis for the building

Overlaying the shape twice to make a more complex building

Using the watercolour as a basis of shape

This shape that the paint has created on the paper has an organic effect/look. I want my 5 storey building to have that organic shape so the linking of the areas is really important.. I need to think how to do so so that it flows from one space to the other but still being distinctive in separate uses.

Playing around with watercolours

I liked the idea of the 'bubble' of water and the surface tension that holds the colour in... untill you 'pop' it with the paintbrush. Then it spreads out and the paper and the amount of water control the movement.

Examples of watercolour studios

They are all full of light and space to work in as well as wall space to hang works and tables/benches to work at

W.A Sutton's Watercolours of Italy

I love this image, it tells you so much about the place without it being a 'finished' painting.

My brief for 'Gathering'

My brief

Watercolours and fluidity is something that is very important to me. Creating and painting watercolours is something that I love doing as it has the elements of being light, fluid, colourful, unpredictable at times and especially once its on the paper it is hard to remove.
The lightness that the paper brings to the painting is also important instead of arylics where you can just add some white in to make it lighter: there isn't really any white in watercolours.. the paper is the white and you have to be careful with how you make your marks

My idea for a space is a watercolour studio. A place where you have everything you need to paint comfortably.
Requirements*light- a lot and natural where possible- skylights and large windows
*good quality paper- rolls, sheets,
*space for setting up still-lifes to paint from
*digital screens for displaying pervious works as well as photos etc to draw from
*benches and easels as different heights to work on

*large sink
*area to keep paints and brushes
*blank walls to display original works
*storage draws for orignals
*speakers for music

^ part of a watercolour by Nancy Titchborne- a very talented and reknown artist

Laser Cutting

New Topic: Gathering
We have to design a 5 story building that houses 5 different skillsets from 4 friends and ourself. 1 floor for each skill
Needs to include:
*5 stories
*frontdoor, back door and atleast 1 other thresholds
*a service map to each of the services- all must be within 10mins walk of each other

My skill would watercolouring so a space that is a studio to work in but also acts as storage for previous works and materials at easy reach.
 

Progress of making the speaker box

Spraypainting is fun! I did 2-3 coats of each white and black then painted a sealer over the top to give it a gloss sheen, much like metal. (which was the idea) :)

My sustenance idea

I've decided that I am going to go with the idea of joining together the idea of the old school lamp post with the idea of new technology (the iPod).

I plan to create a space where you can pause and plug in your ipod, charge it and then play music from it. So, basically, share it with others in the surrrounding area. Music should be shared but at the same time it isn't always to everyones taste.

I have designed a  hang out spot that is based around the lamp post. I'm taking the idea of the lamp post with its metallic black thick paint finish and joining it with the wooden veneer that is nowdays the exterior parts of speaker boxes.

Augmented reality

For the augmented reality I have placed my iPod (the main source of my music) within the site area. I chose the park as to me it is a place to reflect and sit and listen to music as well

SUSTENANCE

My sustenance is music. When I first wake up in the morning the 1st thing I do is listen to my iPod.

I have chosen music as it fills the silence and helps with the creative process. I link memories, people and feelings with music so it means a lot to me

Peer crits 1st time

When we did the peer crits for the 1st time I looked at Archit, Elena and Hamish's work.

Archit:
He designed a sunshade that is assembled in the tree made out of canvas and is strung between all of the branches to create cover and shading while still letting the light in. It would protect the occupant of the bed that is under the tree shade. He said he likes to lay under trees so wanted to create somewhere safe to be so one could do that.
I think he showed his idea successfully and the model he made showed really well how the shading would go in the tree as he used the appropriate materials. Also from the way he talked you could tell he had really thought out his idea, how to integrate it and explain it to us. I also appreciated how the shading wasn't your typical sunshade, it was a step up from it.

Hamish:
Hamish's shade had evolved quite a bit from his original idea. Once he got comfortable with talking to us he could really go into his ideas. His crescent shaped shade was well constructed and thought out design that much like others use the idea of dappled light while still protecting the inhabitants of the bed.


Elena:
Elena had a really cool metal contraption that worked as to protect the inhabitants. The bed sits inside it and you can open and close the 'arms' to get in and out. The 'arms' were all a uniform shape like petals that open when the sun hits it. Orignally it was supposed to be wood but when she made the model it ended up working better in metal. It works in a circular order to open one way, then to close the opposite way.
Elena showed her idea in a really good way and was confident with her decisions. I could see that she had really thought it out and the process as she went along making the model from plan to fruition.

Open

Closed

Actual site of my waking space

I talked to Judy and she thought that where I decided to put my 'waking' space was somewhere typical.
I was planning to put it in the top left of the above site, amongst the trees. In the quiet and in amongst nature. She said 'wouldn't it be better to put it in a place where meditation may be needed. Eg: in a loud place'
True that.
So, I changed where it would go: next to the train tracks..

Potential places for the waking space

Shape is done

I'm really happy with the shape of my space. Now to make it the right materials and script a part of it to move 

Progress! The shape of the 'waking' point