More Auditorium Sketches

Auditorium: graphic standard recommendations

The interior graphic standards book provided some initial stage designs and adjacency diagrams. I searched on the web for some more helpful, detailed books but everything costs $60+. I can't spend that money right now(I still owe Eric money for the hotel in Atlanta). 

The good news is the UNCG library had a fantastical stash of auditorium and theater design books. Floor plans, sections, elevations, details, acoustics, adjacencies, lighting, program elements, the list goes on, its all there in my 100 pound stack of books. If anyone else is designing an auditorium let me know and I might let you look at my stash. Maybe. There are plenty of others that I didn't pick up, basically because I had reached the weight capacity of my arms with the 4 I had acquired. 

This is going to be pretty exciting...

Modeled Structure

Here's an example of a the tensile tube structure we intend to use throughout our building to hold the weight of the skin (to some extent) and floor plates (for the most part). The tube will continue upwards and outward at the top becoming the grid shell, terminating into the ground (in some parts). Jessica was nice enough to model this in 3-D AutoCAD, thanks! 

Within these tubes the core of the building will be located: mechanical, electrical, elevators, stairs, bathrooms, etc. They won't always be designed with that stuff in mind so wait to see what we come up with next...

Building Development

Random thoughts while running

These are images from the design firm Cooper Cary related to a competition for the Center of Civil and Human Rights. While I believe the diagrams are successful in conveying information I'm not really enthused about some of the perspectives shown.
As you can see in the above image, there are tons of people. The whole exterior gathering area is filled with people. It looks absolutely ridiculous. Am I going out on a limb when I say they didn't develop that exterior gathering space and instead of doing so, they filled it with "entourage"? Are they trying to visually convey that people are physically a part of the building's architecture? Honestly, I think it looks like a holding pen for livestock. It also seems odd that they chose that particular graphic to cover the facade of the building. I'm not sure of the mood the firm is trying to convey but it doesn't strike me as an empowering image which is what should be there.

Anyway, I've never been a big fan of the ghostly apparitions that pass for people in perspectives. If you're going to put people in a perspective make sure they look like they are really there. I mean holy crap, this is a big design firm. Is there no one who can do this properly?

On another note I'd like to get my thesis project published if it turns out the way I see it in my mind's eye. As a matter of fact, I think I have a secret passion for design related research and conveying that information through a medium (blog, design project, book, etc). After reading some of the publications of OMA/AMO, this has become yet another item of high interest. I was thinking about concentrations today while running: populations, household sizes, the density of cities. What about barrier architecture (U.S. border with Mexico, North/South Korea no man's land)? What about invisible architecture (metamaterial on a building's scale)?

Concept Poster?

Wordle conceptualization machine

There are several key words important to our project: education, community, culture, transition, and rapid transit. After compiling 500-2000 words of definitions and meanings for each key word, I submitted each "mass" to the Wordle machine as a pathway for "finding the key words within the key words."

Rapid Transit

Culture
Transition
Education
Community

Feedback and possibilities

The presentation went as I expected, disastrous. No, haha, I'm kidding. The context plans and diagrams we paraded were strong, at least I thought. It was obvious where we fell short (better site plan) and the last minute addition of the perspectives. A stronger site diagram would have solidified our ideas further, giving the guest crits more of a perspective on where everything was happening. The feedback on the scale and ridiculousness of the gesture in perspective was expected. It was massive, practically engulfing Lee street, the site, Oakland avenue, and part of campus. I think we went too far showing those perspectives even if the purpose was to exaggerate the gesture visually while having something to compare it to (sorry physical plant and Curry education, your time is over!). It reminded me of a godzilla sized armadillo-esque snake. I'll leave you with that description, the actual drawing is even more ludicrous.

The words "celebration" came out of my mouth during the presentation and as soon as I said them I instantly regretted it. How can you celebrate the railroad, the beginning of Greensboro as a city, by placing them underground and erecting a gargantuan monstrosity in its place that has no relationship with the context surrounding it? The guest crits were quick to point this out.  I knew right then and there that we should bring those tracks out of the ground, raise them up high, and put their prominence on display for all to see. That is a path I hope to pursue when we continue this project after spring break. Another helpful note mentioned was the series of experiences that we should think about that might occur for a person approaching or entering the building. 

Here are two train station projects I found perusing the Perkins & Will website [ 1  2 ]

After reading the book, What is OMA?, I came across a project they did in Lille (Euralille). It was a good read for anyone interested in Rem Koolhaas, OMA, and AMO.