Before I go into each design idea, I wanted to explain my thinking, and what I wanted with these designs. There are a lot of recurring themes and concept behind each designs and that stems from my research and what I believe is the best approach for this project of modular student living. One recurring idea is the central column that usually have the stair in it, this is done to allow for the bedrooms to sit around that column so they can be slotted in and out, so it can be truly modular. Another main theme is the use of very basic shapes, the pure forms that I have discussed and researched, those are the square the triangle and the circle, I've also slotted in the rectangle in there. Those shapes are used in all but one design, and not surprisingly that design is the less practical. Another recurring theme is that the buildings are usually a module that can be repeated to fit the need all design could be scaled up or down. The last main idea, is that I'd like there to be a sense of community so for most of the designs the kitchen/living are shared, sometimes the bathroom is shared as well. But the most important is the shared kitchen/living which I think can really push people to come together, having a meal and chatting is a staple when it comes to interacting with others, in families, for me anyway meal times are when everyone drops whatever they're doing and shares a moment together, and that moment shared is usually a very magical moment in a day, so hopefully that could also be he case for the students, maybe not to the same extent.
Idea 1:
This is a big rectangular complex that is surrounded by balconies for each rooms. All around the building there would be a curtain wall with honeycomb pattern, I chose to do that one because honey are a great community, and I'd want the student who live here to feel like they are a community. the second reason I chose the honeycomb was to make the building's facade more interesting and not plain boring. A glass box would dissect the building and that is where the stairs would be. It would also separate the building into two which would help the student figure out where their kitchen is. I chose shared kitchen because I wanted some communal spaces, and having a kitchen by your bed isn't the best.
Idea 2:
Idea 2 is a gigantic tree house. A huge central pillar with stairs would connect to each level, where there would be platforms that vary in size on each level. Th idea is to make it feel random, but yet the same thing is on each level, just like a tree with random branches that ultimately always has leafs at the end. On each level depending on the side of the platform there would be small capsules/modules which would be the bedrooms for the student. The modules would all be the same, maybe 2 different size, but they would be repeated randomly on each level. Then with the empty spaces between each modules would be a glass house where all the services would be, kitchen, bathroom and living. Each platform would also have enough space for terrace space.
Idea 3:
This is a huge cylinder, that is just the same level repeated over and over. In its basic form it is a donut, where the centre would be a circular ramp that goes all the way from top to bottom, very much like Frank Lloyd Wright's Guggenheim museum. On each level you would have 8 bedrooms and two kitchen, again I'm making the kitchen/living communal in hopes of creating a community. Each bedroom would be the same module, with a bed, desk, bathroom and storage. Being that I want to make something modular ideally those modules could be taken in and out, for what purpose though I am not sure.
Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum- Frank Lloyd Wright (1959)
Idea 4:
Idea 4 is more a focus on the shape of the module more than anything. I was inspired by a shelf I have in my bedroom, that I find really interesting visually, and so I wanted to see how it would translate to a room, if scaled up. Looking at it now it's still visually interesting, but the shape is not at all practical really, and I think the practical aspect is very very important, a university would not look to be building new accommodation where the design wastes space. Those capsules I chose to put them on the tree house idea, but it doesn't work as well in my opinion.
Idea 5:
Here again I am exploring the idea of having a central pillar with all amenities and then the rooms connected to it. It is a theme that is recurring within my designs because I think it is the most appropriate for what I want to do, if I had kitchen/living on the outside then the rooms wouldn't be able to slot in and out, and that is something I wanted. So here it's just central column surrounded my semi circles where there would be two rooms in each semi circle. So again 8 bedrooms and 2 kitchen per floor.
Idea 6:
Idea 6 is exploring the use of containers. I've decided to group 3 containers to create each level. Those 3 containers would have £3 bedrooms, a kitchen, living and bathroom. I wanted this design to be of a smaller scale, and be very limited in terms of how high you could go. All prior designs could be repeated indefinitely, but this one is caped at 5 storeys. I decided to have the same group of 3 containers placed on top of one another just at intervals, as it was something a lot of other projects I looked at did. The decision to stagger them, then creates new spaces that are very interesting. That interval, and new space could be used as a balcony, or be green roofs which is adds another feature to the building. The 5 storey building would then be repeated horizontally and that would create a totally different feeling compared to it standing alone. I also chose to have arched facades on one end, and that was to make the building more interesting visually and also because I love arches.
Idea 7:
Here we have a Triangular prism module that is repeated in 2 orientation. One is upright the other is upside down, which helps create variety. Each prism would be a fully equipped bedroom, more of a tiny house really. There would be two types of room, one room where the triangle is facing up, and the other room where the triangle is facing down, so the room would actually be a trapezoid. I chose to make the rooms tiny fully equipped homes because in this instance there couldn't be a central column. The idea is that these prism would slot into a steel frame that is kind of in the shape of a parallelogram, but actually looks more like a box that is sinking in water. This steel frame would not completely be used, so some of the frame would protrude out and be empty very much like Jean Nouvel's Cartier Foundation.
Foundation Cartier- Jean Nouvel (1994)
Idea 8:
Writing about this idea and looking back on it, it's a bit ridiculous and stupid, there is a lot of wasted space. But anyway the idea was to have a group of pillars arranged in a circle with a house on top of each. Those houses would have been where the student stay. I don't like it now because those pillars are useless, and create a hierarchy that I do not like, the people living in the middle houses would have to either get the lift to the top and get down, or start at the bottom and climb up, in either way it's stupid. It looks funky which is probably why I did do it in the first place, but it's definitely not a design I want to take further.
Idea 9:
This is another design that would be quite low, only limited to 3 storey, so it would have to be repeated horizontally. It is essentially a huge triangle laid on the side, with rooms piercing its facade. The middle level would house all the kitchens, living and bathrooms. There would be two types of room, the bottom rooms would be longer than the top ones, and they would all have a sloping roof.
I chose to have triangular shapes be very present because I wanted the building to feel more alive as if someone was inside trying to push the walls out. I just wanted to steer away from the flat walls just to see really.
Idea 10:
This idea was developed from the plan of the building, I did not focus on what it would look from the outside but focused on a layout that would be very practical. It is a square with each corner being either a terrace or a kitchen. In between these would be the rooms. The inside of the square would have a cross that would serve as a corridor to the entrance of the flats, all corridors would join in the centre where there would be lifts. The corridors would form a cross inside, creating 4 triangles, that would be empty space. The terraces and kitchen areas would be double height, which would create an empty space, where there would be 2 rooms now instead of 4, those rooms would be double the size of the others because they would be fully equipped tiny homes. I really like this design, and imagining it in 3D, it also the design that reminds me of Louis Khan's work, because there would be opportunity for huge empty space with imposing shapes/forms.
Idea 11:
This idea is taking those prisms and just making them interact with one another differently, one prisms would cut through the other two, which would limit the building to two storeys. It creates a bit of a mountain, which I like, and in terms of light is also very interesting because you would have ceiling windows where light comes in at an angle, which would create beautiful effects/ shapes I think anyway. With the centre triangle piercing the other two, you get again two different types of room, which helps create variety. Thinking about this one large scale is where problems arise, you only have 3 rooms per group, and you would have to repeat it horizontally across a very large distance for it to house enough students really, and I just think that in that case it would look very weird and monotonous and maybe end up being the kinda projects I criticised at the start.
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