Tuesday 23: I focused the research on the served and servant principle from Louis Kahn. I had already got the basic from it in the first round of research but only from Kahn's point of view, he was the frontrunner no doubt, but he didn't apply the principles to a lot of buildings that really resembled my project. I tried researching other buildings that would maybe use that same principle, but I couldn't find many that specifically spoke about the principle, I'm guessing maybe because it is so normal now that it's not worth mentioning. I did find a video near the end of the day and that a few examples of other buildings, not by Kahn and that video was really helpful. I'm maybe spending a bit too much on these side research that may do nothing to move the project forward, but I think that's just because I have nothing really in terms of design ideas, I'm hoping that all these research and buildings I come across will spark that flame that'll allow me to get the ball rolling really.
Wednesday 24: Today was another morning session in school, really good, actually monumental in terms of the project really. I was speaking with one of my teacher about my project and where I wanted to go with it and he found me some really cool projects and artist, I especially like Archigram. But the thing that really shook this project was the idea of targeting this whole modular concept at students. Students accommodation. That just made a lot more sense than a professional couple, I have 0 links to that, nor am I really interested in it. Yes I really like the Eames couple, but basing a project just on artist I really like just isn't really wise, it's not a though-out idea, just an impulsive one. Anyway great idea, and definitely one that excites me more. So I just spent that day researching a lot of housing complexes, social houses and student accommodation etc, to see what has be done, I got a lot of pictures that I'll probably compile for a mood board. I also have a new group to research- Archigram.
Plug in city- Archigram
Thursday 25: Had online lessons today, quick recap and then a 1on1 with my teacher, we discussed my project what is going well and what needs improving, that was mainly annotations and really making sure that this development stage was done more thoroughly than the 3 weeks projects. Back then It was okay, but here I have 3 actually 5 weeks, currently in week 2 of the development brief, to really get sampling done and experiment with different materials and processes. Just a question of having a bit more of trial and error, for the short project I'd have a good idea, and when it would not fit I'd be okay, here I have the time to come up with that idea and if it doesn't work I can and probably should change it. So yeah big emphasis on this stage, which I'm currently stalling in, but with that fresh breath of air I should get the ball rolling and always have those 2 weeks of Easter to really get it down. What was really cool during that 1on1 is that my teacher (different from Wednesday) also had projects that related to mine. So even more buildings to study this is really great, my favourite from those recommendations being student housing for the Dyson Institute.
Student Housing for Dyson Institute- WilkinsonEyre (2019)
Friday 26: Today I created the first blog post for this part of the brief, one on the actual brief and the other one outlining the change of direction for the project concept, I believe I explained the change well, whilst also laying out a pretty clear plan for what the next steps will be, those involve getting a questionnaire made, so I can get other's opinion on their ideal student accommodation and also case studies if you will into successful and not so successful housing complex and student accommodation. Personally my favourite housing complex, and the one I think of right from the beginning would be the Alexandra estate, a building I love, so I'll look into that as well, and maybe the Barbican as well, although am not as big of a fan, and it's also a really, really big project and I don't know wether it would actually be very relatable to me, because it's essentially a small city, and I don't plan on creating a place that offers everything students would need, just the accommodation portion. The whole self contained city from Dredd is not a direction I'd want to head in.
Alexandra Estate- Neave Brown (1978)
Mega city from Dredd (2012)
Saturday 27: Im chopping down at the tree that is all this extra research really getting it over with, making sure I am as informed as possible before getting pen to paper. Today the research was on platonic geometry and Archigram. Platonic solids completely went over my head, not something for me yet, something I probably would need to get walked through by someone who understands it or really have a long sit down and top concentration to get just a bit of it, let alone being able to apply it. In short it seems quite interesting, but very complex, and most definitely of no importance to my project, once again it was just me getting stuck on really liking Louis Kahn and wanting to understand everything that was talked about. There is a time for everything, and that time is not now, so I cut of that line of research quickly and didn't waste time on it, no blog posts on it, an answer that will wait. I know that there are only 5 platonic solids however, and that they have one of 4 elements associated to each, the fifth having aether substance of space. The research on Archigram was a lot more useful however, so I'll be blogging that.
Platonic Solids showing how our solar system was designed in theory- Johannes Kepler (1596)
Sunday 28: I though third time would be the charm so I gave the the Euclidean, spherical and hyperbolic geometry I'd read about during the Louis Kahn research. This one I understood the basics I think, but didn't really understand it's relation in architecture, and is not something I want to use. If I really understood it then maybe I would notice it, and be aware of it when designing, but I don't, and I am sure that, that will not affect my project in any way. So also sidelined that, and focused on reading what students look for in accommodation, what makes good student accommodation, and what I should take into account when designing, all of that to help me form the questions for the questionnaire. I also bullet pointed all of those main characteristic needed and created a mind map. I'll publish that most likely with the mood boards. After that I should have enough to really get the ideas going for the design and start sketching those because time is ticking and as previously mentioned I want to avoid those last frantic days.
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