Thursday, January 24, 2008

SKETCHES


This first image is studying the underground parking area with the slab above it.




In this sketch I was studying incorporating the surrounding buildings into the architecture. Possibly utilizing brick in the facade.
In this sketch I was studying the possibility of the residence tower slanting out over the sidewalk. The base for both building would be a glass curtain wall.
I will continue the studies tonight. I really want to play on having a technology like look and feel to the buildings. I am going to study the Gehry building tonight and work on some diagrams based on my studies.


8 comments:

werner said...

Jaclyn,
I like the fact you are doing hand sketches. We (architects) quite often forget to practice our hand sketching using all those computers. I’m not quite sure what I’m looking at in the underground garage sketch however. The second sketch seems to me you try too hard to react to too many local influences. I suggest you look for no more than two strong gestures in the neighboring buildings (height, material, canopy, fenestration, et cetera). Interpret these gestures in your tower. How is the Gehry building expressing itself on the diagonal? Can you interpret this on your diagonal? Start maybe with a plain copy. Abstract the moves and change them to fit your program needs (windows focused on particular views for instance). The third sketch seems to be a direct response to some comments in the crit. I like how you are starting to differentiate base from middle in your tower. I’m not sure if wrapping all your buildings with the glass base is necessary to tie the two buildings together. I think your academic building will need just as much differentiation as the tower, but possibly more vertically along the street façade, rather than vertically.

Eddie Alvarado said...

Jaclyn,

I concur with Werner's feeling on the hand sketches, they communicate well. Someone during the intensive was commenting on the advantage of digital presentations only, and I would like to challenge that. As you have experienced in Zoning hearings hand sketches work well for presentations where there is community involved. Somehow the hearings welcome that cartoony feeling of a hand sketch, its cozy. Therefore I think sometimes they are a must!

On a separate note, what I gather from your sketches is a complete 360 deg. turn from your previous building skin. During the intensive it was more "Simmons Hall" type and now, sketch three is more Gehry's earlier work. So I am not sure where the envelope is heading. I have heard before that 460 Newbury Street (Gehry's bldg.) is successful urbanistically because of the Top Canopy, it creates a sort of visual cap before you enter the underground portion of the Mass. Pike, the corner entry of that building caters to the intersecting pedestrians converging at the corner, pretty smart Ha! at that point you decide if you go to the "T" or turn around or go down Mass. Ave. I think it would be interesting to see your building treat the site as a complement to the Cap of Gehry's building, in other words, you would be defining one of the walls. Also, either Werner or Eric stated the highway comes too close to the corner, it's true, so what if your building did something to visually improve this (this would be tricky, but a great trick!)

A comment on the ground parking is that I think a parking area between the two buildings does not induce a great neighbor opportunity to interact with each other, in fact it introduces an element that is rather public and noisy, perhaps a nice landscaped/hardscape area will create better neighbors. If I understood Werner correctly, the parking is public, therefore a parking attendant could become a valet parking person. This means that you would not need the accessible parking spaces.

The plans stack nicely between levels, I see a bit of Henry Ciriani (Peruvian/French Architect), he is a bit Corbuseian, but he's got some nice plans and fenestrations. See if you could google some of his stuff, if not, I am sure the library has his CAW (contemporary World Architects) book. You mentioned you would like the building to have a technology look. That's interesting, I wonder why you would? I think your Green Design strategies might assist you with this decision. Look for "in DETAIL - Building Skins" by Christian Schittich. Great book! there were too many strategies for me to pinpoint in this book. Good luck!

Unknown said...

Jaclyn,

Thanks for posting comments for us all.

I also enjoy your hand sketches, but it has taken a 360 from your original proposal. I kind of miss your windows of color speaking in code to the city and I was looking forward to the night time effect of lights turning on and off. Is there some way to bring all this into one design? I also would like to see and hear more about the sustainable nature of your building... and what you will do with landscaping?

If you are going to continue with a glass base I think studying what the night time traffic patterns will create across such a glass canvas...

Good luck and I look forward to your final presentation.

Matt Anderle said...

Jaclyn,

I like the very different designs you are showing with these sketches. I commend you on taking that leap and re-evaluating your overall design.

My question now is where have you gotten. The sketches show drastically different concepts. I believe Eddie and others have asked, 'How does your original green' strategy fit into the new concepts.

Which one do you like better?

I know the Gehry building is near our site but is it a reason to create conversation? I think your building was unique and different with the evolving elevations and water introduction. How can your building BE a water sculpture? Can water influence the operation design of the building. How you access your building and move within this space can very exciting. These are just questions to keep you thinking. Hope your study goes well and your images post soon. I would like to see the outcome of your sketches!

Matt Anderle said...

Jaclyn,

One more comment on the groung parking. I like the green vegitated space. Be causious of the requirements for keeping the railroad out of one of those nice handicap spots.

Gus G.-Angulo said...

Please see my comments to you on my blog
Gus

Jaclyn said...

Gus,
Thank you for the comments. I appreciate them. The only thing that I disagree with is the flow you are looking for on the section. I do not want the floor lines to flow together as they are supposed to be separated. I feel that if the floor lines are aligned than that will present the possibility to connect them internally and I am attempting to avoid that. I do believe however that I need to attempt to create a flow externally and I am currently studying that. You will see a post no later than tonight with my elevations. The buildings should read as separated not as one connecting building. The separation has become more emphasized and that will be seen in my next post as well. I am still looking to decrease my number of stairs but am struggling with that due to my attempts to keep the buildings separated. When attempting to create a core, it creates a connection between the buildings. I will be investigating that more today to see if the elevator only opens on one side and shuts off access to the other. Check back tonight to see your ideas incorporated in my design!

Jaclyn said...

To all Skin comments,
I know that there is some concern that I did a 360 when I posted the sketch about the skins. I will have some elevations posted tonight that will demonstrate a combination of the approaches. I don’t want to lose the curtain walls with the changing windows but I do feel that there are some design elements that need to be included that weren’t before. I will be utilizing my solid void studies to help integrate both ideas. Please check back tonight for a posting.