Submission

What I tried to reveal through the representational mediums of parti+poche and the manipulation of visual techniques, was my understanding of the house's essential design concept. I felt that the house was organised in a very open and generous way, promoting flexible use of space and permeability- which makes it so unique in its context of colonial style courtyard dwellings. This is what gives it such a complex dual personality, because within the confining and prison like boundary wall which cuts off the house from the outside, the house is arranged to maximise openness using the design cues of modern tropical architecture. Contextually the sense in which it created a design hybrid is evident as its organisation was adopted for other houses.

In my parti diagrams I explored the concept of the house's loose delineation between different spaces and circulation paths. Loose, in the sense that you could easily re imagine alternate spacial arrangements with in the flexible plan. I also used the diagrams to highlight notions of public/private and served/serving spaces which are central to the context in which the house was produced and understanding its spacial relationships between rooms, courtyards and pavilions. I revealed the clear sense in which the arrangement of spaces compels you to direct your views across the floors from pavilion to pavilion with the many windows and openings facilitating the piercing views. I tried to make these essential concepts legible by adopting a hierarchy of line weights and shading depth, to define primary and secondary elements. 

In my poche drawings, I used computer techniques to highlight important spaces and the unique vernacular of its materiality. Through a process of sequential reduction I decreased the saturation and lightness of colors, to establish a simplified, coherent and more graphically mature representation of these ideas.

For the model refer to previous 2 blogs. Upon reflection and after seeing the work of other students, I found this first task to be a great exercise in developing conceptual and graphic sensibility, and trying to pear back designs to their core principles and fundamental elements, which then explain the simplicity in which the rest of the building is executed. 

Wk5 1st Attempt

Applied a black highlight to section line of model. Has a very subtle and suggestive effect.

Wk4 Fifth Attempt

Final photos.

Wk4 Fourth Attempt

Just some photos of our physical development of internal organistation and floor levels.

Wk4 Third Attempt

These parti diagrams are my final versions for next week. They represent a more conceptually consistent and graphically refined iteration. For the organisation diagram I established a hierarchy in line thickness and shading to highlight the different types of space(served/serving) and associated circulation(main living/working). I also wanted to focus on permeability of views using the blank areas to convey openness and unrestrictedness. For my circulation diagram I wanted to give more visual strength to the interesting delineation of activity and movement spaces in the house's layout.

Wk4 Second Attempt

Some pics of us hard at it. We are definitely coming to terms with Xing's point about investing a lot of yourself into the model, as we often debate and argue about how we want to execute the model. But this is great in building our understanding of the house, as we really try to use the limited material to reconstruct it, and having less information forces us to think critically. We will meet up again on Sunday, and until then will work individually of parts of the building we have agreed on, as well as our partis and poches for the final.