Cottage Design

What is craft?

This graphic organizer helped depict my ideas/beliefs in the regards to what craft is and how it functions in real life/in an architectural sense in the early stages of the design. In short it is my opinion that craft is the creation of a specific form in order to serve a specific purpose.

Client and their Cræft

My client is a craftsman. More specifically he is a leather worker. Leather workers focus on specific details and are a very hands on craft requiring a very careful and resourceful person.

Initial Cottage Investigation

​

Original  Concepts


These original concept ideas all follow a similar design inspiration with that being the ways in which native American homes derive/represent the ideas of craft. From top to bottom it starts with the Iroquois long house which demonstrates the connectivity and creativity parts of cræft. Next there is the pueblo house which utilizes the ideas of cræft via its use of function over form in order to fill a specific function in the best way possible. Finally there is the apache teepee which harnesses the ideas of cræft and more specifically the ideas of efficient and environmental material use which the Apache are famous for doing in their use of the leather that they derive from the buffalo that occupied their native lands.

---

---

Bubble diagram

This is where my idea was first planned out, originating from the ideas of leather working and how that connects/relates to the ideas of Cræft/Craft and more specifically what that represents for the native Apache tribe. The native Apache tribe was famous for their work with leather  especially in regards to the way in which they use every piece of leather that they get from the cow/buffalo using it for things like clothes, baskets and even their homes. This demonstrates craft by their creativity in the ways in which they use their limited materials in order to apply it to their basic needs. This idea uses the ideas of the apache  teepee and more specifically the open concept ideas of the teepee 

---

First Floor plan

Adapting elements originating in the bubble diagram this single line floor plan displayed where rooms should be located in a scaled environment. This design is mainly non open concept using walls and doors rather than the suggestion of hat should occupy the space that was used in later designs. Also included 

First Elevation

These drawings focused on the materials used and how the floor and site plan's looks in different directions. This specific design is more focused on the more specifically teepee elements of the design and making it look more exactly like the native structure style.

The Final Design

After a round of peer review/constructive criticism the model was changed in order to better occupy the space in which it inhabits and better suit the needs of the client.

Final Elevation
In the final design there have been walls added in order to give the building proper structure and not force it to conform to the restrictive elements of a teepee and be more reminiscent of the structure style rather than directly getting inspiration from it.

Site Plan

This site plan depicts how the Building will interact with the area in which it inhabits. It is located near the bottom left corner of the hose in order to properly utilize the driveway in order to allow the client to properly park his car in the garage that the cottage has.

​

Floor Plan/Section

In the final floor plan of this model it was decided to revert back to the original idea demonstrated in the bubble plan (Open concept limited walls with the exception of the bathroom which is a walled off room for privacy). Also included in the plan are walls that extend 2 feet out which are made support a false roof which was made in order to accommodate any extra storage/space concerns in the house itself. This false roof is demonstrated in the ajoining section.

Final Model

In the Final model of my design I utilized the ideas demonstrated in the Final concept Plans/designs and transplanted them onto a 3d plan. For the garage/parking a open no walled area with a pitched roof. For the main cottage the home was mainly open concept with no walls with the exception of the bathroom.

---

            Project 2: Forested site

Driving Question: How does architecture express the work and career of traditional craftsmen, allow them to engage in individual and collective productivity, and embrace the steady march of technological evolution?

Methodology: Design every building so that they each represent a way in which leather working was used in the past. This shall help blend the past and present of leather working by modernizing different techniques of leather working.

Updates to apprentice cottage

Not much was added to the apprentice cottage however the floor plan had a minor change as the rear part of the building was made less narrow so as to lessen any unconvinced that the shape of the building could give to the apprentice.

Master house concepts

In the first concept the irqouis concept was revisited and expanded adding an outdoor living space (a porch located in the front of the building), skylights in order to harness natural light and massively increasing the size (one portion of this design considered removing all other buildings and having the longhouse be the sole structure (with every other building being located there)
In the second concept the idea of connecting all rooves to one central point is revisited with the building being made to look more similar to a teepee being placed on top of several walls jutting out in a sloped configuration.
In the final concept (which is the design that ended up being selected) a large citadel style home which was constructed to align the project to a central theme (the historical uses of leather) with this building showing the protective aspects of leather (the building is designed to show leather armor which was commonly used by historical warriors). The walls in the interior section of the building were made taller than the buildings on the exterior section of the buildings. Alongside this large tall stained glass windows were placed on all sides of the interior walls to harness natural light alongside sunlight being place upon the roof which like the cottage and previous concept was connected to a single point.

Master house Final 

In this final design of the master house the chosen concept was updated in order to help best translate the concept into the real world. This was done by changing the tall stained glass windows into much more traditional paneled styles. Alongside this to give the client an outdoor living space a porch with a sloped roof was added alongside a exterior garage (also with a sloped roof). In order to help promote sustainability local trees are to be used in the construction of this building to cut down on carbon emissions and material waste this could also cut down on material costs due to cheaper transport and production. This concept retains the natural light roof concept (See:model photo) alongside the roof connecting to a single point and the building being modeled in order to represent the protective, armor like elements that leather can represent.

 Workshop concepts

Both of these buildings main central idea was focused on the use of leather working in education the concept which was represented in both of these concepts was a book.

In the first concept of this building the building was give octagonal walls (similar to the cottage and interior main house) and roof was raised high and comes to a single line rather than a point to represent the connection that the craftsman have. Alongside this the roof is given a short overhang in order to abstractly match the leather binding many historical books had. In order to show bystanders the work that these leather workers do (tooling leather work) a storefront window was added to connect people not experienced with the craft to it. Alongside this for storage purposes a large shelf encompasses one wall.

In the second concept the floor plan/furniture layout is slightly similar however the building was made into a hexagon with exterior walls surrounding half the building and a roof that is flat and partially halfway rises to come to a single point. This roof also contains sunroofs for natural light

Workshop final

In the final design of the workshop the first concept was chosen and no major modifications were made to the building. However similar to the master house in order to promote sustainability alongside the aforementioned sunroofs the main material that is to be used for this building is local wood which will reduce carbon emissions,material waste and promote sustainability by cutting down on material costs.

                                     Site Info

This site is located on a 50x150 feet portion of the old Alton bridge trail (also known as the Truss bridge) which is heavily forested area in Denton county.

                                   Concept Site

For this site concept a basic sketch of every buildings location was constructed with a focus being put on building layout rather than the spacing on the site.

                                          Final Site

On the final site emphasis was put on the spacing of the site alongside an addition of landscaping agriculture such as trees and other site terrain.