Ivan Teran                                                      Architecture Design 2

​Our first main project we where assigned, is to find the Dimension of philosopher Henry David Thoreau's cabin at Walden Pond.
From the Thoreau's Cabin Projections drawings we where assigned to draw an exploded axonometric drawings of are cabin showing the framing of the cabin and how the house is constructed.
using the axonometric drawings as a blueprint to figure out how each pieces fits together we began building a framing model of Thoreau's cabin to get a better understanding and a physical model of how every pieces interacts with each other. 
For this project we where assigned to design a living and working space located inside the Texas Backlands Prairies as a retreat for a group of writers. are main focus when design our cabins was how could we connect the writer to the landscape while making a sustainable cabin.
How I went about designing my first cabin was that I made sure that every room had a window that outlooks the prairie so even when your inside the house you can look out your window and connect with the prairie and also maximize how much sunlight gets into the house
For my second cabin I wanted to make it more open and the rooms that do need privacy like the bed room bathroom I made them closed off. the reason I made the writing/work room  private is because I didn't want the occupant to get distracted while working
For my third cabin I wanted to experiment with the sizes and the divisions of the house and where should each room go and that's how I created my third cabin. 
For my site I showed the views of the house looking out would be.

Final Design

One goal for the first cabin was to make both the rectangles equally as long to create the effect that the house is stretching. also divided the rooms into different rectangles, like the living, kitchen, and dinning into one rectangle and in the other rectangle put the bathroom and bedroom. This was done to show separation of space like the private rooms all in one rectangle and the public in the other  rectangles. this help create a different atmosphere in public and private areas. on the edges of the house there are patios which both outlooks different areas of my site. one overlooks the stream and the other patio overlooks the clearing in my site
The second cabin was design to be placed alongside of the stream that runs on my site. The house curve was intentional to take the shape of the curving stream. The house also includes a office so that the writers can have a dedicated work space and a patio to add outdoor spaces and to get down and get closer to the stream and experience it up close for yourself.
The communal building is a space for the writers to gather up and talk about what there writing about or just a place for the writers to socialize because the writers will be the only one to occupy there cabin. The communal building will be paced in the center of a patch of forested area on my site