Jordan Capener — Architectural Design I

Project 01: City Pavilion

For this project, we were assigned a major U.S. city and we needed to create a building that reflected the city in multiple ways. I was assigned Chicago, Illinois for this assignment and the image I was given of the city can be seen to the right. I
​found this to be a challenging yet informative assignment and I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

City Research

In the process of researching the city of Chicago, I found that, while still keeping a dominant design in the overall appearance, Chicago contains a variety of architecture styles. The residential areas tend to contain smaller-scale houses while the more urban areas consist of high-risers and office buildings. While this is true for most major cities, the choice of shape and style for the Adler planetarium makes it unique compared to the somewhat-repetitive pattern of the city of Chicago. 

Drawings and Model

Axonometric

​Creating the model was both fun and challenging. The basswood was probably the hardest part of the whole composition, as it doesn't stick well to cardboard--even with hot glue. The axonometric, I found, was perhaps the more enjoyable of the drawings because it challenged me when I was drawing the angled basswood and overlapped bits; especially the right-hand side panel.​

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Project 02: A Forest Cabin

​Project 02 is similar to Project 01, only this time we get more freedom in our design. Our outcome does not need to "reflect" the city or landscape--in fact, our environment isn't in a city, but in the forests of East Texas. We are given a plot of land that measures about a third of an acre in area, and are learning about different site setbacks to guide us in our final design.

Research

Elevation & Floor Plan Design

.I wanted to feel closer to nature in my design, so I decided to tuck my structure into one of the corners of the plot. the North Elevation faces into the trees, hence the reason for all the windows. In addition, I took up a unique challenge in that not a single tree on the property was to be harmed in any way. By positioning the house perfectly, I was able to avoid the trees altogether and place pavement areas without having to remove a single tree. See the images to the right.

Concept Designs

After research, I developed some ideas and put them on paper; not drawn to scale. I wanted to combine contemporary and rustic designs, so these two were most significant in determining my final idea. Concept 1 is a blend of both styles, while Concept 2 is ultra-modern. 

Final Model 

If I had a little more time and wasn't as rushed to get the model done, I would have put a bit of an overhang on the North Face of the house. Despite this, my model came out in an acceptable fashion. I loved seeing my idea coming out into a material form after a lot of planning.