Architectural Design I - Newton Witter
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The objective this semester was to investigate how the characteristics and qualities of craft influence the development of form and space to create meaningful architectural experiences. To this end, we created two separate projects: A residence constructed for a randomly selected variety of native bird in the area surrounding the Old Alton Bridge in Denton, and a residence for a dean to be constructed on the bridge itself.
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Project 1: Birdhouse
The concept drawings I created for my first major project.
For this project, I was assigned to create a residence for the Anna's Hummingbird, and I eventually settled on a disk-like design inspired by the work of the architect Buckminster Fuller, who often used geodesic domes in his work. I also selected a lattice pattern that helped to inspire this particular motif of overlapping lines and rhombuses. My early designs only included the enclosure itself, and I later decided to add the rectangular supports that weave through the structure and provide a nesting location for the bird. This design is uniquely suited to the needs of the hummingbird because it has no one defined entry point, and is instead permeable all around, which suits the 360 degree movement of the hummingbird.
Project 2: Dean's Residence
My initial ideation for this project began with the creation of these three designs. I initially favored the one on the left, and this design does most closely resemble what my final product is, but it is distinctly different in many ways. But it introduces the central thesis of my deign thinking for this project: a fusion of traditional Eastern and Western architecture.
The basic concept behind this design is a fusion of the style of traditional Chinese architecture and Western dogtrot log cabins. The jagged lightning motif which covers each wall came about as a way to break up the very formulaic, self-similar structure endemic in each of these types of construction, as well as adding contrast to the coloration. The inspiration for that particular feature came from looking around at Art Deco buildings, as those are some of my very favorite pieces of architecture and I wanted to find a way to include them in this design.
After doing some calculations to find out the square footage of my house, I made the decision to add another story in order to give enough room for the dean, his wife, and two full guest bedrooms, as well as an in-house ceramics workshop.
