Preston Noffz: Architectural Design I
Project 01: Prairie Pavilion
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For this project I was given the task to design a pavilion for the Texas Prairie landscape. My goal was to design a building that would help connect any visitors to the landscape. I chose a word that I wanted my pavilion to be centered around, and that word was gradient. For me, that word resembled the prairie because the landscape has a constant change of the environment, but its a subtle and smooth transition between the different ecosystems. I incorporated this word into my pavilion by altering the shape of the building with different angles and curves.
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Ranch and Pastureland by Wikimedia Commons is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
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Research: The Texas Prairie
Word Drawing
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GRADIENTAn increase or decrease in the magnitude of a property observed in passing from one point or moment to another.
SLOPE
INCLINE CHANGE ACCLIVITY DESCENT INCLINATION SUBTLE |
The Texas prairie has many parts, and all of these parts of the prairie come together in a way you can't separate because they merge and come together so smoothly. This is how I got the word gradient, and I wanted to make sure I had that present in my word drawing. I used positive and negative space as well as a transition of shapes from circles to sharp angles to create that gradient type transition.
When I was doing my research over the Texas Prairie, my idea of the landscape vividly changed. At first I thought it was endless flat land with tall grass and not much diversity. Instead, I learned that the prairie includes a very diverse landscape that includes wildflowers, rolling hills, trees, bodies of water, and so much more.
When I was doing my research over the Texas Prairie, my idea of the landscape vividly changed. At first I thought it was endless flat land with tall grass and not much diversity. Instead, I learned that the prairie includes a very diverse landscape that includes wildflowers, rolling hills, trees, bodies of water, and so much more.
A Texas Prairie Pavilion
Parti
I then started to work on designing the pavilion, and I did this with my parti studies. I chose this parti because it was right in the middle of the word drawing, and I felt that it had the strong presence of the word gradient in the perimeter and overall shape. I wanted to expand on the parti and develop different study models to get an idea of what I liked best. I created with study model with a skylight, and some windows and walls. I did another with just windows, and a circle beam inside of the middle of the pavilion. Lastly I did a windowless model, with just a thing slant to enter the pavilion.
Final Parti Diagram
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Parti Diagram Studies
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Prairie Pavilion Studies
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Final Model and Drawings
In the end, I choose the first study model in the pictures above as my main model. I was going to remake it using more precision, and double the size in the process. I chose this model because I felt that all windows on all the walls allowed for a easy view of the prairie no matter where you were in the building. The circular beam in the middle of the pavilion is completely solid, and it serves a purpose as to force visitors to stay near the windows, and the edge of the building. I did this because my word gradient was focused on the shape of the pavilion, and how the walls transitioned from circles to angles all around the building.
Project 02: Prairie Air BNB
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For this project I was given the task to design an Air BNB for the Texas prairie landscape. My goal was set to create another building similar to my pavilion, by using the word that drove project 01, gradient. This time, I had certain requirements I needed to make, like rooms included in the building, and I would also need to make detailed floorplans and elevations through Autocad.
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Photo taken from Google Earth
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Development: Schematic Design
Study Models
To start of my project, I needed to come up with a few basic ideas on what I wanted my building to be like. When I think of the gradient, I think of a smooth transitioning between landscapes and colors, and I wanted my Air BNB to reflect that, a transition of some type. It also being located in the prairie affected my thinking because I didn't want to slap down a house with four walls, and create a out of place, obstruct building. So when I was creating my study models I was thinking hard about adding a flow element and lots of slants to create that gradient type vibe.
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A Texas Prairie Air BNB
After I went through the early stages of development and experimented with different concepts, I had a good idea of what I wanted my Air BNB to look like. I chose the third listed concept in the pictures above, because I felt it had the strongest sense of gradient. From the far right side the building is just a little point but as it moves along to the left it gradually gets bigger and increases in size. I felt that this described the prairie well because as you move throughout the landscape the environment slowly changes around you. Now it was time to start figuring out some ideas for floorplans, and experimenting with the elevations of my building.
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Here in the photo to the left is where I created some rough draft drawings of elevations and potential floor plans of Air BNB. When I was making the floorplan I wanted the main rooms to be lined up on the first floor, so that as you move from left to right throughout the house, you rooms change in that order creating another sense of gradient.
Here I decided to mess around some more with the elevations because what I had so far wasn't quite what I was looking for. Here I specifically looked at the windows on the first floor and adding a balcony. I wanted to add a very open vibe to the first floor because I felt that it was too closed off and restricted which didn't fit with my design thus far. So I added an array of windows wrapped around the left side of the building so that as you move down and throughout the house you can see the prairie beside you and also see its changes. |
Final Model and Drawings
I spent the last week of my project putting my ideas into Autocad and making any further revisions there. I decided I would make the separated part of the Air BNB a pool, because I wanted to add a special element to the house. I felt it fit with the idea gradient because water flows like, and its a smooth area that has a relaxing vibe that fits great with the theme. Below are pictures of my final drawings including elevations, and my floorplans. Afterwards is my final model
