Mid-Semester Crit: Scheme and Analysis
(Week 6: Mid-Semester Critique and Site Analysis)
“Within the Mansion”
Our chosen clients are Creative Arts and Industries (CAI) students (architecture, urban planning, dance, music, and fine arts) as these students have recently lost their specialist library and study spaces. Our aim is to focus on the theoretical side of these creative subjects rather than the practical side. The space will be an additional space to their studio for students to things that are not usually done in their studio, such as studying and writing assignments/essays.
Together as a group, we came up with two schemes with the aim to explore different ideas in each one. Sarah and I worked on the proposal that looked at how functions can be structured and divided into separate spaces, while Oliver and Calvin worked on the one that focused on how functions can be distributed within the space.
Precedents
During our design process, we looked at two precedents, including Tsinghua University’s Law Faculty Library by KokaiStudios and Helsinki University Main Library by Anttinen Oiva Architects.
- Tsinghua University’s Law Faculty Library comprises of 3 main spaces — research, teaching and office spaces. The three areas are layered vertically, and as we got higher up, more privacy is provided. Additionally, all the spaces are connected by the central core, where the skylight and roof-top courtyard are located.
- Helsinki University Main Library offers a range of environments for students to study in. The building’s layout has been divided into functional zones to facilitate the use of the library and its services. The study zone provides both soundproof areas for quiet reading and loud working spaces for group work.
Concept Model:
The two precedents have led us to the idea of “gradient of privacy” and how we arrange the spaces. Our design provides six areas — study, sleeping, resting, roof garden food, and recreation, where the first four are only for CAI students, and the rest are accessible by all university students.
From the site analysis, the spaces nearby General Library is where people usually walk through and gather. Thus, we chose to put the study area on the part that is further away from the library to provide privacy and avoid noise from people. The sleeping and resting areas and roof garden are located at the top to maximise privacy as well as capture the view for relaxation. Food and recreation spaces are on the side that is closer to the library to attract people into space and create connections to the university. Additionally, there is a ground circulation under the bridge that connects the two distinct parts of the building.
In terms of the materiality of this model, each space is represented by different kinds of rock. Two solid rocks are used for the study space to show how we want to create a motivating atmosphere within the space. Round and smooth rocks are used for the sleeping and resting spaces to imply the relaxing atmosphere within the space. For the food and recreation areas, we used two porous rocks to show how the areas are open to everyone, and they are welcoming people to come in.
Atmosphere:
For the atmospheric drawing, we wanted to show how different types of space give you a different atmosphere. The brown painting and perspective grid represent the atmosphere of our study area. We want to illustrate how space motivates people to study, focus, and be productive. The atmosphere changes as you go up to the roof garden and sleeping and resting areas. The lines from the grid are loosened up and floating around on the blue background to show the idea of feeling free and releasing yourself from the stress. Food and recreation centres are the space for procrastination and social interaction. The intersecting lines and colours indicate the playful environment.
Conceptual Section:
This conceptual section is a development from our exploration in the stone massing model and atmospheric drawing. Our study area follows the idea of the gradient of privacy. The area provides more privacy as you go up. The bottom two floors are the collaborative working space (first floor for big groups and second floor for smaller groups), and the top two levels are the individual working space. The study spaces are arranged around two penetrate voids that have natural light shining through. The staircase runs through the middle area and leads people to the top level where sleeping pods, resting area, and roof garden are located. The pods have the dome-like sphere shape to make people feel like they are tucked in a warm environment. For us, we see the sky as something that allows people to rest their mind and relax, so we added the skylights to our pods for people to see the sky while they are lying down in their bed. We decided to make the resting area flexible because we realised that different people have different ways to relax, and we did not want to set up rules on how people rest. Instead, we provide big windows that allow natural light into the space to create a peaceful environment. Food and recreation areas are located under the roof garden and resting area. These two areas are open to all and the idea is to create an area that attracts people. The food area is an open space with wide-open windows and a welcoming environment. The recreation area is a step down from the food area, which provides students with spaces for different activities, such as table tennis, pool, and movie room.
Feedback from the critics:
- Different functions should be served by different spaces, such as individual and large group study area, because different functions are likely to have different spatial and acoustic requirements.
- How can architecture accommodate the needs of everyone as people tend to have different requirements for their study?
- Resting space should be defined and should not be left ambiguous.
- The spaces need to be carefully designed because students may get distracted by other facilities while they are studying.
- Consider the quality of rocks, such as what they do, their variations and clusters
- Precedents introduced by the critics: Devonport Library, Simmons Halls at MIT by Steven Holl, Google Headquarters
Reflective Analysis:
In terms of developing our design further, our group has been discussing how we can bring the two schemes together. The two schemes have many ideas that are overlapping, but the spaces are arranged in different ways. I am looking forward to exploring how we can provide a variety of spaces for people to study in as everyone tends to have different preferences for our study space. Additionally, I think it would be challenging to consider how we can provide students with all the facilities they need without creating distractions. This is because the main purpose of our brief is to encourage students to get work done.
