MIAD - Architecture
Connections
48 cm by 61 cm Graphite on Bristol Paper April 2018 Exhibition TextConnections was inspired by innovative architecture in Australia by Ateliers Jean Nouvel that has led to healthier living. Located on 498 North Van Buren St, the Downtown Eco-Apartment is an aquaponic living complex that is designed to connect downtown Milwaukee. With hanging vines and gardens it is an eye catching and unique tower, additionally it has an air trolley that will connect the city to Bay view. The bottom floor is a showcase hall for artists and more.
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Inspirational Architecure
One Central Park is a public park covered in 250 species of Australian plants and flowers. It frames the city magnificently and is completely designed to be the perfect 21st century eco-friendly luxury apartment complex. The implementation of this apartment complex/park is seamless and truly shows the modern culture surrounding eco-friendly design and modern architecture. One of the unique bits of architecture incorporated into the design of the elaborate building is the twisting vines that grow in strips right off the side of the tower. I am further interested in incorporating the hanging structures into my own work. A common theme among modern architects is to incorporate crisp and industrial looking designs with thriving ecosystems. Many times these magnificent structures are placed in areas of either high pollution or high population as to make them more impactful. This purposeful placement has led me to believe that I should plan for my design to be in downtown Milwaukee. When it comes to fusing ecology with function there are plenty of business buildings that could be redesigned.
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Thomas Heatherwick has done an incredible job incorporating natural forms into industrial settings. Although his building may be in the midst of busy Shanghai, it looks as though it is a mountain covered in trees. The large 300,000 square foot complex would incorporate podiums, towers, a school, workplaces, living spaces, some hotel space, retail outlets and a large arts center. Instead of planting greenery directly onto flat roofs, the building allows for it to be placed on columns, this surrounds the complex in greenery but the greenery does not get in the way of the functions of the complex. I plan in incorporating this very non-invasive and yet eco-friendly design into my downtown building design. Additionally I would like to incorporate a multifaceted function approach similar to that of Heatherwick.
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Planning (Click images to enlarge)
When it comes to planning out my design I focused primarily in ensuring that I first understood the concepts and methods used to create detailed and realistic architecture before initially planning out a building design. I focused on learning the basics of drawing in perspective but also figuring out how to effectively create advanced shapes and forms. During this planning period MIAD professors and students were very helpful in helping me understand and apply these advanced concepts to my own work. Proportions were very important in planning out my building and I spent a lot of time figuring out where my building would be placed downtown and how large it would be. The first planning sketch that can be seen in the top left ended up being my best design, the goal was to merge multiple downtown buildings together as to avoid creating a segregated city that is difficult and confusing to navigate. I further tackled this issue by deciding to add a lift system that would connect the city by roofs of sky scrappers and large business buildings. I ended deciding to place the building downtown at 498 North Van Buren St. In this first planning sketch I also developed the floating gardens and pool overhang at the top of the sky scrapper. This sketch helped me the most to finalize my plans and inspirational considerations while not going outside the realm of possibility.
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Process
Starting a perspective piece is almost always the hardest part, however if you get carried away in the details and realism it can become an impossible project to finish. To start I attached my Bristol paper to a cardboard backboard to keep it secure and clean overtime. Following this you must attach a horizon line to the piece that will remain for the duration of the project. I placed my horizon line slightly above the half way mark of the paper as so that you are looking at the building from beneath it, as opposed to above it. Following this I outlined the main shape of the building and took into consideration where the sidewalk would be placed. Figuring out the sidewalk proportions was the most difficult part of the project seeing as if you made the sidewalk too large it would make the building appear to short or squat, however if you make the sidewalk to thin the building becomes way out of proportion and too large for the surrounding city to support. Following the implementation of the inch thick sidewalk I began designing the hanging gardens and rooftop pool. The pool would jut off the side of the tower and the gardens then would hang from the pool beneath it. I implemented a design similar to that of One Central Park's hanging gardens except that I added 5 long rectangular box type gardens. The pool will not be deep and only is 4 feet deep throughout. Upon adding the pool and the gardens I decided to finish up the rest of the rooftop structures which included the sky lift for transportation across the city. I had the sky-lift going Northwest towards the US bank building. Unlike the other structures made previously I could not use the t-square ruler to create a perfectly straight line towards the vanishing point. Additionally creating the sky-lift in perspective was extremely difficult because I did not how large to make or what it should look like seeing as it is an imaginary transportation service. Following the addition of the primary structures I decided to add the US Bank building to provide better context for the downtown scene. I then added a connection tunnel building to the US Bank building to better connect and unite the piece. I did not fill in the US Bank building because the assignment instructions specifically indicate the building redesigns should not be done or incorporated into the work. Next I moved onto adding details to the entire building starting with the sidewalk. I used a straight edge to create sidewalk lines and then shaded in the sidewalk lightly and darkly shaded the lip between the street and sidewalk. Following this I added the external window panes on the sides of the tower with a straight edge and shaded them in lightly. For primary concrete structures I darkly shaded them in to show the different kind of building material being used. Following this was the interior design of the building which by far took the longest to do effectively. I added tiles on the walls and the floors of the interior and then darkly shaded them in. However the bottom lobby of the building is not open to the air, it is surrounded by glass so I did a light shading to show the reflective surface. The last step in my process was adding the vegetation to the sides of the building and the grass outside the building.
Experimentation
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When it comes to experimentation I primarily experimented with the the sky-lift, interior design, sidewalk size, and vegetation surrounding the building. The sky-lift was very difficult to design seeing as it was floating and did not fit into the parameters of any of the skills I had to previously apply in the project. I made the sidewalk an inch thick because it other made the building look to large or squat for what my intentions were for the building. The sky-lift I ended up free-handing and I think it worked out fairly well seeing as it blends in with the surrounding perspective components of the project. The interior design was somewhat lackluster seeing as I was unable to incorporate any furniture or anything interest other than tiles and windows. However I am very pleased with the look of the lobby though, the glass looks nice and the floor pattern is appealing. And finally the vegetation was very hard to draw seeing as there is no way to draw it in perspective. The vegetation was essentially organic zen graphic notation.
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Reflection
I am not particularly satisfied with the outcome of this project. By the time I had finished it I felt like I hadn't improved as a designer and I certainly felt that I had fallen short of what I might have been capable of. I was initially hesitant to go large with my design because I knew it would be plausible to pull off in the time frame provided. I did truly enjoy researching some of the marvelous designs by other architects but I even more so enjoyed working with the MIAD professors and students to design and create my project. I plan on doing another architecture piece in a 3D rendering program this summer and I want to take into consideration the helpful and healthy feedback provided by the MIAD professors during the critique. My building is very similar in appearance to the work of Ateliers Jean Nouvel, I would like to incorporate more features from Heatherwicks designs in the future.
ACT Responses
1. Clearly explain how you are able to identify the cause-effect relationships between your inspiration and its effect upon your artwork.
"One Central Park" was the primary inspiration for my work and it directly inspired me to create architecture that was modern but also eco-friendly.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author approaches the architecture with a very businessmen-like attitude. He explains the buildings and their functions but also somewhat advertises to a specific audience.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made large generalizations about the purpose of all of the architecture I looked at. I assumed that all of the buildings were attempting to unit industry, and function with an eco-friendly design.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I primarily focused on modern architecture that displayed extreme aesthetic appeal but also had high functionality.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading the different articles I made inferences on how I could incorporate an eco-friendly design into downtown Milwaukee, by use of similar methods employed by other successful architects.
"One Central Park" was the primary inspiration for my work and it directly inspired me to create architecture that was modern but also eco-friendly.
2. What is the overall approach the author has regarding the topic of your inspiration?
The author approaches the architecture with a very businessmen-like attitude. He explains the buildings and their functions but also somewhat advertises to a specific audience.
3. What kind of generalizations and conclusions have you discovered about people, ideas, cultures etc. while you researched your inspiration?
I made large generalizations about the purpose of all of the architecture I looked at. I assumed that all of the buildings were attempting to unit industry, and function with an eco-friendly design.
4. What was the central idea or theme around your inspirational research?
I primarily focused on modern architecture that displayed extreme aesthetic appeal but also had high functionality.
5. What kind of inferences did you make while reading your research?
While reading the different articles I made inferences on how I could incorporate an eco-friendly design into downtown Milwaukee, by use of similar methods employed by other successful architects.
Bibliography
- Nouvel, A. J. (2014, September 25). One Central Park / Ateliers Jean Nouvel. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.archdaily.com/551329/one-central-park-jean-nouvel-patrick-blanc
- Stevens, P. (2016, October 26). Moganshan development in shanghai by heatherwick studio. Retrieved April 05, 2018, from https://www.designboom.com/architecture/thomas-heatherwick-studio-moganshan-development-shanghai-m50-a-thousand-trees-12-15-2015/