Shape by The Flow - Vertical High school
2020 . Academic Group Project
Master in Architecture . Digital Studio
Corina Lim . Anna Osipova
Tutor : Rizal Muslimin
"Erosion is ever present in the environment, carving nature, as an architect would design a spaces."
- Claude M.H. Dermers & Andre Potvin
Meadowbank Education Precinct, for us, is the love at first sight. We were on site on a quiet weekday afternoon. The chattering of students and the travelling sound of the train in the distance; the sound of birds chirping and the rustling of tree leaves which gives form to the presence of winds - all of these portray a harmonious relationship between nature and man which struck us the most. The long section of the site is in the shape of an interesting shallow bowl - on one side connected to the TAFE campus while the other end is protected by the lush greenery, separating the site from the railway. The lowest part of the site gently slopes outside the boundaries and ends at a small creek.
As we were challenged to create a rule-based design in this studio, we started to find clues from the site itself. We started to question ourselves what is causing the formation of different topography. What are the forces that carve nature? Can we use the same logic or rules to create architecture? Like rocks in the river, the former gets shaped over time by river currents while the flow of the latter is influenced by the former's location. If we imagine the river current as the flow ( the weather and user's circulation) and the rock as architecture, linking the performances goal of architecture to experiential environment , we suggest new ways to characterize building form and space in relation to comfort, growth and adaptability.Through this design, we aimed to spark a dialogue between architecture and the flow, where the architecture is not rigid but fluid and responsive. By experimenting with a bottom-up approach in designing vertical high school, this project utilises the environment (site) and user (students) as forces to shape both the exterior and interior which intrinsically link the school to its surroundings and function.
"Climatic variations can leave a measurable signature in the shapes of landforms."
- J. Taylor Perron
Starting with the idea to employ nature forces to shape the building, we started to analyse what climatic variable that we can set for the experiment. Using the information from site analysis, we derived the climatic factors into variables as below:
1. Direction of applied wind ( prevailing wind direction)
2. wind speed control of hair dryer (wind speed)
3. temperature control of hair dryer (temperature)
3. water to sand ratio ( precipitation)
With the sands we got from Bondi beach (luckily one day before the lock down), we set up a small site model which the terrain was made of dyed wet sands and surroundings buildings with polypropylene sheets at the small balcony of Anna's place. We started the experiment with dry sands as the representation of building massing and direction, strength and temperature of the applied wind from hair dryer.
We might not notice how climatic factors affecting the landform as the dimension of time of this evolutionary process is much longer than how we perceive time. It is interesting to find out that the climate ( temperature, precipitation and wind) is continuously, slowly and steadily carving the land we are right now. This process is not static but evolutionary. Let me explain this using two contrast examples - the arid landscape and humid landscape. The reason why the arid landscape generally has closely packed ridges and valleys is mainly due to the absence of water in the rock, causing the rock to be less permeable and stronger. Hence, the erosion process will mainly occur on the surface level. However, in a humid region, the absorption of water in the rocks will increase its weight. When its weight exceeds the resistive forces, the rock will fall apart, causing landslide to occur. Hence, the ridges and valleys formed usually are widely apart.
" The only thing that is constant is change."
-Heraclitus
Inspired by the outcome from the magnetic exercise, the transformable ability of learning pods are designed based on the logic of " rotate and combine". 3 different ceiling tracks are generated using the set of lines from 3 different rule sets. The ceiling tracks are then integrated into a complex ceiling track system. Similar to the idea of railway switch, the ceiling track will switch to different path based on the function of the spaces. The ceiling track system generated from the rules allow different combination of pods to suit the spatial qualities needed for different learning settings. It also allows smooth transition between formal and informal learning spaces which increase the space efficiency.
Linking The Flexibility of Learning Pods to Learning Settings
The 3 levels of flexible learning spaces in the learning hub can be shared by students across. This encourages peer learning students across campus demographics.The pods in the learning hub come in 2 sizes - 4m and 5m in radius respectively. The advantages of modular learning pods are as below:
- allow smooth transition between formal (bookcase and workshop) and informal learning spaces (pebbles).
As the pods are similar in size, the pods can combine freely to create the intended spaces. Having a modular system allows easier and more flexible configuration of spaces by adding or removing pods to achieve the required spatial qualities of different learning settings.
- only one type acoustic wall panel is needed. The movable acoustic wall panels are designed to be modular as with the pods. This allows flexibility of replacing the wall panels with different materials in the future.
Typical Learning Hub Enlarged Axonometric
Overall Axonometric
Plans
Section 1
Section 2
Experiments video
