Mt. Wilson Scientists' Residence
DEVELOP FROM
Tower
GOALS:
When sheer replaces wall to create space.
Stage 1
Choose between the Tower, Bridge, & Cantilever.
For the third year at Cal Poly, students are required to implement basic structural development in their projects.
From the beginning of the semester, we have been experimenting with tower, bridges, and cantilevers.
For our final project, everyone has to choose among the three structural types and develop it into a Scientist's residence at Mount. Wilson.
I chose the Tower.
Stage 2
Pealing off all decorative elements of my Stage 1 project, Nadeem has elevated my work to Stage 2.
Everyone uses plywood and thin foam boards for their model. The advantage of unifying materials is that we can now focus on the design instead of being taken away by the materials and performances.
Ｍidterm
“The craftsmanship of the drawings are what NOT to show.”
By midterm, we are asked to do a 1/8" section drawing. The left picture was my first attempt of producing a full poster in Revit. The issue with Revit was that it reveals every single detail.
Nadeem looked at my drawing, both amazed by the convenience of the software and curious of all the "random lines".
"Jamie, do you think you can you hide these unnecessary objects?"
Inside-out
Instead of starting from programming, Nadeem had us reversed the design process: we first develop the form, THEN fit in the program. As irrational as it may sound, such method was exactly what I needed cause I was unconsciously repeating my own works: I have become a programming machine instead of a designer. The method allowed me to see my design in a different light.
Final Stage
After constant modification, tons of hand crafted models, I have come up with four versions of the Tower, a complete Revit model with detail drawings, several hand-drawn posters, and a successful parti.
