The project of Habitat

After more than six weeks' work, finally we have finished the Habitat design. The process is long and busy. At the beginning I have got two different ideas, and then chose one and development it. I have learned from the precedents that tutor gave me, and try to combine these good aspects with my own design, drawing the diagrams, like the images below, making the developmental models; tutorial-correct-development-tutorial-correct-development....at last I have improved a lot and got my final design. I am very happy with it and I have realized many things about design.

 

In my own opinion, I think the most important thing for a building is suiting the environment around. The exterior of my design is learned from the house style in this small village - trigonal roof, simple and triditional appearance, black and white colour...these can give peple peaceful and friendly feelings.

My inspiration has come from the village's house style, like the image shown in my fourth post, and from the contrast of the colour-black and white, I chose the contrast as the main concept of my design. Such as contrast of quiet and noisy, public and private, open and narrow, vertical and horizontal.

 

This is my model, I chose timber as my main materials. The shape of the house is regular, so the structure is simple, due to this, the cost of the building can be reduced. On this side of the model, there are many big windows, in order to bring the west view which is the best view of this site for these rooms.

My project looks very normal on this site, unlike many modern buildings with amazing apprance, and can attract many people's attention, but I like my design very much.

The first day of the first snow in Dundee in 2010

On 28th November, nearly one month before Christmas, the first snow visited Dundee. It was very big, the whole city had been covered by it in a short time. First snow always brings the exciting feeling for us, and without hesitation, my friends and I went outside.



outside my flat



It was cold, white, wind was very big,  we could not use the umbrella. I haven't seen snow for 2 years. We started an international "snow war", which was peaceful, unpainful, and reminiscent. It seemed that we forgot all of the assignments at that time, like a child.   

Snow was a good drawing board as well, I drawed a face on a roadside car. I hoped the owner wouldn't be very angry...

Yuntong Mu was a clever girl, she found a small slope on the way to Tesco, and she had come up with an interesting idea: drawing a big architect on the big snow board. We work together, some people who passed by took photos of it. On the right image, I was trying to open the door of this building.( Actually I was lying on the ground...and I was failed to open the door...)

There was a family playing the skiing with self-made sled. A harmonious and wonderful family~

The train bridge went into the dark,quiet, cold, and unknow. Like the moive “The Polar Express".

Finally we had arrived the beach Tesco, no cars, no umbrellas, we walked here and we had to go back on foot as well... however we were very happy. In front of us was a big white square, it seemed that we were far from city. It was almost 3 o'clock in the morning when we back home, it was an unforgetable experience, we had a big relax, hard work was waiting for us,go! 

The trip to Kenmore for investigation

Before the beginning of the last project of this semester, we went to Kenmore for investigation. This was my first site investigation, and as an international student, this was also a very exciting trip.



small island

 It took us 2 hours to get Kenmore from Dundee. It was a small village near the Loch Tay, quiet, peaceful, beautiful, and surrounded by mountains. Left image is a small island in the Loch Tay, the reflection in water is lovely (although the weather was bad that day ..... :( ).



inside Crannog

 There was a place for visiting opposite the site.  It was an old house called Crannog. It was made of wood and the straws consisted of the roof and the wall. The straws could defense the wind and water. It was very cold inside the house, and very dark. like the image on the right. In the past people who lived here must make fire to warm the house and light the room.



site



west view



 After the visit we went to the site. It was a big place and extended into the water. The total area was more than 1000 square meter, we could see the whole Tay from this site, and the west view was terrific; blue sky, cloud, snow mountains and their reflections in the water. This was an important aspect, so I think big windows must be put on this side in order to bring this terrific view for the clients.



house style



At last, I took the photos of other houses in this village, I have found that the colour of almost all the buildings are black and white, and with trigonal roofs, like the image shown. This was also a necessary aspect which should be considered, suiting the vernacular was important for a building. I have learned a lot in this site investigation, and I am looking forward to next "site trip".

the Project V&A at Dundee - kengo Kuma

Last month I had been to the Library of Abertay Dundee University to see the V&A exhibition. There are six design plans for the Dundee Waterfront Project. All of them are very stunning. I chose the one that is designed by Kengo Kuma as my favorite. First I was attracted by its amazing appearance. It is a very modern design, its shape is like two inverse Centrum. The external wall of it is consisted of many sheets, and there are many spaces on the wall. It must be very beautiful during the night, and together with the reflection in the sea, a tempting image of Dundee’s beach can be created.

The most difference from other five designs is that this project has the walkway around the building. People can come here to go for a walk or do some sports. Due to this, this building is not just a museum. There is a huge hall in this building, it can be used as the publish place. People can have a seat and relax themselves here when they are tired. Furthermore, there is a big hole between the two parts of this building, it looks like a door for the old ship near it. Other five projects are very good as well, and have their own distinct characteristics.

PS: Kengo Kuma is a famous Japanese architect. He has won many projects including the prestigious Architectural Institute of Japan Award.

Last Project - Analysis of Precedent

The

The project done by our group during last three weeks is named Rudin House. The designers are Herzog & De Meuron. They won the Pritzker in 2001 and they are good at using single material to achieve unusual effects. Like this house, it is made of concrete and there are no ornaments on the external walls. It looks quite simple, just like a big stone lying at the foot of a hill.

This house is stand on three columns and some walls. There is a thick platform between the house’s body and the columns. On one side of the platform is a water pool, like the model’s picture show. We can see the sky, the sun from the water. In addition, the water pool has another function - it can collect the rain water which is transmitted by the gutter on the roof. 

The staircase between first level and second is very amazing. We made the model of this part(left picture), it is very narrow and this space is directly to the roof with no floors. A window on the roof provides sunlight for the stairs. At the end of this staircase is three rooms, two bedrooms and a big shower room, they are very harmonious. Assuming a visitor walking on the severe stairway and suddenly he gets into the harmonious bedroom, he must feel very impressive.

This project is teamwork, we have faced many difficulties in this project, and this is a start, we are ready for the next….                         

Beijing National Stadium

These days I have watched the video about the Beijing National Stadium, which is one of the most famous buildings in China. It was designed by Herzog ﹠De Meuron, and was opened to the public in 2008.

This stadium has 91,000 seats, the distance between the furthest seat and the Stadium’s centre is 142m, so it is very huge. The appearance of it looks like the bird’s nest, so it is also named “Bird’s Nest”. From the designers’ words, some of their inspirations are come from the ancient Chinese ceramics. The main material of this stadium is steel, like the branches in bird’s nest, these steels are the structure of this stadium, and these steels consist the appearance of the stadium at the same time.  

There are two design concepts interest me very much. First is the angle of inclination of the stands. All the angles are less than 35 degrees. Like showing in the picture right. So it ensures that all the audiences feel safe when they are watching the match. And as a result of it, they can concentrate their attentions on the competition. The second one is the style of the stairway. Unlike other stadiums’ stairways, as the picture shown below,it is divided into several parts by some platforms. It can reduce the injury when people fall off the stairs because falling can be stoped when  people reach the platform. This design is unprecedented in the world.  

I have been to this stadium once, both the interior and exterior are amazing. There are several large screens inside, and the steels above my head are really impressive. This building also shows the Chinese tradition and the “Bird’s Nest” is also a combination of the environment.