Edinburgh visit - Buildings Study

After the Research Retreat Project, we went to Edinburgh to have an one - day short trip to study the named 17 builings. I have visited 13 of them, and most of them are rebuild of old buildings.

                                                       I would like to talk something about the Scottish Parliament, which is located in the Holyrood area of Edinburgh. It is designed by Enric Miralles, and opened by Queen Elizabeth Ⅱon 9 October, 2004. As Miralles said:"Scotland is a land, and not a series of cities. The Parliament sits in the land, and should reflect the land that it represents." The plan of this building is like a leaf, like the image showed, and the branches in the image mean the entrance of the building.

  

On the surface, it is really amazing, there are many strip - type ornamentals, these represent the trees' branches, and the windows' apprances are coming from the shape of the leaf. The complex apprance not only make the building looked more outstanding, but also make the building more natural.

The main materials of this building are glass, concrete and timber, and these are presented inside the building without any decorations. As a result of it, some feelings like awfulness and powerful are created, unlike many other buildings which are focus on harmony and friendly.

The parlament is made of timber, it is different from many other areas, this place is very modern and comfortable, high technology is also used in this hall. The truss which support the roof is made of big timber beams, the connection is made of metal, and I took the detail photo of it.

The Scottish Parliament is also a combination of old and new. In this image, " 2 " is the old building, and there are many connected corridors between the two parts. In this short study there are many other examples of "old and new," like the images below.

 

I was shocked by these buildings, the complexity, the ideas, the ways of using materials and the elevations are far above my imagination. 

Final Review of Research Retreat

 Today is the Final Review of this project. This is my presentation place and I was showing the site analysis to tutors.  

 This is the plan of my design. In the middle is the entrance, gallery, dinning and living room, all of them are public place. The two parts on the sides are individual place, and bedrooms are on the ground floor, rooms on the first floor are the studios. The two gaps between the three parts are gallery and sitting place. 

 This is the gallery between the three parts. This place is double height and using the declining roof. On one side is the yard which brings the natural grass.

 This is the end of the "gap gallery", which is double height and can be used as the sitting place. Stone and glass are used as the walls.  

 This is the living room. The sun is going down, the scene is very beautiful.  The sea and sun can be seen from the south of this area, and the Hospitalfield Castle can be seen from the north part.

 This picture shows the studio. We can see the windows and when the artist sitting on the glass balcony, they can see the blue water and blue sky.

This is the middle gallery, a tree in a middle of it and the hole in the roof can bring the natural image to this area. A stone stair which connects the frist floor in this concrete - made gallery can also create a constrast. 

This is the sketch of my building to show the materials. Most of the buildings in this site are made of stone and brick, and stone would be more suitable for this area in my own opinion. And I also used it in the bedroom and living room to bring the natural to this building.

I have used CAD for most of my drawings, and one tutor said:"you have 50 years to draw by CAD, you would better to draw by hand now!"...This project is finish, tired and interesting. And listening to others presentation is a good way for studying as well. I am looking forward for the next Monday Edinburgh site study.Cheers!