CRITICAL REVIEW/ Final Major Project

Student Name:Phuong Hong Tran (Amie)                           Pathway:3DCP

 FMP Title: Creative Studio Building

 To be handed in alongside your FMP hand-in

 

1. Briefly describe the context of your project and how you used a range of critical perspectives and approaches to initiate your idea.

My project is inspired by geometrical shapes, with the concept of modern and futuristic aspects. My idea stimulated through the passion of wanting to make a change within the area my building was located, to create a purpose within young adult’s lives. I did research and a mind-map on architects, geometrical shaped objects and structures, as well as a mind map of already existing buildings. I also experimented with a lot of materials including, toothpicks, paper, cardboard etc. to encourage my designs and create structure.

2. Describe how research, analysis and evaluation helped you to feed ideas and develop concepts?

Research has helped trigger my ideas as I was inspired by a lot of forms and shapes when looking on sites like pintrest; looking at modern architectural buildings, geometrical shaped structures etc. It gave me inspiration on how I should play with my models and how I could manipulate it in various ways to create different outcomes. I also looked at a couple of books which helped influence the colours and materials used.

3. What specialist skills and methods did you use to realise your project?

Through out fmp, I created quite a few models experimenting with different shapes, patterns and form, and this for me was quite successful as it helped me design a couple ideas which eventually lead me to my final. It allowed me to be creative with my ideas, testing different colours using watercolours and coloured markers. In addition, I also used a lot of Sketch-up software in order to bring my idea to life by adding material to my buildings; this helped me figure out the pros and cons of adding certain texture/colour to the building, what suited the structure of the building most, and what didn’t.

4. How did you integrate practical, theoretical and technical understanding to solve complex problems within your FMP? Please use examples.

One of the problems that I had encountered during my FMP was when I had started designing my first initial final idea. I’m not a strong user of Sketch-up as this academic year was my first time, and had only using it a few times there was still a lot for me to learn. So, I had managed to create the outline shape that I had wanted but I struggled to connect all lines without having any open bits around the window, however I managed to solve this by using the push and pull tool, I pushed the boarders of the windows back in, and redid line by line until the blocks were covered. Another problem which I came across with sketch-up was being unable to render my work to make it look more professional. I had downloaded a few softwares such as V-Ray and Indigo however it still did not work as it came out very pixelated. In result to this, I had to sit down and work with a Staff for guidance to render my sketch-up.

5. What systems/ tools did you use to plan your project and how effective were they to organise and develop your work?

I had planned out what should go in which page accordingly by writing down in my notebook what needed to be done weekly, I also kept track by writing weekly blogs and by doing this, it helped me understand what I needed to do next, and what I could’ve done to improve by evaluating what went good, and what went bad. I also used a lot of postal notes to stick within my sketchbook so that it would keep me on track every time I opened my book and I’d know what to do next rather than sitting there clueless until I came up with a new idea.

6. What type of evaluative and reflective records did you keep? How did this help you develop your learning? Please use examples.

Again, I used blogs to reflect back on my work. By doing blogs I was able to understand what I liked and didn’t like about the process of my work which allowed me to see what I needed to improve on. I also booked in a slot with a staff who had looked at my sketchbook, and her critism had helped me layout my work in a more aesthetically pleasing way. I tackled this by spreading my photos out more, and not having every page to filled in as it takes away from the important detail/information.

7. Who is your intended audience? Describe techniques and methods you used to communicate your idea to them.

My intended audiences are creative professionals who are looking for local places to work, and I also want to target young adults who want to learn creative skills whether it be a hobby or career. I feel as though I have not used techniques to specifically target them but I have tried to do that by creating a modern type building to attract them within my location.

8. Overall summary: Describe the key points to take away from this experience. In what ways will your approach to creative production change in future as a result

Overall, I feel as though I could’ve put a lot more into my FMP to better it as a whole, both research as well as my final piece. Over the past 12 weeks, I have improved my sketch-up skills a lot and whilst improving, I have learnt news things that I am able to add into my designs digitally to make it looks more professional e.g. being able to render your work. I have also learnt that architectural structures and buildings can be inspired by anything which has helped me opened my eyes, to be more wary of my surroundings and take it into consideration in order to broaden my designs whether that be everyday objects, or the human body. I have also learnt that you have to be very considerate about the location’s surrounding, making sure that it’s suitable for the area rather than just dumping a functioning building into the area.   Gathering all of this into consideration, in the future I will aim to strengthen my sketching skills in a way for it to look more architectural in order to fully show what I aim to deliver. I will also improve on my modelling skills, and also experiment more with actual model making so that I know clearly what material will be good to use, and what would not.

As the beginning of the week hit, that was when I started to feel under pressure as the deadlinr was getting closer, and considering how fast time can go, I felt abit panicked. I had my final design reasy to be laser cut and made but due to the amount of triangles shapes I had around the building, I thought it would’ve been easier/appropriate to cut out by hand; this is because if anything went wrong, I would’ve been able to adjust it a little. Also, considering everyone around the uni are trying to get their FMP done, laser cutting was going to take long and I didn’t want to risk losing time making my template for it to potentially go wrong, and also having trouble with putting the model pieces together so I decided not to in the end.

That being said, I started off with cutting out the base and the roof, then I cut the walls which were in the height of 24m (16cm) x 38.5m (18.5cm) which is in the scale of 1:200. I originally did want to make the model in a bigger scale but I figured architectural models are usually not that big, and I wanted to keep it looking professional therefore I kept it at a smaller scale.

Slowly, I cut out each traiangle and using masking tape, I attached each triangle by traiangle out snd onto the walls to make sure that the pieces were the right sizes and pieces together well all the way around. This took me almost two days to do, so once this was sone, wall by wall, I stafted disconnecting the traitnles of face by face to use the already made traiangles as a templare to cut out the boarders for the windows as some popped out more than others. As well as the red acrylic acetate which will represent the red coloured windows.

Whilst trying to cut out the windows, I reckoned the red acrylic acetate appeared too dark and did not give off the see through effect that I initially wanted so to fix this problem, I used s cery thin red see through acetate sheet, using double sided tape, I stuck two sheets of clear acetate on both sides of the red acetate to create a reflective, bright, red see through window. I thought it looked nice however there were too many bubbles and uneven bits within it which made it looks too obvious and unprofessional so I scrapes it. I also had trouble trying to find transparent red acetate both online and in stores so eventually I had to stick with using red polyprene as my windows.

After cutting all window boaders and pieces out, using the second piece of the mount board triangle cut out, to make the boarders all equal, I measured 0.5cm and cut the inside. I then started number them both on sketchup and on the every single piece of my model so that it would’ve been easier to reattach together considering I had a lot of traiangles, it would’ve been long and confusing.

The next day, I used to the day to make sure all the pieces were in line with each other. I slowly started glueing the original traingle pieces to the buiding using super glue I had gotten from hobby craft. This was slightly hardas some bits where a little to big so I had to consistently cut the size down or remake the traingles from scratch. This is was hard but I managed to get it done.

After this, I started to sand down the edges and any rough bits which I thought needed to be smoothened out however, it turned out to be a bad idea as it made the gaps of my model more visiable. It also left a lot of dust within the gaps which made it harder to spray paint because it would’ve made bits of the model bumpy. When spray painting the model the first time, I had encountered difficulties. I had sprayed painted it too close and did not do it in sections so the paint kept dripping and it was uneven. I then had to sand down the model again to make it even and that messed up the colouring and the smoothness of the model even further.

I fixed the problem however but continuing to sanding my model until it smooth and clean enough to go over with a primer, and then spray painted which I did the next day before attaching the windows. I also spray painted the boarders of my windows to make that it was the same colour as the rest of the building.

I started to double side the board pieces and attached the red windows together. Once I had done this, I started attaching all windows to the right parts. And that was my final and finished model.

At first was I really happy with my final model but the more I looked at it, I became disappointed because I did not manage to add in any landscaping which would’ve made my modle look better, bringing it to life. This was because I failed to order my architectural models and trees in time and I did not think I needed it til the modelwas complete by which this time, it was too late. I also thought my model looked better when it wasn’t spray painted as it looked bumpy due to all the dust that had fell ontop of my model wholst soray painting in the prototyping room.

To conclude, in the future I will take this into consideration. Overall, I think I could’ve made a better outcome with a little more time, researching and more experimenting with my sketches and with this in mind, I will take this into a count to use my time more wisely. I will also make sure to have my materials and such ready weeks before hand rather than last minute.

Usually on Monday, we have lesson from 10am – 4pm but on this occasion we didn’t because it was Bank Holiday Monday. I used this day to carefully adjust and edit my initial final idea which I hd created on the software Sketch-up.

By doing this, I hope that it will give me a more visual idea on how I will make my final outcome which I will be satisfied with. once I have done this, I an then start to duplicate it a couple times to experiment with different textures, colours and materials; in order to spray paint etc.

Tuesday, I sketched a few more initial ideas sing experimental models (toothpicks) as inspiration which I have shown in my sketch book.  Using watercolours to experiment with shades and colours.

The first design of mine, I thought about designing it with the total of 6 floors including the ground floor as well as the rooftop. I wanted to make it into two seprate building, with a walk way above so that it would be easier for those to walk from one side to the other, rather walking all the way around. Creative art can range from many different things, and spliting them into catergories, I wanted the two buildings to specialise in different things. The first building would be specialising in photography, textiles, fashion promotion, film and media production. The reason for this is because I think thought subjects go very well together; and you could also connect them all within one project which would make it easier for locals/students to work together. The second building would include architecture, product design, graphics design and music. All different but some what similar.

The roof top would of course be a place for users to have a breathe of fresh air. I planned on making it a space for students and professionals to work out in the open as it could be seen as more relaxing than to work indoors where it could be stuffy which could prevent people from concerntrating.

After this, I started researching and making some more collages of geometric buildings, interiors of studios and rooftops settings to give viewers an insight of how I invision my building to be and what it could offerwhich I had found through pintrest.

Week 5. I continued doing some sketchbook work, sticking in my photos and annotating important bits which I thought was necessary. I printed out more images which I thought would inspire me, researching through more books for inspiration including:

• Digital Fabrication in Archiecture – Nick Dunn
• Zaha Hadid, Form of motion
• Cesar Pelli – Buildings and Projects 1965 – 1990
• 

I decided to look at some inspirations inside books because. wanted to stimulate my ideas even further by setting out more ideas using different shapes and curves etc.

I also drew a couple of cool shaped buildings, to have in my book for inspiration using different mediums from pen to colours penciles.

This week was the final week that I should’ve started preparing for my final design as next week was the final week. However, I will at the stage where I was unhappy with the design of my building.

I spent the week trying to create a final sketch-up model of what I had in my mind (shown below)

using the toothpick models again as inspiration, I took bits of my drawings of it to create this weirdly shaped building which was mainly made up of traiangles. Though it looked cool, I still did not find that it was a fitting to the location of my building. I thought the outline and amount of triangles, with glass all over was a little too much. It’s something that you would place somewhere in a location like Canary Wharf, not woolwich hence why I decided to change my mind.

I then started to expand it by drawing it again but this time making the width even wider to stretch it out which I thought turned out quite well. I thought this could’ve been my final idea. I experimented with water colours making the rims of the building wood which I thought made it stand out. It gave it a nice coloured texture and effect but yet again, I still thought it looked a bit too much.

Throughout the week, I continued using sketch up to try and come up with a final design which I kept failing at.

So I tackled this problem by drawing out my elevations first for each floor, which I had a total of 6. I split the rooms equally depending on how many rooms I wanted on each floor whilst considering the fact that all floors must include toilets, lifts and emergency fire exit.

After this, I stacked each floor up ontop of each other and this gave me a guide which made it easier to work around.

This was a success as I ended up coming up with a final design. It was pretty simple but I think sometimes simple is good. And having a building look too much especially in the wrong location wouldn’t look as good s supposed to it being place somewhere more futuristic like Dubai or signapore. I stuck to the idea of using traingles as the outlines shapes, and having it all over as windows which I took from my previous design of the two buildings with the glass walk way. I experimented with colours and shapes also to see which I thought would’ve looked better for my final design. I tested all materials available from wood, steel, metal etc.

I also spent the week trying to render my final model on sketchup which I struggled a lot with because I could not find a software which suited my mac laptop. I tried downloading Indigo severl timed which filed nd then resulted in using V-Ray however it kept crashing and the quality of the rendering came out bad. To fix this problem for next time, I will make sure to have all softwares needed for architecture downloaded before hand so that it will be easier.

Week 4 of or FmP was the first week back fro our 3 week break. To be truthful, I don’t exactly remember what exactly what I had done that week, but what I do remember is having a crit first thing back within our usual group. Through this, it helped me gain a better understanding of what include into my sketchbook and how to improve it by presenting it in a more professional/architectural way.  The feedback fro classmates gave me further inspiration in what look at and it also helped me continue my path. During this week, I had also booked a 20 minute time slot with Marie, and her take a look at my sketchbook to see whether I was heading in the right direction or not; and whether what I was recording in my sketchbook was clear and strong, as well as what I could have tweaked here and there to make it look better and orderly.

Through this I had learnt that I should not cramp my work up too much and give it space t0 breathe. I was happy hearing this critism about my work because it’s usually the style that I tend t work in sometimes however got pressured into working in a certain way because I am now taking on an architectural course – I felt like it needed a lot of information and pictures around it, therefore I got used to trying to fill up my pages however, of course people have different opinions being two teachers from different pathways, so I decided that it’d be useful to have a mixture of both so that some work of mine can properly stand out and bring more attention to what’s more important. Taking this into a count, I will continue to work in my own style but be more considerate about the layout of my work in order to keep it not only informative, but visually pleasing.

After having the crits with both the group and a tutor, I spent majority of the week making sure that my sketchbook was in a in orderly fashion. Making sure that it was presentable and that when viewers open my sketchbook, they are able to understand what im trying to present and how im trying to percieve my project without too much annotation as my work should be able to speak for itself. I made sure that I tweeks here and there.

It was not as productive as I imagined it to be considering it was week 4 and this stage I should be coming up with a lot more initial ideas and doing more in depth research therefore I hope that I will be able to do so next week and make up for it.

This project continued into our 3rd holiday break with constant research into my site propose figuring out it’s size and scale Whilst doing this, I also decided to look further into its history; building my knowledge of how m site had come to life and what it was before it was now,incling the history of it’s overall area being, Woolwich Arsenal. I wanted to look into this because I wanted to gain a better understanding of it’s history and the purpose the area served. I also wanted to know whether it would’ve been useful towards my potential final design or not, hence why I had also looked into the materials which were previously used. My site which I had decided on is based in Woolwich Arsenal, and I plan on refurbishing the Woolwich Public Market.

The reason for choosing this site is because Woolwich is a very open area which is widely ope to the public, placed within a location which is also surrounded by many shop.stores, as well as market stands, all public transport including the overground (Thameslink, southeastern etc) DLR & all buses – which makes I convent for travellers. Having it based in a crowded location like this will also help attract people around especially teenagers who hand around the area during after school hours. Having the first modern/futuristic styled building allocated here whilst sites around it are refurbishing and modernising will make it more visible and attract the public’s attention. The look of the building alone will allow the public’s to be interested. Whereas, placing it up central, though it’s bigger location with a much higher population in comparison to  local town/street, the bling will most likely not stand out as much..

Doing this week, I also continued with making experimental models using toothpicks which I had picked up from Poundland. These came out pretty successful though I wished I had made a massive one to create a model sized buildings. Again using the toothpick models, I plan on experimenting with my sketches to consistently come up with improvements with ways to make it look better.