Starting your final major project, I think it’s important to do thorough research into appropriate things which connects to our potential idea.  Considering my theme was inspired by origami and geometric shapes, I started to look at some images of origami which is inspired by Japanese 3D art as well as buildings and objects which could give me inspiration. Some of my favourites included:

 

This has given me inspiration to create some experimental paper models of my own which I plan on doing for next week’s schedule. This way I can play about with different shapes and materials, whiles experimenting with repetition by adding multiple duplicated shapes to one another to create a structure of some sort which will hopefully expand my imagination to create something different, and more diverse to buildings which are already designed.

I also went on to look at a couple of well known architects including; Zaha Hadid, Santiago Calatrava and Mario Cucinella.  I explored a few of their work which I was encouraged by, some included:

Mario Cucinella 

 

 

Zaha Hadid

Mario and Zaha was one of the very many architects which inspired me. I thought both their work were very conceptual and abstract which is what I loved most about it; I was intrigued with the many different shapes and motifs which they use within his designs. I am very intrigued with the way and style that they work, creating these futuristic and modern approach. I also looked further into the buildings and the engineering behind it which I could use along the way when planning my final outcome.

At the end of the week, I continued by doing some sketches in the style of both Hadid and Cucunielle, using different shapes and forms.

After uni, I also went to visit IKEA considering they have a lot of furniture which I thought could be useful towards projects, like lamps and such which has patterns which could give me further inspiration to connect with my work.

This project was one which I at first found quite challenging. The purpose of this project was to create a temporary exhibition in the size of 20m x 30m.

I first started with doing some research on some exterior of exhibitions, and exhibition stands. I also researched some pavilions which could inspire me through their use of shapes and colours. I found it difficult at first because I didn’t know what I wanted to create a temporary exhibition for, but after a long think, I decided I wanted it design it for a fashion showcase.

After this, I started drawing up some designs that came into mind using the research that I had got as inspiration. my design consisted of abstract and curvy lines to make the building stand our more, rather than having it look plain and boring. Considering it’s only temporary I wanted it to be attractive to viewers.

I also experimented with a few outcomes on google sketches to grasp a better idea on what it would look like as an actual model.

After experimenting a couple of designs on google sketch-up, I eventually managed to narrow it down into a more sophisticated design which included:

• a hallway entrance
• entrance door
• kitchen
• gaming room
• toilet
• living room
• swimming pool/ changing room
• 1 suite bedroom
• 3 bedrooms
• balcony

I then started to play about with different coloured materials to get a sense/vision of how the building would’ve ended up looking like, using materials like wood, glass and concrete which overall I think was quite successful as it looked modern and spacious just like how my client had wanted it to look like.

After this, I also started creating floors plans to help convert the measurements into scale and prepare for building my model which I did out of the material foam board.

Considering the double floors and the amount of rooms, it was a little hard for my personally to create this being it my first time but it was a project which I highly enjoyed, if not my favourite do far. It gave a real sense of what the architectural field will consist of , and it gave me the opportunity to expand on my creativity. Also allowing me to see and enhance my own capabilities and skills in order to improve.

The purpose of this project involved working with a client and creating a product/construction according to their wants and needs e.g. a house; creating something that ideally fits their preference and taste best.

This project taught us how to work efficiently and accurately to meet our client requirements. We started of with filling in our questionnaire sheet which had questions including what we preferred over the other e.g. modern or traditional.

After this, we were randomly swapped and paired with another classmate. We then had to narrow down to 5 different tops out of the 20 that was on the sheet to focus on, and in this case, merging it to best match my skills and what I could offer best to my client as an architect.

and decided on designing her a summer house. Before meeting face to face with the client, I made a couple mood boards relating to the 5 options that I was going to focus on to present to our client. This way, our client would have a better idea of what we envision on creating for them; this also allows them to point out and voice who they like and dislike; allowing us to consume further appropriate information to apply into the outcome.

Having a small meeting with our client was very helpful as it helped to narrow down what I should and should not include within the final design for example,

I found out which type of light she preferred over the other; she didn’t like geometric shaped lamps and preferred either chandeliers or small, simple dangling light bulbs. She also had a specific preference of wood (lighter shades over dark shades), as well as the specific location that she wanted her summer house to be allocated at which was within hr motherland country, Spain. It also allowed me to ask her further questions such as, how many rooms she would prefer, and whether she preferred spacious rooms or not.

Taking these notes into account, I used the week to form more ideas in order to slowly finalise a final outcome(s). I did this by reading a few sketch ups on top of my head, and showed her a couple drafts, and slowly it developed further.

In this project, we were given a random object which our tutor Geoff had gotten from the pound shop. Everyone was given a random object which related most to their pathway, and in this case considering I am an student who wants to pursue a career within Architecture, I was given a coat hanger. The aim of this project was to explore the object’s form and functions, and play about with it in order to manipulate it into something else through existing lines and shapes.

I first though about the original functions of a coat hanger and not many ideas had came to mind. I was originally quit baffled with what I could’ve created out a coat hanger, it was very unusual however as I experimented further slowly, I started to brain storm what I could potentially create by starting off with basic drawings of a coat hanger, analysing the shape and forms that its able to turn into.

To experiment further, working in 3D form, I decided to be playful by connecting the multiple sets of hangers together. Playing and rearranging the in different positions.

After doing this, I brainstormed some ideas that I was thinking of creating  as a final outcome. Including: children climbing frame, Abstract structure, Pengtagon cubed room, house, school etc.

I continued to experiment with diverse drawings using triangular shapes as an inspiration to form a structure. One design that I had designed was a school/childrens play area. This building was created to look playful and abstract to represent young children environment to play and learn. I also added tinted windows so that when there is natural light shining from the outside through the classroom windows, it gives nice lighting which would amuse the kids through the colours.

I also used the little hooks on the hangers that were given to further experiment with it. I did this by getting each ends of the coat hangers and attaching them together, and through this I was able to get the attached coat hangers to stand, creating an abstract looking construction/building. 

my first initial idea was to create a building, as it’s something that I was easily able to visualise in my mind to create a final outcome. However, I wanted to be bit more open with my options and produce something that I usually wouldn’t see myself doing so using the shape of the coat hanger (triangle), I brain stormed further ideas which eventually lead to me into creating a hanging swinging chair.

The purpose and function of this idea is for people to rest and have a little is/lay down in public when they’re tired. In a quite area throughout the whole of London. The outside is inspired by the lines of the object itself. I wanted to incorporate the abstract outcome as much as possible so I also made the outlined shape and curves using the same design. 

After experimenting with the coat hangers, changing bits here and there to see whether the height and width looked appropriate, I finalised the idea by using a hot glue gun to keep the pieces together. 

The hardest part for me was figuring out which material was going to work best in order to make the swinging chair.

I first tried using cardboard, and bending it into the direction it needed to go in but it was difficult so I decided to try a different materials. One of the materials which I had also tried and played with included silver wires. Although it was a little hard to control and make it into a clean shape, I did the best that could. After this, I used foil and wrapped it carefully around the wire to cover up the holes. 

I think the final outcome of mine was ‘good’ but definately could’ve been better and improved. I would’ve liked to create something a little more complexed rather than just being able to stick a couple of coat hangers together.

 

 

Continuing the project of ‘measuring ravensbourne’, we converted our final measurements using the sale of 1:20 onto our foam boards and cutting it using materials including: Stanley knife, metal ruler, scale ruler and a cutting mat.

The way that I did this was measuring the eight of the area which we were located at, and cut the height from one end of the board to the other. This is to male sure that all the heights of each pieces were the same. After this, using the measurements that I had drawn onto an A1 piece of paper, I used a scale ruler to transfer the final measurements up clearly and made sure all measurements matched up.

 

After cutting out all the pieces lengths of each walls, I started racing in important aspects such as the windows, doors and lifts in order to cut/score the out; this is just as important as the spacing of the model because when photographing the model we want to show the realist of real light and shadowing coming through.

Getting to the finishing my model, I found it most hard to create the roof of the model, and this is something that I should’ve made first. However, I was glad that made a few mistakes along the way as it was my first making a foam model, and it gave me the chance to learn and better my skills for next time.

This project was an enjoyable one – consisting of model making and designing our own functioning space. We were split into 8 different groups consisting of 3-4 people. Each group were given an area of the building on each level to measuring, using a 3m metal tape as our source of equipment – measuring corner to corner, including doors and elevators. It was important that our measurements were accurate as possible as it would affect our model making in the long run.

After this, we used a scale ruler to create our floor planes, transferring the measurements onto paper. On the floor plans, we included doors and elevators, as well as windows to show accuracy. Using A1 foam board bought from the store Hobbycraft we measured clearly and transferred the measurements (1:25) onto the foam board, carefully fitting the piece out using a Stanley knife and metal ruler making sure its as straight and neat as possible.

Using the space that I had measured with my peers, I tried visualising what I could’ve transformed the given space into, in which I decided a swimming pool. The idea of making an indoor swimming pool within a university was because, a lot of students are busy with their study life therefore they do not always have he opportunity or time to go out and have fun; which is why I thought it was a perfect idea for something unique like a swimming pool which also serves drinks like cocktails a good way to help student relieve stress, and get closer whilst also being able to go back and fourth at uni better – this will help them balance their social and educational life.

The process of making the final model continued throughout the whole week as there were a lot of accurate measuring  involved. Throughout the week we focused on cutting out all pieces first before starting to stick the pieces together as well as cutting out appropriate bits one each foam board piece which represented the windows and doors.