Saturday, August 30, 2008

Industrial School in 3D

After planning the spaces of the school, thought has now been given to the structure of the building. The structure is to be a simple steel post & beam arrangement, based on an 8m grid. Concrete floors will feature Bondek and a sawtooth roof system is going to be used throughout the building, with the glazing facing south to get as much diffuse light as possible throughout the classrooms on the top level and through the atrium space.




Whilst figuring out the grid, a maquette of the building below (1:400) shows a basic form of the building in relation to the Library. It shows the massive nature of it & the need for the atrium space in the middle provide both circulation and natural light, breaking up the 70 m long solid structure.

I began researching a little more into Industrial design, attempting to get my head around what it is and how I can represent it through architecture. After going through a couple of books, I noted down some key points that helped me understand it and might help add substance to my design and drive it into not only a functional building, but one that represents and achieves a lot more. Industrial design involves:

  • creation, invention from the solution to a problem or need, giving rise to a 3-dimensional form & its materiality - capable of multiple reproduction by mechanical means
  • repitition
  • a high level of skill and artestry

In recognising the importance of industrial design, I've chosen to research a Sydney designer, Marc Newson, and hope to understand his style and technique and somehow use what I've learnt and apply it to either the facades of my building or any design feature to help my aim of representing Industrial design through my building. Below is an image of his work highlighting the repititon of a single shape and use of colour in his work, something I might use in the facade design.

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