Photo Concept

Diagram from the Doorn Manifesto, 1954, Team 10.

 The city has lost ties with the isolate field and in turn nature too.

So i propose to bring nature back into the city and take an element from the isolate and place it in the city.

I need a big bold element so it draws attention and acts as a symbol. for this i chose a mountain. Due to the lake district running into the north of lancashire i then had a look at the mountains. the biggest one in this area is called 'Scafell Pike' it is also the biggest mountain in England. As far as big and bold go, this is a winner.

 

Photo montage showing my concept.

From left to right:

First of all the concept starting off as a large mass. Then the addition of the the central void which will act as a semi public/semi private space where street performs may perform etc. Then lowering the south side down to the ground to allow maximum natural light into the building and the green space. Then simply just a slit at the bottom to allow for the route into the space in the middle or into the building at either side. This final form is also derived from Scafell Pike - the largest mountain in the Lake District, it too is a horseshoe shape which opens up to the south.

Further Precedents

Both of these precedents come from the architect Bjarke Ingels. Both relating to a 'mountain' concept. The first is the Mountain Dwellings in Copenhagen, Denmark. Completed in 2008.
This building is similar to my idea of bringing the countryside into the city. an urban mountain if you will. A clever use of space of having housing on top of a car park rather than having it as 2 seperate blocks. Since the parking building doesnt need things such as sunlight or views out it has an interesting facade of having steel with small holes punched into it so it creates an image of Mount Everest. Each of the housing elements on the top layer of this building has a roof garden so it keeps to this idea of mountains being built up areas made of earth.


The completed project.













An image of the roof. the materiality of the timber and the grass of the roof gives the impression of built up earth which is what a mountain is made up of.

An image showing the facade with the picture intergrated within the material. At night this is lit up so it becomes a photo negative of the image.


















A striking image of having this 'mountain' in the city. 

A section throught the building which is very similar to an early concept sketch i did for my project.

The second piece of work i wish to bring up by Bjarke Ingels is Zira Zero Island. This island is a 1,000,000 m2 master plan for a carbon neutral resort and residential development located along the Caspian Sea.

The concept is based upon the natural landscape of Azerbaijan using the seven major peaks not only as metaphors but as living models. Working together over the island it fits into this eco system where the flow of air, water, heat and energy are channeled in almost natural ways, it channels water and stores heat, it provides viewpoints and valleys, access and shelter.

The main aim of this masterplan is to make it completely carbon neutral this is made possible by the combination of solar energy, wind energy and the water surrounding the island. Due to the island being a sort of desert plane at the moment the waste water is fed back into the landscape to encourage the growth of vegetation.

Image showing the finished proposal.

Further develoment

 Looking at standard theatres, there is usually a black space or sometimes 2 where the audience can go down to get to their seat. however this means there is large blank spaces where the performer is performing to nothing.

An idea of having the circulation spaces at the sides of the room so the seating is all in the middle so during the show the actor is performing to the entire audience. possible balcony's can go over the stairs rather than having it on a seperate level, avoiding the horizontal plane of blank space.

 Due to surrounding buildings being so large, i think the best way of getting natural light into the building will be from above i.e roof lights. This way it can filter the light into the building similar to spotlight so the public have this feeling of being a performer. Also each level may overlook the level below so they get a sense of watching the level below as a play while also being a performer to the audience of the space above so the public are both the audience and performers, breaking this barrier of public - private and front of house - back of house. Also the exterior may be built up like contours, allowing the public to walk over the building aswell as under it, through it, and around it.

The Brief

The brief is set out to design a Theatre for young people and mixed use development. In hope to help youths who have trouble at school this project should help give these kids somewhere to go and something to do, whether its working in workshops for set design or working on costumes to be used in shows. By doing this they are getting some hands on experience and can help them find a profession in which to persue. Another key element the brief states is it must respond to the environment. So it must work socially within the environment and it must strive to be a 'Zero Carbon design' using sustainable methods of building, material choice, passive ventilation etc. 

Concepts

 Some early model studies, just showing 3 seperate areas.

The 3 areas being; Public, Private and then the meeting of the 2

My initial concept was to somehow make this building compete with the dominant buildings surrounding the site. the way i achieve this is by having each function on a seperate level so its built up like a set of stairs, these may vary in shape similar to sets of fields. This way the further you go into this building the more involved you get for example, bottom floor would be reception, then up a level to the cafe, then to the gallery and exhibition etc until you reach the actual auditorium so in a way it sort of forces people to interact with the building. By having these functions all on seperate levels off the ground it allows the public to retain a free flow through the site, around - through - and even under buildings.

I refer to this similar to the mountains of the countryside of the North-West region. The reason people climb these mountains is to get to the peak - the focal point. Usually this is for the breathtaking views etc but what if in this case when you got to the peak you wern't looking at the views out of the surroundings but the view right infront of you aka the stage in the auditorium - the focal point. Another characteristic i wanted was a central void. So if these 'floating' levels could circle the site it would create a semi public, semi private space where people can perform such as street acts etc.

I modelled this idea of a 'mountain' using repetitive blocks. Repetition is a key characteristic of Brutalism architecture. A style which is dominate in the 2 key buildings next to the site.

I then spread out the spaces to maximise the potential green areas on the roof of the level below and allow light through these punctured holes.

I then started to curves these spaces round to either maximise or minimise (depending on the orientation of the building) light to the central space.

I then doubled up the block on the top to emphasise the focal point and also gives a great sense of a floating space which sparks interest so passers by may be drawn to this and want to explore the building.

 I could then place these onto the site and twist/move levels to fit it to the space and see how it reponds. In the picture above the building is orientated to block direct sunlight to the central void space making the ability to project films etc onto a face alot easier. 

 In the picture above its the opposite, orientated to allow for maximum sunlight into the space so people could use it as a picnic spot for example in summer time.

 For this model i simply modelled a diagram (as seen on the second scanned page further up the page)

This was to emphasise this central void.

I then started to move the levels back to create this central void to act as a stage and the levels to represent the stands.

 Similar to a football stadium.

 I then twisted the levels to allow for each level to have some green space.

 The result seemed similar to an interpretation to the colosseum of ancient Rome.

 Another thing considered is how it fits into the urban surroundings. So i have considered whether i want it solid on the street side so it blends in with its environment or whether i want it to project out over the pavement so it funnels the pedestrian traffic through the site while also contrasting with the flat solid facade of the context.

This model shows a similar principle of two similar branches of the building (one could be for public use - cafe, gallery etc and the other more private use - workshops, rehersals etc) and then the meeting of the two beings the auditorium. But in this model this space is on the ground rather than being the highest point, to give the building a more solid feel and more grounded.

 The same model just showing passageways in which the public can access this central space.

A view showing the cantilevers of some space to show the building has a presense on the site and an illusion of lightness. and when standing on this space it gives uninterupted views.

A model showing levels protuding over this central void so even though its still an outside space, gives the feeling of being enclosed and inside, aswell as being protected from the main English weather of wind and rain.

A much more organised model showing gradual progression of spaces and maximising the central space. 

An aerial view of the same model

A view showing the gaps between levels and makes for an interesting passageway for the public to go through which opens up onto the large open space in the centre of the site.

 A model based on the existing circulation through the site

So instead of keeping that existing circulation i inverted it so people would go through the building the same way as they use the site currently.

The existing contours in section are similar to this 'mountain' metaphor i used before but on a much smaller scale, that in the sense that it has a central 'peak'. But i had an idea of instead of the contours going back down, what if i carried it on so it looking like it was growing out of the ground up to the building. in this way a sort of natural stage has been made. the public could sit along this slope and look down towards an outdoor play in the summer or a film projected onto a screen or facade of a building at night.

The Site

The site location is in the North-West of England, UK.

Lancashire, Preston

Site in context

Site Boundries

2 important buildings in Preston surround the site. The Harris Museum (bottom left of the site), a grade 1 listed building, it is an example of neo-classical architecture and has been around since 1893. And the Bus Station (top right of the site), built in 1969 and was the largest bus station in Europe at the time.

Above the site is a where the Prince's theatre used to be, built in 1882 by Henry Hemfey, the theatre was closed down in 1964 to make way for the new bingo hall and the St John's shopping arcade. Below the site is The Guild Hall, built in 1972 to replace the Public Hall, which is still there today.

There are 2 examples of Brustalist Architecture next to the site. The Guild Hall and Preston Bus Station.

Brutalist Architecture was a popular style during the 1950's to the 1970's which came from the modern movement. Its key characteristics are the use of concrete for the material, repetitive use of angular geometries, expression of the buildings function and structure on the exterior of the building. The bus station was voted Preston people's favourite building in a survey in 2010 even though its faced numerous attempts of demolition, in 2005 a redevelopment project of the area was given the go ahead which meant for the destruction of the bus station, several attempts to make the bus station a listed building have failed.

There are 2 main open areas near the site. One is the market (although is is covered it still has a large open area of space) the other being the public square infront of the Harris Museum. I want to be able to maybe somehow link these spaces into the site or create another open area within it.