Experimenting with Tableau

Boulder, MT Hi’s & Lo’s

Final Presentation Boards

So we’ve presented our project, and we’re done for the semester! Here’s a copy of our final boards:

24×36 wine studio board

 

Where We’re at…

So our design for the winery is well under way…we are working on a campus-style layout of four different program elements: Wine production, apparatus integration, office space and wine tasting. Here’s a view of what we have so far:

Also, since we are not going to have time to fully develop three of our “hubs,” we will instead be presenting a loose conceptual proposal for what we think these hubs could be like in the various contexts: urban, infill and remote. Here’s an image that I did last night (which should look much like it will for presentation):

From here on out we should be in full-on production mode, but I will try to stay updated as we have more to show. I’m excited for presentation; the end is in sight!

Preliminary Designs

So after coming up with our design brief, Dan and I have begun work on some preliminary massing models for the winery. Initially, we thought that we’d be designing with a primary focus on the hubs, and less focus on the winery, but we’ve shifted into focusing primarily on the winery design and less so on the hubs. Although, the winery will contain all of the elements of the hubs in some form or another, but will contain additional program elements specific to a winery. The hubs will likely be a secondary design feature for the presentation, and may only exist as a conceptual proposal, depending on the time we have to develop them…

Here’s a few images of some ideas that we had for our winery design:

This image is trying to get at the three main program elements of the winery: Wine production, Visitor’s center and offices/meeting rooms. The shell-like roofs are trying emerge from the hillside to form the main structures. We kept the program elements separate to get at the idea of a ‘connected separateness’ in line with our winery/hubs concept. Thus, we feel it is important to keep them separate, yet keep them together through design language and proximity.

This second image was trying to use the same three program elements, yet encompass them under a single roof. In places where there are no ‘rooms’ to shelter, the roof peels away to reveal the structure beneath. We liked this in principle, but in practice we felt that the roof conflicted with the orthogonal nature of the program elements.

This image has less to do with a design idea and more of a test to see how the idea would be implemented in our modeling program. Dan had this idea that the structures and skin of the various buildings on our site would peel away at some point from themselves and ‘shoot’ off to connect to another building in close proximity. Again, this was getting the ‘connected separateness’ concept. Naturally, this is not shown well in this image, as the structure and the beams are two unrelated elements at this point. We’re not sure this is where we’re going to take the design, but we wanted to check it out. One thing we did like is the materials of the structure, and felt that it would meld well at our site.

We decided to take a step away from materials and form-making for the time being to work on basic massing and program organization. We feel it will be easier to make more detailed design decisions once we have the basics nailed down. We’re nearly done with a basic BIM massing model, and will post more as we reach some milestones…

…just over two weeks left!

Cryengine 3 Texture Tutorial

So Zack (see his blog at http://zackschaff.wordpress.com) and I have created a tutorial for adding textures to Cryengine 3. Cryengine 3 is a game-development software from Crytek. It allows for free-form manipulation of terrain and the addition of structures. This includes the addition of designs from programs such as 3DsMax and Google Sketchup. The program renders in real-time, allowing for complete freedom in exploring a scene…This eliminates the need for animations; allowing the user too explore the design from any angle, and from human-scale perspective. I am interested in seeing how we can use this as a tool to present our designs at the end of the semester, and in future semesters….

Here’s the copy of our tutorial:

ZC_TextureTutorial

Please note that Zack and I have had some technical difficulty with Cryengine 3 and connecting to the texture server, so we’ve used screenshots from popovickonstantin7’s Cryengine 3 environment tutorial video on youtube.com. Thanks for the help.

Ru(m)inations by John McMorrough

Mr. McMorrough presents the idea of modern (recent) architectural thought in two
ways: That architects have, since the end of ‘Modernism,’ engaged in a cyclical (and
destructive) manner of thinking; and that despite their best efforts to the contrary, they
are bound to repeat the manners and thoughts of those that came before.
The author suggests the title of these musings as a set of ‘ru(m)inations’ where the
prevailing architectural thoughts ‘ruminate’ and in the same instance ‘ruin.’ He compares
the processes to the rumen in a cow, where no real valuable additions are input into the
whole. Therefore, he suggests, that despite architects’ best efforts to depart from the
designs and principles of those before them, they (we) good! are stuck in a cyclical behavior
that only serves to repeat them. Even if we are able to begin to move away from our
predecessors, we still remain rooted in their precedents.
I partly see this cycle rooted in our educational system, while at the same time it seems that education may be the start of a move away from these ru(m)inations. We, as (aspiring) architects, are brought into this world of design through our education. Thus, we learn the guiding principles and designs of our predecessors in nearly every class we take. It’s almost impossible not to have their way of thinking ingrained into our subconscious by them time we leave school. Yet at the same time, it is our education that enables us to think for ourselves, and to take chances and experiment.
Until very recently, another reason that architects remain caught up in these ru(m)inations
is the technology of design. Following the end of Modernism, architects fought find
their own paths, yet remained entrenched. Now, with the advent of new technologies and
means, such as parametric design, architects are becoming enabled to move beyond the
cycle and possibly enter into a whole new era of unrestrained design. I think (and the
author suggests) that it now only takes some new motivation and new mindsets to take us
there.
I am interested to see how the parametric design tools that we have been learning so far
in class can enable us to design in ways that we have not thought possible before. Is it
really possible to create design not rooted in the past?

Our Design Brief

Here’s a copy of the design brief that Dan and I have put together. It encompasses what we wish to accomplish with this project and where we want to start.

Design Brief

Treading water…

Here’s a PDF of some of the stuff Dan and I have been trying to focus on over the weekend:

BigConcepts

After today’s critique, we feel like we’re on a good path with a strong concept. A few things that we need to focus on include:

– How the hubs relate back to the source (winery). Should the winery also contain activities that happen at the hubs? Do the hubs sell wine from the winery? If so, who makes the wine? Is it our client from the Flying Dutchman? Or did he ‘decide’ to use the new winery as a lease to smaller winemakers? Can he do both?

– Just exactly happens at the hubs? We know we want them to be a place to use our apparatus design, but how can we take it a step further? How do the hubs interact with one another? What about the social and private interactions at each individual hub? Are the wine tasting experiences private, shared or both? Can each hub focus on one social aspect?

Also, I did another diagram trying to relate to this idea of networking and sharing. The black lines represent lines of experiences. Where they converge is at high concentrations of activity. The pink lines represent a sharing of these experiences with other convergences, and which also take other paths.

Trying to Swim II

After developing the initial idea images, and taking constructive input from Peter, we have moved a bit into exploring (conceptually) what our design could be. Peter suggested we rethink what a winery means to us, as understood through the concepts of our apparatus. Could what we develop be some sort of mobile or digital configuration? Could we spawn some sort of wine-tasting community? What role does wine production play over wine experience?

Taking some hints like these, Dan and I were interested in developing this idea of ‘franchise’ on top of our previous concepts. How could networking play into this idea of sharing related yet unique experiences within a [global?] community? What role does branding play in a world that is experienced through our own lenses?

One particular franchise that I was interested in is The Ministry of Sound clubs. Separately, they are a series of clubs around the world that host DJ’s and general club paraphernalia. Together, however, The Ministry of Sound is an entity that transcends their locale. They produce their own music, are able to draw in performers that an unknown entity could not, and remain connected to their patrons throughout the world, who, in turn can share experiences with like-minded members. How can this idea translate into an architectural concept? Would our winery be a worldwide community of fellow wine-enthusiasts?

We were also given a ‘site’ at the end of the week. More to come on some more specific thoughts regarding site and program. *Trying to stay loose…*

Where to now? aka ‘Trying to Swim’

Now that midterms are over, we’re trying to find a way to organize our ideas concepts into a cohesive driver for our ‘winery’ design. I use the term ‘winery’ loosely, as Peter (our guest juror and supplemental studio professor) has advised us to do. I can see his point: Trying to jump too quickly into design with all of our varied preconceptions, we are bound to create a design that is simply a reflection of them. By remaining ‘loose,’ we are more free to develop concepts that help us make more meaningful design decisions. I will admit this has been hard for me. After spending half of the semester designing non-traditional architecture, I was anxious to get into building design.  I am trying to take a few steps back and develop some driving concepts. Here’s my first go at it:
This collage of images is meant to show the idea of ‘networking’ and how it can be centralized and at the same time interconnected. I like the idea of shared experiences, that are sent between each other and at the same time available at a common source. Another idea word that spawned from this is ‘aggregate,’ where a variety of experiences can form a cohesive whole.

This next image is supposed to show how experiences can vary dependent on context. For example, can the way that we taste wine be affected by the atmosphere in which we consume it? The surface in the image is supposed to represent the variety of ‘contexts’ while the comet-tails represent the experiences. Thus, some pierce through the surface while one does not, and the magnitude of the tears are different. They are also different colors at different locations. I’m not sure how successful the image is, but that is the idea I was shooting for.