Music Box Design Report

CONTENTS BRIEF INITIAL IDEAS PRECEDENTS MATERIALITY SITE ANALYSIS SITE PLAN PLAN SHORT ELEVATION LONG ELEVATION SHORT SECTION LONG SECTION STRUCTURE FUNCTIONALITY + ANALYSIS IMAGE SOURCES

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MUSIC BOX

BRIEF MUSIC BOX: the title asks to be unpacked.

What comes to mind first? Is it the instrument itself? A small toy that makes children happy; it plays a quaint tune again and again (something christmassy maybe). Smiles all round.

But the melody is locked into this box confined. We often hear we need to ‘think outside the box’. A box encloses, compresses and restricts; pressure builds within. Tension rises, tending towards release.

My design, a new nightclub for campus, employs this pressure. 200 people dance, kinetic energy increases - rising, rising, rising till breaking point. The night ends, the doors swing open, the people fly out. In this moment, the release is real.

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FIG 1

ALEXANDER WHITWELL

INITIAL IDEAS

Using ‘box’ as an anchor, I began to explore

sides as though it had only just been pulled

rectilinear forms for the nightclub. My earliest

from the water. I also considered having the

designs were situated in the lake, connected

structure double as a stage addressing the

by a wooden platform. I explored concepts

amphitheatre. Ultimately, the design became

like salvage and wrecks, imagining the

too convoluted, and using what I’d learned

structure as emerging from the lake, like it

I reconsidered how I might simplify my

had just been dredged. I envisioned the box

interpretation. This is where the hall concept

as a huge fountain: water flowing down the

arose.

MUSIC BOX

PRECEDENTS

FIG 2

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FIG 3

FIG 5

My design inverts and combines two traditions.

an ever moving display of projections and

To begin with, I explored experimental

lights, creating an all consuming audio-visual

nightclub heritage, looking at early examples

experience for attendees. This was something

like the Electric Circus in New York [figure

I wanted to reference, and is what inspired the

2] and The Palladium, also in New York,

design of my ceiling. The second tradition is

designed by architect Arata Isozaki [figure

that of collegiate architecture. The University

5]. The former, especially, intrigued me for its

of Bath, being a relatively new institution, does

internal canvas lining. This would then hold

not have the ancient gothic architecture that

ALEXANDER WHITWELL

FIG 4

encapsulates for many notions of university

defines so much academic architecture. I

in Britain. My design seeks to create a new

also investigated hypersurface architecture.

mythology for the university; a kind of pseudo

In his seminal piece ‘Hypersurface Theory:

‘great hall’ (the idea of creating a fictional

Architecture> <Culture’, Stephen Perella

past is inspired by Damien Hirst’s ‘Treasures

proposes that the concept is “produced by

from the Wreck of The Unbelievable’). My

the tenets of traditional culture” and is the

structure implies the same plinth under

result of “intertwining often opposing realms

a series of set-out columns format which

of language”, both of which seem pertinent.

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MUSIC BOX

MATERIALS

BLACK STAINED PLY-

BRONZE PANELS

SHO SUGI BAN EN-

WOOD COATS THE

CLAD THE LOWER

TIRELY COVERS THE

UPPER INTERIOR

INTERIOR

EXTERIOR

1:50 MODEL

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Verticality is a key concept for my design,

The exterior is entirely clad in Sho Sugi Ban

the shuttering itself, as though it has been

club night through its patina] - and above is

stemming

architectural

larch. From afar it casts a striking image:

prised off the university and recast into a hall.

black-stained plywood. Finally, the ceiling is an

references I explored. This is evident not only

the structure appears void-like, akin to the

The exterior is stoic and sober, but proud and

explosion of colour. Between the larch space

through the form of my structure, but also the

monoliths in ‘2001: Space Odyssey’. Close

assertive nonetheless. Inside the academic

frame fabric is suspended. Hidden projectors

materials themselves. The grain of the exterior

up, it becomes much more textural. I find

hall typology continues. The interior is also

illuminate this and turn the ceiling into a

cladding is oriented skyward, such that the

myself drawn to the shuttered concrete

separated at the 2.5m mark. Below this is

constantly changing screen: a hypersurface.

structure seems to reflect the woodland it is

which covers so much of campus [see left].

bronze cladding - luxurious yet hard-wearing

The design inverts the traditional hall interior

surrounded by.

The cladding of my structure hence acts as

[it also ages elegantly and will reflect every

and re-imagines it into the club of the future.

from

ancient

ALEXANDER WHITWELL

FIG 6

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MUSIC BOX

SITE ANALYSIS

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The structure is both public and private,

to focus completely on the music and the

proud and hidden away. It is situated beside

night, almost forgetting where they are. On

the lake, but addressing the path in and out

the other had, the building is not secret.

of the university. The building is surrounded

Clearly visible from anywhere around the lake,

on three sides by trees and foliage, such that

it’s bold rectilinear shape fits in with nearby

it almost appears to be in a forest clearing.

architecture and becomes a statement

The building’s relative isolation allows users

addition the university’s signature view.

ALEXANDER WHITWELL

I explored three main features of the site.

from causing too much auditory disruption

Firstly, the building is oriented such that the

to others. Finally, the building is aligned with

outdoor/smoking area is protected from the

the cardinal grid which governs the university

prevailing south-westerly wind by the main hall

layout. It stands alongside the path which was

structure. Secondly, the dense surrounding

originally intended to be the entryway to the

foliage acts as a natural acoustic barrier for

university, consequently adding to the myth

the rest of the university, preventing the club

that this is an ancient structure.

1:200 CONTEXT MODEL

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SITE PLAN

AMPHITHEATRE

MUSIC BOX

FOUNTAIN

1:500 PAGE 12

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MUSIC BOX AXONOMETRIC

STRUCTURE The structure is entirely timber, comprised of columns and beams which support the tessellated roof. The whole structure is designed onto a 2.5m grid. This also partially continues vertically, with the lowest beam and outhouse reaching a height of 2.5m.

The roof is the centrepiece of the design. It is made up of a series of sine-wave inspired syncopated zig-zags, triangulated into a rigid space frame. Horizontal diagonal members intersect and provide the base for the other members to connect to [as illustrated by the model shown below].

The roof structure is rythmic - inspired by music - and indeed sets the rhythm for the building as a whole. The external cladding is defined by the intervals set by the structure; while not explicitly shown, it is implied.

1:100 PAGE 18

DETAIL SECTION

1:5

MUSIC BOX

FUNCTIONALITY + ANALYSIS

The battens which cover the majority of

debris falling from nearby trees and blocking

the structure disguise many of the less

the gutter. Ventilation is provided by the stack

glamorous functional elements of the design.

effect; vents hidden behind the larch battens

The roof battens hide a graduated roof which

at the top and bottom of the structure create

allows water to drain into a concealed drain

exploit the air pressure difference to circulate

pipe. Not only to they maintain the integrity

clean air through the building, especially

of the box, but they prevent leaves and other

important for a packed nightclub.

I believe the strength of my design lies in its

external detailing, as well as working more on

concept. The combination and inversion of

action visuals. To summarise, however, my

nightclub and collegiate architecture is unique

design responds to the brief in a different, but

and allowed me to investigate the brief in an

thorough, manner. I have enjoyed the project,

interesting and unusual way. Were I to redo

and take with me a number of valuable lessons

the project I would focus more on internal and

and a new understanding of building design.

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IMAGE SOURCES FIG 1

https://www.flickr.com/photos/christianmontone/4364922449/sizes/l/

FIG 2

http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2013/10/may-7-9-1968-electric-circus-23-st.html

FIG 3

https://www.flickr.com/photos/netnicholls/8856329426/

FIG 4

https://www.archdaily.com/795388/when-droplets-create-space-a-look-at-liquid-architecture/57da9ff0e58ece9bdd00001d-when-droplets-create-space-a-look-at-liquidarchitecture-photo

FIG 5

https://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5c80/5d78/284d/d1b0/4f00/0337/large_jpg/©T.Hursley_88841.jpg?1551916399

FIG 6

https://www.hansen.ch/project/textile-installationen/attachment/whist_architects_hyi_ hypersurface_installations_11