Seldom Seen

Rhinoceros 3D

Adobe Illustrator

Physical Modeling

Course: Design Studio Semester 2

Date: March 2022 - April 2022

Format: Team based project with classmates Chris Nurse, Kristina Kozlitana & Ewen Hall

Responsibilities: Drawing & Physical Modeling

“Navigation needs might have been the starting point for all memories”

- Nicholas Carr

This conceptual design seeks to foster a multi-sensory experience highlighting the relationship between the individual and nature. Within the site that is located on a portion of the Comox Estuary which was once the host of a sawmill, the lack of directional cues and the presence of unpredictable terrains and obscuring vegetation, leads visitors to different built experiences where they are forced to confront nature. As such, one must create a sense of orientation using spatial memory through the auditory, olfactory, and tactile components of the site. In this state, nature re-establishes control of the site until visitors are able to regain control of their navigation abilities. In surrendering ones’ comfort within the landscape, a more intimate exploration of the site re-orients visitors towards the history and hierarchy of the site.

Planting Typology

The planting plan depicts the use of flora as markers of directional cues. Specific plantings with unique experiential qualities are concentrated around each intervention which then radiate into a central meadow of tall reeds. As such, users remain disorientated until they approach one of the built forms

The site plan depicts the site’s four edge conditions with the progression of the meadow as it starts on the right hand side. As such, vegetation grows outwards and to the left creating opportunity for more moments within a larger boundary of the site

The axonometric drawings depict the yearly progression of the meadow. The incisions shows the first year with little growth, the trench shows the second year at mid growth, and the brambles shows the third year when the meadow is at its full height. In its fourth year, the platform depicts the controlled burn of the meadow, which decelerates the otherwise rapid processes taking place on site

The site model demonstrates the terraforming of the site which influences the nature of each intervention. A flat topography provides space for a viewing platform while the incised topography allows for a connection between the land and the river. Additionally, the entrenched topography allows for a deep and tall path, and the circular topography invites a walled bramble. At a smaller scale, each built form model depicts the four interventions designers which would conceptually be formed using the recycled rusted metal from the site’s retaining wall

Concept Models

A collaged elevation of the front view of each intervention along with their correlating topography and vegetation illustrates the relationship between the site’s various experiential qualities

The disembodied perspective of a salmon within the incision demonstrated its overwhelming depth and size