Verman | HKU 2020 AT

HKU BAAS /admission aptitude exercise /23 dec 2019

HABITATION PROJECT

VERMAN. A VERMIN-HUMAN 48364189

Day-1

READING. Exploring.

In Franz Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis’, why did the family struggle to accept Gregor’s transformation into a human-sized vermin?

1

Cockroaches are intentionally small vermins. Gregor’s family was shocked because the scale of Gregor differed from their expectation.

2

Sketch, Robert Smithson, 1967

While reading the story, the scale of this cube drew my attention too. Smithson’s cube looked strange and seemed misplaced.

3

Relocating it to different positions with its size unchanged, it seems in scale and more pleasing to the eye.

4

Day-2

BRAINSTORMING. SKETCHing.

Then, an idea of creating a habitation scenario for Gregor and his family popped up in my mind.

3

I wanted to design a structure for Samsa’s family in which the family members and Gregor can benefit from one another.

4

Dividing the space with two cubes, Samsa’s family can live happily ever after without worrying ‘scale’ problems and interfering others.

5

FRONT VIEW

SIDE VIEW

I decided to use mainly wood, glass and cement.

Before making my models, I drew diagrams showing the structure.

REAR VIEW

SIDE VIEW

6

Day-3

Getting hands dirty.

I obtained some old wooden planks from my recent home renovation project.

7

I also made a 1:50 concept model of the facade using cardboard.

8

9

Day-4

In this 1:25 model, grey cardboard represents cement and acrylic sheet represents glass windows.

10

The glass cube in the centre is Gregor’s living area. The tube below directs his faeces out of the house.

11

This area allows Gregor to interact with his family without causing too much distrurbance to their daily life.

12

48364189

VERMAN. HKU BAAS AE /23 dec 2019

Through this AE, I discovered the importance of realistic scale.

Everything we encounter seems appealing due to ‘human scale’.