PART C. PROJECT PROPOSAL
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C. 1 GATEWAY PROJECT: DESIGN CONCEPT C. 1.1 FEEDBACK & IMPROVEMENT Our group focus on two major problems that were arose from the midterm presentation. The first one the concept of our design is unclear and the second one is about the shape of our design. Those two problems are truly interrelated. The changes we made in our design approach are: firstly, we rethink our design concept and tried to find more relations with the site and Wyndham City; and secondly we tried to from our design ideas firstly on paper than transfers to Rhino by using Grasshopper.
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C. 1.2 SITE ANALYSIS There are 3 sites, and we decided to focus on Site A as it sits between two traffic roads. The initial attempt with the position of the gateway is to achieve both “information” and “transition” purposes. The site A could be holding the major design that can deliver the “information” that we want to people (the user of the site, mainly the driver) to perceive. As the project is asking to create a gateway for Wyndham City to attract people to come to the place, the design must have the function of advertising. Therefore, site A is a good place to put the “advertising” part of the design. At the same time, we also want to create a transition feeling for the drivers and make the “passing experience” interesting, so we decide to put something cross the road as well. The set of design will create the multiple feelings for the users.
TRANSITION/ EXPERIENCE
INFORMATION
TRANSITION/ EXPERIENCE
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C. 1.3 DESIGN CONCEPT
NATURAL ASPECT We did not give up our initial consideration of the natural environment of Wyndham City. Wyndham is the coastal city which is bound by the second longest coast line in Australia. And Werribee the place which drives the major development of Wyndham has the famous Werribee River running through the city. Geographic feature always has an essential role to play in the formation of a local culture. And the water system is undoubtedly the source for the spirit of the community culture in Wyndham. Hence we choose to mimic water features to remind people of the geographic features of the city and evoke the sense of community within the local people.The waving shape represents the most important natural feature of Wyndham, the sea and river. And the flowing character of wave is also the expression of harmony.
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CULTURE & COMMUNITY Beside the wonderful natural features, Wyndham City is also characterized with the harmonious community. The “togetherness and neighborliness” is highlight within such harmonious community. Base on this important character of Wyndham City, we have our key word “HARMONY” for our design. Therefore, we chose to use the mobuis strip to represent the word “harmony”. The continuity of this special shape is also the expression of harmony. Moreover, we also want to emphasize the harmony relationship between human and nature. Wyndham is a city where encourages people to go outside and enjoy the outdoor activities. Therefore, people in Wyndham not only have a harmonious community but also have the harmonious feeling with the natural environment.
WYNDHAM CITY
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C. 1.3 DESIGN CONCEPT
MOBIUS STRIP
Grasshopper Difinition with Lunch Box Plug-in. 60
The grand natural features and harmonious community culture in Wyndham city encourage interactions within community members and between human and nature. New architectural developing trend also encourages interactions between people and people, and also interactions between human and nature. This new quest urges for a new relationship between internal and external space. And parametric design suggests the possibility of the blurred boundary between internal space and external space, as is shown in the case of Mobius strip.
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C. 1.3 DESIGN CONCEPT MOBIUS & SECTION The mobuis strip as a continuous surface blurs the internal and external environment, and the continuity of this special shape also emphasizes Harmony. This kind of shape is hard to construct in the real world, and sectioning could be one of the solution for this problem. Section has the ability to reform or divide a complex form into pieces of sections. In the case of mobius strip, it can divide the surface into strips to make it easy construction. In terms of material, twisting a surface is not easy but twisting a strip is much easier. Therefore, we divide our mobius shape surface into section, and we tested several different ways of sectioning.
TESTING OF SECTION 62
SIDE VIEW
FRONT VIEW 63
TOP VIEW
We finally decided to cut the section with the mobius curve; therefore each of the section is an individual mobius strip. The repeating visual effect that is created by sectioning is interesting and attracting. It can create the dramatic visual effect of motion and change. As we want to create such transition effect on the road, this kind of effect satisfies our concept. Moreover, we decided to alter the shape of the surface to make the flattest side touch the ground. In order to construct the structure, the grounding part is trimmed by the earth. The shadows from the structure can still make the whole structure continuous.
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TRIMMED BY EARTH
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POSITION
The two minor structures are placed on the separate roads that surround site A. This position allows cars from both directions to feel the transition. And in term of the material, different materials will be used for those two structures.
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PROTOTYPE
The most difficult part of our structure is the twisting part. Every strip has different length and twisting degree. This character requires the flexibility of the material. We tested with some card board but the card board bent in the twisting part. Therefore, we chose to use the plastic sheet to build the model. The twisting problem is solved with the plastic sheet; however the plastic sheet is lack of fixity. The built up model is really like something flowing in the air.
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C. 1.3 DESIGN CONCEPT
MOBIUS, SECTION & SCULPTURE The middle part is the major component of our design. It delivers the information about our design concept to the drivers. Therefore, we gave it a complex shape which has the sculpture quality. The original circle shape is twisted 1.5 times in the mobius strip way. We tested twist more and the shape became more and more complex. However, we have to think about the real world construction and the 1.5 times twist is the most elegant shape. It keeps the complexity and also forms a triangle out shape by having 3 major parts. The symmetry and balance character emphasizes the word “harmony�.
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TOP VIEW
SIDE VIEW 70
SHADOW TEST
The combination of mobius strip and sectioning creates dramatic shadows on the ground. During the day, the sun will be the light source and the shadow will change accordingly. And during the night, both the street light and the car light can be the light source for creating interesting shadow effects.
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POSITON ON SITE The major structure is placed on site A. It is like a sculpture that every car from both directions can see it. The structure has the aesthetic feeling as a sculpture and it represents the harmony community of Wyndham City. Its complexity of internal and external surface is also the expression of the harmonious relationship of natural environment and human community.
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C. 2 GATEWAY PROJECT: TECTONIC ELEMENT
C. 2.1 MATERIAL RESERACH We chose to use 2 different materials to represent the transition from natural to artificial. Therefore, plywood and stainless steel are chosen. Plywood represents the natural aspect, and stainless steel represents the artificial part. We want to emphasize the change that Wyndham City has been experienced; and the middle part is the mix of those two materials, therefore the harmony between natural and artificial is once again highlighted.
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PLYWOOD . High quality . Strong, excellent bending strength . Easy machining andsurface treatment . The flexibility of the material is 1.5mm thick . Can be bent through 180 degree, this extends the range of design possibilities.
PRECEDENT
Although this pavilion is in a relatively small scale, it still shows the flexibility of plywood and the curving ability of plywood. It also provides evidence of how tow piece or multiple pieces of plywood can join together to form a long span piece.
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STAINLESS STEEL . Stainless steel is a hard and strong substance. . It is not a good conductor of heat and electricity. . Stainless steel possess high ductile strength. This means it can be easily shaped or bent or drawn in the form of wires. . Most varieties of stainless steel possess magnetic permeability. They are strongly attracted towards magnets. . It is highly resistant to corrosion. . It does not get oxidized very easily. . Stainless steel can retain its cutting edge for a long period of time. . Even at very high temperatures, stainless steel is capable of retaining its strength and resistivity towards oxidation and corrosion. . At cryogenic temperatures, stainless can remain tough PRECEDENT Gateway Arch This precedent shows the good ductibility of stainless steel in the large scale. And as it can resist many weathering condition, it is suitable for an outdoor structure. On the other hand, it is a very traditional modern material which can explain the transition well.
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C. 2.1 CONSTRUCTION DESIGN PRECEDENT
This pavilion also has the mobius strip shape. In our design, the double skin construction method in Contemply Pavilion will be adopted. The special steel joints allow the twisting happen, and it is able to rotate in any degree to achieve the twist. This method will only be used in the middle structure as it has the most complex twisting. And the combination of steel joints and plywood sheet also achieves the mixed use of material in the middle part.
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CONSTRUCTION DRAWING
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DETAIL MODEL
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C. 3 GATEWAY PROJECT: FINAL MODEL
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