Inspiration - Void House

The Void House

I'm absolutely in love with this house designed by Gon Zifroni. So much lovely natural light!

What If Solution - "Treehouse"

(click for full image)

Above is my solution to the statement "What if your house trapped people?"

Firstly let me say this is not an image of a house that traps people, it's the solution I came to through processing the statement.

First I thought about being trapped and how it could relate to one of the real concepts of the house. I came up with the idea of seclusion and the fact that the only difference between captivity and seclusion is that the latter is voluntary. I also thought about how the idea of living in a glass house in the woods would be hell for some people.

Finally I began to think about the visuals of being trapped or captured. The first image that came to mind was that of vertical bars. The more I dwelled on this visual the less I saw bars and the more I saw trees in a forest which brought me full circle. I've mentioned in my book that one of the ideas behind using steel I beams was to bring an element to the house that mimicked the trees that are so central to the project as a whole. I decided in the end to express this concept literally; as the structure extends upwards steel becomes wood and 17 I beams are transformed into a forest.

SketchUp Progress

(click image for full view)

Not much to say here. I started working on this over winter break and it's about 80% complete.

Thesis Progress - More than I expected

I meant to post Section 3 today, which deals with the interior space, materials and the functionality of the house, but I've been having great difficulty finding appropriate imagery for it, so it will be delayed until sometime this week.

In keeping with my schedule I've begun drafting the body copy for the final section of the book. Section 4 deals with "The Greater Project" which covers the evolution of the house, the various graphic design pieces that were made to promote it and my closing statement on the future of Enthüllung.

In laying out the template for these pages I've found that the current page count of the book totals 51 pages not counting the title page, table of contents, Copyright Page and Endpages. This puts me above my original goal of 30-40 pages. hooray!

The first review of pages is scheduled for March 8th, while corrections and modifications are being made work will begin on the cover design for the book.

Thesis Progress - Environment, Structure and Interior Space

This section contains information on the environment of the house, the design and influences of the structure, and thought processes behind the layout of the interior space.

Enthüllung - Section 2 (Please Save the file to your computer and view with reader/acrobat. Browser viewer sucks)

NOTE: The body copy has not been edited by anyone other than myself, so please let me know of any typos you see or any parts that sound awkward etc. Also note that some images may be place holders (such as the incomplete 3D rendering).

Casa no Geres - Portugal

Casa No Geres is a house design by Corria/Ragazzi Aquetectos and is located along the Spain/Portugal border.

Its simple shape and subtle division of space reminds me of Mies van der Rohe's Farnsworth house, which inspired my own project, Enthüllung (and had a significant influence on the design). Also an interesting fact worth noting is that one of the criteria for building Casa No Geres was that no trees be cut down, much my like my own project.

The only issue I have is that I Casa No Geres seems to lack a kitchen of any sort... strange.

Red the full article on The Cool Hunter

Thesis Progress - Introduction

I've fallen a bit behind due to the blizzard. Below is a link to download a PDF of the introduction to my book. Bare in mind the other sections of the book will be significantly longer (The next section for example is 18 pages). I'm aware the photos aren't of the greatest quality, they're temporary until I can have a legitimate shoot somewhere other than my dorm room. I've only had one person copy edit this so if you find any typos or awkward phrasing or what have you, feel free to comment.

Enthüllung - Introduction (save as please)

Also keep in mind that this book relies heavily on spreads so when viewing the PDFs I've posted make sure you're looking at them Two-up (View > Page Display > Two-Up)

I Beams, H Beams, Whatever

While a scale model of Enthüllung is not part of my proposed thesis I feel it's an important part of the presentation of the finished project. Without it, viewers are forced to rely on technical drawings and shots of 3D renderings which only give them the presented perspectives and show little of the actual space relationships of the house. A scale model that can be viewed from any angle will more fully express the ideals of the design.

I had been thinking about how I would go about constructing this model for the last two months and the support beams were an area of concern. At the desired scale (1:24) I needed something thin, sturdy and light (and also white) and I eventually settled on using a sheet of modeling plastic. I have to say, this stuff is pretty fantastic, you need only score it with an X-acto blade and it snaps right off. It's also easily held together by super glue. I'm fairly pleased with the results.

PS: In terms of my actual proposed project, The snow ruined my plans for shooting photos for the sections that have been laid out, but I should have the first two sections (21 pages) presentable by this monday and I'll be sure to post them here.

Enthüllung Floorplan and Elevations

Above are the final drawings of Enthüllung until May. This blog has been revived to serve the purpose of documenting the progression and completion of the Enthüllung book for my AGDII thesis project.

Revival

I'll be reviving this blog for the purposes of my AGDII Thesis project.