Niall Campbell Horse Architecture

The Wooden Horse - The Geneticist

2008-11-05T05:27:00.016+10:30

The Gyon Residence: Obsessions with number series and the separation of forms. Sequencing of genetic structures, groupings of similar elements, growth and the deformity over time. Tenuous and solid connections. Hierarchical systems of differentiation, and patterns of growth. The distortion of symmetry. Heredity and hierarchy. Confines, Cut, Growth, Death. Restriction and release. The excited and the flawed. The Graft. Manipulation of a typology. Compression and progression.

The Geneticist - Change, Growth, and Prosperity in Brompton
Here are some low-res examples of my final presentation.

Final Progression (03/11)

2008-11-03T17:10:00.002+10:30

This is the final progression report I'm posting before this Wednesday's submission date. Below is all the required content that will go into the graphical presentation for the submission. On Wednesday I will hopefully post the graphical presentation along with a movie of the digital model for the submission...maybe.

Site Plan

Ground Floor and First Floor Plan

North and East Elevations

South and West Elevations

Sections

Blank Site Render

Notes #15: Form

2008-10-31T12:31:00.001+10:30

Breaking up the structure is an intense process. Some spaces deserve a kind of monotonous typology, and others something more evolved. Lack-of-space has affected the way the structure is composed. Second and third tier elements come into play to create what the typology cannot. Along these lines is a subtle narrative of evolution, growth and deformity.

Going against the typology because the structure has dictated a need has expressed the differentiation in the model. The adaptation of, and the subtraction of the form have different effects. The former seems to be denoting growth and the latter denotes external manipulation, possibly a mode to analysis, the isolation of a set unit or quantum of desired proportion.

Notes #14: Landscaping

2008-10-30T20:26:00.003+10:30

Landscaping has a tentative property with its surroundings. The conscious decision of association serves as an expression. A narrative can be obtained between the land and the built form.

Is the building, as it is now, a protrusion on a flat plane? It can be perfectly justified in being the protrusion on a flat plane. That the object is meant to be studied in isolation as the scientist would. To give it context would compromise it, bias it as the object would become subject.

Re-interpretation
The idea of a flat plane can both be an objective one, and a subjective one. Providing a sterile environment has a similar effect on the built form. The flat plane is almost impossible, given the effect of neighbouring properties, so the edge condition must nullify the effects of neighbouring properties.

Progression (29/10)

2008-10-29T00:35:00.005+10:30

Today I focussed upon re-designing the first 7 units and the tower, with also a few construction details of the single unit structure. Here's a few images to keep my neighbours updated.

Notes #13: Compression

2008-10-28T00:57:00.007+10:30

Hejduk's proposal for separating the house into basic units, each of an essential simplified purpose, has presented some interesting problems. I interpreted the principle for this methodology as being a device to better understand and design for the specific requirements of the units themselves and how they relate. Consequently some units have an abundance of space whereas others seem to be severely lacking.

The unit size for my clients dwelling is 2000x2000mm, and in the units housing the bath sink, the bathtub, the shower, and the toilet, this amount of space seems vast. In contrast, the units housing the kitchen sink, the kitchen stove, the dining table and chair, the refridgerator, the sleeping bed, and the study table and chair are cramped, almost crowded by the items themselves.

The original grouping of elements into their associated, or, closely related uses and then separating these groups brought about the idea that these units are growing along a single line, but then become deformed in their growth. An over-excitement in growth between the single unit and then the cluster of 4 would breed an abundance, and then a flaw in the growth from the cluster of 4 to the cluster of 7 would have some negative effect. It seems now that the amount of space has presented a very subtle narrative to explain the associations between these clusters of units in this adaptation of the dwelling.

Re-inforcement
The association between the internal layout of the units and the dividing line/wall is quite a difficult one to consider. Since the dividing wall's original purpose was contradictory, to serve as a corridor to feed the units, it seems appropriate to use it in the same manner in this design, though it is now more of a threshold between each unit.

The spatial arrangement of these units could be used to reinforce or disguise the connective properties of the dividing wall, whether it is associated with the internal plan or disconnected from it. Each unit can have a principle wall, where the service it houses is located, similar to a servery wall. Each unit can also choose which direction its functions should address, the location of seating, the orientation of devices. This solution for interior may inhibit several other design considerations, like the association between interior and exterior, relations between units and circulation paths.

Progression (24/10)

2008-10-24T09:14:00.005+10:30

Here's a few quick snapshots of my current design. Based on the typologies I studied earlier I've adapted several techniques to divide a 'typical' facade into unit structures. The images are in a sketch form as I'm still uncertain how the design will finalise. Currently I'm working on developing the interior and resolving some space issues.

The Eastern facade facing Ella Camporeale's site

The Northern facade facing Third Street, Brompton.

The Roof Plan

As you can see there is a lot more to develop. The building should stretch the entire 30m of the site and roughly lie in the centre, though that might change given some boundary conditions that may arise. The developed eastern facade was merely a test to manipulate typologies, so I wouldn't expect it to look exactly the same in further updates.

Notes #12: M.O.R. Typologies

2008-10-19T18:25:00.004+10:30

Taking the wooden horse criterium into account, I've begun to model up several street facades based on local and stereotypical typologies. I've noticed that with each progressive model certain decisions have presented themselves as important. The lateral flow is crucial to the facade, deciding what elements shall be divided and what shall be preserved has a dramatic effect on the typology.

Notes #11: Model Comparison

2008-10-16T06:57:00.005+10:30

Since the last entry the model has changed substantially, and I think it might be beneficial to compare the two as a form of a critique. Below, on the left, is the model form two weeks ago, and on the right is the new model with a few attempts made to explain the excited connection between the single unit and the rest of the building, and the 'dead' units added to deform the structure.

The excess of curves has led to a confusion, or rather, a contradiction in the original concept. More curves than units has blurred the association between these two elements. The 'excited' connection to the single unit also looks out-of-place. I think this connective device may suit the previous design better, and the pattern in this connective device might serve a use in the simplification of the design for the wooden horse.

The distortion caused by the dead units has had a negative effect upon the rest of the model. They need to be re-thought for the final, as they are also the most exorbitant structures within the design.

The slope in the units' parapet walls is something crucial to the sculpture, it reduces the hardness of the edges and reinforces the folding notion.

Translation
In the model, its repetitiveness needs to be exemplified. Reducing the curves to a single straight line and adopting the pattern from the excited connection of the latter model would be best. This might translate as an axis similar to ones present in nearby properties, and might serve as a privacy wall.

The connection points should be like typical extensions, where the structure's sibling is attached to the structure, but not of the structure.

The tower could be a parapet walled street facade element, or resemble a portico structure

The empty unit might be a skillion roofed extension.

the windows might be unusable balconies on a non-existant first floor, above the entrance.

Symmetry is crucial.

The interior will provide the best example of the sculptural form of the building.

The garden/landscape needs further thought.

Notes #10: Local Typology

2008-10-13T23:07:00.007+10:30

After mocking up the site in Sketchup a few typologies of the local vicinity have become apparent. Within the area low to medium density residential buildings is predominant. The site has also some notable industrial buildings that break up the streetscape.

The use of Gabled roofing is something very common. This roofing doesn't extend much past the exterior wall, the overhand being determined by the fascia + gutter depth. Its something homogenous and typically irrespective of the building's context. If shelter is required, the verandah/patio/portico is used.

In tudor-style gable roofing, the irregular floor plate is expressed through variations and complexities in the ridge-line. The roof becomes a re-interpretation of the spatial arrangement. Marks of contextual efficiency are noted when the ridge-line continues to meet an external wall, though this condition rarely exists on the street facade.

When the above condition does exist on the street facade, care is taken with respective proportion, often associated with an extension of another parallel ridge-line.

Extension of the main ridge-line as in the above image is also common over the site, which can be seen as a typology of traditional housing.

Combination skillion and parapet roofing is more common to the industrial buildings of the site. However, when used in residential buildings, there is a greater consideration for the street-side facade, often broken up by a continuous facade entity like a verandah.

In combination eaves and parapet edged roofing, parapets along the street-side facade are used to break up continuous facades into the building's respective units. On any other facade they tend to be used to shield against uncomfortable neighbourhood conditions. In the example below the walling is used in two ways. It simplifies the building fabric whilst also addressing, rather bluntly, the neighbourhood condition. However, in most examples around the site, its merely a device for efficiency.

Symmetry is another typology common to the site. Large housing is mirrored around a central axis, however this axis is not directly or intently expressed in the facade. Expression comes through secondary devices, such as fencing and external privacy walls. The privacy wall aren't the best example of efficiency, however, symmetry seems to be a common sign of low-cost building in the neighbourhood, though this might have more to do with unit housing rather than symmetry.

There is a predominant use of verandahs around the site. In most cases they are separated from the roof line by a fascia and a few courses of brick line. Most address the street facade and serve as a large intermediary space between the exterior and the interior. This intermediary space is also present in the form of patio's and portico's, but their size is significantly smaller. The latter spaces are also more an extension of the house.

Extensions in the the garden are common and are marked by skillion roofing, resembling a verandah-esque structure attached to the main building.

Where possible, garages are positioned on the street facade, but it seems more efficient to group parking together for the surrounding units at the rear of the properties.

The priority in facades is first to consider the streetscape, then the garden, and then to address the neighbours, thus there isn't much consideration for the neighbouring facades. Fencing merely prioritises the streetscape.

Where a first floor exists, balconies are used for two purposes; to provide external access for the first floor (logically), and to shelter the ground floor. For this reason they are found on the street facade, above the entrance, and in most cases, are severely undersized for any kind of practical use.

Repetitive elements are common in more ways than one. Unit housing is highly repeditive in the region. Elements like the typologies mentioned before are strewn throughout the site, with little comparative difference between each occurence. Differentiation is not a priority.

The Wooden Horse

2008-10-09T20:41:00.005+10:30

The final submission asks us the make a model of a building that camouflages itself as something else, based loosely on the fall of Troy. It focuses on adapting the mystery play model into a real-life environment.

The suburb is Brompton, which is 'has a tradition of social housing, principally driven by the establishment of a number of cooperatives intended to pool the resources of a number of individuals and families'. We are asked to cater for this type of social construction.

An Atlas SA Metro Aerial 2007 image of the site.

HI-RES Metro Aerial 2007 image
NB: Max image size in sketchup is 1024x1024, so the image should be cut into 1024px blocks to import it at high-res

Notes #9: The Dead Units

2008-09-28T16:39:00.002+09:30

A simple increase in thickness of the walls and creation of a negative space might suffice for the dead units

The problem is in conveying space which is dead. Its structure may become deformed, limp, dry and shrivelled, though its not the direct architectural translation of dead space.

Above, the original render of a dead unit had a few problems. It didn't convey the notion of 'dead space' that I was trying to achieve. In the render, the positive & negative space is rhythmic, on-off-on-off-on-etc. Breaking up this rhythm could contrast with the buildings sandwiched concrete walls better. Changing its pattern could also work, for example on-off-off-off-on, which would also differentiate itself from the structure. Also, The lines of the dead unit haven't been deformed, they are crisp and angular. something disastrous has to happen to the form, angles and curves have to be introduced to counter the form of the dwelling.

There could be, from the original render, sandwiched between the segmented concrete form, thick glazing distrorting the lines of the concrete.

The dead element could also be pronounced within the building, informing the spatial arrangement of the interior. Changing the 'protrusion' into the interior's vertical profile could be interesting. It could be deformed to allow access to rooms which it might be blocking.

Notes #8: The Graft

2008-09-19T08:45:00.000+09:30

In the 3D model, the glass is sandwiched between the concrete walls, and expands between them as the concrete walls are forced apart at the cut. In this way the result is one of tension, tension in the deformed walls as they curve away from each other, and tension in the glass, being forced to expand between these walls.

The graft seems unstable, the thin connective point is exemplified by the angle of the walls leading into the connection. The result of this is overwhelming negative space, which could be used to an advantage.

Other examples of the cut
In the sketch example of the model, a repose is shown at the break point, the parent structure leads off to the left. whilst the sibling structure reconstructs itself on the right.

Based on the original sketch not yet published on this blog, the graft structure could be revised so the glass 'pushes' the concrete into tension, and the concrete creates deformed connections between the parent & sibling structure.

The collapse sketch could be done by offsetting a unit and turning it into a point of gravity that the curve responds to.

The graft 1 sketch could be achieved by deforming a unit to a connection point.

The graft 3 sketch could also be achieved and would offset the asymmetrical appearance.

Progression (18/09)

2008-09-18T07:51:00.008+09:30

Here's a look at the progression in sketchup of the cuts. The end result is something very artificial, and almost resembles a break in the building from a birds-eye view. The cut is based on a 'graft' from the previous post, however the result doesn't portray a 'growth' at the cutting point, as I'd hoped. Though interesting results none-the-less.

The following image is the result of toying around with the free pov-ray rendering program. I like the way it has had difficulty rendering the glazing in-between the concrete walls.

Sketchup to POV-RAY plugin
POV-RAY

Notes #7: The Cuts

2008-09-14T16:16:00.009+09:30

In DNA replication, connected reciprocal parts are torn apart, then new parts grow on the exposed surfaces. The helical structure is 'unwound' then torn apart like unzipping a zip, then replicated, and then finally rejoined & rewound. If we were to do something similar to the dwelling how would it be done?

The Elements
The curves are the base or trunk of the building to which the units grow from. The curve base is a strong, fluid structure and a cutting motion against this might be 'collapse', where the absence of units creates instability in the structure & the building continues growth through a proprietary unit modified to produce 'pseudo-curves'. It might happen through 'graft' where there are items removed & re-growth shown, or maybe, items are separated & growth happens between them. A cut could also be artificial, clean, maybe even surgical, where an external volume cuts through the form.

Sketches - Form Studies

2008-09-14T09:02:00.004+09:30

The curve of the dwelling is important to the design. The First two curves in the above example are circular arcs, with a seemingly predictable progression. The arcs are defined by a point of radius upon the concave side of the curve. The two points are uniform but inversed upon a linear axis. The result gives a 'pushing' motion compared to the following bezier curve.

The bezier curve is tensioned from two points external to the structure. The points are defined on the convex side of the curve. This curve, which is as 'artificial' as the first two, portrays a more appropriate relationship to external forces for the dwelling than the previous two.

The connection between the unit and the curve is direct. As unit numbers increase, the curve numbers decrease. The grouping of the units affects the form of the curve similar to Equus - Fourth Design. However in this example the curve shape is maintained and the density altered, rather than the density directly affecting the shape of the curve. I think its artificiality is retained in this method. It interests me that the form be something attempting to replicate or symbolize something absent, rather than exploring its own organic form.

Notes #6: The Unit Block

2008-09-12T05:50:00.006+09:30

The unit block may be something that needs to curve, and be straight as well. On second thought, it's be better to separate the curves and the straight lines. The unit block can be straight and the unit structure and navigate through curves and straight lines. The unit structure can be 'excited' then 'flawed' at separation points (see. Notes #2: Geometry & Growth). The 'dead' elements are extensions of the unit block, and the 'live' elements (or gardens), are extensions of the unit structure. The dwelling elements are a melange of the two.

Excited
Considering growth, an increase in the amount of unit structures should be considered as something like growth on an agar gel plate, producing an ideal maximum efficiency in construction, where joints become 'simpler' and easier to manufacture. Before the fact, the number of joints should be reduced, leading to a relatively complex construction (ie. creating a square with 7 corners), with thinner unit blocks maybe?

Flawed
Considering overgrowth, there is a refinement of the joints, but a disproportionate number of them, leading to thicker unit blocks and dead elements.

Notes #5: The Garden

2008-09-12T05:27:00.007+09:30

Within the classes of elements; unit, access, distraction = garden? Maybe? First a review of the elements. First, logically is the entrance, then to corridor, then to the corridor/unit threshold, then to unit. On a larger scale it goes now Dwelling - Void - Dwelling.

Its context
An impulse, from the mutated form of the dwelling, is that the garden be in itself one of these units. Differentiated from the 'dead' units created by the mutation, the garden's form new abstracted life from the mutations.

Garden Typology
Karesansui, or the Zen Garden, can probably be used to symbolise or re-construct the 1 to 4 to 7 number sequence problem, however it might look out of place against the dwellings form. There is a possibility of re-considering the dwelling's form through the idea of a Karesansui, ie. the dwelling as a feature of the garden.

The Orangery, or Greenhouse, can be considered as an engawa type structure, addressing the connection between internal and external. It could be a more permeable unit structure stemming for the hierarchical corridor

The Brick Fruit Wall can extend the mutated architecture out into the surrounding environment. Extensions & segments from the structure can used to convey a reconstruction of a natural form, changing the landscape somewhat.

Note #4: The External

2008-09-11T05:15:00.005+09:30

I have to deal with the fact that 3 other dwellings are to exist on the site. The ghosts (i think i should call them), 3 figures from my clients past that do not exist to my client. Albeit they do exit as avatars, a name and a restrictive context only.

Relations
A relationship is defined as something contextual. A is to B or A is not to B, simple. The problem comes with subjectivity, which could be defined in a plethora of meanings. However, two objects relating to each other subjectively without sharing some other commonality, like similar use or origin, is very uncommon. It seems to me a benign notion which could work to the clients profile

Defn: Relationship

State of being related; connexion; way in which two people affect each other; mutual dealings, feelings or ties.

Notions of Relations to the 'Ghosts'

benign
sterile
naive
superficial
numb
ignorant
juvenile
inebriate
disengage
withdrawn
estrange
alienate

Notes #3: Confines, Cut, Growth, Death

2008-09-10T04:50:00.003+09:30

How does nature confine itself? Or, moreover, how does my client feel about being 'confined'?

Defn: Con•fine

1. To enclose within bounds; limit or restrict: She confined her remarks to errors on the report. Confine your efforts to finishing the book.
2. To shut or keep in; prevent from leaving a place because of imprisonment, illness, discipline, etc.: For that offense he was confined to quarters for 30 days.

Confine could be considered something unnatural coming into something natural, or, rather, a threshold against a fluid. A skin confines, a seal, a laminate. Something restrictive?

The Hypothetical Garden City Grid

The dwelling could be brought down to a flat plane using devices that seek to isolate the occupant. Thin walls rallying against thick restrictive boxes, manipulating the framework of the walls, forcing their exposure.

Views, connections & relations to the other dwellings could be vague. Rhythms half copied and half ignored. The structure then becomes deformed, segmented into the city grid, folded, as it were.

The Mystery Play

2008-09-01T14:24:00.004+09:30

Our next submission is based around the four square design problem posed by Japan Architect to honor John Hejduk. A few problems come to mind considering the brief for this project. All of my previous designs encompass a slope and sprawl across the landscape. Translating these designs onto a flat surface is a thought that never occurred to me. Rather than modify my design to fit the slope of the site, I assume I must translate the idea of the design into simpler forms, like the joining of elements or the relationship between them. Consider the designs in a vacuum, rather, with only the three other students designs to relate to, hrmmm back to the drawing board.

Notes #2: Geometry & Replication

2008-08-30T04:12:00.005+09:30

If growth is exponential, the relationship between Nx and Nx+1 acts through multiplication of a base or quantum.

*NB: In this case the base is Nx itself. Its growth is solely introspective.

*NB: In this example the relationship is determined by an external source, the base ◊◊.

Introspective growth is easier to grasp than growth determined by an external source. However, the former is harder to grasp if the element has some internal flaw.

If growth concatenates, then a fluid motion occurs between each individual element.

A relationship between the elements in my designs can be derived from these analyses, and the connections between the groups of elements can be expressed within the homogenous idea of growth throughout the building.

Equus - Fourth Design

2008-08-28T01:44:00.004+09:30

The fourth design re-interprets the first design idea of hierarchical access. This was an attempt to get a defining flow through the units and the access. This model is defined in two ways. First in the curve of the card and second in the folds of the units. The units are made up from a triangle card piece each of the same shape and then folded back into its position. This technique gave the units a growth in size which is probably more inline to the original form study of the wheat stalk structure. Its interesting to notice that the units effect the form of the curve, and the lamination of the card gets thicker toward the higher point, making the curve less pronounced.

Equus - Third Design

2008-08-26T15:05:00.007+09:30

The third design started from ideas for creating the entrance staircase from the second design in a card model. The lamination of thin paper with a glue with high water content would give the desired effect, but again the entrance would look out of place to the slope of the land. The thought then was to allow the laminated paper to re-form the slope of the land, building up to a crescendo at the entrance. The problem then was the counterpoint to something rather pseudo-organic. A tall white cutting wall was added as an element to be "swallowed" by the land at the lowest point and "freed" at the highest point, which then forms the tower. These elements are dichotomous, one element attempts to re-form the earth, and the other attempts to separate it.

Again as in the previous design the tower was a problem for me. At the entrance the restrictive elements of the pseudo-organic wall are released, and then the cutting wall is left to its own devises, without slope or anything else to remotely counterpoint its existence, However, the tower has a great relationship to the cutting wall, as it forms a reduction in context for the observer, or rather, a tension between the free view and the selected view. The cutting wall is the tower's apparatus for the observation of the occupant, akin to the microscope. The tower is separated from the wall, but bares relationship to it in height and proportion. Once the citizen reaches the observation platform, his view is reduced, the walls are white and the shape is a simple cube. One wall is left glazed, where there is a view down a long square prism, to unit 7 of the residence. The view is ghosted by a square halo of light from the separation between the tower and the cutting wall.

Equus - Second Design

2008-08-21T18:22:00.002+09:30

The second design runs off similar logic to that of Van Doesburg, turning the right angle relationships by 45°. I noticed that in my earlier design the 45° relationship between the entrance and the elements was a primary feature of expression. They seem to contradict each other in their nature and also in their formal design, the square being so restrictive and the diamond running like a sprawl across the plaza site. This design simply rotates the diamond shaped elements a further 45°, and then explores form in this aspect.

One of the first problems encountered was a purely logical one. The stairs would not work in two directions as they did in the first design. They've been modified in two distinct ways to compensate for the slope of the plaza. The first simply takes a western turn at the end of each flight, and the other an eastern turn. The stairs proportions/sequences are also now expressed through the wall supporting it. This is an idea I had for the entrance staircase but has been translated to the other staircases in the design. The small cracks in between each wall element express the stairs density and rhythm, similar to the phospho-lipid bi-layer surrounding a cell. The staircases have now become thresholds between the classes of elemental units, and I've chosen a different design for the entrance staircase, which I will talk about later.

The relationship between the classes of elements and the stairs also change. They can be rotated a further 90° to the orientation of the house and still maintain their square relationship with the other classes of elements.

The second issue addressed in this design was the defining factor the units had on the 'wheat stalk corridor'. A more open plan relationship happens here, the vagueness of these elemental units boundaries is increased with the reduction in the defining walls. What now defines the corridor is the supporting elements for the diamond roofs that soar over each elemental unit.

The 45° turn in the relationship between diamond and square seemed to me to remove some of the expressive quality of the sprawl of units down the plaza. A new expression was found in the growth of the slope up to these square units, a change in topography caused by this symbolic structure. Growth is expressed as a golden section exponential increase in the size of similar faux box elements.

The entrance staircase also has a different design. The entrance is more of a gash first between these two large rock-like structures, later forming a cleft as you descend. Its depth is enhanced to the occupant by large deep cuts in the facade of these rocks. The tower, off the centre of the entrance, gives the citizen a unique vantage point which looks directly down at the final unit. This tower seemed like an apt symbol for the father, though it is pretty glib in its sexual connotation, and not nearly as romantic as i'd hoped.

Equus - First Design

2008-08-20T15:18:00.002+09:30

Notes #1: Form Studies

2008-08-19T20:33:00.016+09:30

Here's a few form studies. They are variations of a simple hierarchical theme of access based on the way a wheat stalk or a similar plant grows its kernels. At the instance of a fork, one branch becomes a kernel whilst the other leads to a similar fork and the branches are rotated. This kind of hierarchical structure mimimises the distance between the main route and the elements, and reduces the appearance of classes — or, rather, arrays of groups and sub-groups — of elements.

In these studies the journey or narrative between origin and destination is important. The first study identifies the staircase entrance/threshold as a cleft carved between two large rocks leading to the corridor. The slope of the walls surrounding the stairs attempt to heighten the experience of capture and/or release, depending upon your origin and destination. The shape was born out of the clients absence of any biological parents, and a notion of two romanticized figures to take their place. It is a somewhat cruel return to reality, to a benign representation of a romanticized mother.

From the staircase leads the wheat stalk corridor, which is defined by the location of the rooms or elements surrounding it. The location of the elements that Hejduk prescribes as being essential are not yet defined in this study, but it is a concern of mine what the journey will be like through the corridor and what elements first appear and last appear to the client. It is intended that upon entering a progression be made through these elements toward some greater definition of the absent parents.

In the second form study the emphasis on progression has been enhanced. The elements have been broken down into a class structure of 7-4-1. The entrance staircase's fibonacci series of steps (5-8-13) has then been countered with two other staircases seperating the elements. The first staircase has 19 flights and its progression is run off a similar series of fibonacci numbers (1-2-3-5-8). The second staircase has 17 flights and its progression runs off a more mathematical prime number series (2-3-5-7). This emphasis on numbers is again to do with a connection to nature, or rather a parody of it. The use of these sequences to make up a random pair of primary numbers of flights is intended to show the versatility of any series of numbers to form something greater than just the sum of its parts, though Gestaltism hasn't been at all explored in this form study. The use of the number sequences to define complex objects in a more simple form merely only confirms the versatility of those numbers, and not anything greater.

The new staircase's now add dead space between the elements which is a concern of mine, which I'll attempt to rectify in further models

The Geneticist

2008-08-10T16:26:00.007+09:30

From Riga, Vladivostok, Lake Baikal — 'He is in love with twins. He is having an affair with both of them, with Paul and with Ruth. They are amused by his overexcitement about the double helix and by his perversity regarding the electrifying of bulls.

'One evening he decided to take a short-cut to Ruth's house through the pine woods located on the east hill. As he came out of the woods he was confronted with an image that he cannot forget. Paul was riding the white bull, bent over and whispering in the ear of the animal. Ruth had wrapped her arms and legs around Paul, her black hair intertwined with purple grapes that stained her skin and that of the white bull. Her breasts were pressed hard and close to the back of Paul. Both were naked.'

Client - Duncan Irvine

2008-08-06T11:11:00.029+09:30

Duncan Irvine, born in 1972, in Stirling, Scotland, to a College Lecturer and Irish mother. As a child Duncan was raised in Canada by his Godparents, Marcel and Charlotte Gyon, with his paternal sister Elspeth, and Etienne, daughter of Marcel and Charlotte . As a young man he adopted the family name as a publishing pseudonym, and wrote several articles regarding freedom of information and its effect on scientific research whilst studying at the University of Toronto. He graduated in 1993, and, with the help of Etienne, who had recently benefited from an inheritance, migrated to the U.S.

In '94 he joined the National Centre for Human Genome Research, run under Francis Collins, to which Duncan was responsible for sequence analysis'. His responsibilities later in the decade evolved into the worldwide publication of the Human Genome, the patenting of genes, and the tenuous relationship between the now-named National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and Celera Genomics — a private company conducting a parallel project.

In 2001 he left the project and, on a Canadian Research Grant, moved back to Ontario. He began research studying the effects of inherited genetic traits similar to the HapMap project.

His obsession with heredity forms from a belief that genetic traits determine significant social and behavioral characteristics. This belief deeply concerns him, as there are notable behavioral characteristics between him and his now late Godparents. The whereabouts of his biological parents is unknown, and he can only assume that his biological parents resemble closely Marcel and Charlotte.

Client background

2008-08-04T13:28:00.004+09:30

Duncan Irvine, born in 1972, in Stirling, Scotland, to a College Lecturer and Irish mother. As a child Duncan was raised in Canada by his Godparents, Marcel and Charlotte Gyon, with his paternal sister Elspeth, and Etienne, daughter of Marcel and Charlotte . As a young man he adopted the family name as a publishing pseudonym, and wrote several articles of a scientific nature regarding freedom of information and its consequences on scientific research. He graduated from the University of Toronto in 1993, after which he joined in the Human Genome Project under Francis Collins...

Horse Architecture

2008-07-31T21:29:00.005+09:30

Welcome to my blog. This blog is dedicated to studio work for Architectural Design Studio 4, 2008. The studio focuses on architectural work online and shifts in communications in common practice — I think. Other students' work can be found through Horse Architecture, a blog run by our Course Co-ordinator and Lecturer Sean Pickersgill

A few of these posts will be submissions for the course, and first up is the creation of a character/client chosen from a list drawn up by an American Architect, John Hejduk. Hopefully there will be a draft up soon.