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Galaxy SOHO ­­by Zaha Hadid – Bejing, China

DOCUMENT

1. Sociology – I think learning about the development and structure of a functioning human society could help to figure out the best position and layout for efficiency and engagement, especially for a place designed for high foot traffic.
2. Urban Planning – I took an intro Urban Planning class even though I plan to be an architect and it was actually extremely beneficial. I just assumed most architects had some preconceived sense of how the build environment is designed and functioned but by understanding why and how certain decisions were made can help to make a building that would fit the environment better and is a conscious of its place in it.
3. Digital Drawing – For any structure really, but this one in particular, given its extreme complexity, needs a rigid and firm model to reference. Whether that is for design, engineering, or construction, something that is detailed enough for everyone on the project to reference is key. This class does a great job at introducing CAD modeling for these purposes yet could certainly expand more on BIM compliant software.
4. Surface Structures – While this is a functioning building with many functional components, the overall shape is certainly out of the ordinary. It is very fluid and continuous. This class can provide a great asset in understanding the behavior of continuous surfaces through physical and digital experiments.
5. Beautiful Objects – This Stamps class provides a new level of thinking of traditional overlooked objects. While very reminiscent of product design, we challenge and question what makes something truly beautiful. This building can certainly be said to be “beautiful” but understanding why or coming up with it in the first place is something this class can help with. By removing all the traditional aspects of a building and completely rethinking them, new ideas of how to perform certain functions can emerge.
6. Product Design – Understanding how to design products for function can certainly be helpful for building spaces who is also primarily design for function. By evaluating what function means and how seemingly similar products can carry vastly different functions is certainly fuel for new architectural thinking. This building can be said to have many functions but choosing which ones to prioritize and focus on is something this class can help to narrow down.
7. Generative Design Computing – This building is so different and striking that I question how the design was imagined. I am familiar with the work of Zaha Hadid and I know that they spend a lot of their resources on design research – especially with computer generated aid. They explore new ways of constructing form and creating space in between using certain algorithms and computer processes. This class can help to create these new designs and explore the realm of what’s possible for design.
8. Physics for Architects – This course can be self-explanatory in many ways as this certainly doesn’t just apply for this project. Architects need to have at least a basic understanding of how mechanical physics works in order for their building to even stand up and support its own weight. Other factors need to be considered such as how light and sound can interact with the environment to create the best experiences for the people in and outside the building.

INVENT

Experiments in Unrestricted Architecture (Architecture in Outer Space)

This course is designed around the idea of creating architecture or ideas of architecture from no predetermined or comparable reference. People think of space as infinite, but architects see space as a finite unit of design. That is because all designed spaces are ultimately bound by rigid factors such as the physical location, including its terrain, climate, and even cultural stature. This course eliminates the boundaries found here on earth and even suspends known constants such as gravity and other physical attributes. By freeing the architect from all preset boundaries, it is up to them to define space within their own bounds and reason. This can easily be stated as architecture in outer space.

Why? Why would students need to know how to make spaces that can’t physically occupy space on the natural world? For as much as we believe that the world has a variety of environments that we can build in, everything we build, more or less, is constructed under the same design elements. By eliminating the control and challenging the status quo, we open our minds to new possibilities of how people move within and understand spaces.

The course schedule would consist of three projects of creating models and representations of new spaces, each distancing themselves further from the present reality and its norms, to a point where it can almost be indistinguishable from anything possible on Earth yet full of answers to questions previous projects may have positioned.

ACROS Fukuoka in Japan

DOCUMENT FIELDS OF STUDY:

1. Graphic Communications- In order to create the design for this building, the architect must have a solid baseline in linear drawing and measurement/scaling.
2. Physics for Architects- This course will allow the architect to understand the capabilities of their design and if the concept is even physically possible
3.  Digital Drawing- In order to create a building with the necessary precision the architect will need to be able to create a digital model.
4. Construction- Similar to why physics is necessary, construction allows the architect to understand the physical capabilities of their design. The weight bearing points and gravitational limits will be evident in this class.
5. Structures- Creating a small, physical model of the building can help the architect visualize the building in order to improve its shortcomings or further expand on the design.
6.  Environmental and Sustainability Course- This building is clearly eco-friendly due to the positive benefit that it’s many rooftop plants have on the environment. An understanding of the environment allows the architect to give their building a dual purpose.
7.  Urban Planning- An understanding of how buildings interact with their community will help in implementing this unique building into an already developed community.
8.  Physcology/Economics- An understanding of consumer preferences will allow the architect to create a building that people want. Is there sufficient demand for this many units of an apartment building? Do people really want their building to have a green roof or would they prefer a park that they can interact with?

INVENT:

Creative Architecture

In this course, the student will open up their mind to start imagining how simple buildings can become architecture. Architecture is a summation of “Fine Art” and “Functional Art”. The goal of an architect is to create a structure that invokes thought and aesthetic pleasure while simultaneously providing functional use. In the student’s future career, they will be expected to think outside the box in order to create structures that satisfy these criteria.

In Creative Architecture the student will be tasked with transforming “ordinary” structures into “extraordinary” works of architecture. Through pen and paper as well as digital design, students will take photographs of ordinary buildings and edit them to form creative works of architecture. These edits can be in the form of morphing walls, implementing eco-friendly improvements, ribbon windows, open floor-plans, or any other edits that the student feels will enhance a visitor’s experience at the building. The goal of this course is to open up the creative mind of the student and allow them to go over the top in their design freedom.

My theme was (1) white and/or (2) walls and ceilings. I wanted the body of all the letters to be white and for them to be related to the walls and ceilings of a built environment, either through structure or adherence. I also wanted to capture simplicity and subtlety in the images.

My theme for the Architecture Alphabet project was focused on three rooms of my house, my bedroom, my kitchen, and my bathroom. The whole point was to try and identify shapes of the alphabet in the very strange architecture of the Ann Arbor Housing market.

My project theme was “workspace”, as I tried to find letters in and around spaces in which I worked. I mainly used my room as well as the hall lounge for my photos, as I tried to keep my work to a specific space in order to further portray the spaces in which I work.

The theme of my alphabet is household architecture. I searched for letters in common everyday household items like lights, cabinets, sinks, microwaves and even the circuit breaker box. I also found letters in the walls, windows and mirrors. I wanted to feature a wide range of appliances and objects that we are all familiar with and could be found in our homes.