MODERN + POST-MODERN IDEALS

PRECEDENT STUDIES

The experience Id like to create for my client is one where she is able to freely engage with this urban backdrop in a meditative way as she is an artist and a keen yoga practitioner with a freedom brought about by a sense of private space, indoor and outdoor that extends far beyond to the cityscape.

Farnsworth House by Mies van der Rohe

For House 1

For this project, Farnsworth House addresses many of the ideals identified by the client - "...I would like you to create a place with lots of natural light and large open space so I can use the home to make art and relax in."

As my client is an artist where freedom of expression is paramount, my proposed design looks at a single room that can easily be zoned in any way with freedom  to change the use of spaces, where the mode of living is not dictated by walls and the sense of space is not hindered within this narrow block.  The floor to ceiling glass curtain wall of my proposal for House 1 would also create an openness that confronts an intense connection with the outdoor and the views beyond. The main rooms would be as open as possible for the extension of the living space into the garden and similar to Farnsworth house, structural framing should be located where possible at the exterior.

Also, my split level design should bring the spaces together and create more comfortable transitions from one level to the next for my client's comfort in her daily movements.

Union Hotel Parasite Roof by Richard Goodwin

For the Building Facade + Gallery Space

As the front of my proposed building is a gallery and faces many of the social and cultural issues surrounding the Victoria St precinct, I intend to have a more exuberant facade that is also largly reflecting the client's more gregarious character and my skewed view of this urban jungle of old money and its grunge subculture...

(- a subculture that brings to mind an amalgam of the typical scenes of a laid-back, retro-hippie attitude, nomadic backpackers, the pseudo-intellectual locals and street harlots mingling in espresso bars and organic cafes drinking wheatgrass and macchiatos! Add to this, we see the more affluent descending from the top of the street with their purebreds to take part in this urban fusion. )

- hence, in my proposed architecture we'll have a fusion of modern + post-modern ideals.

Similar to Richard Goodwin's Parasite Roof, my proposal shows 'a struggle of structure through space' which is in some way parallel to the idea of a break in tradition through the sea of Victorian relics and where the symbol for this grunge subculture takes root and becomes a permanent part of this fusion.