Interior Sketch

Interior Sketch of the First Floor of Create

Sections

Long Section

 Section through Exhibit

Section through Create

 Section through Create

Section through Archive

Vertical Facade Elements

I have introduced a series of vertical elements into my design, these elements form part of the weave and internally work as the buildings structure. I created a regular grid to decide on the spacing of the vertical and horizontal forms, this grid is also expressed on the facade through the vertical panels. I decided that these panels should reflect the 'lost' buildings which I have experimented with weaving and layering over the existing in the past.

Lost Elevation - My imagined elevation of Fournier Street in the 18th Century

Vertical Slices taken from the Lost Elevation - unexpectedly my grid layout meant that all the vertical slices fell in the same places on each building.

Vertical Panels layered over the Existing Elevation

Lost Elevation applied to the Vertical Panels in Sketchup

Development Model

Progressing from my concept model I have modelled some more developed ideas in sketch up. I have tried to give the woven strips some more logical forms by setting up a grid with a series of columns to 'weave' around. This grid of vertical elements works as the structure of the building as well as forming part of the weave design. I have also used the grid to re-think the circulation of the building, trying to incorporate the main access routes around the new vertical elements.

The vertical elements help to divide the facade and provide structure for the horizontal strips to weave around.

 View from the back of the site showing the larger exhibition space with its new column grid and facade.

Plan View

View from Brick Lane. The woven strips add depth to the facade and interact with the landscape of the street.

View from Fournier Street.

Sectional View of Archive.

Sectional View of Exhibit.

Sectional View of Create.

3rd Floor Plan.

Second Floor Plan.

First Floor Plan.

Ground Floor Plan.

Basement Floor Plan.

Plan of Proposed Woven and Structural Elements.

View of the Proposed Woven and Structural Elements including the new circulation.

Concept Sketch Model

I made a sketch model of my weaving concept using a range of materials. The model just shows the existing facade and how I could slice through. I have incorporated my wallpaper design, a transparent tracing paper and a metal mesh.

Elevational View

 Plan View

View from Above

View from Street Level by the Entrance to Exhibit

Street Level View by the Entrance to Archive

Woven Plan Patterns

After sketching the woven plans I scanned them in and seperated them into layers. I then created images based just on the weaving element of the plan and finally overlayed them all to complete the pattern:

Basment

Ground

First

Second

Third

Final Woven Pattern

Three Dimensional Weaving

After discussing the weaving experiments and ideas with Ken it was clear that I needed to stop just focusing on the facade of the building and start trying to find a way to link the plan and facade together. Ken suggested that I try thinking about the weaving in a more three dimensional way to try to create a more interesting plan for my building and also express this on the facade. The following plans are sketches of how this might start to work.

I have tried to use the woven strips to create spaces inside the building; they might not be solid walls but a variety of materials similar to those I have been experimenting with in earlier research. They would be varying heights, thicknesses and opacity's depending on the area they were dividing or containing. On the facade they might start to become balcony spaces or simply act as a decorative panel. At street level I have tried to use the material to encourage people into the exhibition space and create a new entrance.

Basement Floor Plan

Ground Floor Plan

First Floor Plan

 

Second Floor Plan

Third Floor Plan

Electronic Wallpaper Animation

In my initial elevation proposal I used a traditional weaving pattern as the inspiration for the facade on the new 'exhibit' building. To develop this further and following my research into Loop.ph studio's electronic Blumen wallpaper I have decided to try to animate the facade using a simple pattern still based around a traditional weave.

Initial Elevation Proposal

Animation:

The wallpaper would be controlled by sensors and could be influenced by sound within the building. I would like the external facade to express what was happening within the interior of the building, for example, if there was an exhibit on the second floor then the wallpaper pattern would be concentrated around that area. I will create a series of storyboards and animations which will explain this proposal in more detail.

Loop.pH - Electronic Wallpaper

"Loop.pH is a London based design and research studio that aims to bridge the gap between design and the natural sciences. They specialise in the conception, construction and fabrication of environmentally responsive textiles for the built environment. It is directed by designers Rachel Wingfield and Mathias Gmachl. Rachel is also a Senior Lecturer on the MA Design for Textile Futures course and a Research Fellow at Central Saint Martins, London. Mathias is a Research Associate at the Royal College of Art London. Loop.pH belong to an emerging generation of designers redefining conventions of how, why and with what things are made. Emphasis is placed on learning from both traditional craft based practices alongside the cutting edge of scientific and technological discovery. With a deep understanding of the complexity of ecological systems and natural cycles their approach to design and fabrication values the physical process of making as much as new and established research methodologies and theories. "

Blumen Wallpaper (2004) is an electronic wallpaper. The pattern is controllable through computer software and responds to its environment through a range of sensors.



"Blumen transforms traditional decorative surfaces into a rich, dynamic display of botanical life. It divides and ornaments space and can be seen in a wallpaper format as sliding panels. By working with traditional pattern making we have created an ornate printed design that is at the same time a working electrical circuit using electroluminescent technology. The repeating pattern allows the piece to be cut into smaller sections and even reassembled. The Blumen print is constructed from a number of addressable cells and with the use of various sensors the pattern emerges and develops in response to its environment. Based on the space the panels are presented in, and the characteristics of the sensor used, we develop an animated pattern language described in software. "

Stills from a Movie of Blumen Wallpaper. See the full movie here.

I find this technology really inspiring and have discussed with Pete in previous tutorials how I could animate the facade of the new 'exhibit' space that I have proposed will fill the gap between the corner of Brick Lane and 24-26 Fournier Street. I intend to try animating my own electronic wallpaper based on the weaving patterns which I have been researching.

Weave Collage

I decided to move my paper weave experiments on by transferring them into photoshop and creating a collage weave pattern. I layered the lost facade over the existing elevation and then created a 10mm grid:



This was the end result:



I can turn layers on and off to create different effects. This image shows the lost facade only:



I then used this weave to create a collage of the elevation. I took the elevational collage which I had done previously (generated from layering the 2 elevations) and layered over my woven facade.

Initial Elevation Collage

Woven Collage

I then started to cut out some of the woven squares to create a less grid like collage: