For the final watercolor assignment I decided to render the landscape of my thesis project. The thesis itself is an exploration into compact housing for a sustainable environment in an urban context. It seeks to apply the philosophy of compact design into an urban situation, that of Seattle, WA, and propose a new version of the current solution to the housing issue. Integration between compact single-family houses as a typology are meshed with a multi-family complex and applied with sustainable practices. This amalgamation of ideas sets forth to create a sub-group typology for housing in Seattle and find a niche market that is currently underutilized. Issues of community, density, and sustainability are important factors of the design.
The landscape consists largely of a shared courtyard that acts as an alleyway between the residential units. Sheltered from the road, this shared, open-ended courtyard hosts a multitude of functions for the use and benefit of the residents. The main terminus focus will be a tree on a grassy mound shading a pond. The pond itself is part of the rainwater collection system implemented in the project. All rainwater from the site is collected then filtered in a series of ponds to be re-absorbed into the natural filtration process rather than just being released into the sewer system. The main pond in the courtyard will be part storage tank of this rainwater, part fish pond with koi inhabitants, and part watering source for the on-site vegetation. There are additional aspects of the landscape, including paths connection the courtyard to the public sidewalk, edible gardens for upkeep and use by the inhabitants, and a courtyard adjacent to the community building that can be used for special events.
Watercolor renderings depicted feature the site plan with landscape elements indicated by use of the watercolor media. The actual buildings are just traced on in pencil to indicate location and sizing. The interior were not rendered because the focal point of this project is the landscape, thus extraneous information, such as that of a floor plan, was excluded. Besides the site plan indicated the overall design of the landscape, there is also a perspective of the courtyard terminus and section through it. The perspective was included to create a sense of the character of the space. The section shows scale in relationship to the surrounding buildings. In each of these drawings only the aspects of the design of the landscape were considered in terms of rendering. Pencil outlines help the viewer understand the context of which the landscape is situated. The actual plants were rendered in such a way as to give an abstract representation of edible plants and are not intended to mimic actual plant species.
Overall the use of watercolor in these drawings acts as a medium that tells the story of the place. Unlike computer renders which can be read as finalized documents, the fluidity of the watercolor helps create a focus on effect and atmosphere rather than actual finished product. This use of watercolor is useful in determining the character of the space and play with materiality. It is a useful tool for designers to communicate design intent and perhaps the feel behind the project, rather than a digitalized realistic representation that may fail to represent the heart behind the concept.
No comments:
Post a Comment