Final

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COMPACT HOUSING: Sustainable, Livable, Viable

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.

Final: Art Architecture Landscape

The three pieces I decided to sketch are of my Community Arts and Wellness Center. I saw this as an opportunity to explore how space or building could be represented. Architecture can be art and art can be architecture, it just depends on the intent of the designer. I decided to do three perspectives: the gallery, the building perspective, and the restaurant.

The gallery is a space that does not need to have a separate space to view art. Art can be incorporated with the architecture or can be part of the experience. Art can be indoor or outdoor. In my opinion galleries are places people go as a destination, often times it is a place where groups of people go and discuss and view art. I felt that an entrance or lobby is a constantly moving and changing space; a lobby space is a temporary holding space. Lobby spaces have the opportunity to engage people to be part of the space. My design opens up the lobby space to become a place to socialize as well a place to display art. Hopefully the art is created from the community arts center, but the idea is that art is meant to be viewed and discussed and does not need a place such as a “gallery” to show the art. Art can have a stronger meaning or is of greater value if people are able to understand the designers intentions to their art, which is why I feel art, should be in social public space. The movable design allows the space to be open and invite the public to discuss art.

The second sketch is the building perspective, the idea that a building can be viewed as art. In the watercolor the building has no context; it simply is a building with a unique form sitting on grass. This building can be placed anywhere even though it was designed as a site specific design, but without its context it stands alone. In the process of sketching this building I felt that the context takes away its unique quality, but what I wanted to express the form. Although the form is not like blob architecture, it’s design is expressed easily as a watercolor to express materiality, glazing, and layers. The layers really make this building stand out. What is difficult in a static illustration for kinetic architecture it is difficult to express the artistic piece of the architecture, but even at a static position, the architecture is still expressive. The way I drew and watercolor the building is no different from a piece of architecture that can be designed for a specific location, but if removed from its context it becomes art that be placed anyone. I feel that context is important because it expresses the intent of the design in relation to its surroundings.

The last watercolor is of the restaurant space, which uses a lift to add another level for seating. What I tried to do with this watercolor that is different is rather than coloring the object, I water colored the white space to create the image. Art does not need to be an object; art can be an experience that is expressed. Here the main feature is the experience. While the space in the drawing isn’t very unique or expressive, what I wanted to show was the building components can create the space. This was my favorite, the water color is not used everywhere, on what is necessary to understand the space. Water color can be an effective too to do just that in architecture.

This class made me constantly think about what is art, architecture, landscape. Honestly it is difficult to determine. Like our field trip over the bridge near the Mexican border I felt that bridge itself is art, but it can be viewed as architecture as well. The bridge connected two sides and being static on the bridge isn’t an option, which makes this bridge unique from others. Also during this field trip creating a nice neighborhood forced people to care about their own property and others and from each individual creating their unique identity the neighborhood becomes something different from other places in the city and that itself is art. People come to see these types of spaces, very much like paintings and sculptures. Art is made for viewing and discussion, which is why I believe art, architecture, and landscape will always be integrated. I don’t think any of them can truly stand alone.

_Images were taken with phone..sorry I don't have a scanner near me.

The other day ..

Final Project - Nadia

As people that live in networks, our appearance as a culture is often dictated by our politics and popular media. However, these are methods which result in false perceptions. This is why the role of art on society is so valuable.

Art reflects the true identity of society. It is a means of expression that is not attached to outside influences. Additionally, it is a form of communication. It works as a creative outlet that allows for a social dialogue between people and cultures. Art allows us to understand one another and our cultures. It allows us to understand emotions that define our individual and group identity. Through art, every event and shared story can be shared and told in multiple forms.

Our literature, music, painting, performance, film, and sculpture reflect our cultural values. From our imagery to our words, the symbolism we choose to express our individual feelings and thoughts becomes the measure by which other societies interpret ours.

The spaces portrayed in the watercolor scenes, are part of a project that wants to redefine the relationship of the general public with the local art in the city of Tijuana. A city were the art scene of the city is in full swing thanks to the efforts of the inhabitants of the city.

The project consist on an art center located on the beach in Tijuana. This building has spaces to exhibit art and creates gathering and passive recreational spaces. The diversity of interior and exterior spaces, provides area to display traditional art and urban art.

The first image is an interior view of the main galley, where we can see the main gallery below with art pieces on the walls and on top of this space we can see the outside corridor, where there is a movie projection on the wall and people can gather to see it or just continue their circulation to the other spaces on the building. For this image layers of watercolor where applied to achieve the transparency of the glass and the art installation on the gallery.



The second scene is an outside perspective view, showing the formwork pattern in the concrete wall and the access doors, where art can be displayed. In the center of the space a simple cubes art installation that can be used to as seating space.




This image is an interior view of the main gallery. In this scene the direct connection to the exterior, the boardwalk and the sky creates an interesting mixture with the art on the main wall.





Personally, I believe the lightness of watercolor scenes, compared to computer aided renders, are more appropriated to express concepts and ideas on architectural scenes.

Final Project-Pedestrian Promenade

The Clairemont Mesa area of San Diego is known for its winding canyons and hilly landscapes. The importance of open space and the successful integration of soft, hard, built, and un-built landscapes will improve the overall system of a mixed community. The pedestrian promenade is the east west connection throughout the site to the canyons on either side. The promenade offers not only comfortable paths for strolling, but a running path and areas to lounge on the site. It creates an open circulation path that caters to pedestrians and encouraged pedestrian travel from surrounding neighborhoods and uses. The first step of the design process was to establish a site center. The center parking area of the current site will be transformed from an over-scaled and under-utilized area into a civic square defined by urban, mixed-use buildings. An element that is important in redevelopment and suburban infill is the creation of a walkable neighborhood. Walkable communities are desirable place to live, work, learn, worship and play. Their desirability comes from two factors. First, walkable communities located within an easy and safe walk to goods (such as housing, office and retail) and services (such as transportation, schools, libraries) that a community resident or employee needs on a regular basis. Secondly, walkable communities make pedestrian activity possible, which expands transportation options and creates a streetscape that better serves a range of users- pedestrians, bicyclists, transit rides, and automobiles. To foster walkability, communities must mix land uses and build compactly while also ensuring safe and inviting pedestrian corridors. One element of the pedestrian corridor is a fountain that lies just north of the center community green. This fountain would be a series of board-form concrete pillars and despite the long tradition of fountains designed only to be looked at, this fountain is meant to have an interaction between water and people. The ability to create an active site also allows for the community to foster a distinctive, active neighborhood with a strong sense of place. The design of this project should take cues from the surrounding context, integrating seamlessly into the fabric and convey an important sense of built permanence in the neighborhood. The project should reflect the values and cultures of the people that reside there and promote types of physical environments which support community connectivity. When a community feels they are part of a project, they take pride in the construction and preservation of the buildings, ensuring that the project is maintained for many years to come.

Pedestrian Promenade Site Plan


Fountain

Running Path Perspective

Digital Perspective