Design Studio

Firstly, thanks for coping with the surprise A1 exercise.
Those sort of little exercises, and the resulting anxiety of getting something deliverable in a short space of time, with no notice, is common place in an office. There's always something that may come up, where you are dropped into the deep end.

For the most part.
The submissions were at a wide range of completion stages.

There were some basic disappointing aspects.

• most projects are heavily reliant upon revit to generate much of the work.
• it is horrible how the program throttles the life out of a drawing.
• photoshop was only used as a layout device.
• no group considered post image filters
• no group hand drew on their print out after it was printed
• context is still sadly lacking.
• AXIAL lines people!!! look at viewing lines and circulation paths through buildings.  No labyrinthine corridors please. No dead ends. 
• Commercial toilet spaces rarely need  windows or external walls.
• no submissions were remotely graphically connected to the lightness and whimsy of the earlier conceptual art work.
• 2 people @2.5 hours each is 5 hours worth of work. Did the submission reflect that? I think there are still some equity of task issues within some groups that need resolution.
• typography is still a BIG issue. be careful in your choice of font style and size. Please consider graphical hierarchy, balance and placement. If in doubt go a the library and look at some magazines or google architectural images/ layout.
• Grammar and spelling, in one word; atrocious. Spelling errors are almost impossible with software, so why am I seeing them? Read any text OUT LOUD, paying close attention to punctuation. Each sentence has a subject and a verb, otherwise it is incomplete.

This project needs to be completed by the end of term 3. I will elaborate on what that means during the next studio session.

Office Admin Lecture #6

I have just finished ploughing through 1,400 pages of the Australian Competition and Consumer Act.
for the sum total of 9 slides.
-oh joy.

followup:
1. Will definitely embed these 3 lectures into 2 next year. and/or
2. Looking for a lawyer with knowledge of building law to perhaps do a guest spot. If anyone knows one, give me a holler.

Please keep in mind this is iteration one of this lecture series for me, and 'I'm flying on instruments only' at the moment.

Office Admin Lecture #5

This is the agenda for lecture #5 Office Admin scheduled for 27.08.
(work in progress)

WD [group A]

Have to admit I'm getting a little disappointed at the pace in which the WD Project is progressing. I'm not going to keep bleating about wanting to see details and drawings printed out, as the cajoling is becoming tiresome/ tedious.
This project needs to move at a quicker pace, the usual last minute flurry to the finish line will only generate more errors and leave gaps in your knowledge. This project has a significant weighting attached to it, and therefore needs more attention given to it.
[#foodforthought]

Office Admin. Lecture #4

Here is the map outline of lecture #4

WD details details details

Notes from today's class.

Process to get a detail.

more to follow on this.

• Elements
• Dimensions
• Fixing methods
• Constructed off-site
• Welded on site (rare or not encouraged)
• Mechanically Fixed
• Bolted
• Nailed
• Glued

• Finishes
• 
  

Design Floor Plans & Other stuff

Apologies to 2A for the truncated class. There may be one or two more small hiccups along the way, but I will give you more notice if anything more disruptive comes along....

Floor Plans.

Once again, revit has a tendency to suck the life out of a scheme.

1. If your group has more than one scheme, it is now time to hybridise and get the best of both worlds onto one page. Don't rely on the class room popular vote. Your decisions should be based on the functional, logical and efficient layout of spaces.

Be respectful.

2, Zoom out, squint a little bit and look at the plan form as a series of sculptured volumes. Does the internal arrangements, have an impact on the forms and solids of the building as a whole. Imagine the view from google earth, is the scheme coherent and of a consistent design language? Should it be?

3. Relate it back to the conceptual design posters/ images of the last few weeks. Has the floor plan reflected the group polemic. You should be able to trace some lineage of the plan scheme as presented with the underlying conceptual design position. They should not be seen as distinctly different exercises.

4. TEST: Get the furniture/ joinery into the plan, not for rendering purposes, but to validate storage spaces and the proportions of rooms. Does the community meeting room actually work with 10,18, 24 seat arrangements? 

5. Get the plan developed, but don't over commit.

print out ELEVATIONS

6. Start looking at the material selections and planar compositions of the elevations. Changes in height can reflect the differing intimacy of rooms or the importance of others.

The elevations will have an impact on the plan. They should. Elevations are not an afterthought or merely dictated by revit default elements.

Elevation studies capture light/ shadow, material/ texture. and form.

For next week.
Parts 1-4

Office Admin #4

Had to Postpone the lecture as Reading the Acts is a protracted and tedious affair.
Here is a glimpse of what is to come.

It may not look like much...

Design #4

Office Admin Lecture #3 Project Sequencing.

Mindmap of this morning's lecture.

WD Assessment Feedback

OMG!
My turn to panic.
I have started grading the precast project, was it a revit thing? Most of the work is very incomplete.
If it was me, not checking your work more I apologise.
All I can say is, it is now time to GET BUSY!

No more other subjects or (soundboard) distractions. Some of you NEED to show me evidence on this current and LAST project that you know what you're doing...
for next class.
1. PRINT OUT AN A2 SET OF ALL SHEETS. BEFORE CLASS
2. WE WILL BE GOING OVER TO THE PERIODICALS SECTION OF THE LIBRARY TO RESEARCH DETAILS, MAKE SURE YOUR PHOTOCOPY CARD IS PRIMED.
3. WE WILL BE SPENDING MOST OF THE CLASS WITH THE COMPUTERS OFF! I NEED TO SEE PEOPLE RESOLVING DETAILS. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE SOME PENS PENCILS AND TRACE.

Everyone be there!

WD Project Tasks

Print them.

Just to keep momentum in this project going....
From last weeks class you should have by today.

Created a series of 1:100 scale drawings, derived from the design drawings.
As discussed, these have been stripped of entourage, and walls that were black or grey now have some basic underlying materials pattern. Grey and black are now only being used for existing walls.

The 1:100 drawing set should have the basic working drawings checklist applied to them. Exclude annotation and dimensioning elements at this point. At the very least, room names, room numbers, floor finishes. Reduced levels, near changes of level, Structural grids (dimensioned). Titleblocks, general notes.

Once you have completed 2. That is generic 1:100 plans, elevations, sections...print them out, then close revit, and open your browser software...

Again as mentioned last week; review your drawing set, (colour code if necessary with some pencils), the basic materials being used by your building. HINT: if it appears to be all concrete and glass, it is quite likely wrong.

After determining basic materials go to some websites to search materials.

Look for technical data, not just pretty pictures. Find where possible standard details of the basic materials, that you may be able to use on your own projects.

I keep mentioning Detail Magazine, and other equivalent technical magazines and resources, these are crucial in helping you to understand both the construction method and the graphical style used to clearly set out how modern contemporary details are presented.

Look through your 1:100 set. When I start to look at what sections you should be drawing I first look for...

Some structural overhang, or interesting exterior wall, that either connects to the existing building or adjoins an exterior space, balcony, deck etc... Structure and water control are points of interest.

I also look for any corner or connection in section that may have multiple materials being connected together. The relationship of disparate materials is always worth consideration for detailing.

Look for window/door head and sill details, particularly if set back from the wall and if there is a deep reveal or louvre system being used.