We walk around edinburgh sometimes.

I gotta talk about the parliment first, and forgive me if this becomes a rant but im trying to figure out why i dont like it and i think this is why: Firstly lets start by saying i suppose that it is impressive looking and it is really well finished BUT from an architectural technologist point of view i think that what happened with this building was that the architect came up with his design and progressed it fairly far along and then unfortunately he died. However then i think the reverance to the architect took over and practicality was left at the door. Like no technologist or contractor looked at things like the weird supposedly curtain shaped panels on the external walls and said "hold on sec, is this practical and if its not well does it at least have a specific aesthetic intent??" which i dont think it does.

for instance, and i laughed at this, the tour guide said that there were loads of symbols and features of the building which nobody could interpret that were a "mystery" and im just thinking that this is a parliment building that stands for a nation. It should be readable and symbolise that nation easily. I dont know, there were some things i liked, the landscape features around the entrance were attractive, the lobby with the up-turned boat ceiling was really nice, there were a couple of nice hallways. The debating chambers roof has the most un-readable structure i think, i couldnt understand that at all.

To end on a positve note, i love edinburgh, i love just wandering around it, reminds me a little bit of dublin at home, but more kind of medieval and fairytale like.

Mediator Project

I think the general feeling that people took back from hospitalfield was one of eerieness and death, especially after the story that mr payne told us of all the dead lepers they found under the topsoil....like two truck loads of corpses or something. I was intrugued by that, and the dead rabbits, that really caught my attention i dont know why.

Our tutor group fairly struggled over a creative leap in the beggining, i myself was in a mind blank, felt very un-inspired. Our initial thought (probably like everyone else's) was that of an experience which was uncomfortable and played a lot with light. The shadows from the trees particularly inspired our ideas towards using light. I was really unhappy with this idea...i think so were the whole group. Struggling for inspiration i started looking at tim burton material funny little melancholy stories that were just black and white. (type in vincent tim burton to you tube)

So as a group we decided to move away from our first idea and we looked at a few things and ended up at some shadow play, like a mobil. ot mobile, whatever! a childs thing!

Then finally from this we progressed to playing with ink, and dropping it on canvas. Basically our idea was to drop ink from a height onto a canvas with objects on the way down to disperse the ink. The basic concept is that of time and un-predictability, which is supposed to reflect upon the history of hospitalfield and the eclectic nature of the actual building and the uncertainty of its future. it worked fairly well on the day, not a complete success but it was grand, everyone got the idea, i think??

Hospitalfield site visit.

cold, tired, damp and foggy! that was my first impression of hospitalfield. I didn't really find it that inspiring at all to be honest. There were some small parts of it which i liked. The twilight effect sunlight on the morning we were there was quite nice, especially in the lawn area surrounded by trees. The shadows cast were interesting. There were also some nice textures and intricacies to the materials used in the building and out-houses and how moss and other plants had started to inhabit it.

The dead rabbits around the place were the most curious thing about hospitalfield.

Final Habitat Review

These are the final drawings from my habitat review, i reverted to a more elegant plan which was a little longer than previous drawings...i also pulled the troublesome cantilever back over the first floor so its not as drastic, it still gives a dramatic effect but i think its better that it sits more on the ground foor block.

The main issue that came up in the review is that i may have over complicated the form by skewing the top floor instead of just placing it directly over the ground floor...and i agree, it would have made more sense structurally and in the internal layouts etc. However i do believe i could have made the structure in my proposed plans work...the structure was questioned and rightly so because it was a little dodgy but i definitely think looking back at it that i could have made the structure work! anyways i was happy with the review it was purdy good and i was reasonably happy with my final proposal cudda done some things different maybe but sure anyway..everythings a lesson!

Habitat Concept

Ive decide on a curved plan, which kinda matches the curves of the site with the 1st storey cantilevered over the water. The curve i think adds drama to the plan which ties in well with the concept, its also sensitive to the site i think. Anyway its a work in progress

Our new client is TOM CRUISE!!!

Act 1 Scene1

intro-monday morning in a small cold architect studio, one of the partners jimmy is sitting at his desk clasping a cup of coffee the other partner david arrives



DAVID: Morning jim

JIMMY: its freaking freezing

DAVID: yeh it is (pause) so i got a phone call off a client today for the loch tay site and turns out that its Tom Cruise, i thought it was a hoax at first but then he was telling me that he got my number off somebody when he was staying in Ireland with Michael jackson.

JIMMY: (laughs) ohh ye thats strange, cos i got a phonecall from the wicked witch of the frikkin west!

DAVID: Jim i am comletely serious, we have work to do he's flying today he wants us to take him up to the site tomorrow.

JIMMY: ha!



David slaps a letter from mr cruise on jimmys desk, jimmy is taken aback.



Jimmy: so ehhhh whats the story, whats the brief?

David: well you know the site, its up at loch tay

Jimmy: yep, bit small for a hollywood actor, but secluded i guess!

David: Yeh it is but he was telling me that him and his wife katie are finished with all that, theyve made their buck is what he said, anyway he wants to settle down quietly and have more time for his kid. He basically said he wants a modest enough place, something comfortable not too small or big.

Jimmy: so have you made a brief for it yet.

David: Yeah, yeah ive got it in my notebook here, basically weve got living, dining, kitchen, master bed, childs bed..with maybe a playroom, the kids kind of an introvert he mentioned. Then just a bathroom and i suggested an en-suite for the master bed.

Jimmy: Thats it?

David: Well yeah, thats the basics. now he also mentioned a few extra requirements, his wife is getting back into teaching, apparently shes already looked at working in the local primary school, so anyway she would like a reading room, office type area, somewhere quiet but light. Then he said that hes looking to take up music, he mentioned a piano but he said he doesnt want a seperate room for it he wants it to be in the living space, he wants music to be a family thing i guess. He also mentioned he likes to garden and his little girl loves animals and playing outdoors, in his words he wants to be self sufficient, so the external spaces are quite important. He also mentioned he'd like a spacious dining and living that they will be having guests often, and i suggested he add a guest bedroom as the area's kind of out of the way, and thats more or less it really.

Jimmy: huh, cool thats it! so what is he doing himself, just retiring, giving up acting??

David: Yeah he said he just wants to stay at home with the kid! weird huh?

Jimmy: yeh kinda, what about all that scientology stuff.

David (laughs) i dunno, i didnt really wanna ask, but he never asked us to design a little alter or anything.

Jimmy: (laughs)...lets go get some coffee.....





FIN!

up to the highlands...kinda

Welcome to Loch tay!

The road trip and visit to the crannog at loch tay was purdy interesting, its nice to see a bit of scotland while im here.

The actual site for our building was a little dissapointing to me to be honest, i thought it was going to be more isolated and surrounded by woodlands...i warmed to it quickly enough though and its actually quite a unique site. The overall landscape is spectacular, my most immediate thought about my habitat for this site was that it has to be respectful to the landscape, it should add too and not take away from the landscape.

So from that i came up with the idea that the habitat would be purely responsive to the site, this should keep the design focused on a harmonious solution. The responses would be to the natural landscape so a form that lends to the landscape, using indigenous materials for the building, a harmony between the building the site and the water etc.

The next response then is historical and cultural, so a response to the crannogs that would have dotted the loch and their construction methods, materials etc and also a response to the local community for examlpe all the houses on the lake shore have entrances that are open from the road so you can see into your neighbours house from the road. This suggests to me a tight and secure community.

The next response is a more personal one. Its my own senses and experiences from the site so obviously the visual impact of the landscape, the connection to the water was something i was drawn too, i also was really drawn to the woodlands beside the site and the small little beach. This felt like a naturally created space to me and something that should connect to the internal spaces of the habitat. I also thought of this poem when i was walking home one night. Its a W.B. Yeats poem called the lake isle of innisfree which is very fitting in itself. Its about the poet wanting to move out to the wilderness and build a small cabin for himself and be self sufficient and one with nature. The specific quote i thought of which encapsulated my experience of the place is this "Lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore" its a really well constructed line poetry wise but its also just really simple it kind of captured the serenity of the site to me which is something i want to enhance in my project and not disturb!