FMP | Week 4 | Day 4

I thought it was about time to start looking into things that may bring people together. I looked into an installation at the Tate gallery in London to the Exhibit call the Weather Project. It was a creation by Olafur Eisenmann and was all about the weather. Now, the purpose of the project weren't solely to bring people together but that was the direct effect it had on the visitors. The installation was so immersive and breathtaking that people simply stood, sat, laid down and embraced the experience as a community. There were people making formations on the floor, creating peace symbols out of bodies just laying there enjoying the atmosphere this exhibit brought.

I had a peek into monuments and memorials as they are designed to unite people against bitter things that have happened in the past. The one that caught my eye was the Berlin war memorial for the murdered jews of Europe. The memorial was made up of about 2000 stone blocks all in a grid and raised to different levels. Not a lot of people knew the reasons it looked like this as the memorial came under a lot of criticism because it didn't offer any information on the events it was supposedly symbolising. 

FMP | Week 4 | Day 3

My self directed study day was solely committed to doing some work. I wanted to collect all of my thoughts so I created a little brainstorm that explored some important aspects of my project. I looked into the function of my project which was about giving people a sense of belonging, to increase cultural awareness, to give people equal rights etc. I also looked into the opportunities of my project which included growth in the community, embracing equality and diversity, eradicating or at least reducing racism and also allowing the community's cultural influence to grow. One of the most important things I had to consider was the limits of my project, this included the concern that people might not accept the purpose of the building, if it won't attract enough people, if th earea might not need it (though i think every area does, but to varying degrees) and finally I wouldn't want the building to worsen the existing problem. I don't want to create more of a divide by highlighting why people may be different. 

I didn't feel like my research was done and so I re-wrote one of the things I put down in my brainstorm 'Bridging the gap between cultures' which provoke my mind a little. What are the gaps? Do we know of any?
Instantly my mind jumped to politics. If there's ever a divide when it comes to opinions on things it will always be politics. Not everyone agrees on the same things and so I looked into how politics can show we are a divided nation. A few things came to mind whilst trying to remember the results of the recent EU Referendum and Age was a huge factor, this could also be linked to education so I also wrote that down, and then finally I chose to consider the wealth of an area as that has always been a problem with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.

I gathered a few demographic statistics from the EU Referendum to highlight my thoughts and found that a lot of my suspicions were true, there was a huge gap between 18-40 and 40+ when it came to choosing whether we stay in Europe or not. 

Another huge and important decision that happened recently was the Us Presidential Election which saw the controversial and highly racist, sexist Donald Trump take office. There was more of a divide in America as there was more things to consider, the most notable one was RACE. The statistics showed overwhelming majority vote from the white community go to Donald Trump, whereas the Black and Hispanic community voted in majority for Hillary Clinton. There was also notable differences between votes when it came to the voters education background.

FMP | Week 4 | Day 2

I had a go at implementing my design into a real world scenario, granted it may not be a photoshopped image but I tried to give the impression of buildings and trees to give it a little bit of context. 

I think if i was able to to more like use the google sketchup version and actually have it in a photo-realistic environment it would look a lot better.

I created a survey that I could give out to my classmates. It contained general questions based upon my project such as 'what do you think the term culture means', 'what do you think divides us as a community' and 'what sort of things do you think can bring a culturally diverse community together'? I wanted other peoples opinions so I could better target my audience and design my building to give them everything they may need. 

The survey was a good idea that was given to me as it not only gave me more of an idea of the barriers I had to overcome but it also served as solid Primary research which is incredibly vital in my project, especially if I'm designing something for the people. If it was just for me I wouldn't have to ask peoples opinions but because it was for a community I needed to know what concerns they had. 

FMP | Week 4 | Day 1

In response to my research into walls I wanted to design a sort of installation/public exhibit that resembled a wall. I tried to rebuke the conventional wall structure that you got with the Peace Lines and the Berlin Wall and so I opted for a more shell like wall as it would offer shelter and protection. These are more positive effects for a wall other than separating and limiting. This was of course just an idea for a response so I didn't dive too deep into the design and thought.


I tried another design. one where you can walk inside the wall instead on the outer edge, the wall will still function as a wall but allow people to enter it and come together instead of settling for being divided. The wall would maintain the nurturing, protective and sheltering aspects that the previous design had.

Whilst creating this design I realised I might as well have a go at trying to replicate it in Google Sketchup because at least then I can get more hands on with the software. I had never created a curved wall so having a go at it was a great decision.

FMP | Week 3 | Day 5

My research continued on things that separates us and this time I had a little venture into things that physically separate us and found what was going on in Ireland. 

In Ireland there are two main religious communities. There are the Protestants and then there are the Catholics. The two communities have such a horrific history filled with violence and hatred that the local councils had to install 25 feet high walls to keep them from killing each other. It really is that brutal. The walls are called peace lines and are scattered around Belfast and Derry, dividing the two communities. In an interview I read, one resident said he had never seen his Catholic neighbours in over 3 years. 

My research continued onto the history of the Berlin wall. 

The Berlin wall was something that was introduced to separate West and East Germany through Berlin. It was something that was implemented by the government at the time and didn't give any consideration to its people. This was something very important to my research. 

I found it important because it was a physical separation as well as a political separation. Each sides were, in theory, against each other. It wasn't so much the people but the organisations in power. 

The most beneficial part of the research came when the Berlin Wall came down. The Berlin wall separated the people as well as the country. The people weren't fond of the wall, it separated their families, it divided them and it affected everything about their lives. Most people even tried to get over the wall, a lot of people died as a result of this. 

FMP | Week 3 | Day 4

I wanted to look into things that may divide out community. Now seeing as I am focusing on architecture they can definitely be physical things that divide us, however the first things that came into mind was politics and so I made a small collage based on the events that have been happening recently around the world. 

I included things such as the Black Lives Matter protests. This was one of the first things I thought of. It BLM was a movement founded after the mass amounts of Police brutality towards young African Americans over in the US. It sparked huge controversy over the training of police officials and once it began to reach other countries the black community of America completely turned on their police force.

I included information on the war going on over in Syria as that is something worth talking about every day of the week and twice on Sundays. 

I also wrote a little paragraph talking about my thoughts on everything happening in the world.

This is what I wrote: 

The world has become a terrifying place.

Social and political injustice is around every corner.

At this very moment America is on the brink of a civil war between ethnic minorities and rogue police officers and overpaid government officials.

Recent happenings between unarmed African-Americans and White police officers has brought race and ethnicity into every aspect of the conflict.

It has gotten so bad that it prompted the American public to create the Black Lives Matter movement.

An organisation committed to the black people of America.

Elsewhere in the country, in Washington specifically, President Trump is still demanding a wall be built between neighbouring country Mexico in blinded attempts to ‘Rid the country of rapists and drugs’.

It has made worldwide news leaving people laughing at the President’s unrealistic and unfathomable approach to immigration.

Syria has been in a civil war between their rebels and their government for as long as we can remember but recent Chemical attacks on their own people has cause other countries such as Great Britain, America and Russia to step in, with president Trump launching 59 ballistic missiles, destroying the Syrian Government's air base.

More worldwide panic come in the shape of Nuclear Warheads that North Korean leader, Kim Jon Un has threatened the US with.

Despite their capabilities to wipe out our very existence, the world is still keen on creating these weapons of mass destruction.

FMP | Week 3 | Day 3

Today was another workshop day and we were encouraged to try and use some materials to help realise one of our designs. Now, as I have yet to create any initial ideas that I can work on I decided to simply continue my response to my research into architecture from different countries.

This is a small model I made of the Globe Theatre with inspirations from both Japanese architecture and Indian architecture. It was incredibly hard to make. I made it really quite small, about the size of my palm, and so some of the parts were really fiddly to assemble. 

I first began by creating the skeleton of the model. To do this I created a circular base and cut up smaller panels to put around the sides. Unfortunately, because of the design of the building, I couldn't just wrap a piece of cardboard around the edge. Instead I had to create panels which I stuck around the edge so it gave it an octagonal shape. 

To attach the panels to the base I out glue on the touching edges and also cut up small tabs that I would bend at an angle and glue down to give it some reinforcement.

The next thing that needed adding was the balcony fronts on the inside. Now, as it was a small model I couldn't really get any detail on the pillars without inevitably breaking each one. I just had to settle for simply semi-circular window.

After inserting them the model was starting to take shape. The method i used for the balconies ended up being very effective. As it was the inside, I could infact use a piece of cardboard and bend it around the edges so that it was a smooth circular wall. However to make things easier I made sure to cut the windows out first.

After seeing how well the windows looked I took it out and decided to add another layer of windows so that it was a little more detailed and would represent the interior of the Globe Theatre much more. 

Now that a second layer was added it started to look great! It almost started to look more like the Colosseum than the Globe Theatre.

I simply rested the balcony piece on top of the wall tabs so that it would give it a bit of elevation, thus allowing the roof to be more elevated and the model not look so cramped.

Adding the stage onto the inside was definitely one of the trickiest parts about the whole thing. As it was small and as it had to be 3D I was struggling to find a way to create a stage out of cardboard. All of the ideas came up with seemed very technical and would probably only work in a model on a larger scale. However it struck me, considering the thickness of the cardboard, I could simply cut two squares of equal size and then just glue them together.

The roofing wasn't complicated, it was just tricky and fiddly. Also the shape of the building had to be taken into consideration, by doing this it really added to the amount of time I spent on the model. 

To ake the roof I used triangular shaped tabs that I would bend over the balcony and then glue onto the exterior side of the model

An inside view of the model:

The roof started to look really mismatched and rickety so I found some brown Plasticine and simply moulded it over the roof

Once I had covered the whole surface I just smoothed it over and it looked much, much better than before. 

I began to decorate the outside. I got some white paper and covered the whole of the model except the roof of course. I then got some brown paper and cut up little strips to use as the wood.

 
And here is the finished piece.

FMP | Week 3 | Day 2

After completing my research on both Indian and Japanese architecture I decided to try and respond to it. To do this I decided to redesign and building in London that facilitates culture. I chose the Globe Theatre because it is one of the most stand out buildings we have in London. It also looked promising from the shape of the roof and the interior of the building. 

I did some quick research on the Globe theatre and discussed why I chose to redesign this building. 

I then decided to get some photographs of the building so that it would make it easier and more accurate to redesign. I found this photo of a brilliant view, capturing both the stage but the audience on the floor and the upper tiers. 

These were my final designs. The roofs have been curved all the way around and I have also added a few smaller roofs on the top. The pillars have been redesigned also so that they follow in the footsteps of traditional Indian architetcure. If you look on the balconies you can see that the space between each pillar has changed.

FMP | Week 3 | Day 1

Monday was a self directed study day but I also had work so in the little time I had available I managed to create a little sketch of some curved roofing on a traditional Japanese building. What I have found with both Indian and Japanese traditional architecture is that none of it is very simple. It is all rather detailed and intricate and leaves nothing untouched. The structures are amazing but some of the design work on those surfaces are even better.

Something that really stood out in Japanese architecture was actually something inside the houses. I am talking about the typical partitions you get. They are made out of translucent paper and wood and are used as sliding walls, very similar to the ones we have here at rave. Though these ones let in light which means they can also be used for external walls and even windows. Their purpose is to save space and to allow the house floor to be completely customised to fit the needs of the homeowner.

I grabbed some examples of traditional partitions, explained what they were and why I found them interesting and also had a go at making some myself. 

FMP | Week 2 | Day 4

Finishing up my Indian culture research I looked more into the pillars they use and how they're designed. They are very intricate so I had a go at drawing some myself. 

I also looked into how the pillars can create interesting shapes as an archway. I got a few examples and drew the basic shapes that the pillars created. 

After finalising some research into Indian architecture, I turned my attention to Japanese styled architecture. I chose Japanese because I was already aware of some of the Japanese values. In Japan, they used to believe that when the gods showed human emotions and used them to create positive relations with other they would be rewarded. Public expression, thoughts and feelings are thought to be very important in Japanese society and so knowing they have these values I wanted to see If I could incorporate some of their architecture to give my project some strength when it comes to values. 

I created roughly the same sort of research page as I did for the Indian architecture one. I explained why I chose Japanese architecture and created a little collage. 

My research showed that the Japanese traditionally designed buildings with curved roofs so that they can warn off evil spirits. The spirits were thought to travel in straight lines so the curved roof would keep them away. I also found that they use very natural materials in their building, often using a lot of wood.