EXP 3: Valley / Power Articles

HIGH CUP NICK, UK

POWER AND INFLUENCE

Global corporations influence the behaviour of the individuals who use their products. 
The ethical issues surrounding the idea of being influenced are dismissed without comment; But there is considerable potential for its misuse in the 21st century.

Copycat violence has lead to reckless homicide, but the claims against the company were dismissed without merit. A spokesperson for Coca Cola implied that her company tried to stop a ban on plastic bottle in the Grand Canyon national park, but the president of the National Park Foundation insists they never influenced anyone. The economic impact of $13million donated to the NPF by the beverage giant suggests that influence is a complex and mysterious process, certainly not challenged by individuals.
If companies limit information to individuals, this restricts their individual influence, and the balance of power becomes clear.

http://aidontheedge.info/2012/02/20/facebook-social-media-and-the-complexity-of-influence/

http://blogcritics.org/scitech/article/grand-theft-auto-a-bad-influence/

http://www.naturalnews.com/034124_plastic_bottles_Grand_Canyon.html

CUSTOM TEXTURES

MODEL WITH CUSTOM TEXTURES

After combining the two models to form the theme Gravity, it became apparent that the hanging structure would be the central connection between the land and the monument. It provides a physical connection to the land at each of its extremities and it is also very open. I applied my light custom texture to the floors and roof while the walls were all glass, making sure no view is blocked of the magnificent man-made lake. The vertical tower embedded in the ground blocks the inlet to the sea which provides a tranquil setting for architecture students to work, communicate and relax in.

CHOSEN TEXTURES

THE COMBINATION

The first combination is of Kisho Kurokawa's Dynamic Architecture and Steven Holl's Angled Views.
The combination still presents a sort of phenomenolgy because it is such a broad term, but specifically the newest theme developed is Varying Vision.
The framed view is constantly changing as the dynamic architecture moves, which symbolizes the variety of perceptions that people have towards separate parts of society.

The second combination is of Kisho Kurokawa's Symbiosis and Steven Holl's Porosity.
The connection of these two models was very smooth because of the large spaces each model had separately, but when brought together there were even more individual spaces created which reminded me of the theme of Negative Space.
 These negative spaces are always open which promotes connection between inside and out. There are no closed boxes which can clutter the thoughts of students who wish to meet and share ideas here, however there are inside areas which allow privacy.

The third combination is of Steven Holl's Parallax and Kisho Kurokawa's Metabolism. The metabolism model lends itself to combination with other buildings quite well due to the nature of the theme but the parallax model has a very expansive nature which does not lend itself to a smooth combination. I decided to hang the parallax model off the metabolism model alluding to the new theme of Gravity. The unnatural idea of a monumental building with basically no support in the ground is futuristic and fantastic but the space it creates in the centre is very intriguing and surreal; which I believe to be the biggest factor for attracting students to meet and congregate there.

EXPORT TO CRYENGINE 3

I decided the metabolism model was the most monumental structure of my axonometric drawings. I developed it in sketchup to produce the building which I then exported into my custom environment.

AXONOMETRICS

Kurokawa - Dynamic: This building is designed for a waterfront location where the smaller prisms retract into the larger ones. This shows the literal representation of the phenomenal experience seen in some of Kurokawa's work.

Kurokawa - Metablosim: The large scale of this building is paramount to its relation to metabolism. The use of large negative spaces allows it to tower over other existing structures without disrupting their view. The ground floor requires very little space in relation to the size of the building, making it suitable for integration into a busy area, however the engineering would be challenging to say the least.

Holl - Porosity: The building is literally a solid block with 4 rectangles extracted from it at perpendicular angles. These rectangles positioned at different locations allow the light to react in phenomenal ways, in keeping with Holl's theme of porosity. Even though the building is symmetrical panoramic glass windows never allow the lighting to be similar in different parts of the building.

Holl- Phenomenology using Parallax: The design of this structure creates a distinct experience due to its perpendicular protruding limbs. The building will never look as expansive as it truly is from any one angle, especially ground level because of the postion of each limb. As one rotates around the building the apparent 'size' will change due to parallax.

Holl - Enmeshed experience through angled views: The use of intersecting prisms in this structure allows me to create protruding sections which frame a view at a certain angle, similar to Holl's Vanke Centre. This building frames angles at all major points on the compass and could give interesting viewpoints of separate parts of a city if its location was planned correctly.

Kurokawa - Symbiosis: Symbiosis is the combintaion of two elements, most commonly contrasting, to create something new. The combination of old and new in this structure are represented by the castle turrets cantilevered off a sleek modern shape of a building. The textures in this case would be very important.