Introduction

One of the purposes of environmental design is the creation of well-defined spaces to accommodate the lives of people. These spaces can take on a variety of expressions, from a garden in which we sit or play, to a street through which we walk or drive.

Exercise 3 continues the inquiry into environmental design by further exploring issues related to architectural order. Specifically, the contributions of different architectural elements, such as vertical and horizontal planes or linear elements such as columns, to the definition of basic rectangular volumes of space will be studied. Matters related to proportion, degrees of enclosure, spatial hierarchy, spatial juxtaposition and spatial overlap of space will also be investigated. While this exploration is limited to an abstract small cubic volume it is important to note that these and similar aspects of architectural order carry enormous significance at all levels of environmental design, from the relatively small scale of an interior space to the larger scale of an urban park or a residential neighborhood and beyond.

This exercise also provides means to solidify your understanding of orthographic and paraline projection and diagraming, and further develops your skills in model building and architectural drawing.

Objectives

• Spatial definition
• Formal strategy
• Formal consistency
• Craftsmanship
• Design process

Project

At this point, each of you has described, through the design process, a scheme which communicates a specific organization of three non-parallel planes. You have developed a construct in which spaces of different character are implied.

Continuing the exercise, you are asked to construct a cube which will serve as a container for your x, y, z construct. The cube should be made of 1/8" thick white foam core board and its inside dimensions should be 8" x 8" x 8". No plane from the x, y, z construct should be co-planar with any surface of the cube container. In other words, no two objects can occupy the same space at the same time. The new construct should maintain its integrity to be read from any of the six sides - none of the planes should be read as a base.

Now the objective is to define space. With a reasonably clear spatial understanding of your construct from Exercise 2 you will begin a process of subtraction by cutting away at the cubic container. Consider the interrelationship of spaces from Exercise 2 and the registration of those spaces to the surfaces of the cube. Decisions you make in cutting away the container should be informed by, as well as strengthen, your ideas from Exercise 2. Your willingness to make decisions is pivotal to making discoveries, and therefore minor changes within the construct may be necessary in order to clarify your spatial construct. Given that cubic space is clearly defined by eight points, you should easily be able to ensure that, within your final construct, there is one distinct primary space as well as a variety of clearly defined secondary and tertiary spaces.

Issues

You should consider the transparency of elements and how spaces might read on multiple surfaces. Consider spatial relationships to opaque surfaces as well as voided openings. There should be a consistent strategy for the shape, size and proportion of openings you make. You should consider the overall plasticity or spatial sequence of your construct. There should be a clear hierarchy in the relationship between the elements (consider size, shape, position, joining, etc.). The relationship between center, edge and surface should be considered.

Procedure

During the design process you will be expected to use study models to develop your idea. Continue to work with foam core board and straight pins. You will also be expected to maintain a thorough set of analytical sectional and elevational drawings to be continually 'worked' on trace paper. Your way of working should alternate between analytical drawings and study models, with each step developing ideas further.

Requirements

• A perfectly crafted full-scale foam core model
• Elevations and three sections, one each through the x, y, and z axes, at 1/2" scale
• Plan oblique drawings showing the spaces hierarchically ordered
• Diagrams describing geometric design principles underlying your design proposal
• All drawings are to be executed in drafted pencil lines on white paper and include well proportioned lettering.
• Board composition should be considered.

Evaluation Criteria

• Ability to clearly define space
• Clarity of spatial hierarchy
• Complexity of spatial oberlap/multiple readings of space
• Consistency of strategy for the treatment of external planes
• Quality of model building craft
• Quality of drawings/legibility/composition

Readings

Ching, Frank. Architecture: Form, Space and Order. Pages 68 - 71, 110 - 190

Schedule

Assigned: 11 October
Due: 1 November

(Three weeks)