EXPERIMENT 2 - THE BRIDGE
Experiment 2 was unveiled in Studio amidst the growing concerns of COVID-19 and the transition to online learning.
The brief was as follows:
"Imagine you are the Dean of a school of Architecture or Engineering. Your school has 100 students who are drawn from all around the world and are supported by scholarships. Your challenge is to design a school that forms a bridge spanning buildings in an urban environment. The urban environment is the lower part of the "UNSW Sydney" Kensington campus; the central building is the Squarehouse (building E4 on this map). In addition, you will design two moving elements that modify the students view of the school when they see it from locations on the ground plane vs locations above ground level. These different points of view will reinforce or challenge your particular "Theory"."
The architectural issue? The Architecture of Theory and Practice.
The architectural convention? The Moving Element.
The architecural challenge? Articulating the relationship between Theory and Practice in the students chosen field. A school of Architecture/Engineering.
The Clients? Each. and. every. architecture. student.
The architectural issue? The Architecture of Theory and Practice.
The architectural convention? The Moving Element.
The architecural challenge? Articulating the relationship between Theory and Practice in the students chosen field. A school of Architecture/Engineering.
The Clients? Each. and. every. architecture. student.
THE 'FUTUREBOUND' IDEA - Foundation for Theory?
The 'Futurebound' idea is something I've talked about a lot now in the past year that I coined myself, especially after finally entering architecture school, a long awaited destination in my design journey.
It is a sense of design integrity, that is not a completely original idea, but is one that has been encompassed by the many great architects that have walked this planet. It calls upon the social responsibility that architects have to the people, to serve with great power. If the future is design and calls upon the individuals who shape our future cities, it is the architects role to facilitate the improvement of the quality of life of the people within society through the built environment. To be 'Futurebound'
It is a sense of design integrity, that is not a completely original idea, but is one that has been encompassed by the many great architects that have walked this planet. It calls upon the social responsibility that architects have to the people, to serve with great power. If the future is design and calls upon the individuals who shape our future cities, it is the architects role to facilitate the improvement of the quality of life of the people within society through the built environment. To be 'Futurebound'
I was inspired by Michael Murphy's evocative TEDtalk, Architecture that's built to heal (TED Conferences, 2016), which spoke about architecture as a "transformative engine for change" and this was the idea that inspired me. I was fully immersed into the world of architecture, as a student eager to always be learning, being inspired by others and to commit to my projects with the utmost importance of having heart. There were many things that inspired me throughout the years, that being teachers, friends and mentors, but while their influence can still be reflected in tiny nuisances in my work, this brilliantly articulated TEDtalk by Murphy was one that laid the foundation to the architect I am striving to become.
Therefore, by using an approach of empathy towards architecture students, it is ideal that the school should reflect the values and theories I uphold as an aspiring architect myself. One of social agency which embraces the people, to be 'futurebound', and through further development, will be the theory that is put into practice through movement to create an significant and distinctive school of architecture.
REFERENCES
Murphy, Michael. 2016. "Architecture That's Built To Heal". Ted.Com. https://www.ted.com/talks/michael_murphy_architecture_that_s_built_to_heal?language=en.
RAMOS DESIGNS
2016-17
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| Architecture/Landscape Architecture House Project for 'Gonzalez' family in South West Sydney |
2018
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| San Marino 'World of Learning' Backyard Renovation |
2018-19
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| HSC MDP High School Edmondson Park Design Development Proposal, Pio Catholic College... |
EXPERIMENT 2 VISION
'A SECOND CHANCE' and a new chapter.
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| TAS & CAPA HSC Showcase night September 4th 2019. Clancy Catholic College. |
The idea of a school is one that is familiar to me. At the beginning of this studio I said my most 'creative' project prior to ARCH1101 was my HSC Major work, a high school proposal that was ambitious enough to attempt to make a statement against a real life proposal. The project was concluded 6 months ago, and while the marks did deliver for the HSC, I still under performed due to personal reasons and the intensity of the year which is why I consider it a personal failure. Its interesting to think that out of all the projects over the years I could've chosen - my biggest project that was incomplete was still my most creative?
As such, in such a short time things have changed. I was once a high school student who attempted to envision his own high school and learning environment, now I am an architecture student designing a school of architecture with a twist. We are in a midst of a crisis and scenarios such as the Australian bush fires and COVID-19 provides an interesting perspective in how the built environment is totally shaped. This enables not an extra piece of criteria to fulfil for a studio experiment, but a means of thinking deeply about what a distinctive and significant school of architecture should contain. I am required to consider the following spaces in my design:
Lecture Theatre
Studio Spaces
Offices for Academic Staff
Offices for General Staff
Workshop
Computer Labs
Gallery
Research Space for Academic Staff
Meeting Rooms for Staff
Meeting Rooms for Students
Library
However, there is an opportunity to think critically about how the culture of teaching and learning has changed over the years and how it will change in the coming years. Opportunities for more development and research to think about the future and how peoples lives may change.
How might the Australian bushfires influence how architects think about the ecological costs of the built environment?
Will studio culture change because of social distancing during the COVID19 crisis?
As an aspiring architect, I should be asking questions such as these during the design of this school so it can be reflected in this new faculty of architecture in both its spaces and its intrinsic culture embedded by the architecture. I need to always be thinking of the clients, the spaces they need and how that might change overtime.
All together works with the futurebound idea, which is admittedly my vague and still developing idea of what architecture is or can be. If the school environment gathers students drawn from all around the world, I need to be thinking of ways to embrace that culture, to be both inclusive and diverse.
As Experiment 2 begins, I am quickly given perspective by the most recent project, Experiment 1: The Datum - I still have a multitude of opportunities that await me.
I am working with an eerily similar scenario, design brief and I am now challenged 6 months later to try again on my second school environment project. No matter how my projects turn out from here on out, I need to make a promise to be willing to learn and to make mistakes.
To try again and to preserve.
To always be thinking of the client and not myself because that is my responsibility as a designer and that is the architect I want to be.
To serve the people and benefit the goals of society - that is to be futurebound.
As such, in such a short time things have changed. I was once a high school student who attempted to envision his own high school and learning environment, now I am an architecture student designing a school of architecture with a twist. We are in a midst of a crisis and scenarios such as the Australian bush fires and COVID-19 provides an interesting perspective in how the built environment is totally shaped. This enables not an extra piece of criteria to fulfil for a studio experiment, but a means of thinking deeply about what a distinctive and significant school of architecture should contain. I am required to consider the following spaces in my design:
Lecture Theatre
Studio Spaces
Offices for Academic Staff
Offices for General Staff
Workshop
Computer Labs
Gallery
Research Space for Academic Staff
Meeting Rooms for Staff
Meeting Rooms for Students
Library
However, there is an opportunity to think critically about how the culture of teaching and learning has changed over the years and how it will change in the coming years. Opportunities for more development and research to think about the future and how peoples lives may change.
How might the Australian bushfires influence how architects think about the ecological costs of the built environment?
Will studio culture change because of social distancing during the COVID19 crisis?
As an aspiring architect, I should be asking questions such as these during the design of this school so it can be reflected in this new faculty of architecture in both its spaces and its intrinsic culture embedded by the architecture. I need to always be thinking of the clients, the spaces they need and how that might change overtime.
All together works with the futurebound idea, which is admittedly my vague and still developing idea of what architecture is or can be. If the school environment gathers students drawn from all around the world, I need to be thinking of ways to embrace that culture, to be both inclusive and diverse.
As Experiment 2 begins, I am quickly given perspective by the most recent project, Experiment 1: The Datum - I still have a multitude of opportunities that await me.
I am working with an eerily similar scenario, design brief and I am now challenged 6 months later to try again on my second school environment project. No matter how my projects turn out from here on out, I need to make a promise to be willing to learn and to make mistakes.
To try again and to preserve.
To always be thinking of the client and not myself because that is my responsibility as a designer and that is the architect I want to be.
To serve the people and benefit the goals of society - that is to be futurebound.
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