Saturday, March 14, 2009
FF&E
Rice paper is used in the pool area to give a nice ambient glow. The turquoise is a stone from Ann Sacks and is used on the walls in the shower room. The ebony is also used on one wall in the shower and on the floor. The nordic white spruce is used all over in the sauna. The western red cedar is used for the hot tubs as well as the entire pool area. Lastly the walls in the ramp area are made out of conrete. As a side note the windows are glazed to keep the harmful rays out and the natural light in.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Monday, February 23, 2009
ADA Standards
This is just a small example of some of the technical ADA standards for Accessible design. The Link will provide you with roughly 90 pages of information pertaining to accessible design.
www.ada.gov
www.ada.gov
Traditional Baths
Transition is a recurrent element of design that has been weaving itself through "A Place to Dine", and now our bathing project. When there is balance in our lives they seem to run much more smoothly as apposed to an absence of balance. Transition is one of the key elements in obtaining balance in our lives. When one's environment abruptly changes it is stressful and taxing causing ones health spiritually, mentally, and physically to be affected. This is why so many cultures have developed baths, spas, and places for one to be relieved from the stressors of everyday life. Below are some examples of baths that I think best represent what baths are about and what they are to accomplish.
"The universal acceptance of bathing as a central event in daily life belongs to the Roman world and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that at the height of the empire, the baths embodied the ideal Roman way of urban life. Apart from their normal hygienic functions, they provided facilities for sports and recreation. Their public nature created the proper environment—much like a city club or community center—for social intercourse varying from neighborhood gossip to business discussions. There was even a cultural and intellectual side to the baths since the truly grand establishments, the thermae, incorporated libraries, lecture halls, colonnades, and promenades and assumed a character like the Greek gymnasium".
"After exercise, bathers would have the dirt and oil scraped from their bodies with a curved metal implement called a strigil. Then the bathing proper began. Accompanied by a slave carrying their towels, oil flasks and strigils, bathers would progress at a leisurely pace through rooms of various temperature. They might start in the warm room (tepidarium), which had heated walls and floors but sometimes had no pool, and then proceed to the hot bath (caldarium), which was closest to the furnace. This room had a large tub or small pool with very hot water and a waist-high fountain (labrum) with cool water to splash on the face and neck. After this the bather might spend some time in the tepidarium again before finishing in the cold room (frigidarium) with a refreshing dip in the cold pool. Other rooms provided moist steam, dry heat like a sauna (laconicum), and massage with perfumed oils.
model of baths of Trajan
After their baths, patrons could stroll in the gardens, visit the library, watch performances of jugglers or acrobats, listen to a literary recital, or buy a snack from the many food selections."
www.vroma.org
"More than any other culture in the world, the Japanese enjoy soaking. In Japan , the term misogi means purification by water. It is an integral part of their society, utilizing Japan's thousands of natural hot springs and spas. Water cleanses, refreshes and relaxes, and it gives a sense of well being to the spirit and mind".
www.shojiretreats.com
"The universal acceptance of bathing as a central event in daily life belongs to the Roman world and it is hardly an exaggeration to say that at the height of the empire, the baths embodied the ideal Roman way of urban life. Apart from their normal hygienic functions, they provided facilities for sports and recreation. Their public nature created the proper environment—much like a city club or community center—for social intercourse varying from neighborhood gossip to business discussions. There was even a cultural and intellectual side to the baths since the truly grand establishments, the thermae, incorporated libraries, lecture halls, colonnades, and promenades and assumed a character like the Greek gymnasium".
"After exercise, bathers would have the dirt and oil scraped from their bodies with a curved metal implement called a strigil. Then the bathing proper began. Accompanied by a slave carrying their towels, oil flasks and strigils, bathers would progress at a leisurely pace through rooms of various temperature. They might start in the warm room (tepidarium), which had heated walls and floors but sometimes had no pool, and then proceed to the hot bath (caldarium), which was closest to the furnace. This room had a large tub or small pool with very hot water and a waist-high fountain (labrum) with cool water to splash on the face and neck. After this the bather might spend some time in the tepidarium again before finishing in the cold room (frigidarium) with a refreshing dip in the cold pool. Other rooms provided moist steam, dry heat like a sauna (laconicum), and massage with perfumed oils.
model of baths of Trajan
After their baths, patrons could stroll in the gardens, visit the library, watch performances of jugglers or acrobats, listen to a literary recital, or buy a snack from the many food selections."
www.vroma.org
"More than any other culture in the world, the Japanese enjoy soaking. In Japan , the term misogi means purification by water. It is an integral part of their society, utilizing Japan's thousands of natural hot springs and spas. Water cleanses, refreshes and relaxes, and it gives a sense of well being to the spirit and mind".
www.shojiretreats.com
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Transposing Architecture and Nature
"A Place To Dine" is the title of the project that set into motion the commencement of designs that came to its pinnacle yesterday afternoon. Below is the summation of those events. The project originated by designing the dining room table. From here we were required to design the rest of the room around the concept of the table. As iterated in the title, my concept was to conceptually transpose nature and architecture, so that the interior echoed forms and materials found within nature and to evoke an overall feeling of being in nature.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Manifesto
Design is a never ending process as well as a system. It evolves and Grows and its students are always learning about it.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Computing Architectural Design
It is clear that computational aids were relevant and were indeed monumental in importance both in 5,000 B.C, and today. From the pyramids of Egypt to the development of the Burj Al Arab, computational aids have been very beneficial and crucial in aiding designers throughout the design process. However, these aids have their place, and they should not be put in a position that is more important than the fundamentals that employ them. Any aid used in design must be used to assist the foundational elements of design provided by the designer himself.
This being said, aids can be very pragmatic. There are a multitude of possibilities that they bring to the table of design. For example: computational aids can help a designer make sure that all of his or her designs are structurally sound and correct, which saves the designer and the engineer time and money by allowing him or her to focus on the design more so than the mathematics that allow the design to be possible. In addition to this computational aids can also be used to make calculations very quickly, permitting the designer to spend more time on the design process and less on the technical elements. Lastly, the designers are able to use computer aided drawings to better communicate to the client what the proposed design will look like, which in turn invites the client to become a part of the design process, resulting in a more involved and pleased client.
After having glimpsed the current and past states of computational aids, one must wonder where the aids will take us in the future. Will there be 4-D projections that one can actually walk through and interact with, or will a program exist that allows a user to verbalize and discuss ideas aloud, which are then translated into shapes, figures, lines, and gestures. These are just a few examples of where technology could take us.
Bases on my knowledge of computer aided design systems it seems that in the future, architects and designers will need to be constantly consulted when a new software is being designed for them. In the past and even today, there is software that does not meet the needs of the people that are using it. Further, needs are ever changing. Thus programmers must simultaneously adapt to these changes while predicting future needs and trends. A need that I have had personally expressed to me is the need for facilitated communication among professionals utilizing diverse machines throughout the design process. That is, professionals utilize files that should be interchangeable between the various programs to steam-line collaboration in the design process. In conclusion, computer aided design programs need to be used as aids to assist the designer. They should not take the place of the fundamentals of design or be allowed to hinder one’s original creativity. If these parameters are kept, than the world of computer-aided design can and will be a very powerful tool in the future, through all facets of design.
This being said, aids can be very pragmatic. There are a multitude of possibilities that they bring to the table of design. For example: computational aids can help a designer make sure that all of his or her designs are structurally sound and correct, which saves the designer and the engineer time and money by allowing him or her to focus on the design more so than the mathematics that allow the design to be possible. In addition to this computational aids can also be used to make calculations very quickly, permitting the designer to spend more time on the design process and less on the technical elements. Lastly, the designers are able to use computer aided drawings to better communicate to the client what the proposed design will look like, which in turn invites the client to become a part of the design process, resulting in a more involved and pleased client.
After having glimpsed the current and past states of computational aids, one must wonder where the aids will take us in the future. Will there be 4-D projections that one can actually walk through and interact with, or will a program exist that allows a user to verbalize and discuss ideas aloud, which are then translated into shapes, figures, lines, and gestures. These are just a few examples of where technology could take us.
Bases on my knowledge of computer aided design systems it seems that in the future, architects and designers will need to be constantly consulted when a new software is being designed for them. In the past and even today, there is software that does not meet the needs of the people that are using it. Further, needs are ever changing. Thus programmers must simultaneously adapt to these changes while predicting future needs and trends. A need that I have had personally expressed to me is the need for facilitated communication among professionals utilizing diverse machines throughout the design process. That is, professionals utilize files that should be interchangeable between the various programs to steam-line collaboration in the design process. In conclusion, computer aided design programs need to be used as aids to assist the designer. They should not take the place of the fundamentals of design or be allowed to hinder one’s original creativity. If these parameters are kept, than the world of computer-aided design can and will be a very powerful tool in the future, through all facets of design.
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