Jury Buddy Report

Hi, I am here to tell you about my friend Beril Özmen’s jury. Her design is located in Kars. Kars has cold weather mostly especially the winter and also snowy weather. So, in her deisng she decreased open spaces.

On the jury the main part that she got critiques were about the building’s façade. The jury commented that the model’s façade could get more fragmented on areas of voids like galery spaces.

There were some areas not showing in her models so the jury commented that if the sections and the model was finished they could’ve show different things because they change the way we perceive the building, they said.

Another thing is, Openings/ closings relation could be studied more, openings on façade are important and should’ve shown. Proposal of the circulation system should also be shown.  It is also important to see it in section as a reference to Seattle Central Library.

The jury also asked why a surface is completely transparent and contuniation between the neighbour with library was provided by that. That was a positive comment on that. But the jury also commented that it is as if the spaces wants to continue in an orthogonal system but the edges prevent that. Walls coming so close to the edges of the site that we are working on is not so good.

In sections stairs around the view which is a positive thing but the masses are not a square prism so the inner plan should be organised according to that. More references may have been more helpful for that, Seattle Central could bring different angles so she was advised that she could’ve also refered to that.

Here is her model:

Here is her poster:

If you’d like to read more about her jury and get to know her design you should check out her blog 🙂

Library In Reference : Final Jury

Hi everyone! Last week we had the final jury for our project this semester ‘Library’ In Reference. First we started with taking a quotation and then continued with adding more references from more buildings.

In the end my main references were

Philips Exeter Library, University of Economics Library and Learning Center, Seattle Central Library, University of Bedfordshire, Robotics and Mechatronics Center.

In the jury the main thing that they critisized was wether the references from the Exeter Library would be stop working as a ‘quotation’ if i had changed some stuff about it to make it fit more to the design. I was told that i could’ve opened the stairs so that the people that were going up and down the stairs could also see the panoramic view instead of being in a closed spaces. That is a good idea that i had also thought to change but it was a thought that i couldn’t be sure about because all the spaces were going to be stayed closed and changing only one of the similar spaces would’ve break the patter of the Exeter Library.. Then the jury pointed out the part that i changed about the Exeter Library to change the environment of the space and said that it was already broken so that it would’ve been more than okay to change more parts according to the design.

A thşng was wrong with my model, it was very shocking that i only noticed it right on the jury but the column that i didn’t continued to the roof on one corner was not cut on the model so the column was continuing and the jury asked which was the design and why they were different and, it was a very bad mistake that ishould’ve noticed earlier and fixed it. It was  amistake that i shouldn’t even have do it in the first place but it happened i will be more careful to notice all parts of my design for the future models.

Another critique that i gotten was about the façade of the model. I didn’t put the outer walls to the model in hopes that i could do them last in a way that they could be movable so the inside can be still seen. But in the end i couldn’t finish early to put the outer walls so only the inside of the model could’ve been seen (as i wanted) but the jury said that since the outer wall are not going orthogonal and the façade is creating an angle i should’ve showed it.

There was also a part in the section that i didn’t cut the wall but i hatched and the jury said that it made the section lose it’s potential. Overall all the problems in my design/model and all the critiques that i have gotten was because i couldn’t finish it on time and couldn’t double check a lot of things. I tried my best to produce everything in time but the last weeks were very hard and everything was in a rush as the jury got closer. So i learned form this semester’s jury that i shouldn’t leave the model to the least but the last week should be for the details only.

Final Jury Is Here

Hi everyone, as you know we had the final jury for our project this week. I’m going to be talking about it in my next post, i just wanted to share all the drawings / required suff that we submitted and showed to the jury before telling you all about it. And i want to talk to you about the progress. As you know we started by taking references. Through the semester i looked up at a lot of buildings and even not built examples for competitions and all the stuff that i tried to used and take reference kind of varied and lessened as time passed. At the end of the semester here are all the references that i kept in my project:

These are my reference sheets. You can also see what i wanted to take reference from them.

The main poster of mine consisted of 1/100 all of the plans of the building, 2 elevations, 2 sections, 1/200 site plan. Here you can see the poster:

I went to the jury with this poster and the drawings were complete so it wasn’t a problem but i couldn’t finish the design so after the jury i wanted to color it. Here is the colored version of that poster you can decide which one is better:

Here Comes the Final Jury

Hey everyone! We submitted our drawings and models for the final jury and we will be attending the jury tomorrow. Hope it goes well. Here are the photographs of my model for Library In Reference Project 🙂

After the PJ2

Hey everyone, I want to summarise the prejury and how my design is going to change since i got critics and advises on some places.

The main thing that they critisized was how my reference to Philips Exeter Library has been seen less as i added more references to the design. It was how i started my design and since i added the canteliver reference from university of economics and shifting floors from the seattle central library reference i had tought it would be better if the form of the building changed to more rectangular and didn’t stay square as in the Philips exeter library. But the jury said that the grid design of the Exeter was imporant and shouldn’t change. I’m not sure how the canteliver is going to effect the form but i’m going to be more paying attention to the grid system which i wasn’t considering before.

I’m going to change the circulation system, too. In the Exeter Library there are two vertical zones that provide circulation from floor to floor and i took only one of them because i wans’t sure if the zone wasn’t supported between floors how i would stand but the jury said that for it to be open and seen through all floors would be better.

I also got critisization on how the differentiation of the spaces are done through the furniture and iff we moved the furnishings the spaces could change. So i’m going to focus more on the differentiations of them. In my design as we go up the floors it gets more individual for people to work on. So the first floor is cafe and then there are general study areas where people can speak and work together in groups and as we go up the spaces get more smaller for individual people and the reference that i took from the university of economics’ canteliver was for people to be around each other but work indivicually in silence. I’m going to strengthen the relations of them.

Here is some pictures of the prejury:

 

Prejury 2

This week we had the second prejury! Time really goes fast and the final jury is very close. Here you can see my model:

We had different buildings around the area but i couldn’t show them in the model because i barely could do the model in 3 hours, i spent too much time designing the interior so when i started the model it was only 4 hours till the submission time. It is done in a ruch and i am sorry for that, it is going to be better for the final jury.

Here above you can see 2 sections and 2 elevations (south and east elevations) of the design. In the sections i hatched the above of the atrium which isn’t closed in my design so it was a problem that i couldn2t fix before the jury.

I  also referenced Robotics & Mechanics Center on the elevations to add the brise-soleil.

Here are the floor plans:

As you know we’re working in reference to other buildings. Here yo ucan see the buildings that i’ve referenced:

All of the references that I’ve taked are:

Philips Exeter Library

Venice University of Economics Library

Seattle Central Library

New Library Of University on Bedfrordshire

Robotcics & Mechatronics Center

Gian Sail’s House

Gelman Library’s GW Libraries

You can find more informations about them here.

On the road to PJ2

Hey everyone, before 1 week of prejury here is how the model of my design looked. I changed the topography according to its relation with my design and how the building is going to relate to it. You can see as the floors design didn’t change. I’m still working on it. I will be changing the shifting of the floors as i design the interior spaces and they are going to shift according to that as a reference to Seattle Central Library. I’m also thinking about getting rid of the open area on the top flor because it doesn’t fit to the weather conditions of the area that i’m working on. Anyway, here are the pictures, prejury 2 post will be coming shortly.

Site information

Hi

We started to get more informations of the site that we’re working on after the first prejury. The places that we’re going to be working on have been announced and I’m working on Mardin, Turkey. It’s a place i didn’t have a lot of informations about so it was fun to research the city and get to know the conditions of the site, climate and all the fun things. Here is the research if you’d like to get to know Mardin:

Mardin is in the Southeast Anotolia region of Turkey. It has a climate that we can define as ”hot and arid” the weather is very hot in the summer and in the winter it doesn’t get a lot of rain.

All the buildings face the south because there is a lowland which creates a nice view. The whole city in built on the slope that faces the view. And the building’s do not create shadows on another buildings and doesn’t block another’s view.

Here is the view:

The houses are made from stone. It fits the weather condition in a way that it keeps the houses cool in the summer and warm in the winter. In the roofs crossed vaults are used generally. The wooden material are also used because of the stone used traditions. And they don’t use any plaster material in the houses either. Also the hosues are designed high ceiling because it helps to protect from the climate of warm summers and cold winters.

The design of the Mardin house—in which houses were enlarged by the repetition of certain spaces—was a reflection of the social and economic structure that was typical of pre-industrial settlements. What distinguished the design of a traditional Mardin house was the fusing, over a period of time, of indoor, outdoor, and semi-outdoor spaces—namely, the living units, iwan, portico, and terrace. The characteristics of this design can be traced to Turkistan in the social, economic and political constitution of the Middle Ages, which often shared a similar infrastructure with countries to its south, such as Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Egypt. In the melting pot of Mardin, these contrasting factors give its houses a unique nature.

Progressing -not progressing-

Hello

As you know we are well past the first prejury and approaching the second prejury a.k.a approaching the end of 2nd year! wow, deep breaths, we’re only halfway through the 2nd semester.. But as you can thought, we should be very well decided on our designs by now. But unfortunetly i haven’t been happy with my time arranging and i’ve been struggling to find a good way to take references and find ways to adapt and all that.. so it’s going fun..

I haven’t updated here in so long, too, so be ready cause i’ll keep you updated on how i’m gonna get out of this progress.

In the meantime here is my last state in design. We now have the knowledge of beyond the site. We know the north, the envirenment and surroundings and which place we’re building. I’m going to go in detail on another post so keep in touch with that.

Working on a Sloping Site

Hey everyone, as you know I’m making some research about how to work with the slope of the topography because the site that we’re working for this term has a slope and I didn’t think it would be a problem at first but since we’re creating our design by taking references i couldn’t find a lot of ways to work with slope because the research that i did consisted of buildings on a flatter surface (that our site)) and now i’m making more research.

I came across some stuff that is going to be useful for us and while working with the slope these informations can come in handy.

So, this is a retaining wall , it’s a structural feature, designed to hold up ground which would otherwise drift down (for example, to hold up a hill if you cut into the side of it). Retaining walls will generally be a part of the original building plans of your house. These walls can be major works: such as when used to support a basement design built into a hill or smaller walls for landscaping.

It can separate different areas in the outdoor living space or just create visual interest. More often though, retaining walls are used to prevent soil erosion and create flat areas on a sloping block of land.

here gets more deep in structural program of it:

Some use the weight of the wall itself, while others rely on deep pilings, cantilever mechanisms or anchors to add extra strength. Retaining walls which rely on the weight of the wall need to be strong enough to absorb the pressure of the soil, as well as the wall’s own weight. Accumulated groundwater can increase the pressure on a retaining wall. To combat this pressure, drainage holes are often incorporated into the base of the wall to prevent it from collapsing.

resource: https://cascaint.com/building-knowledge-4-retaining-wall/

This actually took my attention because in the last design that i came up with there was a part that didn’t look nice because the building’s relation with the topography was so poor, it had to have more arrangement on the topography.

 -Here is the problamatic part of the model. On our last term I had first decide on the change of the topography then produce the topography model. But now while i was starting this model I was not yet decided on the change of the topography but in the later models i will be considering of this issue.

 

In my research  I also came across some mothods that need to be done on a building site to prepare it for construction. The one that i want to share is,

Cutting and Filling

On the sites that has a slope like the ones that we’re working on, there appears to be a need to cut and fill the land to create a level area to build on.

The ground is ‘cut’ into the high side and sand from this ‘cut’ is placed on the low side to ‘fill’. This creates a new sand pad level (SPL) on which the slab (or slabs in the case of multiple units) is placed.