Rendering

As I work through my list of necessary drawings in preparation for my thesis defence next week I have begun to think about how I want to render the project. The base images from Revit with their photo-real attempts are unsatisfying, but with some photoshop collaging they can be inhabited. I am working towards using these images as a base for a collage which is then painted in as a digital watercolour. The below images show a before and after working out the process and how I want to approach the final images. Yes I know there’s a wall in my stairwell… this is just a test.

Rendering output from Revit rendering engine.

After processing in photoshop.

Building as System

I started trying to understand the broader systems context of my thesis topic by make a model that showed up a while ago in this post.  This was a critical transition to working in a more inductive way – trying to find a solution in my understanding of the problem.  It was at that point that the scope of the project changed from a building that accepted the infrastructure as built and proposed to one that sought to rethink the issue of stormwater as a whole and to find opportunities for architecture within this critical analysis.

In an attempt to move the project forward I have built a second systems model at twice the scale (1-5000) of the last one that explodes the stormwater layer from the last model into its constituent parts and includes the vegetation/permeable layer and evapotranspiration connectivity of flow.

The third model I plan on making is only in digital form but I will laser cut and assemble it tonight.  This one makes a huge leap from 1-5000 to 1-50 scale.  The language is the same, but this model shows the architectural or building scale proposals I am working on and bring the ideas of structure, programme, identity, permeability, infrastructure, systems analysis and diagramming together to represent abstractedly one of the groundwater recharge zones I am proposing with a water tower and a permeable paving system.  Pics of the finished model to come!

Infrastructure as Monument

As I explore the interactive thread of my project I have realised that a thing that is truly interactive is inherently dynamic.  It is an open system.  In order for a piece of architecture to be dynamic it needs input energy – potential energy.  This line of thought brought me to the discovery of hydraulic accumulators and in particular Grimsby Tower.

(from wikipedia)

“Grimsby Dock Tower is a hydraulic accumulator tower and a famous maritime landmark in Grimsby, North East Lincolnshire, England. It was completed on 27 March 1852 with the purpose of containing a 30,000 UK gallon (136 m³) hydraulic wrought iron reservoir at a height of 200 feet (61 m), to provide hydraulic power (rather than a supply of water) to the lock gates and cranes of Grimsby Docks.^[1] The extreme height of the tower was necessary to achieve sufficient pressure. Water towers for water supply purposes don’t need anything approaching this height.”

As I discussed this with one of my profs I realised that there was a prairie model for the use of infrastructure as monument – as a component of identity.  The water towers of southern Manitoba are distinct landmarks – what Christian Norberg-Schulz is refering to, I believe, when he talks about the silhouette and its role in our ability to orient in space and identify our surroundings.  I believe the case can be made that these structures have actually served their communities not only as infrastructure but as distinct components of regional identity.  I believe that Canada is a distinct patchwork of regional identities and the water tower is as much a part of the regional language as is the grain elevator.

Here is a map I am working on showing the spread of existing water towers across southern Manitoba – if you’re from this part of the world it’s amazing how quickly you can locate yourself in your mind just by seeing the images of these towers.  As per usual – work in progress.  Stay tuned for more layers of information on this puppy.