Developing Design sketches

Combining pods into one form development sketch

Natural sound development sketches

I wanted the natural sound space to react and interact with the site. Because of this I looked at having glass that reflects the natural curve of the river and by setting the pod against the cliff face.

Silence Space development sketches

I wanted this pod to reflect its program and be very simple and neutralising. Hence the use of a simple square shape. Because the space needs to be sound proof, it is not possible to have windows. The insulation is very involved with textures being vital to the performance.

Section through the building showing textures

Flat walls bounce sound back, textured walls absorb sound.

Example of textures

Visualising sound space development sketch

This sketch is derived from the organic shape of cornstarch and water activated by sound

Composed Sound - Sound Hall/Theatre

The sound hall is a space to experience composed sound; music. It is here that visitors of the building can passively experience sounds that are created with a distinct purpose. It shall take the form of a general theatre as there has been much research over centuries in the best way to acoustically experience sound. 

No sound – Silence space

An anechoic room is a room that absorbs sound and doesn’t produce any echoes. This is something that I learnt researching sound and think it would be an interesting thing for people to learn about in the space. The silence space could include this as a sound testing space or recording studio. For the general public it could also be a place for relaxation and reflection in close proximity to the CBD. Obviously, for a space to be sound proof there needs to be many technologies implemented, examples of projects are shown below:

Natural Sounds - acoustic ecology

Natural sounds, also known as acoustic ecology, are sounds of natural elements (wind etc), as well as natural sounds to the area (this would include traffic and human noises etc). The natural sound space will use elements to reflect natural sounds surrounding the space to the area. It will also feature elements to mimic natural sounds. These are some examples:

Sways in the wind and mimics natural sounds

Echoes sound

Area sound is coming from to the site

Visualising sounds - cymatics

The visualising sound space is in my opinion the most exciting. This space will greatly rely on the use of speakers as this is a major element that influences visual sound. Here are a few examples of cymatic activities:

Example of how speaker system works

cornstarch and water activated by sound

Patterns made by salt/rice/flour by sound

3D prototype model of sound waves

Video feed captures cymatics and displays it on screens

Developing a Program

Working with sound, with the help of Yvonne I devised a program of four different spaces:

To increase access to the site, I decided to try and reach the top of the cliff as an extra entrance point. To achieve this, I need lots of height. This can be attained by layering the different levels up.

Here are a few sketches of basic development of the envelope: 

Expanding concept

To tie sound with my biomimicry concept of the water ripple, I investigated sound waves. Sound waves can be visually represented in a similar pattern water ripples. In fact, when activated by sound, water creates ripples as seen in the below images.

water ripples

sound waves

Water activated by sound

This is a strong connection and is a coherent link between the ideas.

Presentation Feedback

The feedback from my presentation was overall very positive. It was suggested that I research cornstarch and its reaction to vibrations as produces a pattern very similar to water ripples.

I found these two videos on youtube and thought they were quite inspiring!

The second video in particular could be inspiration for a buildings form. 

Basic Conceptual Design Development

For the project 2 presentation I wanted to have a simple layout of spaces to see how my proposal would work.

As I have addressed access as an issue in my site analysis, I wanted to be sure that I had selected a location in the site that provided a solution to this.

Taking inspiration from the way water ripples, I wanted the form of the design to be included within the ripples area.

I also wanted to take advantage of the existing site buildings as I believe it would be a huge and unnecessary waste to have three empty buildings on the site and to build a new building essentially wasting resources.

The Fun Theory

The Fun Theory is an initiative started by Volkswagen to alter the perception of something to make it fun.

To make the exercise equipment more appealing, I have decided to incorporate some of the initiatives from the Fun Theory in my design.

The piano stairs are something that I think is very unique and a good way to make people choice between something physical and non-physical subconsciously.

The pinball machine is combined with a stepper machine and uses the left and right sides of the steps to act as the levers to control the ball in the game. A fun way to exercise.

The dance floor traffic light proposal has a footpath which lights up like an arcade dance game to provide entertainment for people before crossing the road and to encourage people to wait. This could also be seen as an informal exercise activity.

Energy and Exercise

Passionate about physical exercise and sources of alternative energy, I think creating exercise equipment that generated energy would create a fun atmosphere and identity to the site. Some prototype ideas I’ve had are using stationary exercise bikes to provide power for tv screens, phone charges and lighting etc, a water fountain which requires a wheel to be cranked to build up the water pressure, and an electrical information board that requires the user to pull a cord to activate the screen.