- Architecture ServedProject Featured On:Architecture Served — 9/28/12
Hastings - an Old Town & a New
Description
How can architecture be geometrically complex yet socially active? How can we envisage architecture that develop social relevance as much as aesthetic and experiential quality? How can geometric and experiential articulations support a civic sense within building? To this the crystalline form of Calcite, native to the shores of Hastings, was explored for its spatiality through a series of quasi empirical experiments, and its sensory effect tested with the aim of discovering a geometrically-rich vocabulary that may be extended into reality. A competition brief for an art gallery at Hastings, Sussex, served as the context to pursue this interest in complex geometric spaces with civic sense.
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Featured on 9/28/12
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Architecture Served
- Hastings - An Old Town and a New
2nd Year Design Project2008, AA Intermediate Unit 1 - How can architecture be geometrically complex yet socially active? How can we envisage architecture that develop social relevance as much as aesthetic and experiential quality? How can geometric and experiential articulations support a civic sense within building? To this the crystalline form of Calcite, native to the shores of Hastings, was explored for its spatiality through a series of quasi empirical experiments, and its sensory effect tested with the aim of discovering a geometrically-rich vocabulary that may be extended into reality. A competition brief for an art gallery at Hastings, Sussex, served as the context to pursue this interest in complex geometric spaces with civic sense.
The project begins by researching crystals as geometric systems of particular order, speculating on their underlying principles or logic behind the the regularity it displays. An ephemeral phenomenon unique to the crystal was also investigated and assessed for its possible application at an architectural scale.
Calcite is also known for its unique optical properties. The two images above show how a simple rotation of the crystal with respect to its light source can produce prismatic effects. This optical property was also investigated and how it may be reproduced using a different material so that it could be reincorporated into the final building.
The second part of the project shifts the emphasis of the work from the reality of the laboratory to the realities of the site at Hastings. The proposal considers the redevelopment strategy and competition brief for an art gallery space as setby Hastings Council in conjuction with the Strategic Master Plan by Hat Projects, as well as the constraints of the phyiscal morphology and the environmental conditions of the site in the articulation of a formal response.- Programmatic requirements for the Jerwood gallery are incorporated to establish a civic relationship between the proposed art centre and the various communities involved. The aim is not simply for a formally complex building, but for a scheme that truly engages with the town and its people through its spaces, both internal and external.
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