A Crafted Museum of Geometric Casts

Studio 11 focuses on 3 lenses, the sensory lens – how we feel in the spaces we inhabit, the relational lens – how we contact, communicate, share and express the worlds we occupy and the architecture lens – material, spaces and their connections.

My proposed museum is situated within pells park, phoenix industrial estate and targets the children that already inhabit the park. It aims to relate to the community through leaving a trace of the phoenix industrial estate that is soon to be demolished. This is done through using casts of simple geometric shapes inspired by Van Eyck’s playgrounds where he found that using simple geometric shapes of different scales attracted children’s attention, these casts will have residue of the process to stimulate children’s curiosity of the process of the making where a workshop at the end reveals the making process which acts as the missing mould of the casts, representing the workers.

The project then takes inspiration from studio Mumbai’s textile studio and aims to relate the architecture to the site and craft it’s exhibiting, through using geometry as a generative designing concept in terms of the exterior layout to focus on views and circulation. Meanwhile, the details of the building is crafted through the use of materials such as rammed earth walls that follow the same process of casting and consists of local materials in Lewes, along with Shou Sugi Ban – Japanese burnt wood which aesthetically presents its process of being crafted.

The combination of framed views relating to site, movement and crafting materials then allowed me to be inspired by Peter salters designing approach where he imagens his experience through his architecture. Therefore, through imagining myself walking through my architecture I began crafting the details of windows framing views as an experience, pivoting doors that allow a shadow gap between curved and straight walls, and stair cases that allow views of the same object from different perspectives inspired by the Kiasma museum. Where Holls use of phenomenology investigates the body as a sensory apparatus experiencing space, where providing views of the same space from multiple perspectives, allows people to engage with the space through movement. Where seeing unfamiliar objects from different perspectives can arouse our “senses and activate a sense of wonder”.

Meanwhile, timber pillars knit the structures of the museum through highlighting walkways as semi-exterior spaces , and turn into furniture in interior spaces, before finally turning into exterior benches as they make their way to align with the trees on site – as if going back to their origins and connecting to the site.

The charcoal plan was an analysis of the current spatial occupation of site based on desire lines leading to the playground toys drawn in bold at the bottom of the page and benches at the top of the page. I saw desire lines as people acting as moulds carving into the landscape their inhabitation and desire points of site. Therefore, I decided to use a layout of a museum that consists of several structures that are located at desire points and frame positive exterior spaces to mirror the negative mould and the positive cast.

Inspired by Alvar Alto and Tado Ando. Where I took the concept of having shifting central points to create frame views from Alto. As well as Andos concept of architecture dissecting the landscape to create a generative geometric drawing to develop my design.

1. The entrance is the viewing space used as a distraction for when one is waiting to go into the museum. The rammed earth wall extends at different angles and lengths around the window to create a framed view, this view either focuses on highlighting a view on one side or act as a distraction from unwanted views e.g. loading and unloading zone. The thickness of the rammed earth is used and extend to create a seating area with a timber finish.
2. This is followed by a walkway that acts as semi-interior due to being in the middle of 2 courtyards where the change in height of the ramp gives a sense of walking on a natural landscape.
3. & 4. This is then followed by the main museum space which focuses on allowing views of the space and casts from multiple perspectives. Where the casts are visible from the moment of entrance, but the stair case opposes the entrance so the visitors would have to walk in the opposing direction that they came through to go upstairs, providing another view. The landing of the staircase is extended to create a ‘middle level’ to allow for another view of the casts and the first floor has an opening to allow for another view of the casts from the top.