Archinect - Thesis Year

Final Book and Final Boards are done!

2013-05-12T22:32:36-04:00

My Master's Thesis is coming to a close and so I wall be going about the task of putting my final book in blog format. Some of this will fill in information but I am trying to think of the task as more curating the process. Who knows maybe it will turn into a more edited book for publication...

Or to be on my self to share with my grand kids.

Here is the final board. Enjoy!

Final Book and Final Boards are done!

2013-05-12T22:32:34-04:00

Or to be on my self to share with my grand kids.

Here is the final board. Enjoy!

Final Review Tonight

2013-04-29T09:14:41-04:00

Here are some renderings of the spaces.

Curated post upcoming.

Final Review in 5 Days

2013-04-12T13:19:03-04:00

Update in progress... it's going to be big.

These are the drawings that I presented to the structural consultant... more scale, context, and material coming in the final...

I don't think you're ready

-Darian

Views of my current progress

2013-03-02T14:07:50-05:00

The new design on the site

Elevations as works in progress

More Elevations

A hint of the space frame structure that I want to use to frame the courtyard.

Design Development and other Forms of Torture

2013-03-02T14:03:26-05:00

At Boston Architectural College, Design Development has recently been broken into to parts. Design Development 1 and Design Development 2.

Real world "Design Development" is where an architectural design goes from "what" the designer wants to do to a more descriptive "how to." As such, the main decisions about the design become apparent.

For Example:

I have been designing a trade school that is centered around a courtyard. Now I am asked, "how" is that courtyard going to look? Out of what material will it be made? "How" will that courtyard be structured? "How" will you shade the southern exposure side of that courtyard.

I have wanted to include a theater in my design. It has now ended up on the basement level. "How"will that theater space be laid out? "How" deep does the space need to be to hold lights and equipment? "How" will you be connected to what is above ground?

The splitting of design development into two phases is suppose to address the students' tendencies to...

Schematic Design and progress

2013-02-02T19:44:00-05:00

So the schematic design process has been pretty fun and I'm sure it's missing the mark in a few places.

But, let us talk about the process.

One of the major moments was trying to find the organizing principle between my thesis of inserting and inverting the host and guest relationship and how to take a handful of program and arrange in within four walls... or boundaries. So I started with two programs, a host's and guest's.

Guest: Cafe

Host: Kitchen

I knew that I wanted the cafe to be open and the kitchen to be appealing but how do I design for that? I decided that a garden could act as a mediating factor that would hold the two together and apart. And that the combination could charge the space with expectation. So, with the geometric patterns created through the existing building and bisecting lines:

... I added a central space to wrap the program around.

The result is a courtyard that is very "Moroccan" as in "the basic form of a traditional Moroccan home always ...

Quick Question

2013-01-17T11:56:20-05:00

Moving into Design Development (DD) on my Thesis I am upping the difficulty rating.

First: I will be taking some hand rendering courses; including pen and ink, and watercolor rendering.

Second: I will be moving from designing and drawing by hand to designing and drawing with CAD and by hand.

This is going to create opportunities and challenges of using the right tool for the job. Hopefully I will remember that being able to use Revit or Rhinoceros doesn't mean that I should.

With that prelude, the question:

Do you think that CAD or BIM is beneficial to developing an architectural thesis project? Why or why not?

(Note: If your thesis is more theoretical and questions the premise of BIM technology in design, then of course it is useful. But this question is strictly concerned with the development of design by hand or through the use of computer aided drafting.)

Schematic Review: Time Crunch

2012-12-11T10:24:11-05:00

This will be a short post with pretty pictures.

Schematic Review is Wednesday night. So, much of the last month has been storming and trying to turn my concept into an architecture. Here is the recap:

I've been working on understanding how the Host culture of Morocco can be woven into the city fabric. But more importantly, once inserted into Boston, how would the South End residences be woven into the Moroccan spaces as guests.

Up loading images seems to be causing problems so... more later.

Regards,

Images of the Schematic process below:

http://mineownimage.tumblr.com/

Preliminary Review- October 31 2012

2012-11-09T21:13:02-05:00

The Next Installation of my thesis includes the Preliminary Review

The purpose of the review is to provide three (3) viable schemes that expand and clarify the concept. I needed to dive deep into the concept, site, and program to create three iterations of inversion and insertion. And as with most things architectural, the results were nuance.

I created four (4) schemes that expand on the concept:

Enclosing

Weaving

Grafting

Infusing

And the presentation of these schemes went from the vague inspirations to the more specific drawings and sketches.

These schemes helped me identify attitudes and relationships inherent in my project. Did I want to isolate, separate, or connect the host and guest. Do I want this architecture to plug in the host or guest, intertwine, or disperse....

Lots of questions still as I am paring these 4 schemes down to 1that I will pursue in the Schematic review and through to the end of the project.

My next deadline ...

Meeting "The Client"

2012-10-20T17:24:59-04:00

Q: Who would you choose as a client for a thesis that inserts a Moroccan cultural trade school into the existing community in the South End?

A: A knowledgeable Moroccan who know's Moroccan history, trade, crafts and how to design for occasions.

In other words, a business man who knows Moroccan Handicrafts and who guides tours of Morocco.

Thankfully, that is just the type of client I have found. AND He is open to discussing the project with me!

Many thanks to Addi Ouadderrou who agreed to meet with me to discuss my project.

The next steps are to investigate all of Morocco in regards of architecture, and culture.

One of the great hints that Mr. Ouadderrou gave me was to become familiar with the Imazighen or Berber culture that is native to Morocco and all of Northern Africa. I wouldn't assume that Moroccan culture is originally French because of the great influence that French colonization had upon Casablanca. In the same way I cannot assume that Moroccan culture is...

A Kick In the Seat

2012-10-08T21:47:00-04:00

Thesis crawls on at a snail's pace. I am currently preparing for the preliminary review which is the first major critique of site, program, and design approaches. This review will require that I develop a method of looking at my thesis topic of inverting the roles and the introduction of a new group into an existing community.

FIRST COMES THE WORD

I am searching for words to describe what I want to do.

I will then take these words and produce graphic representations.

I will take these graphics and then assemble them into a cohesive approach.

The goal = 3 distinct approaches to the thesis that all are valid and can result in a successful project.

POR EJEMPLO

Graft

The simple word created the graphic which created the model which is crystalized into this:

A mobius strip that is inverted and connected through this interlocking.

This of is only one example but the goal is to develop 3 approaches like this that I can then apply to th...

Off topic-Life of a thesis Student

2012-09-29T11:34:02-04:00

Disclaimer

- This will be a short venting blog entry-

Thesis is not easy. I love the creative thinking, the making, the drawing, the investigating, the mapping. But, it's not easy.

Being a married and fully employed thesis student means that when I am at work, I feel like I should be with my wife or working on my thesis. When I 'm with my wife, I feel like I should be working on my thesis. When I'm working on my thesis, I feel like I should be with my wife.

Do not get it confused. School, Work, and Life take up overlapping time commitments and they will fight for your attention.

Its a good time to remember to just breath. That time spent in the here and now will pay off later, but don't think about that. Remember to live in the moment and get done what you can when you can.

The moment of Zen.

Post Introductory Review: Push and Lessons Learned

2012-09-23T16:34:00-04:00

Preparing for the Review

The week leading up the the first review included trying to balance thesis with work, wife, and a desire to do a gateway project and add to my IDP (Intern Development Program) hours. By Wednesday (the 19th of Sept.) I was working on 5 hrs of sleep a night and trying to push and make a good showing at the review.

Boards

After meeting with Thesis Faculty we found that I needed to justify the site and find some solid precedents to justify what I am trying to accomplish. This meant Friday-Saturday working on developing precedent images and a SketchUp model of all of Boston to justify siting the thesis on the boundary of Massachusetts Ave and Washington Street.

Checking out the Competition

Monday I made a trip in to look over the other students' review. The reviews ran the gamut from information and image- filled to information light and concise images. From what I saw at the review, it looked like I needed to concretely justify the site and the p...

Day 1 thru 9: Preparing for Introductory Review

2012-09-07T20:39:00-04:00

Thesis officially Started on the 29th of August 2012.

They may stay it ends not with a bang but with a whisper. Right now I only see the whisper of long nights ahead.

Purpose

This blog entry will act as an introduction to my thesis and a means by which I can work out designer's block or writers block and organize my thoughts. Please bear with me through this endeavor and if you are interested you can always reach out or respond with comments.

Current State of Affairs

It is currently 12 days until the first of five reviews for this Masters Thesis Program at the BAC. It is the Introductory Review, intended till up all possible rocks or roots that will disrupt the Thesis Process. Preemptive, Preventative, possibly the biggest reason I currently stuck in terms of what to do. There will be many problems with the thesis... but exactly what those are... Maybe I should give a download of what the thesis is:

*clears throat*

My thesis tests how architecture relates to and be...