PROCESS MATTERS (The development of an idea)

How did we get here?

Process:
   1) a systematic series of actions directed to some end
   2) a continuous action, operation, or series of changes taking place in a definite manner

I think my students get tired of hearing me talk about the design process. But as my students know, I think teaching a solid foundation for the design process is one of the most important thing we do to prepare our students to transfer successfully.  So what is this process? Well, for me it is an iterative thought process. And it involves “developing” a design. And it is work.

This is likely another pet peeve of my students – they get tired of me asking them to “develop” their work. A common studio conversation will often go something like this…. ME: “That’s an interesting idea, you should develop it”.

This can at times frustrate the students. They tease me that all I ever say is “develop it”. But this is because we see the work differently. The students, after working long and hard on a design concept see their work with a certain degree of finality. They know it isn’t done yet, but they can’t always see beyond the study in front of them (which is expected because they are learning). As the studio professor, I see their work as a start – an initial idea that has potential, but isn’t quite there yet. I often see their work as a first idea that needs to be “developed” into a more sophisticated design solution. This process of development involves iteration, testing, questioning, and moving the project forward through a more thorough understanding of detail.

Looking at a project in hindsight, this often makes a lot more sense. It is fairly easy to trace the thread of an idea from the beginning looking back. It is much harder when you are in the middle of the process trying to move forward (with a deadline).

That is one of the things I really like about the design build class. The necessity of building the structure forces us to develop the idea. We can’t just build an interesting concept. We need to develop the work and really figure out how we are going to execute this project as a real piece of architecture.

So now that the design process has been completed, let’s look back and trace the thread of ideas though this process as an example of what I am talking about when I say “that’s an interesting idea, develop it”.  

IN THE BEGINNING

At the very beginning, one of the most important schemes developed in week one was the “rotated rectangle”. Our clients gravitated toward this scheme immediately, and it was well developed for a week one idea. In spite of the well-developed initial idea, this scheme would change significantly over the course of the design process as you will see illustrated below.

Another early idea being explored that became fairly important was the exploration of bench models. This study was exploring various L and U shaped bench modules to see how they might accommodate various use patterns ranging from small to large groups. While this is just an initial sketch, these types of seating accommodations would remain in the final design study.

STUDY 02

In the next round of design development studies, these themes evolved into two schemes. The rotated roof scheme evolved into a more ‘tatami mat’ like composition of rectangles. This scheme, however, had some structural beam alingment issues that would drive a significant rethink over the next several iterations. 

And the bench scheme evolved into a study that explored orthagonal benches and staggered roofs levels.

There was also a roof trelli idea that emerged from another very stong scheme, the A-Frame scheme. This design was not chosen to move forward, however, the roof trellis detail would become very influential in the next round of development.

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

In the end, we chose to develop the rotated rectangle scheme, with the incorporation of the L shaped benches of the orthagonal scheme. We also included the roof trellis concept of the A-Frame scheme.

We still neeeded to resolve the structure, however. So even with a selected scheme, you can see in the images below how this design developed over the course of several days of intense study.

If you look closely at this pin up board, you will see a lot of variation and testing related to solving the roof structure and the trellis composition. This was also an opportunity for the entire class to have a say in the final design.

Another series of sketches that I made with the students looked at structural bays, and how we could resolve these without losing the integrity oif the design. (Although the design did have to change compositionally because of the structural concerns!)

 

 

These sketches led to a two bay roof structure concept that we would adopt.

We also looked at roof pattern and trellis variation studies.

 

 

And eventuially ended up with our final design.

And yet again, in the process of putting together the final detail drawings, we continued to let the design evolve to address a concern about anchoring the trellis structure to the roof joists.

So you can see that the seed of the idea has been there from the beginning. But the design process explored significant iterations and tested variations. (In addition to the numerous other design concepts we tested as well!)  And the development of the structure led to a whole series of aesthetic changes and necessary detail development that were an essential part of the design development process.

And now in the shop we continue to make minor tweaks and adjustments as the reality of building challenges the architectural drawings we made.