SYNARCHY

[keagano7-blog]

FINAL DESIGN PROJECT OF SEMESTER 1 :

In this project we were tasked to design  architecture that responds to a social context for a developing site south of Johannesburg. 

My main concept was bio-mimicry of an ecosystem. Breaking down a river ecosystem allowed me to extract various layers that would influence the layout of my building. 

The ground floor occupies communal housing units while the first floor occupies family orientated units. Clay brick is used as it is the vernacular material and is also a very durable material. 

[keagano7-blog]

I am a third year Architectural student at the University of Johannesburg. This is my blog and captures all my current work and will capture all of the work I do in the future . This blog is structured chronologically . The projects were based on various notions of 'scape'. The first project was based on public landscape in an urban setting. We focused on an intersection at the Auckland Park Kingsway campus. Where we had to connect the public to their desired destinations . A bridge was designed and allowed many more connections to be made . Connections not just from destination to destination but also the connection between people . Green Week This was a collaboration between the various faculties in our university. We designed focusing on a small scale agricultural business. Supplying them with a product or service to help better their business. Project two Play-landscape or playscape was the main focus in this project. The rural Malawian setting challenged us to design for children and view the world from a child-like perspective. This taught me to focus on function and not the overall aesthetics of the built intervention. We can determine the success based on the usage of the design Project 3 This project integrated these two settings . Bring the organised chaos of an urban setting to a more relaxed rural setting . Project 3 was the most challenging project as I battled with translating my concept into architecture. Through intensive investigations and explorations I was able to communicate the concept within the architecture. This taught me to always push through and not change direction. The different scales that we were jumping between throughout this semester was also quite challenging however this helps us create different lenses from which we can analyse instances.

[keagano7-blog]

HISTORY PRESENTATION : MODERNISM FORERUNNERS

We were tasked to give a presentation on a given designer and his/her designs. Explaining why the design is a modern forerunner and the designers modernist approach. 

[keagano7-blog]

PROJECT 2: MALAWI PLAYGROUND PROJECT 

We were tasked to design a playground for a school in Chimpamba, Malawi. My concept was “Thinking Inside the box”. The idea was to have a modular system that was easy to set up and inexpensive. The spaces in the grid like system would be designed to have a different appearance/function to the surrounding. The structure for the grid system would consist of gum poles.

A BREAKDOWN OF EACH NODE 

Node 1:This node entails a maze, various pieces of plywood are cut to size and then fixed to the gum poles. This enables the kids to play hide and seek, rest , climb and expand their imagination  

Node 2: This node is designed as an adventure course with the outer “boxes” being cluttered with gum poles that are fixed at different angles. The inner box would be a wall of nets which the kids could climb and rest on. There is a courtyard that is created between the boxes . In the space there are balancing beams where the children could climb on or even crawl under. 

Node 3: This node was designed with intent to further develop their skills in soccer and netball. There is a frame that has tyres fixed and the kids are able kick or throw balls through the tyres. There is a small netball court/soccer field situated within this system and is shaded by laths(gm poles with a much smaller diameter ) . This node also has a viewing area that is able to view the entire soccer field, school and playground. 

Node 4: This node has a completely different function . Here kids are provided a plant of their choice and a tyre. The kids are then to a house their plant in soil within their tyre. The children are then  required to  water and take care of their own plant. This creates ownership and teaches them responsibility and gardening skills.  This structure and design is influenced by the design done for green week  

[keagano7-blog]

CONTINUATION OF ARCHISPEAK 

[keagano7-blog]

ARCHISPEAK : SYNCHRONIC 

We were tasked to give a presentation to our classmates that explained the given word. This helps us understand the language that fellow architects use and expand our architectural vocabulary. 

[keagano7-blog]

GREEN WEEK:

This was our new brief issued by the university. We collaborated with the other design disciplines in the University(fashion production,graphic design, multimedia and industrial design) .We were tasked to investigate a local and  small scale agricultural business and provide either a product or service. 

 We drove to our clients in Soweto and discussed their problems and their visions. We then sat together and communicated our ideas and sketched rapidly to solve the issues. 

The final idea was to have a greenhouse that had a PVC structure on top to collect rainwater. The skin of the greenhouse is able to roll up and down accordingly and fixed to the wooden frame with velcro strips. The sewage water was diverted by an oil barrel that was cut in half and dug into the ground.

[keagano7-blog]

REFINEMENT OF BRIDGE AND DETAILING OF STRUCTURE AND CONNECTIONS 

Structure has been revised and the steel arch which is the main support system for the bridge will be hidden by the steel skin. Which will still appear as if the skin is folding and supporting itself which would still reinforce the concept of folding 

[keagano7-blog]

FOLDING ON TO LANDSCAPE : 

Model showing first initial form and shape  of bridge and how it folds on to the landscape. Access points, surface treatment,structure and space definition to be refined . 

[keagano7-blog]

CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT:

Further refinement of concept. Spaces are beginning to be defined. Architecture starts to take form. 

[keagano7-blog]

CONTINUATION OF ORIENTATION WEEK ON TO PROJECT 1 OF THIRD YEAR  :RAPID CONCEPTUAL SKETCHES AND MODELS TO EXPLORE CONCEPT OF FOLDING 

[keagano7-blog]

ORIENTATION WEEK: A COLLABORATION OF 1ST -3RD YEAR ARCHITECTURAL STUDENTS. 

Our group studied the given site and decided to connect all major nodes. This design creates a safer route for pedestrians and also allows for a mixture of cultures to communicate with each other.