Its been a while since I've posted anything on here, so I thought I'd post my university work from the third year, now I have my degree I've fianlly recovered and feel able to look at my work again, so here are a few images and exlanations about my work.

The scheme, a mixed use development is in the heart of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The site itself is a car park for a hotel, aligning one side of the car is a bohemian street with bars, coffe shops etc, and along the other is a busy road to the city centre, the site has 4 roads converging upon one corner of the site creating a fractal geometry, upon which my architectural language is based.

Those of you who know Cardiff will no it doesn't have a major institure for contemporary art, an issue I wished to address in this scheme.

The schemes mixed uses are divided in the following way,

Retail - Book Shops, Private Galleries, Coffee Shops reflecting the bohemain nature if the street - Mill Lane, this street is pedestrianised
Work (1) - Studio units which face into the internal courtyard allwoing large scale artworks to be built by sculptors artists
Work (2) - The 'Creative Bridge' which spans across the courtyard houses, creative industries such as graphic designers, product designers, advertisers dare I even say architects, in an open plan transparent bridge allowing relationships to form between the insdustries and a dialogue to form between people working in the bridge and the internal courtyard.
Commercial - The Contemporary Gallery line the road it is a series of large triple and double height spaces, housing large paintings or scultures, the gallery ground floor is sunken allowing people walking by the gallery to look down upon visitors viewing art but the interal courtyard is raised to give people inside the gallery a different perspective upon the works of art they are creating.
Living - The lving units which are basicallt a duplex uint are stack uo between the fin walls above the retail side of the building, designed for no specific client they could be used by artists or creative people who live there or young trendies who work in the city.

I'll post the final presentation boards before picking out some images and going into more detail, this scheme is quite hard to display withouth being there to talk, so feel free to ask any questions or queries, i hope what I have written explains enough

The second board.

The final Board.

The main concepts behind the building, I hope you can read them

the second concept sheet

the last concept sheet

Hello

English is still a mysterious language for me, so forgive my simple comment.
I like the way you manage wall orientations. I'm curious about looks your project seen from the street.
Will you post some site photos ?

Regrads

Francesco

Still posting i'll get back to you when I've finished

enlarged images

enlarge images

this image shows the living units, they are a combination of a double height space the living area a kitchen tucked behind and stairs which lead up to a bed deck and bathroom, below these two units is one of the retial units in this case an art gallery

This shows how the units above the shops are accessed, by the stair cases and lits between the large concrete fin walls, I wanted the inhabitants of these spaces to be able to experience the monumentality of these walls afterall they are about 17m tall!!!

a few more images

Ok i've managed to find a few pictures of models i made for this project, just to finish with

another one

and one final one, enjoy, it would be great to get some feedback, and if you have any question I will be more than happy to answer them.

p.s if anyone would like to have a look at my cv, its here as a couple of jpegs, I'd love to build some models for somebody so If anybody would like to commision me to build some that would be fantastic, I know its cheeky to ask but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained let me know what you think of it.

the second part

If anyone whould like to post there opinions on this project this would be much appreciated, thanks

All right here it comes! First crit :D
I like this project very much. I like the language and the idea of the fin walls is really good since it gives the building a very strong presence and it's very versatile for you to use as you need while they serve as support for the whole building. Great idea.
On the other hand they could have been used even better. You did almost everything in concrete. I think it would have been much nicer to use concrete for the fin walls and other materials for the rest of the building. When I see the general floor plan I think "flexible spaces between rigid walls" But when I see the appartment details I just think "rigid". Maybe you thought the same way as I did first, but the problem lies in the way of showing it.
I like the layout of the building. Dwellings overlooking a central courtyard always make a great space with lots of activity and a great feel to it.
It would have been great to show the building in its context. Just the volumes of the hotel next to it and the buildings across the street would give a much better idea of how the building is situated since now we're looking at the building as if it was all by itself.
The physical models look great you have great skill with them. The sketchup model also looks very good. You manage to show your ideas in a very concise and effective way.
Congratulations, it's a great project!

Come on guys I know you are out there

Jazzythumper

This is a very well thought out and incredibly well presented project. The work involved must have been enormous, although surely the time allotted to it wasn't.

The image that struck my eye and then remained with me along the way was your section, the one across the galleries. Stunning and beautiful.

Galleries are almost always a challenge to our sense of scale, these are corridors designed to be viewed along their sides, as a tunnel perhaps, where each end may be neither visible nor important. This is always rather difficult, you have to catch the eye, while avoiding competing with whatever objects you are exhibiting and the attention they should receive. Your solution is layering circulations along side each other and enveloping one space with another, carving up your building volume at a large scale, with light as your sculptor. Complex, interesting, truly wonderful.

Your plan, on the other hand, is imperceptible at eye level, as plans usually are, still, orientation is crucial to retail, and pedestrians must anticipate where things are, although they may not see them yet. I feel somewhat disoriented along the way, seeing the building from without, although all your intended circulations may prove to be self evident from within.

Your section across the staircases is interesting.... yet I feel that its daunting scale here works against you, its height vs. its width make for an incredibly tight and encroaching envelope. We usually wish to share our circulations with other spaces; we tend to prefer to feel as if we were spectators, not protagonists while within them. Any public circulation where we may feel alone and unseen feels, and is, dangerous.

Your tectonics I am incredibly enthusiastic with, concrete is liquid stone, set up to follow wooden formwork restraints, yet incredibly expressive, chic, and rather inexpensive, compared to shining steel overlays or granite sheathing. Concrete also enhances the flexibility of your rather deliberate solution; wide bays and neutral surfaces make an excellent backdrop to many uses. Your use of large horizontal screens, glass, steel, all good, very good.

I feel that intrigue, mystery and surprise are indispensable components of success in any large venue. Things must seem different every time we walk through a space, along a different path, at a different height, or see it from a different place. It's this conflict between recognizable orientation and intriguing or surprising kinesthetics that make for the true challenge in projects such as yours. I feel you were more successful in providing the mystery, perhaps the most difficult part, than you were at providing the orientation. Good for you.

In all an incredibly successful example of clarity in presentation and a strong, intriguing and very well refined design solution. You've made me smile, and want to keep on looking for more things to comment on, it's that good. And being something done to learn from without having it built, your benefit comes of any or all the comments it may stir others to share with you, of which I hope you hear ( or read ) more soon.

Saludos

Juan

Thank you for your comments, you are inspiring me to redo this project to a better ability, there are soo many things i need to learn to do before i go back to uni and study again I am currently on my year out, I understand that this is incredibly disorientating for some people you dont have the benefit of having me there in person in a crit! I know that after having discussions with kevin that I don't present an image of the scheme as a whole, I will work on this, probably even try and take my sketch up to the next level!!! Thank you juan you have truly inspired me!

hey Jazzy! I congratulate you for an excelent project and presentation!
I would like to have more view of the urban impact of the project...
Could you insert it in the Google Earth image?
I've been looking into Cardiff but cannot spot the place! :cheers:

p.s if anyone would like to have a look at my cv, its here as a couple of jpegs, I'd love to build some models for somebody so If anybody would like to commision me to build some that would be fantastic, I know its cheeky to ask but hey, nothing ventured, nothing gained let me know what you think of it.
I had seen your CV in the link you provide in your user profile, but now it's not online.
Congratulations for this CV too!

Yeah I decided not to used that hosting company anymore, and I really need to build a new site, come on guys keep the posts rolling on in :cheers:

Hey Jazzy, just give me the streets of the project so I can locate it in GE!

The main street is Mill Lane thats where the retail is based, the hotel is call the marriott i think they are a chain, try searching for that the site is the hotels car park!!!!! Little do they know

Here Jazzy, this is the image of the site...

This is the terrain captured into SU from GE. Just place your model here and export it as .kmz (you need the GE plugin for that!).

finally, the kmz...

BTW the plugin works only for windows

Thanks thats really helpful, if you just look to the right of the tall hotel builiding there is a car park, thats the site, cheers I owe you :cheers: a drink

Ok people it might be the festive period and this could be a reason why there aren't many posts, but i feel that ppb has taken a ddiferent direction, always thought the main feature of this forum was to push forwad achitecture critique and design, but here I have posted a design and very little people seem to have comented on this, whereas the other threads, which are just as valid have posts far often, whereas there subjects are about sketchup itself or other subjects, can I ask the question that has this forum shifted in direction since its reincarnation?

Please post about my work:not worth

this is the third time you are egging us on; I believe that it is patience that you lack, rather than a shift in the dynamics of PPB2. Take a look at where the quality is, and stop focusing on the quantity...And, yes it is the holidays...you'd be better posting in the middle of a normal week...

I find your formal scheme, as based on vehicular roads stated here: "the site has 4 roads converging upon one corner of the site creating a fractal geometry, upon which my architectural language is based.", is too loose and not very well justified. How is it based upon this? Similar angles in plan? Section? Connectivity to the context could help justify this, but as said before, it is something that lacks.

I think you've developed certain areas to a good spatial extent especially the gallery shown in section, but I'd love to see more attention to detail. The stair has more components to it that could become integral to detracting or helping the stair spaces. A potential layout of a living space may help soften your scheme and make it readable, as well as reinforce your ideas. I would encourage you to do what you have said: take your sketchup to the next level and get to the various scales present in a project like this...

Also you say: "this is incredibly disorientating for some people you dont have the benefit of having me there in person in a crit!" I'd like to propose something different. Your work should stand for itself and not need your presence to make the presentation or the understanding of your ideas better. Your ideas should be out on paper, in model form.

my thoughts...for now.

tr

thanks for the comments, the reason i keep egg you on is because otherwise this thread will jsut be lost in the depths of ppb2 at lesat by posting on here myself it keeps it current in the new post section on here which is where i'm sure most users go everytime they log on to check out what is new, and by doing this it keeps my post in the present

I like this scheme it seems well conceived & interesting & is nicely presented.
(but it is difficult to read these small images especially the plans)

What I think your presentation misses are Iso / axo 3D views of the building on site: so far it is lots of interesting bits & I would like to see how they all fit together. My main concern is what you term "monumentality" of the stairways (I get warning bells ringing when I hear this term used) I think these could potentially be overpowering & hence depressing spaces. (The aim should be the reverse with invitation to explore & uplift the spirit) I agree with Trogers softening of the Units with furniture layout would help a lot.

(Incidentally you may be glad to hear a new private venture contemporary gallery has been opened in Cardiff Bay. I aim to visit in the New Year)

thanks for you comments red, alarm bells starting ringing when I hear the two words cardiff and bay!!!! I'm going to work on this scheme more but it make take me a while to add all these suggestions into a reworking of the scheme

ok people you're all back at work now you can start psoting!!!

Ok people it might be the festive period and this could be a reason why there aren't many posts, but i feel that ppb has taken a ddiferent direction, always thought the main feature of this forum was to push forwad achitecture critique and design, but here I have posted a design and very little people seem to have comented on this, whereas the other threads, which are just as valid have posts far often, whereas there subjects are about sketchup itself or other subjects, can I ask the question that has this forum shifted in direction since its reincarnation?

Please post about my work:not worth

no the forum hasn't shifted direction, it's just that there hasn't been many projects posted lately.

in regards to commenting on your project here, i feel that what's been said has been said, especially that (from my perspective, of which i have spoken to you about it on msn) there is a lack of anything that gives us an overview of what the scheme is really doing. we need the 'hero shot', about the how the project sits in its urban context, which is ever so relevant in this project. your section is great, but the presentation doesn't really orientate the viewer in understanding where they are. again, if you work up your sketchup models and post it here, then maybe more comments will follow.

I agree Kevin, your concept of the building being about fractal geometry currently I cant see very well. The conceptual diagrams are very good, but I cant see the building as a whole, real object.

Like everyone else has said, we need to see more exterior images.

I think the presentation for this is very good, but like a lot of people I think it lacks a sense of the context that you're putting it in, and how it relates to it. You're diagrams are clear, and it's obvious you've put a lot of work into this project. However i feel you've relied to heavily on some very cold materials for creating spaces for people to live in, without giving them anything that seems humane. there are some interesting issues of scale, in some areas I felt pinched very tightly in the horizontal direction, and other areas i felt a little overwhelmed with the open volumes. I think this would be a more successful building if the materials were more "friendly" with the use of harsher materials to emphasize, and if the scale was handled a little better. But I did enjoy seeing the project and think that it is a very good idea that just needs a little more development.

archytextural

Jazzy...

Firstly, I would like to congratulate you on the quality of presentation. For me the concept models were by far the most exciting aspect, hinting on the overall form of your design. Unfortunately, this had not been carried through the presentation to the final scheme.

Your concept. Why concrete fins? They have produced such a dramatic form within your concept models dissecting the site into smaller, more intimate volumes but have little explanation …

Courtyards. What was the main consideration in providing two courtyards and why make the larger, more dynamic space private? Surely sculptors, designers and artists would benefit from having ‘shop frontage’ to the public in a dedicated urban space such as the larger courtyard? I could really see their workshops opening out into this space with the public being able to cross and mingle within it.

As SWANKE stated, I think what you scheme lacks is communication in what the finalised building looks like? Some street perspectives which illustrate how your building fits into the fabric of the city. How the fins articulate themselves within the buildings and the surrounding urban fabric. A shot of the courtyard would have illustrated how you had seen this space being occupied…

It seems such an exciting project with such potential. I just want to see what this building looks like!!!

:) SHOW ME :)

I love the actual foam core model, you can really see the volumes and sight lines. great work Thomas+son

very nice presentation. very interesting spaces conceived, resulting in grand gestures. I like it! But yes, we need a hero shot.

working on it as we speak!

I like the use of fractal geometry in creating the plan. Your presentation also helps in explaining the idea. I had a friend who did his thesis based off of fractals and I saw how confusing it can be so good job.

Look, I was browsing through Shigeru Ban's website and I found this building where he uses concrete fins in a simmilar way you do.
Link (http://www.shigerubanarchitects.com/SBA_WORKS/SBA_HOUSES/SBA_HOUSES_11/SBA_Houses_11.html)

He clearly must have been to my degree show and stolen the idea!

He clearly must have been to my degree show and stolen the idea!

hehe...where you been jazzy? Caca only made that comment last February. Still cooking up that hero shot for this project?

I'll never get time to do that, Ive been working on my year out and enjoying it to much that i'm doing a second and Ive become a master of sketchup, if my boss will let me show it i'll post our new project!

I would be keen to see a full program; Accommodation and floor areas. Looks like a great project, i am wrestling with an urban site at the moment based on Syntax and deleuze's theories.

Good stuff!

I think the concept diagrams are very strong, but they might be too strong since some do not become apparent in the final execution of the final project.
But they do communicate your rationale and ideas, which is most important IMO,- the details will always be a work in progress, stopped only by time constraints.