Conceptual Planning: insight into the Design Process

The plan I chose to base the section of my Engineering School on was that of the Villa Mairea designed by Alvar Aalto. Out of every other plan presented in the lecture, this one seemed to fit best in the context of my landscape, since my School is perched atop a butte and requires an elevator shaft to the valley floor. I could also envision a very simplistic layout of the required spaces (eg. library, lecture theatre etc.) in this plan, which I have defined in the lower image.

After planning the use of space, it was time to put thought into my exterior. Due to the interesting curvature present in the plan, I decided to treat the required spaces as compartments that could slide into one another.  I concluded that much of the slanted sections of the facade should be made of glass to take full advantage of the striking desert views. This image of the Daum Space in South Korea invoked a response from me and gave me ideas for the resulting form of my School design.

A rough sketch collaborating all of my thoughts helped me work out how I would incorporate the bridge, the School, the moving elements, the folly and the valley into one dynamic, complementary design. I believed a curved and banked bridge  would better integrate with the undulation of the creviced landscape, along with the sinusoidal frame I added to the initial bridge design. The moving elements (the elevator and its' spiral helix shaft) would be of a similar form to the bridge and would lead to a flat platform on which the folly is located. The folly, visible from any angle on the curvilinear bridge, would be located on a shallow cliff overlooking the deep creviced valley floor.

The section through the foyer of my school maintains a similar shape to that of the Villa Mairea plan, with some variation. This section cut gives insight into the lecture theatre, workshop, gallery space, and studio space and offices (in ascending order as you rise through the left-hand side of the section.)