final interim tomorrow

Tomorrow will be the final interim review for the studio 3D project. It will be my final chance to get feedback about the project before the final credit review at the end of the month. I need to get as much as possible out of this review to put me in a good position to draw up and present my scheme effectively.

I now need to focus my efforts mainly on designing the key buildings of my scheme. I know the constraints that will govern my design and I'm confident that I can develop some interesting designs for these buildings which will work well with the context of the riverside and also with the theory behind my project.

northern designer competition

I have entered the 2009 Northern Designer competition. I decided to enter my urban housing project because of it's strong relation to it's context. I needed to format it in a clear way which meant reducing it down to the key images for the project. Hopefully I've shown the qualities of the project well and have a good chance of being successful in the competition.

photographic study

Today I went to Kilcreggan and Helensburgh to look at some ideas for building by the water. I plan on visiting a number of different towns which are located near bodies of water in order to get an idea of how I might use architecture to connect the city to the river. I would consider todays trip successful in that respect and I have some good ideas of what I might introduce into the project.

competition - the putting lot

I am planning to enter a competition which has some relevance to my current studio project. The brief is to design a hole for a miniature golf course in Brooklyn, NY whcih allows users to engage with ideas of urban sustainability. The design should incorporate reclaimed materials and have a footprint of less than 200 square feet. This should be an interesting opportunity and if my submission is sucessful then it will certainly be an interesting experience to go to New York and put this together.

From the competition website:

TO THE ARTISTS AND ARCHITECTS

We invite you to design a miniature golf hole that examines ideas of urban sustainability. This can be a critique of a current condition, a prediction for the future, or an example of sustainability in the present. It can be anything that you think is relevant to a critical discussion of neighborhood development and urban sustainability in the past, present, or future.

A main consideration in your design of a golf hole should be that it is fun to play. Recreation is a major aspect of the miniature golf course. Its primary purpose is to act as part of a larger course designed to simultaneously educate and entertain.

easter

I am currently in the middle of the easter break. I'm mostly working on putting together my portfolio, which is an interesting exercise. I think it's beneficial to get a bit of distance from the studio project at the moment, that way I can go back to it with a fresh attitude and make sure that it's heading in the right direction. I have a photographic study to do at some point soon which should back up the concept of my scheme and help me to progress with my design.

Also, Peter Zumthor has won the Pritzker Prize which is great. I can't think of any working architect who comes close to Zumthor.