WEEK 10: AFTER BLOCK WEEK

So this is it. The second block week has been dealt with. Peeuw. The past week surely felt like a lengthy process of enlightenment in what has become the most unorthodox manner. With that said, I cannot put enough emphasis on how delighted I am to be back at work.

I guess you can say I am spoiled. The cons of being in practice are innumerable, but one that I am particularly glad for is the amount of time I have to do my work. Since nothing has not changed here and I am still flying solo, that too has been slightly compromised. No complaints though. What does this week have in store for me as my welcome back gift?  (Can I get a drumroll please? No? OK.) – Council drawings!

I am beaming with delight because this is the first complete set of council drawing that I have to work on on my own… well, almost. The projects prior to this one had already commenced before I began working here. And thus initial phases like this one only got to me in a half done state, leaving me with the minor tasks of dotting the I’s and crossing the T's. 

The projects, which is under the working title “House Murray” is for clients  from Stanford. The clients are a friendly couple that seeks someone to assist build a home in which they can retire. And they know exactly what they want! And any architect would tell you how efficient it is to design for someone who has a clear vision of what they want. We are not going to be involved with the actual construction so this is probably the last chapter of this project.

Week 9

Block Week 2

The ArchiRobots

It's a Tuesday morning, but for some strange reason it feels like a horrible Monday, and the Mother City isn't exactly in the best of moods. The long weekend certainly wasn't long enough and I am a little earlier than I should be, as I run-walk to the taxi rank with my larger than life portfolio bag - which by the way, makes everyone look at me like I am bearing a suicide bombing kit. I swiftly slot myself and my bag into the taxi and look through the window while listening to Robyn's "Robotboy", knowing that the song title will be an analogy for my week. This is it. The second campus Block Week. 

I nervously walk into the BMW building with Aina, after enthusiastically greeting her and a few other classmates who are standing outside. I am nervous, not because the security guard cannot recognize my face and requires identification, but because I haven't independently exercised my design ability since the first Block Week. But despite all that, the nervousness is accompanied by a genuine wave of enthusiasm. A deep sigh, and I take the lift up, prepared to get lost in the maze. Literally. Navigation around that building is a bit of a nightmare. 

We have four days to complete and hand-in a design project. Of course that is accompanied by a few unvoiced whines and moans about a Construction & Detailing project at hand. It is a case of hoping for the best but expecting the worst, knowing that one will be groggy and bloodshot-eyed for the next three days. Three days. It seems like nothing until you realise that your sleeping patterns have been re-programmed during the past few months, and that shutting down at your own convenient time is just going to be a distant fantasy while you burn that midnight oil. Re-programmed? Yes. We are robots. All of us know that entering campus grounds means forgetting that you are human. Your personal problems and post-class commitments remain outside. In fact, practically all human activities because the 2,4 ceiling height has no room for them - It can only accommodate a plethora of design concepts. Okay! Work mode activated. Check. Shiny metallic skin to withstand critique sessions. Check. Battery charged. Check. And by battery I mean the energy and will to be productive. 

The design R2D2s assemble in the long and narrow lecture room, echoing inaudible sounds while attempting to catch up. We all have one thing in common. The sometimes glitchy, but resilient love for architecture. Before us, stands an ever so patient team of lecturers - June, Heidi, Tasliema and Desmond. With smiles portraying their pride and happiness to see us back for yet another term of information upload and update (and hopefully not overload), they announce the project: a light weight steel frame structure with desired cladding to exhibit visual arts, vend refreshments or host performing arts for the Cape Town First Thursdays monthly event. Okay bots, get on it. 

There is an underlying fear about coming up with a design concept, as it will determine how one branches off, derives and extrapolates ideas for a project's design matrices. Every time before my design process commences, I have to deal with it. Yes, every designer is aware of the fact that a design process is never linear (in fact if it is, it is probably flawed), but that is not sufficient consolation to help the paranoia and architectural OCD. Human problems, yikes. I thought I left that outside of the building. Fortunately I manage to come up with a minimal but strong (I think) concept for my design just in time to obtain enough crits and conduct research in order to complete the project before I run out of "battery", or even worse, TIME. 

I may make it seem like it is all doom and gloom, when on the contrary it is not. It is one of the few places where I can express the passion for something that I love and gush about it for days without appearing like a one-eyed creature from outer space. A place where we can crack dry jokes about Le Corbusier or draughting kits and laugh about until our stomachs ache. The only place with a niche in the shape of my body into which I can slot myself. 
In simple words, Block Week is not just an academic week. It is an arena for those who are genetically engineered to be creative to share commonalities in every way possible, by excluding everything that exists outside its boundaries.

WEEK 7

A Splash of Colour

The existence of colour or even the use of it can easily be seen as something insignificant by some, in the architectural industry.  It can easily be associated with other design deciplines, and thus left off as an afterthought, when in fact it is as important as the design concept or the site for which the design is intended.

Image Source: http://arhitekturaplus.com/

Colour can either make or break an idea – even the slightest difference in the intensity of its shade can affect a space in a way that is as big as an added wall plane or roof height. And as a seemingly flimsy aspect in the layered design process, it actually has a number of remarkable roles that it can play if it is well coordinated with the function and the nature of the space itself. Through observation and experiencing some spaces in site visits, I noted a few things that I will consider in the future before smearing paint on a wall like a mischievous toddler with wax crayons.

Image Source: Pinterest

Colour is a space definer. Something as simple as using different colours for different spaces and functions of an open plan space can clearly demarcate it, without having to deal with hefty furniture pieces or partition walls that will occupy space and limit your visual access. Humans can perceive colour through three different types of cones with photo-pigments. Each of these cones assist one to see the three spectra, with each one perceiving long wavelengths, short wavelengths or middle wavelengths. So the visual impact of colour is definitely visible to everyone who can see colour. 

Image source: Design My Heart Out

The general mood of a space can be affected by the colour one chooses. Each colour has the ability to make one feel a certain way or associate it with a specific mood. Colour is function-dependent, so each space and function have to have a colour that will correspond with the intended function. Look at it from this perspective: you cannot have black or depressingly dark hospital walls. 
Going back to the aforementioned ceiling height, how do you exactly alter that? Quite easy, really. If a room has an uncomfortably high ceiling height and the intention is to lower it in order to cosy up a space, then painting it darker is the solution. A darker shade of colour will bring the ceiling lower and subsequently alter the general mood of a space. The same principle applies to low ceilings but in a inverse manner. 

Image Source: http://www.resene.co.nz/

The size of a space can be affected by the colour one chooses. Even though it is a case of perception, the visual difference it makes feels physical. Do you ever notice how spacious light or white coloured spaces are? Or how crammed or cosy dark coloured ones are? Well here is an ironic twist to the notion - dark colours do not always make a space appear smaller. Contrast does. If the walls are a dark colour and there is a trim of a different colour (usually lighter), the eye will be redirected to perceive the boundaries and edges, thus making a room appear smaller.

Response to temperature is also another factor that colour influences. Of course the main regulators of this are your wall thicknesses, position of openings, scale of glazed areas and orientation. But it is scientifically proven that black or darker coloured buildings absorb more heat and are warmer indoors than lighter coloured ones, while light coloured one deflect most it. And we all know that science does not tell fibs! 

So there it is. When you design a space, you do not just design a structure - you design an experience. You choose how the user should feel when they circulate around it. Every sense if dependent on how you manipulate the design, and that power can only come through a thorough consideration of every aspect in the design and its process. That is where the importance of colour comes.