Still aboot

I haven't fallen off the 3rd floor of Lasserre: I've just entered production/design phase, so I don't have as much to think about.

I've been trying to design the auditorium/staircase from the bus loop as a prototype so that I can do basic massing for the rest of the buildings and mark it as similar. While assembling ambiguous spatial conditions for the auditorium is interesting, I found I was making too many spot decisions.

I went to yoga this morning to think about it and decided (during breathing, giving support to the theory that more blood in your brain helps you think) that what I need to do is design ambiguous spatial articulations to deal with the specific needs of the auditorium. Although I love the look of the lofted Maya 3-D models, they don't actually deal with the realities of the space.

When I was designing, I found myself slapping together solutions for edges where people might fall and desk seats where people need to get in and out. So, today I'm going to try to carefully design two or three units that can deal with this: that are a combination of the Graphic Standards sections but work in both long and short section so people can sit easily.

I'm also going to rethink the ramp access to the site. I placed wheelchair access on the north/east side of the auditorium, but I found the ramp really guided where the ambiguous spatial articulations should go. To this end I'm going to try to stretch the ramp throughout the auditorium so that the whole thing is articulated. The landings work well as rest spaces and are suitable for circles of seating for conversations (using the desk/seat ASC that I assembled in DS)

I hate that I only came to these conclusions the day before I meet with Thesis Advisor M, but I'm glad I was able to look at what I produced yesterday and understand why it doesn't work so I could formulate ideas as to what might work. My way of designing is so SLOW.