the contour + programme "a courtyard is born"

after a few hours of pushing and pulling lines on the yellow trace....

a baby floorplan layout begins to develop - a courtyard is born!!!

a sense of zoning is beginning to develop also - keeping the big 5 together yet all revolving around the central courtyard and cloister...

eating, dwelling, moving, making, breathing

the contour...

as mentioned a couple of times now the connection to earth is one of the 4 key elements highlighted to increase conciousness... therefore the building programme needs to be derived from a sense of connection to the contours and run of the land.

i feel as though by looking closely at 2 particular contours within the site and deriving movement off these a sense of connection can be established. the drawings below begin to look at how these contours may shape the overall design response.

further developed the building envelope can begin to take a very early shape...

site

in terms of touching the earth lightly the site shown above was made for a range of decisions...

- walkability around the woodfordia area due to the contour wrapping around a majority of the area, meaning the residents of the monastery can travel large distances without too much struggle...

- views down the valley connecting to the earth - as mentioned in the 4 elements post discussing the need for the proposal to have an attachment to the earth.

-a close proximity to the woodford festival site without encroaching on it - meaning the full time residents are not completely swamped every year and provide a visual cue from a small disatnce to visitors of the festival.

-access to a water source that runs adjacent to the selected area - for obvious reasons.

-an area in which regeneration of the local trees is required adding to the "breathing" intent of the proposal - also meaning minimum impact on the greater site by choosing an area which is already slightly "scarred"

-elevated site to catch breeze, light and other elements required for comfort and connection to site and place - additionally monasterys have typically been placed in elevated sites - closer to the heavens...

programme + consciousness

it is important then that a programme is established...

based loosely around the monastery / abbey exemplar analysis a loose programme has been established which aims to address the 5 pieces of the puzzle that have been carrying throughout the semester...

eating, moving, dwelling, making, breathing

a question of why???

“why are there beings at all instead of nothing? that is the question. presumably it is not arbitrary question, "why are there beings at all instead of nothing"- this is obviously the first of all questions. of course it is not the first question in the chronological sense [...] and yet, we are each touched once, maybe even every now and then, by the concealed power of this question, without properly grasping what is happening to us. In great despair, for example, when all weight tends to dwindle away from things and the sense of things grows dark, the question looms.” 
martin heidegger - being and time


this question - why are there beings instead of nothing? - is the ultimate question in my opinion...

only through trying to understand this, achieving a level of consciouness, can one prepare for a fulfilling life... the woodfordia proposal is important as it aims to arm the apprentice an oppurtunity to explore this through a connection to the earth and simultaneiously to ones self...

4 elements 4 consciousness

through my exemplar analysis I have arrived at a point of realisation that the overall scheme must incorporate an adresses 4 elements within the human consiousness and that relationship with the environment...

the 4 motivating elements must address...


1. a sense of introspectiveness (a deeper understanding of one's self) - the courtyard

2. a sense of extrospectiveness (a connection to the world around us - others) - open floorplan - external views

3. a connection to earth (an understanding of our relationship with the ground below) - touching the earth lightly - reading the contours of the land - the now

4. a connection to the heavens (an understanding of our ephemarilaity) - a centrepiece drawing the eye inwards and upwards - the future

 

 

in a sense parralels could be drawn between this and the notion of the 4 elements - earth, wind, water, fire...

 

 



exemplar analysis - japanese buddhist temples

the japanese style of buddhist monastery also followed with the theme of the courtyard determining the spatial heirarchies and overall form.... additionally however in this case is the significance of the pagoda.

 

 

 

the pagoda is the home of sacred texts and artifacts and works on a verticality that emphasises its importance in the overall planning of the precint... this is something interesting in terms that it draws the eye upwards and towards the heavens (enlightenment) not merely inward and introspectively...