...and here are the plans!

if you squint your eyes hard enough not only will it hurt, but you just might be able to read it!

Sunny :p

a few more images.....!

hey guys, here are a few more external and a few internal images of my latest project - the Urban Retreat.

You'll notice quite a difference between these images and ones produced for my 3rd year schemes (The Cinema and Turkish Bath). Here I have tried to use a more 'graphic' representation of spaces etc instead of pristine photo-real renders. Although, I just couldnt help myself with the 'bath/pool' image. The reflections and radiating luminosity is an effect which simply cannot be done with sketches (or at least I cant!).

As part of my personal lust for gorgeous 3D images and (sur)realistic walkthru vids, i just might make one for this project - IF i get the time to. It isnt exactly going to improve my grade/mark for this year and i kind of get the impression that photo-real renders and walkthru vids are frowned upon in post-grad. If anything i'd get shot down for doing one! (my skills have improved quite a bit but i dont want it to look like i'm showing off either!) So i might just make one during the summer - i want to experiment more with 3D matchmoving and tweeking my Vray skills anyway!

Thats it for now.. enjoy! and please leave some comments!

Sunny

Section A-A

section C-C

Flower garden
Multi-use/exhibition space

Shallow relaxation bath/pool

Main circulation space

Portfolio hand-in day (today!)

Its portfolio hand-in day today and everything is sat snugly in my portfolio ready to make its way to uni. :)

Its been a while since i posted anything uni-work related too... so here goes!

*background to the project*
The scheme is a urban retreat, a place to relax and get away from the hustle and bustle of modern day society. Oh, and its based in York, England. One of my images is a google Street View montage so i'll paste the link here for you to see the location for yourself too. :)

Note: the yellowish walls are made from LitraCon light transmitting concrete - it helps realise the idea of spatiality and the use of light within my scheme.

I'll post some internal images tomorrow.

Also, just so you know... these images were produced using Archicad + Cinema 4D + Sketching (yes, sketching - not sketchup (i hate sketchup!)) + Photoshop. It is quite a long-ass way to go about things, but i kind of like it. The images look completely different compared to what i'd usually produce (photoreal-ish 3D renders!). Although, i couldnt resist.. one image i'll post tomorrow could only really be done using some nice 3D software :)

front (east) elevation

section b-b

north-west view

Street-view montage

View Larger Map


comments are welcome :)

Sunny :p

The Life of an Architecture Student

This is a narrative slideshow that depicts a day in the life of a Berkeley architecture student. Pretty well done and suprisingly similar to life as an architecture student over here in Leeds.

The Life of an Architecture Student from Peter Hess on Vimeo.

PUMA City, Shipping Container Store

This piece of Architecture is by NYC/Napoli based office LOT-EK, a practice that has been doing an interesting job by reusing containers. 24 containers are put together to create a 3 storey store with over 11,000 sqf, including a bar/lounge area and 2 decks.

The store is currently at the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-2009, and it´s transported to each location (Alicante, Boston, Stockholm) and assembled quickly.

Luxury House - modern design by French architects

Again, Stumble has provided me with some lovely imagery for your eyes! This piece of astounding architecture is elegantly designed and features huge facades of glass, a chapel, 21 bedrooms and a sculptural winding staircase.

here's the original link and here's some pics!

Architecture Rocks!

yes, literally. This was carved out of solid rock by hand. I believe it is in India and have learnt that India has more than 1,200 such structures, the earliest dating to 8000 B.C.
it wont help you on your architecture course to know this, but hey at least you've now seen another meaning to vernacular construction. :p

3D images for Bond Bryan Architects

I was randomly googling a project i worked on and i came across this page: http://www.building.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=284&storycode=3131215&c=1

the images are what i produced for Bond Bryan Architects! too bad i havnt got any recognition for it!lol..

Sunny :p

My Intuitive Response

From my analysis of York and the River Foss i developed an intuitive response. I wanted to focus on 3 main points - the condition, shape and tranquility of the river. I (tried to) make a wire model (as seen below) with 3 layers showing a graphical representation of my findings.

The top layer shows the shape of the river
Middle layer shows the tranquility
Bottom layer shows the condition

Areas where undulations in the line are present represent where the tranquility or condition are negative (so flat lines are good!).




I think the model works well as it illustrates the negative and positive areas on the river Foss quite clearly, although photographs can't do it justice. For a sense of scale, the height of the model is 5cm and the width is 22cm.

Here are some more intuitive responses from other Grad Dip students (click to enlarge).

Thats all for now!

Sunny :p

Architecture - Intuitive Response and Magic!

On tues 10th Feb we, Graduate Diploma year 1, had a 'intuitive response' show and tell presentation. Generally the idea was to make a sculptural model of some sort however it was up to the individual to find a means to portray a feeling, idea, sense of space about the site. Some people made sculptures, some made models (one that reminded me of this for some reason..) and others tried more creative ways of expressing their thoughts. One of these ways was a card trick!

Obviously being the keen videographer that I am, I was there to film this spectacle in full 720p HD glory. so here's the link. (you might want to click the video and watch it directly from youtube - there is a 'watch in HD' link which, unsuprisingly, directs you to the HD version. :)

Adaptable Architecture Gallery

A group of Brazilian architects have sent Dezeen.com these images of a conceptual, mobile gallery, designed to travel along the river Thames in London. The project was developed for a competition organised by architectural agency Arquitectum, called London 2008, by a team of architects made up of Victor Paixao, Miguel Felipe Muralha, Paula Sertorio, Thiago Florez, Andre Mack and Bruno Castro.

The brief was to design a mobile architecture gallery which could travel along the river and pick up visitors at several locations.

here's the direct link! (click here!)

York - Site Analysis (in pictures)

Yesterday and the day before that, I had the joy of freezing both my beloved (coco)nuts off. Along with this unnerving pleasure I traveled to York, the first day in my car and the second day in a monster truck - well, a Toyota Land Cruiser - to do a site analysis of an extensive area of York. The focus of this site analysis is the River Foss which stems off from the River Ouse at the south of York and mianders northward where it finally ceases to be a river (according to google maps) at Strensall - just 10km from the centre of York.

From a tutorial today my group has decided to perform a very thorough site analysis where each of us take a few topics and rigeriously search information, draw maps, diagrams, sketches, lemonparty, and finally produce a document consisting of all our efforts. This large task should effectively be our site analysis of the whole of the site - and once we decide upon an area/site to design a building on we shall then carry out a further site analysis of that locale.

I've still do to my part of the analysis but here are a some photos from the day/s.

Sunny :)

East bank of the River Ouse, near Lendal Bridge

Whip Ma Whop Ma Gate

A clue

Model of the Hungate development

end of Picadilly, where it connects to Tower St.

Top 10 Green Architecture Projects 2008

At the end of December Inhabitat did an article on the 'Top Ten Green Architecture Projects of 2008', some of which i have never seen before, so i feel its my duty to cut, paste and plagiarize their article (lol). Actually i'll just show you the pictures and reference a link for you to click on for more details. :)
Above, 'the Greenpix Zero Energy Media Wall by New York based architecture & media firm Simone Giostra & Partners. Visible from up to a kilometer away on one of Beijing’s most congested main roads, the 20,000 square foot bright light facade of the Xicui entertainment complex is more than stunning, it’s surprisingly strong in its green credentials. The Greenpix Zero Energy Media Wall is the world’s largest color LED display, and has a self sustaining energy life-cycle. Harvesting sunlight collected during the day via photovoltaic solar cells, the wall uses stored solar energy to light up the LED’s for a spectacular nighttime show.'

Above, Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland.

Above, recycled subway cars turned into studios in London.

For the rest of these projects click here.

Sunny :p

Excellent residential projects!

This link shall take you to a site i stumbled upon containing several fine examples of architecture. These are my favorite images from that very page.

STUMBLE!

if you dont have Stumble on your browser then you havnt lived - seriously. I insist you go google 'stumble upon' and install it.

this is something i Stumbled upon (gedit?).. its slick and i really like it! click here to visit the flickr page.

Free Materials and Textures

yes thats right.. free materials and textures for you to use in your models. click here

Stairs anyone?... or Base jumping?

Click here for a whole page full of wondrous stairs for your delight. Here's some samples!








... or if you fancy watching some Base jumping off the Burj Dubai then watch this vid (below)!

Poll Results

Poll title: What software do you use mainly?

Results are:

3D Studio Max/Viz	4 (50%)
Autocad	2 (25%)
ArchiCAD	2 (25%)
Blender	1 (12%)
Cinema 4D	1 (12%)
Revit	0 (0%)
Sketchup	4 (50%)
Other...	1 (12%)

The next poll is: Steel or Concrete?

Benny Lava

If you know what the title refers to, you'll appreciate this pic (found on deviant art)! If you dont know what it is, here's the youtube link!


sunny :p

(ANIM) The Cinema

Somebody asked me if i could show them the animation i did for project which looks at reintroducing a cinema in Leeds around where the first film (ever made) was shot. The site is near the Calls Landing and it overlooks the river and is angled toward Leeds Bridge (click here).

Enjoy the video!





Sunny :p