Arch303: Design and Construction I Fall Term, 2007 Professor Robert Mellin Office: room 313 email: robert.mellin@mcgill.ca Phone: 398-6719 Studio Glass Atelier Project Program and Site: A school for studio glass has been proposed for a neglected site bordering the old Irish neighbourhood of Griffintown on the Lachine Canal. The site is located at the intersection of the Autoroute and rue de la Commune Ouest. This level site is welldefined by existing site features (expressway, canal, bike path, tree planting, and pedestrian path). You will individually develop your own detailed project requirements (program areas, required equipment, functional relationships between program areas, servicing, delivery, etc.) based on the required provision of the spaces listed below: Residential component: On-site residence for instructor On-site accommodations for three apprentices Shared food preparation and dining area Shared garden/greenhouse for limited on-site food production Residential semi-private open space Public component: Gallery Exterior display /installation areas Storage Washrooms Studio component (21 students): Studio for studio glass fabrication Studio for design/drawing Seminar room (multi-media) Library/study area Office/reception area Storage Mechanical/electrical equipment Delivery area Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 1/7
Maps showing the history and use of the site are available online, and land use/cadastral maps are available through the Geographic Information Centre. As part of the preparation work for the studio, you should become familiar with the history of the site and the areas adjacent to the site. Pedagogical Objectives: To explore urban and architectural design issues in Montreal To provide an opportunity to do some programming for your project, including information gathering and research on the project site. To study relevant architectural precedents. To investigate different media (traditional, digital) for design and representation, with the goal of integrating these in an optimal manner. To present a coherent proposal for the particular site. To explore architectural design possibilities in a way that may be analogous to the medium (studio glass), and to explore related theoretical issues. To become familiar with three-dimensional computer modeling and to demonstrate the effect of materials, textures, colour, solar orientation/control, and lighting in the representation of your project. Schedule (first month): 1. Weeks #1: readings, site visits, individual site documentation (sketch book, photography), review precedents, and programming. Site visit on September 4 at 10:00am. Afternoon (1:30pm in room 212) presentation by R. Mellin followed by an optional ArchiCAD overview tutorial. Purchase Weisman, Kunstler, & VJAA. Study Holl (Written in Water) on reserve in the library. 1. Week #2: September 10 at 10am: in studio group review of sketches followed by individual studio consultations on program and site analysis. September 11: meet in 212 @ 1:30pm. ArchiCAD tutorial (optional) in late afternoon in the lab. Construction of digital site model (canal, roads next to the site, autoroute, adjacent buildings, ramps, tree planting area, etc.). 3. Week #3: September 17: group meeting at 10:00am to review concept sketches (quick sketches on a site plan showing alternative design concepts). ArchiCAD tutorial at 2:00pm Sept. 17 in 103, and again at 9:00am on Sept. 18 in 103. Meet in room 212 at 1:30pm on Sept. 18. 4. Week #4: Final list of your program areas to be submitted by email to RM on Sept. 25 (Word file or place in text of email: do not use Wordperfect) as well as two low-resolution renderings (max. 72dpi) from your digital site model (model status). Work on conceptual design for first review, sketchbooks, digital massing model for conceptual design. No studio meetings or tutorials as RM is away this week. 5. Week #5: Individual consultations on October 1 if required. First review on October 2 (room and time to be announced). See Oct. 2 requirements below. Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 2/7
First intermediate review (conceptual design): presentation using only Powerpoint or Keynote or a web page to show your sketches, photos, computer models and renderings. Required items for the October 2 review (conceptual design): Representation of program areas / relationships / requirements Digital site plan (buildings drawn to scale on site) Concept sketches (by hand): design Analytical sketches (by hand): tectonics Photographs (site, viewplanes, details, materials, assemblies, etc.) 3D massing studies of the design concept, to scale, placed on the digital site model. Tentative dates for further reviews: Oct. 30, Dec. 4 (final). Further information on the final review requirements will be available later in the term. See VJAA concept models (pages 95, 115, top of page 119, 144, 156, 184-188). Use of the computer: You are welcome to use any computer program(s) for architecture capable of generating three-dimensional views and rendering lighting effects. Robert Mellin will provide assistance with ArchiCAD and will provide tutorial sessions for any students interested in using this program. Information on obtaining a free student version of ArchiCAD Version 11 is available online through GSCNE (Mac or PC, and Intel/Mac). ArchiCAD 11 is available on the EMF network. A free plug-in to go from SketchUp to ArchiCAD is available online. ArchiCAD interactive tutorials and guides are also available online if you need to supplement the tutorials from R. Mellin. A reasonable level of competence with 3D digital modeling is expected by the time of the first review. If you decide not to use ArchiCAD, then you must assume responsibility for obtaining guidance in the use of your software from other resource persons. Sketchup is another program you may wish to consider using, but be aware that it may not provide enough control for the type of detailed model you are expected to produce for this studio, especially when producing different types of views and renderings involving lighting. Traditional media: Digital and traditional media will be used in this studio. You must maintain a bound Moleskin sketchbook (or sketchbooks), a diary of the evolution of your project. The sketchbook is to be submitted on December 4 h and should be available in the studio during consultations. Note that your sketches/notes should be analytical in character, documenting details, concepts, and observations (for exemplary examples of architect s sketchbooks, see Steven Holl s work). Sketches and physical models will also be used for both studio consultations and reviews. The intent of the physical models is to use these as rough working models rather than presentation models. Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 3/7
Studio participation: Mondays and Tuesdays are studio days, and your participation in the studio will count towards your grade for the course. If you do not have your own computer in the studio, you should output hard copy of the work you are doing on the computer so we can discuss your work. We may occasionally have to meet in the computer lab if you do not have your own computer and you need help with a technical issue. Your studio space should reflect the current state of your research and design and your commitment to the project at any given time, with the presence of drawings, models, and computer output (hard copy). Collaboration: Collaboration (teamwork) with your peers is strongly encouraged for research on studio glass, program requirements, and the construction of the digital site model. Please email me to identify your contribution to the teamwork process. Grading: Week #2 review 5% First intermediate review 15% Second intermediate review 15% Participation 10% Sketchbook 20% (Moleskin landscape orientation only!) Final Review 35% Required End-of-Studio-Session Submissions (required to receive a grade): I. Sketchbook (Moleskin 13cm x 21 cm size, landscape orientation, no substitutions accepted). II. CD or DVD containing: a. Archived digital model files including all library elements used on the project (ArchiCAD, FormZ, AutoCAD) in an unlocked format and capable of being read and manipulated by present day versions of the particular software. b. Powerpoint or Keynote presentation or html files (you may show your web page for the final presentation instead of using presentation software). Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 4/7
c. Microsoft Word file explaining your project (program, design intent) and indicating the type of software you used (name and version # and type). d. High resolution images (300dpi, 8 x 10 min. size) of the following items: i. Floor plans, sections, axonometrics, and elevations ii. Selected sketches iii. Photographs of any physical models iv. Digital renderings (perspectives, axonometrics) e. Basic web page of your final presentation, with all images web optimized! Use a generic index page and links to files that are not location dependent! Readings/resources: Online: http://www.navurb.com http://ourworld.cs.com/griffintowndoc/index.htm?f=fs http://www.quebecheritageweb.com/trail/trail_details.aspx?&trailid=33 http://blackader.library.mcgill.ca/industrial/griffintown.htm http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?pgnm=tce¶ms=m1artm0 012452 http://www.quartierephemere.org/images_e/fonderie.html http://digital.library.mcgill.ca/industrial/griffintown.htm http://www.bytown.net/griffin.htm http://ourworld.cs.com/_ht_a/griffintowndoc/index.htm http://www.fondation-langlois.org/html/e/page.php?numpage=82 http://www.sdmtl.org/english/fiche_1023_en.php http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/mellin/ssac/griffintown.html http://www.chihuly.com/chihuly.html Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 5/7
http://www.canadianclayandglass.ca/ http://www.seattleglassblowing.com/ http://www.warmus.org/studio%20glass%20chronology%20by%20warmus.htm http://www.graphisoft.com/ http://www.worldwithoutus.com/index2.html http://www.fora.tv/fora/showthread.php?t=1413 Other: Alexander, C., et. al., A Pattern Language, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977. Calvino, Italo. Invisible Cities (New York: Harcourt/HBJ, 1974). James Corner, Editor; Recovering Landscape: Essays in Contemporary Landscape Architecture (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 1999). Hines, Thomas. Richard Neutra and the Search for Modern Architecture (New York, Rizzoli, 2005). Holl, Steven. Parallax, New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000). Steven Holl, Written in Water, (Lars Muller). Holl, Steven, Architecture Spoken (New York, Rizzoli, 2007). Patkau Architects: Selected Projects 1983-1993. editor Brian Carter. Halifax: TUNS Press: Documents in Canadian Architecture 1994. Monograph. Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery. School of Urban Planning, McGill University: A Topographical Atlas of Montreal. J. Christof Burkle, ed. Gigon Guyer Architects: Works and Projects 1989-2000 (Barcelona: GG, 2000). Kengo Kuma Selected Works (New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2005). Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 6/7
Kunstler, James Howard. The Long Emergency (New York, Grove Press, 2005). Rossi, Aldo. The Architecture of the City (Cambridge, M.I.T. Press, 1982). Rick Joy. Desert Works (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2002). See the Rubio Avenue Project. Schittich, Christian (ed.), Single Family Houses (Munich: Birkhauser in Detail series, 2000). Sheine, Judith. R.M. Schindler (New York: Phaidon Press Inc., 2001) James Turrell: The Other Horizon (MAK: Vienna, 2001) or read articles on Turrell s projects (some available online: I make spaces that apprehend light for our perception, and in some way gather it, or seem to hold it. : see http://www.conversations.org/99-1-turrell.htm). VJAA Vincent James Associates Architects (New York, Princeton Architectural Press, 2007). Williams, Tod and Billie Tsein. Slowness, in 2G: International Architectural Review, No. 9, 1999, pages 131-137. Weisman, Alan The World Without Us (?, St. Martin s Press, 2007). Zumthor, Peter. Atmospheres (Basel: Birkhauser, 2006). Zumthor, Peter. Thinking Architecture (Basel: Birkhauser, 2006). McGILL UNIVERSITY VALUES ACADEMIC INTEGRITY. THEREFORE ALL STUDENTS MUST UNDERSTAND THE MEANING AND CONSEQUENCES OF CHEATING, PLAGIARISM AND OTHER ACADEMIC OFFENCES UNDER THE CODE OF STUDENT CONDUCT AND DISCIPLINARY PROCEDURES (see www.mcgill.ca/integrity for more information). Arch303: Design and Construction I [CRN 843 & 846] 7/7