www.stacypeh.com

Project 2 - Atmosphere
10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 5

natural vs artificial

chosen site : abandoned railway located at Sunset Way.

As one walks along the railway tracks, there is an experience of distrust, which makes one constantly aware of what he/she is stepping on. The sense of fear and uncertainty starts to creep in as we start to wonder what is hiding in the tall grass. As compared to the manicured and well maintained landscape around us, the plants on the site just keeps growing and starts to take over the tracks and concrete slabs. We can assume that generally people are afraid or uncomfortable in wild nature.

The design intention is to help address children’s fear of nature through involvement. By bringing them close to nature, it could allow them to embrace and confront their fears, and at the same time, have a better understanding of wild nature. The program of the space is designed for the children nature society. The main focus is the circulation, whereby the teacher will guide them through a series of spaces, 1) walkthrough 2) close to nature and communities 3) story telling 4) gallery, which showcases different species of plants and insects.

The site is naturally covered with wild nature and instead of destroying the existing qualities of it, the architecture will be placed on the existing concrete slab. By opening up spaces, the gaps and cracks would allow the surrounding greens to encroach into the building. The materials employed will react over time. Concrete gets stained easily and cracks while steel rusts and corrodes in relation to the climate changes and surroundings. After a period of time, wild nature will start to encroach and creep into the building and the whole design would eventually blend and be part of the site.

Proposed design panels :

well, crit was alright. the design could definitely have been better and more into detail. two projects down, two more to go for next semester ! looking forward to it !