DESIGN FACTORS: God/Bird's Eye View of Projects

It has become extremely evident that students have been designing their projects from an extremely detached world view. The needs of the occupants in the various projects already outlined in the studio have focused more on the building-as-object paradigm rather than the building-as-occupied model.
An example of a terrible designer/person is Zaha Hadid where she designs buildings that are "Far from nice but nice from far". Her Aquatic Center at the London Games was clearly designed from afar and likely with little consideration of how it worked both inside and out.

Despite its seductive form:


Once her minions had to develop the structure and seating AFTER the seductive imagery, the construction proceeded with this. Take note how the structure and ceiling obscure any views of the pool from the upper level seating.


Needless to say, even after the Olympic organizers had to refund tickets because people could not actually see the event, Zaha refused to take responsibility.

Things NOT to DO:


  • Do NOT create a "cool-looking form" and then shove walls and program into the bounded volume; it will only lead to mediocrity

  • Do NOT limit your architectural design process as linear (e.g. working from outside to the inside) but instead look at the design from multiple levels holistically

  • Do NOT take fundamental elements such as structure and program lightly; if you consider these factors early, they will not make for huge problems in the future

  • Do NOT be Zaha
Things to DO:
  • Do use the ability to set up Cameras and saved views in your digital model to understand the impact of changes from the macro (God's) view as well as the micro interior perspectives

  • Do set up a sequence of views to understand the approach/narrative a person would go through in your design; think about how the building serves as a choreographing tool rather than simply a static art piece

  • Do use macro/God views to showcase how the design works in the larger context and possibly in different seasons/times that would not otherwise show well in human-scaled perspectives

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