General Construction

Above: Putting my wooden frame structure together, I cut up my big piece of bought 90 by 45 mm post creating a number of vertical posts and cross bracings that were nail gunned by a industry nail gun using 60 mm industrial galvanized steel nails to keep it into place creating a very stable and extremely strong small structure.
Above: The picture shows the back of the L shaped aluminium piece and how the bricks sit on top of its interior, pressed up against the back, allowing the staggered line of cantilevered bricks that make up the unique nature of my 1:1 model.
Above: Front angled view of the cantilevered brick line held up by the aluminium L shaped piece. On the other side of the brick section I will leave a section of the L piece exposed to allow the tutors and viewers to see the inside construction while covering up the metal on the staggered brick side (right side) by use of mortar to give the illusion of a "floating" brick line.
Above: A picture showing blocks holding the cross section wood piece in place and the vertical sections clamped in awaiting nail gunning of the structure . The interior vertical block pieces are later removed.
Above: A front view of my brick section of my 1:1 model. Using a mixture of water and trade mortar I was able to mortar each layer together creating a fairly strong (although brittle structure which I am not too happy about) that also at the same times covers the inner aluminium piece not allowing it to be seen on the right, while still leaving the left aluminium bit exposed to allow the viewers on crit day to see the interior structure.
Above: Another front view of the brick wall shows my attention to detail in fully covering the interior L shaped aluminium piece and the covering of the brick ties allowing for an aesthetic quite clean finish to the 1:1 detail bit.
Above: the back of the brick section has exposed the brick ties that are embedded between the 2nd and 3rd layer of the staggered brick lines, while also from the back the small edge of the aluminium L layer is seen although in real life this would be pinned against the waterproofing and the wooden frame, being invisible to the viewer.
Above: It took some planning in the cutting of the bottom holding aluminium piece as I had to account for gaps for mortar to be placed between the bricks allowing the entire structure to be stuck together. Below is picture of the edge of the staggered brick line still in the workshop and its connection to the barely visible glass pane behind it and how the spaces between the bricks would render the glass layer almost an invisible weather shield allowing that gifting of view both in the office and the train stop spaces.

Brick Laying and General Construction

Above: The finished detail of how the aliminium joint between my glass and the wooden framing covered by the waterproofing (black piece) is joint and sits behind a section of my outer brick facade.
Above: A pre construction setup of how all my pieces would be coming together for my final 1:1 detail in the Architecture workshops.
Above: A setup of how the brick ties will sit within the layer between two rows of bricks and be nailed/screwed into the brick below and the wall behind. (in planning ahead I have decided that the best of course of action would be not to screw the ties into the wooden framing at all for this project even though in practice you would mainly to allow it to be carried more easily. Instead to still portrait this idea I will allow a bit of spacing on the left of my brick wall on the wooden back frame to screw in one of the ties to get the point across that in its actual construction it would be nailed to the main supporting structure).
Above and Below: A row of brick ties being positioned into suitable places for later mortaring outside of the brick section. (Behind it is the waterproof barrier attached to the wooden framing).

Technical Details Arising in my 1:1

In illustrator I composed a small cross section of what my 1:1 model for this fortnightly project would look like and where I could get it. In essence the process would begin with creating a timber framing from a 90 by 45 timber post (about 1 meter), then attaching a waterproof barrier to it by use of screws. Further by attaching an aluminum bracket to the waterproofing I could by use of glue or silicone keep my glass in place behind the brick facade. The brick facade would be created by stacking bricks on top of each other with the main focus being in creating a cantilevered brick line that would look like it is being held in the air by the use of mortar (which it couldn't as mortar tends to fail under tension loads but rather works on compression) but actually would have a L aluminum piece underneath keeping the brick line in place and covered with mortar. The brick section would be tied to the timber main framing by use of brick ties bought at most hardware stores and all the bricks mortared together.

Above: Detail of the joining of the aluminium piece to the the wooden framing and the glass piece.

Above: I visited Ullrich Aluminium yesterday on Great South Rd and after a bit of trouble finding it I got there and looked for a L shaped piece that would be able to hold up my staggered brick cantilever section. I was successful, however they only sell large 3.8 meter long lengths of it so I would have found it impossible to fit in my car. Luckily the guy in the store took me round the scrap box and I managed to find both a L shaped piece and a aluminium joint to hold my window pane up that were a suitable size and at $5 tip for the guy to help me was well worth having to buy an insanely large piece that I wouldn't use and couldn't transport.
Visiting Placemakers on Cook Road I was also able to get a number of my other materials including brick ties (above) that use screws to join the bricks to the timber facade as well as my desired lengths of my 90 by 45mm timber posts and trade mortar for my brick laying.

A Few Models

In thinking about how the light chimneys would cut my block main office and public space building forms I created a wooden model that would aim to just play around with some of the ideas of angulation of the light chimneys to certain spaces and even to an extent the transformation of the accepted block forms themselves.
By stacking the block forms at different levels and playing around with light chimneys of different angles and lengths there is a lot that seems quite monumental and quite industrial with the associated use of concrete chimneys cutting brick square buildings.
Further play around with the use of converging light chimneys on a certain point within the different spaces and the fact that I don't want to have all the chimneys orientated so that within the space one can see through each one outside. Although this could be interesting, at a certain level it is also selfish in that all commuters must stand in this one spot and look out which could cause crowding along this internal convergence point. By spreading the lookout points within the interior spaces and changing the associated light chimney angles a lot more people can appreciate the gift of sight and views of the city that is presented to them.
Above and Below: I created a small model of how my staggered brick facades would meet the glass interior of the office and train stop spaces within. The idea would be of creating a staggered brick facade and by the use of brick ties or similar attaching that facade to an interior wooden frame form that would support the building while also by use of aluminium attachments and silicon hold the glass in place as a second protruding skin on the inside of the brick facade. In my model I used a stiff cardboard for my wooden framing, tracing paper for my glass and and thinner stiff cardboard for the creating my staggered brick facade.

Thinking About My Facade and Light Chimneys

Another addition to the outer brick facade of my main building blocks is the use of airport/train station panels scattered across the facade of the building with a line of panels associated with a specific train and addition time being put at a specific place on the outside of the buildings. This way a person who catches a certain train has only to look at certain line of panels at a designated constant place on the facades to know when their next train is coming. By the different train panel lines being placed at different points along the side over time it stop congestion of people waiting in big groups looking at the boards offering a greater through fare of people once they learn where their train time is positioned, as well as further offering facade interest and integration.
Concentrating more on how my building would be clad, I considered a number of what I would consider junkstyle modern materials: corrugated iron, brick, wood and glass (either broken/fragmented or whole). My idea consisted around my general office form being made from a number of quite monumental square brick building spaces, with the brick facades looking quite war torn with bricks punched out from the facade to allow viewing from the inside office spaces and with the corners grazed for larger areas of viewing as well. Other additions would be purely aesthetic with potential addition of window barricades or corrugated iron shutters that although functional in keeping out the elements could be done in a much more functional way, although in this light being able to express my junkstyle modernist ideals. The inside of the spaces while for this task not important too much for me (as I will be concentrating more on the exterior of the building (ie. the glass and bricks coming together)0 will be covered in gib board and the glass areas to provide a very functional modernist interior that will aim to make the inside not so cluttered and contrast the complexity of the building outside. In essence the junkstyle movement aims to retrofit an old derelict building to an interior modern standard while keeping the industrial outside feeling quite alive and emphasized.
Above: An exploration of what I could do for my detail with creating a corner from a large amount of bricks and showing the glass showing through from the inside. With this I would also create a small section of my light chimneys made from concrete that would show my maine three building materials: brick, glass and concrete.
Another ideas for the creation of my light chimneys was to use a variety of materials in its construction as well as creating purposeful holes in the rising structures that would create patterned light within the light chimneys themselves. The structures although mostly pre cast concrete could have embedded within them bricks, corrugated iron and attached wood, again alluding to a junkstyle theme of creating pattern and geometric forms through a modern tradition use of materials to show craftsmanship, design and general thought.

Addition screen shots of the exterior of the building and its gaps and light chimneys that cut the top floors of the office spaces as well as the elevated train stations area offering views of Auckland and the sky and nature through the differently positioned light chimneys pointing in different directions.

Further Development

Above: Potential cross section of my 1:1 detail of my wall, with a timber back framing covered by an insulating water proof barrier attached to the outer brick facade and further attached to a glass pane.

Part of my design as explained in my previous blog was in created a facade of bricks riddled with holes and missing bricks that offered dappled light into the interior of the building while gifting impromptu views to those using them. By using a mixture of Roman, normal and irregular sized bricks with could be an interesting use of materials and forms, that also hark back to my idea of Junkstyle Modernism in being a modern industrial form of an Arts and Crafts movement, in the use of materials to their advantage (with further inspiration from the Kolumbia Museum by Peter Zumthor in its use of interior dappled lighting created my openings left by use of material).

A few of my plans for my building show a staircase almost like entering a mountain spiraling around the monumental brick and extending concrete light chimney forms extending up around it. The seating commuter area would be situated on the second floor of three floors of the office space, allowing direct access to the train tracks during the day being so elevated above the ground as the train bridge is while further the area can be closed off at night to the public for safety by the use of a barrier at the entrance to the stairs on the Parnell Rise part of the office/public space.

Starting Off the Design Process

Our first task for the Augmented Reality group was to produce a quick photoshopped image of our prior weeks Second Life project onto the site of our real life building. Having never used Photoshop even this was to some point a bit of a challenge in learning to use the crop and eraser functions within the program but from the result I was able to create a image which was if not semi-quality then satisfactory for a complete beginners level.
Being asked to produce one augmented drawing per day even from the outset was a bit of a challenge but one that I have attempted to keep interesting through substituting the odd augmented drawing for a model or similar. My above augmented drawing showing the back of the Parnell Rise train bridge has on it an augmented drawing showing the back of my previous Second Life building with its Corbusier like windows and sun/sight louvres. Showing this at my daily crit, Dermott made the point that I should concentrate on not having such a form cluttered work either opting for a glass building with associated mullions or for one that embodied a greater use light chimneys to project views and light into the office building.
Experimenting with a number of buildings, the one above aims to create all entries and walls into the light chimneys expressed in my Second Life building. I wanted to go for a more soft natural colour of brown than the coolness of the Corbusier concrete while also alluding to and harmonising with the background Victorian Train bridge. The office would still remain quite monumental in its shape but be exaggerated in form and its associated manipulation of light that would frame the sky. Another idea was bought out that we should aim to give back and gift something to the public through our building, with ultimate architecture creating something that gives back to the general public whether in views or emotions within the space or upon seeing it. My idea was to utilize the very nature of the site next to the train tracks and the fact that the building completely envelops the tracks as well to create a public train station and seating area that would lead out onto the main street onto Parnell Rise. My initial concepts were to reduce the office size and in hindsight the spaces may have been too large for the limited amount of 5 inhabitants. Further there should be pedestrian access to Parnell Rise via visible stairs and monumental entrance to entice people to come in and visit the station itself. The gifting in my point of view was seen as something that could be given to people waiting for the train to arrive. While contemplating on what it could be I identified that the greatest problem was that especially in Britomart there are very limited views seen from the space apart from the few skylights in the ceiling above but otherwise commuters are forced to look at an impressive but altogether dark scene. On the other side, most small stops on the Auckland train routes are too open exposing the commuters to wind and other elements that provide too many view but not enough comfort. Here I wanted to change this in creating a space that by utilizing the previous light chimney designs was able to pick out views of the park and other areas around it in the city and gift them to the commuter waiting, almost framing views of the city, offering inspiration while also by having a semi closed space, creating an area of comfort within an industrial urban surrounding.

The two pictures above and below explore my idea of creating a very junkstyle modern space that offers gifts of sights and views to an elevated train stop area that provides a stop for commuters. The building complex consists of a shell of a number of scattered box buildings that look quite war torn with missing bricks from the corners and the interiors. This design feature offers a dappled use of light within the previous office spaces while at the same time offering impromptu but interesting view points from the interior of the building surrounded by an inner glass wall lining. On top of the structures I have included a large number of sky lights offering views from both the central train station spot but also in the other top floors of the buildings that work with the brick dappled lighting. The light chimneys also aim to be like a bushel of flowers or a firework at the main Parnell Rise street entry that over hang the stairs leading up to the top commuter train area, giving it a very monumental industrial feel.

Junkstyle Modernism - Example Pictures of a Modern Pop Architecture Style

Just a few pictures which in modern pop culture and contemporary architecture which aim to embody some of my Junkstyle modernist ideas which to my knowledge have not been fully utilized in a strong architectural movement....