Conspiracy Theories and Interior Design

by caroothers

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There are two trains of thought with the layout for the programmatic court set.  The court, and auxiliary rooms, each have their own spacial layout that has developed differently.

The idea of a courtroom as an individual volume created the sketch model arranging the four individual volumes.  The volumes allow for different formal shapes as well as affording  unique views and site responses.  This lets each courtroom have its own characteristics and formal expression.  How can the manipulation of volumes work together to form a set of rooms which work together for a common program?

Using the strong traditional patterns of circulation with a courtroom (from back to front) the second study looked into forming an implied circulation and creating spaces through these implied moments and perpendicular planes.  The courtroom’s form ends in a pinnacle that is formed from transforming the program circulation’s penultimate moment.  It is the spaces between the planes that create new spaces within the transformed circulation.  Can spaces be created from simple planes, and how can this new space interact with other spacial arrangements with the same form?

Legos are a lesson in process

by workbymichelletodd

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It becomes interesting to see how childhood past-times link into later life. As a child, I passed many hours playing Legos with my brother, constructing and taking down. This approach has now proven to be beneficial in my quests to determine massing of court-sets.

The first two concepts that were completed, had a primary focus on how to achieve daylighting in a courtroom, something that can seem counter-intuitive to preserving safety and security. However, these two forms became to domesticated in appearance and seemed to cary no meaning to the site and the surrounding community.

From here, I took on the approach of designing my concepts in a similar manner as playing with Legos. I build volumes and create combinations of volumes until something seems to work well with what I am trying to achieve in my building. Upon deeper thinking, I concluded what I wanted to achieve in my building. I want to reveal an order in terms of privacy, with the most public spaces facing the public in terms in height and footprint. I also wish to achieve a strong correlation to my site analysis. The use of shifting linear forms in my site analysis led to my aspiration to have shifting volumes to create shared spaces, overlapping volumes to create outdoor spaces, highlighting the three different court types, and allowing for large surfaces to be oriented to the north and south to allow for daylighting. With these generic parameters, I have created a sequence of massing models to create a path to finding the best solution.

Process Models

by JP Mays

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For Friday’s pin-up, I wanted to continue my exploration of the section – to understand the relation of the courtroom to the exterior.  I investigated the screen, and how to be transparent but also deal with solar control.

After Joelle’s suggestion to explore verticality, I made the wire model, which addressed the issue of weaving public, private, and secure within and up into the structure.  I also looked at stacking paired courtsets on top of lobby/reception/flex program at the ground level.

I am currently pursuing the combination of these two models; how to integrate volumes within a framework.