More Inspirational Images

More 1:10 Scale Models

We have made some changes to the inner structure to make it more systematic, whilst at the same time keeping it visually intersting as the inner boxes change shape, direction and size. The crosses allude to the idea of puppetry. The crosses also connect back to our story with "beams propping up other beams".

New Inspiration

After seeing our tutor we have come across new ideas to consider regarding our inner structure. We have yet to explore this but will be working on it over the next week.

Details

Cross section detail of our structure with a pulley system moving glowing boxes.

New restrictions!

This week we have found out that the maximum area at ground level that our structure can take up is 2m by 2m. Therefore we have had to reconsider the shape of the inner structure and the outer structure and the relationship between the two. We have also been designing and developing the experience one would undergo when entering and exiting our Skyrise. We want our structure to still be very interactive despite our new restrictions. We would like the inner structure to be shaped like a diamond in order to draw people inside and create a more interesting entry point. The diamond shape also alludes to the vortex movement of the stars mentioned in our story. The diamond  is in contrast to the square outer struture. The new restrictions have also required us to reconsider the size of the cavity as we want to be able to have at least three people in our structure at one point. the size of the cavity will also determine the size of our glowing boxes.

Models.

This week we have been creating models to explore different ways we can structure our sky-rise. We experimented with many different materials, manipulating them to convey our idea.

  

Glow Sticks.

We have decided to use glowsticks in our structure which people can move up and down by pulling strings. The glowing boxes will create movement, and through the mesh people will be intrigued as to what is going on inside, much like a construction site. When people are not moving the boxes up and down, the construction has come to a halt, offering a chance for more people to take part in the construction of our sky-rise.

Recent Sketches

Some exploratory drawings and photographs we produced after the jury session on Monday 9th August.

Exploratory Drawings

Below are some exploratory drawings from the first few weeks of the project.

Inspirational Photographs.

Here are some photos which we found inspirational. We want our structure to have the qualities of constant construction. We found that the use of mesh and string in these photographs are really beautiful and simple, and could be ways of interpreting the busy construction of Thekla.

Ai Wei Wei's 'Cube Light', So Sorry Exhibition

nArchitects' 'Windshape'

Natalie Moore's 'Mirage: Morning Before the Fact' at artMovingProjects.

Mitsuko Makino's 'The Structure Of Beauty Aotearoa' at The World of Wearable Arts, 2008

Site Visit.

Here are some pictures from our site visit at 135 Halsey Street, near the vidaduct which were previously used for making the yachts for The America Cup races. the ceilings are only 11 meters in height so our brief has been changed to a minimum of 8 meters, maximum 10 meters. It was really useful going to the site to be able to have a proper picture of the space we will be creating our structure in.

Our inspiration for this collage came from Italo Calvino's story of Thekla. We became interested in the scaffolding and movement seen at construction sites. We liked the sense of activity in the story that Calvino portrays in his description of the city's construction. We created the collage to convey these ideas. It can be read as a plan, elevation or section. Details of the collage are below.

Cities and The Sky, Italo Calvino

Those who arrive at Thekla can see little of the city, beyond the plank fences, the sackcloth screens, the scaffoldings, the metal armatures, the wooden catwalks hanging from ropes or supported by sawhorses, the ladders, the trestles. If you ask "Why is Thekla's construction taking such a long time?" the inhabitants continue hoisting sacks, lowering leaded strings, moving long brushes up and down, as they answer "So that it's destruction cannot begin." And if asked whether they fear that, once the scaffoldings are removed, the city may begin to crumble and fall to pieces, they add hastily, in a whisper, "Not only the city."


If, dissatisfied with the answers, someone puts his eye to a crack in a fence, he sees cranes pulling up other cranes, scaffoldings that embrace other scaffoldings, beams that prop up other beams. "What meaning does your construction have?" he asks. "What is the aim of a city under construction unless it is a city? Where is the plan you are following, the blueprint?"

"We will show it to you as soon as the working day is over; we cannot interrupt our work now," they answer.
Work stops at sunset. Darkness falls over the building site. The sky is filled with stars. "There is the blueprint," they say.