Concept Sketches

Initial Design Idea

Precident Studies

Chora

Chora is Plato's idea of the space inbetween. The gallery is being designed for contemporary Aboriginal art, which is influenced by traditional Aboriginal culture as well as contemporary society, thus I have applied the idea of Chora to try and find the space inbetween and have done this through splitting the building into 2 sections.

Key Ideas

Biomimicry

Biomimicry has been used in the building in some of the forms, these are not all used in the final design but they were influential in determining the forms of the initial design. Biomimicry is still seen in the landscaping of the outdoor courtyard and somewhat in the form of the gallery space.

More Inital Ideas

Narrative and Philosophy behind Gallery

A young man wants to open a gallery in Newtown to display and sell contemporary Aboriginal art. The commercial aspect of the gallery should be downplayed and the building should be a reflection of ideas that are key to Aboriginal culture and art. There should be gallery space for paintings as well as installations with the possibility of a performance space.
The interior of the gallery should be well lit with as much indirect natural light as possible, the interior should be like a blank canvas focusing attention on the art. The exterior of the building should be more playful and engaging to draw people into the space.
There should be a logical transition between the gallery (public) space and the apartment (private space). The apartment should be self contained and have access externally and through the gallery. It should be compact but large enough for a young family.

Artist and Word Exploration

Judy Napangardi Watson was born in 1935 in the central Australian desert, she belongs to the Warlpiri people and growing up lived a traditional nomadic lifestyle. Judy's work mostly depicts Mina Mina (an important womens dreaming site) and the dreaming connected with it. This includes things such as women, the honey ant, snake vine and digging stick. The main Jukurrpa story told in her paintings is that of the journey of a group of women who travelled to the east gathering food, collecting snake vine and performing ceremonies.
Judy's paintings are contemporary she uses techniques such as dragged dotting in her paintings, they also have a very vibrant use of colour which reflects her energy as a person. Although her paintings are contemporary they still tell of the sacredness of place and song in her culture.

WORD EXPLORATION

the follow is a list of words that the paintings evoke for me

organic
journey
discovery
creation
curving
connection
place
ritual
celebration
growing
developing

Initial Ideas and Research

While at the site I saw an Aboriginal artist selling her art work on the street, this prompted me to bias my research towards the Aboriginal heritage of the area.

NEWTOWN RESEARCH

• King st is the main street that runs through Newtown and most shops ans significant landmarks come off this street. King st runs along part of a ridge that rises from the coast, it also follows a trading route of the Eora Aboriginal people.
  
• Newtown got its name from a grocery shop that was opened in the 1830's and it became a residential and farming area.
  
• During the depression the area became quite run down, as did many other inner city suburbs, after the war it attracted a large amount of European migrants with its low house and rent prices.
• The proximity to Sydney University has changed the demographic of the area, creating a bohemian atmosphere.

After this research I looked into some contemporary Aboriginal Artists to find one that I felt would suit my project.

Site Analysis

Site selection and visit

After visiting the 3 sites in Newtown I decided that I would like to develop my project on site 3, below are photographs taken of the site during my visit.

Project 3

FINAL MODEL

FINAL DRAWINGS

FINAL DESIGN DEVELOPMENT & PARTI

The Parti is based on two main directions.
According to Greek mythology Clio was partnered with King Pierus of Pella and he was the father of her child Hyacinthus, Pella was in Macedonia which is directly north of the site. I have thus used the direction north to represent the side of her life that is conservative following the path that society expects of her; getting married having children, studying art and music.
The other main angle points downwards in a south westerly direction towards the sanctuarys of Apollo and Athena and is symbolic of the part of her life and aspirations that is contrary to that of societies, her desire to study history, science, religion and philosophy, her independence and solitude. Using these 2 ideas and geographical locations I have created a grid which I have used as the main basis for my design.

FINAL NARRATIVE

' A YOUNG WOMAN HAS THE HIGHEST ASPIRATIONS OF ART AND INTELLECT AND WANTS TO ESCAPE THE DICHOTOMY BETWEEN NEW AND OLD IN SOCIETY TO PURSUE THIS'

SITE

After developing my site further I decided to change the location of my site on the mountain slightly, the new site location can be seen in my final site plan.

PRECIDENTS

During this stage of design development I looked at 2 architectural design precidents;


I looked at Zaha Hadids architecture for inspiration on how to abstract the idea of the 'drape'


I also looked at Carlo Scarpa for inspiration on how to create stairs and levels that give a sense of journey to follow up my ideas of highest aspirations and levels of thought

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

SITE

This new narrative and research required me to find a new site. As my narrative was pointing towards some form of escape I decided to find somewhere outside of Holland and as the painting depicts Clio the muse of history I decided to make the site some where in Greece associated with history. There are many historical sites in Greece but I decided on a spot in the mountains just above Delphi that looks down on the sanctuary of Apollo the youthful god of the sun and of music and on the sanctuary of Athena the goddess of wisdom and art. Both these greek gods are in keeping with the aspirations of my character and thus I chose a site that looked down on their sanctuaries.

RESEARCH

I then went back to researching the painting;
The young woman in the painting is dressed up to represent the Greek muse Clio. Clio was one of the 9 Greek muses who were personification of 'The Highest Aspirations of Art and Intellect' Clio in particular was the muse of history.
Holland in the 1600's was also in the process of becoming a more liberal society, especially when compared to the rest of Europe. As with most changing societies this causes and split between new and old and tension I wanted to use this in my narrative.I then applied this new information to my narrative and came up with a new narrative;

'A young woman has the highest aspirations of art and intellect and wants to escape the tensions of society to pursue this'

INITIAL DESIGN

My initial design was, in keeping with the narrative, set in the English countryside. I also explored some of the key features I found in painting; light and the drape. For this design I had as my precident and site the Groombridge Place Gardens in Kent. I found the meandering gardens and old sandstone building fit with my ideas for the project at the time.

INITIAL NARRATIVE

A SPACE FOR A YOUNG WOMAN TO ENTERTAIN HERSELF AND ESCAPE FROM THE PRESSURES OF SOCIETY

ANALYSIS OF PAINTING AND WORD EXPLORATION

WORD EXPLORATION
cosy
cluttered
work space
moody
enclosed
music
art
painting
reading
travel
place
costume
exploration
escape
hidden
secret
secluded
quiet
still
reflective
pensive

INITIAL ANALYSIS OF PAINTING

The painting depicts a young woman being painted by an artist in his studio. The studio is cluttered and cosy, you don't see the whole space of the room just view a section through peering beyond a drape. The drape is a significant feature of the painting, it frames the composition, it reveals and conceals light and covers the source of the light. The young woman is looking towards the floor but her body is facing the light source, suggesting she would much rather be where the light is coming from than here, she is holding a book and trumpet, so reading and music are interests of hers.

THE ART OF PAINTING
By Johannes Vermeer
1668