Project 2: Final Drawings

Site plan/Parti 1:50

Parti Plan and Section

Shadow Plan and Section 1:150

Section 1:50

Axonometric 1:100

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Parti

The burning drive for this project was adapted from the painting "The office at Night" by edward Hopper (1940). I was immediately fascinated by the undercurrent of sexual tension between the man and his secretary and how the room they inhabit and the stalk white light emphasises this.

As a result I have explored the idea of a impenetrable room within my parti drawings. This room is obious and in plain sight, yet there is no way to get in. It is a tantalising yet forbidden space.

Site

The site for this project is within the dark and bustling city of Chicargo Illinois of the 1940's. Buildings were masculine, imposing and masculine. The room I have designed acts as a building itself, almost becoming lost whilst nestled alongside other buildings with faceless unadorned facades.

Formal configuration

There are only two openings in this rooms design. The first is the glass ceiling. This is specifically designed to allow as much light to flood the space as possible. This forces the forbidden room to cast a large dark shadow on the floor of the space. The second, much more subtle opening is the door to the room from the site. It is hidden as the side of the building, and is slightly ajar. It is located a metre from the ground and very difficult to get through.

Flights of stairs lead upwards and hug the walls. Each step has slightly different tread and riser widths that are confusing and hard to climb. Small square alcoves are recessed in the wall of the room which house the accountant’s filing cabinets. These alcoves also house platforms that reach close to the forbidden room.

The forbidden room hangs, suspended within the centre of the office tower. It is large forboding, enticinga nd seductive.It dominates the space and cannot be ignored.

Program

With difficulty the hair-brained accountant reaches the front door of his office tower and is immediately confronted by the shadow of the forbidden room looming above. To avoid this unbearable shadow he busies himself with filing within the cabinets located in the recessed alcoves of the walls. These alcoves offer some respite from the forbidden room but not enough. They also offer a podium upon which he can get closer to the forbidden room. Thus, the Tower of inner turmoil is created!

Materiality

The materials for this project were chosen carefully to help convey the narrative and the spatial atmosphere. Almost the entire model aswell as the site were made with white screen board. However I covered the exterior faces with budget reports that I had washed with a dull grey watercolour. I did this to create a sense of industrial heaviness and corporate monotony. It makes the exterior appear conforming and faceless. The interior of the model I left white to emphasis the stalk almost sterile whiteness of the space exposed to the suns harsh light during the day. The ‘forbidden room’ within is made from balsa, which is a material closer to mother nature and could be considered more feminine. I have painted it a sultry red. A colour often associated with women and sex.