ARCH470_Bench Concepts

1.The idea for this scheme began with the idea of movement on the sight. a bus stop is a place of constant coming and going and i felt that the architecture itself should reflect such. the form came from the shape of a wave, wrapping over itself and breaking. the basic form was created by lofting two overlapping curves. it was then offset and a base was created by making 2-d the bottom surface and extruding it to the ground plane. seating was placed along this connection. further articulation of th form was achieved by rebuilding the curve and adjusting the control points to better reflect my original design intent.
        If i were to change this design in some way, i would adjust the curve to allow for an overhang for bike storage, and perhaps allow some of the light on the benches leeward side to pass through the bench, to under the overhang.

2.The process for this scheme started with the idea of a single form bending and undulating around itself to form a solitary element which provided its own cover for bikes and pedestrians. the form itself begins by ascending out of the ground plane to create a space for seating. the form then splits itself off into the y and z direction, up to create the roof and out to create further seating and a niche in the space.. the form curves back around itself and undulates itself downward like a waterfall to connect and make itself whole. bike storage comes from under the “waterfall” and there is ample space to post flyers. this form was achieved by lofting and offsetting a series of curves and calculated geometric semicircles.
 Something that could take further consideration would be the roof form, which as it stands is rather narrow and does not do the best of jobs covering the space beneath.

3.The parti behind this concept was to take a traditional equilateral bus stop and skew the straight lines. this tilting actually allows for better ergonomics in the stops seating arrangements. all of the angles are measured to approximately the same degree and provides a distinct rhythm to the set of benches. the form itself was made by lofting various elevations together and shifting pieces of the overhang and seating. cutouts of the bench allow for lighting to pass through the space and provide a unique interior experience.
If some changes were to be made to this design it would be to perhaps further break up the symmetry created by the benches. in addition, s space for storing bikes that is larger than enough to fit the front wheel would be a good consideration. the angled surface does provide a good place to apply adds and seating, but the areas on the other side of the angle really start to become wasted space because of how it bends inward.

Breaking it Down & Building it Up

       This is one of our first assignments for ARCH470 in which we practiced the tools of Rhino- a drafting software. The task was to use a series of methods of subtraction & addition from the cube primarily through the use of Boolean Commands to create an interesting composition. I soon discovered that it was very possible to over design such a thing and the transitions from step to step were too much. I did glean some useful information from the process such as the sweep tool and further advancing my abilities with Boolean union & difference. If i were to perhaps change some things, I would stick closer to the original shape through the process and try to develop a more synthesized design with a definite thrust for its motif.
      The work through Rhino was not of exceeding difficulty but it was very interesting. I did have some trouble using the various commands of Illustrator, but this I am sure was due to a lack of knowledge on the software itself. The final solid I chose was of my 11th step in the process. It showed an adequate level of abstraction and had a  compelling void space to boot. I felt that after this operation the cube lost most of its definable shape in which i attempted to bring back with a shelled rectangle in the 14th iteration. Throughout the process of creating this abstraction, I did try and keep a few rules of measurement and an accuracy in each step. This I achieved in all of the iterations save those done with the wire cut tool. All in all I found this project to be very informative on the programs we will be using in the future.

-Sky