Commentary

Submission 1 - Equus

Initial ideas towards the assignment started with the deconstruction of what the client would want in a house. In this case the client was a power hungry egotistical cocaine addict. These characteristics are interesting to say the least, so I looked at the ideas behind cocaine. The theme of money was important as cocaine is known to be a pricy drug. However I didn’t think that this should affect the overall size of complicity of the house. Previously I hinted that the minister had a sizable income. So in both designs I wanted to show wealth and power.

Design 1: Cloke and Knife Party

In this design I went analogue to digital as I use Sketch up to create basic designs anyway. I wanted this building to be ‘manorish’ (yes that’s a made up word), to show power and wealth. Initially I looked at Greek and Roman Buildings, as these were government based. Lots of flat walls and lots of pillars, not too riveting but I liked the idea of defining walls.

So with the model I twisted a large feature wall through the design. This wall had the idea of a credit card splitting cocaine. As such I didn’t want either of the sides to be equal. This coupled with the clients need for privacy set up the limited windows and the separation of public and private areas. The ground floor being public (kitchen, toilet, living room) and the 1st floor being private (study, bedroom, entrance to tower).

With the digital development I basically used the same floor format but delved deeper into the aspects of this mans identity. The overall form became more flowing and less static, fueling the idea of a public façade. Definitely showing wealth, the curved walls would be impossible with card and Sketch up gave me a chance to really push my ideas.

Design 2: Mull and Powder Card

Once again I chose to go analogue digital. In this case I wanted the house to reflect a more passive front. To be more residential in form, but colder in its feel. The harshness of the client’s personality gave rise to the sectioned rooms. However the separation of public private is still evident. In this case however the separation is horizontal.

The flat walls with windows only at the front and back made very dark and light areas definite. Personifying the minister’s two faces. This horizontal circulation did present movement problems…

Powder Card was Mull but trying to solve the circulation difficulties. Again trying to encapsulate urban residential themes the design kept many ideas from Mull. It changed significantly though in its form. Windows were numerous, yet with sills that gave more privacy than flat openings. Although successful in its unit arrangement the Powder Card presented the aftermath of drugs in my client. Sporadic alignment of planes presented the dark thoughts and crossing conclusions of the minister’s mind. A dirtier or murky version of Mull, I believe it presents the inside of the client more than his façade.