Journey model exercise

The way that materials and elements are joined together at this scale can be as poetic as the sequence of form and space, despite the pragmatic realities of the materials concerned. The architect must spend time discovering which elements to prioritise and develop. You will need recycled scrap model — making materials and/or found materials brought from site. Once issues such as the scale, function, materiality and concept of the proposal have been resolved in outline, the architect will begin to make certain key decisions; these decisions influence others that are apparently less strategic. 1 Remember (5 minutes): From memory, recall the journey to the entrance of your site. This technique can be used to make legible first proposals for internal space without any need to design a fixed external form: no enclosure or shell is required to understand the sequence or nature of the spaces. The design project Revisiting and interrogating should reveal possibilities that can enhance the concept and even the detail. During the initial ideas phase, the site and brief provide a vast amount of information. First, decide at what point along the journey you should set the entrance threshold (is it immediate or is there a build-up to it?). The architect must coordinate this advice and collaborate with consultants to make strategic design decisions that retain the clarity of the concept. A form that is chosen at the beginning of a typical project and does not alter during the design development is unlikely to have been very closely questioned by its designer; it lowers the ambition for the project. One possible technique is the journey model, which prompts reflection on the nature of the journey to the site and encourages the qualities of this experience to be continued within the site and the building itself. The complexity of any architectural project means that it is necessary to ‘fix’ some ideas in order to explore the consequences. Drawings relate different elements to one another and resolve any difficulty in bringing them together. 6 Record (5 minutes): Photograph the model and annotate with a description of the nature, function and sequence of spaces that you have created. This process ensures that the design of form and space is tested. 5 Adapt (15 minutes): The sketch model must now be adapted to represent the possible journey within your project proposal/building. It is important to remember that these choices are only paper decisions and can easily be reversed if necessary, often without destroying the integrity of the whole scheme. The form designed by the architect creates an envelope and a series of spaces that must be designed in detail so they can be constructed. Next, begin to bend, twist, break and separate the model to represent the different spaces within your proposal and their relationship to each other. It provides a sculpted, inhabited fagade within the city.