Mission: Destroy

Here is my version of going completely against everything I know about the site. It obstructs and even destroys some of the functions of the site. Every use is impacted by the building because they all run directly into the building. Placing the building on the ground keeps it interacting with the site while clearly making other uses of the site impossible.

Possibility of placing the building over the site and directly relating the slow traffic/tourists/public on the beaten path to the public area of the boathouse and then the fast pace/users/crew members with the private use of the boathouse.

Placement & Planning

These sketches are really trying to get at the placement and layout of the boathouse.
The first few are to attend to the issues I was having about placement. My analysis of the initial site stated that each area of the site is designated for a specific use- movement, pace and direction. So from my analysis and sketches I believe strongly that placing the boathouse physically in the middle of this site, displaces these uses which completely goes against the ingetrity of the site in my opinion. In the later sketches I am really trying to work out program within the building. I want to keep the extremely elongated shape however I need to ingetrate the public spaces into the form. Placing them on the second level seems to go against this idea of long, low form, so I tried to connect it to the boat house on the first level by either placing it slightly before to allow for direct access or at the far end of the boathouse to make the user interact with the building and really feel the elongation of the building.
I really like the idea of using light in my building as a way-finder or to direct circulation. I think that light diagrams will be very helpful in showing this idea of linearity in the site.
I think really committing to placement on the site is integral and following up with a clear understanding of the site in my methods of planning will help to solidify my work.

Concept Diagrams

These diagrams show my two concepts extracted from the site that I am employing in my boat house. Firstly: Public space and private space are separated vertically due to the need to engage directly with the space. Tourists and travellers do not need to interact with the site because their main functions are siteseeing, and passing by, whereas the users of the space such as runners and families require the space directly to perform their activities.
Secondly: The site has boundaries developed out of use of space that discintegrate and become implied the further you get from the city toward the site and the river, and my boat house reflects this in its construction. The outer wall creates a barrier that clearly signifies that it is a separate space for specific use and once inside the space the barriers become less and less obvious or constricting and allow for a visual connection of space as in the site. The public will interact with the building just as in the site where they are forced to interact with the site in a manner adjacent to the flow of use by the rowers (like crossing the bridge that is divergent from the flow of use of the site below).

Composition

These are just a few sketches that are trying to improve on the building that I have so far. I like the linearity, but I feel like the outside of the building is lacking in excitement. I tried to think of ways to stagger the volumes in the building to create a more interesting composition.

Boathouse

Soooo this week for class I really tried to work on conveying my analysis in my actual designs. I really focused on the progression of activities in the space as the layout based on my earlier planning studies. I wanted to mimic the linearity of the site in the exterior of the building being long and running along the shoreline.
I also like the that the elongated interior and hallways reflects in the over 200 foot exterior, which I think only emphasizes my ideas. Also interaction with the building is clearly extended due to this which I is like the site also in that most of the uses exist beside one another for almost the duration of the site.
I think this building fits in the site well in this position because it has a relationship with one of the other interruptions in the site, the park.
The progression is that you enter the building by a small landing just barely touching the shore, public traffic keeps to the right in the wide open space and continue up to the second level where the top of the dock becomes the observation area and there is a semi-enclosed gathering space tangent to that, the private team space continues from the platform in narrow halls that force privacy and introspection before a meet or a practice. The first hall leads directly to the dock, the directly to the team meeting room which includes a live in kitchen for events or team dinners, the third hall leads to the mens lockers and the fourth to the womens lockers. The lockers connect to the meeting room directly through a small passage behind both, and the meeting area connects directly to the dock.

Planning 2

Planning

These are some sketches from this week. working out logistics and ideas about heights and public/private. I'm going to continue on the diagramming of relationships because I think that is where I am going to find a lot of relationships working them selves out.

For this week I really tried to get a grip on what I knew about the site and what I thought it was about. I came to the decision that it is really about a defined activity, with a specific direction, and implied boundaries. I think that the mutual respect for others activities and movement within the space really define it.
For the boat house I do feel it's necessary to be located on the shore line (most practically, but I guess it could be floating in the air) so as to not interfere with any other activity. I want my boat house to really interact with the idea of a specialized motion that gives the space a purpose.
In some of my sketching I explored the idea of glass symbolizing an implied boundary, the idea that private space is actually defined by the activity (running/sitting/walking can all be private and can be done in their respective spaces, however they can also be a public or group activity). So with this, public and private space completely adapts to the user.
Boundaries allow for the distinct directions of movement without allowing for the error of collision. This is also something I want to consider in my models.