SPATIAL ANALYSES

INTENT

Making something requires the understanding of parts and their relationship to the whole. Studying examples from diverse contexts can help in this learning.

Before picking case studies from other, unfamiliar contexts, we need to start with places we are familiar with; and, in addition to analyzing architecture and spaces according to conceptual filters of structure & organization and elements & circulation, it is essential to record the experiential aspects of the building such as light, texture, smell, silence, rhythm and so on.

TEACHING-LEARNING STRATEGIES

This week-long brief involves spatial analyses of a familiar and an unfamiliar building using conceptual as well as experiential filters.

The process will be interspersed with conversations with tutors and peers and iterations of the work as per feedback and insights.

The brief will be closed in the Unit Review on the Monday following the scheduled week.

Regular update of the Reflective Blog is a mandatory requirement of the studio. You may choose to blog daily or weekly or with respect to briefs or exercises; however, stick to a chosen schedule for at least 4 weeks or through a module.

Reference outputs shared in the brief are only suggestive.

DELIVERABLES

Format: A3; Medium: Analytical Drawings and Color Renderings

Analyze plans (sections and 3D drawings as well where necessary) as per the following parameters grouped within three large categories:

 Spatial ExperiencesSpatial ComponentsSpatial
Hierarchies
1.Light & DarknessStructureInside, Outside & In-between
2.Noise & SilenceElements & CompoundsServant, Served & In-between
3.Smell & AssociationCirculationIntimate, Exposed & In-between
4.Rhythm & ProportionProportioning SystemCentral, Peripheral & In-between
5.Texture & GlossScaling DevicesContained, Free & In-between

Take note of emerging relationships between one analysis and the others; i.e. how are the experiences, the components and the hierarchies related, if they are, to each other within and across categories.

1. My House

Create Orthographic Drawings (Plans, Sections and 3D) of your childhood home that you have excavated (though the two may not be identical) and analyze it in terms of the parameters provided above.

Ahmed’s Analyses of his Childhood Home

2. An-Other Place

From the shared reference pool of architecture across times, cultures and types, choose one to analyze using the parameters above. In order to run the complete analysis, you will have to seek more information than what has been provided.

Ahmed’s Analyses of Alvar Alto’s Vila Mairea

LEARNING OUTCOMES

The exercises defined in this brief are intended to elicit responses to the following questions:

  • How is the creative process informed by experiences and memories?
  • What is the relationship between body, memory, emotion and space?
  • How do we inhabit a space?

Besides documenting the processes and recording its highs & lows, it’s necessary to reflect on these aspects and note the consequent deliberations in the Studio Blog.

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