Igualada Cemetery-Land and Memory

http://www.arch.mcgill.ca/prof/mellin/arch671/winter2004/student/Condoroussis/condoroussisassign3/PRECEDENTS_files/frame.htm

May 26, 2008

The images here are hand drawn. Each image was drawn with pen and Ink... something that I have not done in a long time. Going back to my roots. The drawings here are done the way most architecture was done until about 25 years ago. I use to produce presentation drawings such as this during my charettes at the office. Somethings teach you as you do them.

Perspective helps create a mood and the results can reveal things that do not seem obvious. For instance, the grade in this project appears to be a gentle slope to the south. In developing the perspective it caused me to shifting of the entire building to the north and providing more area for parking adjacent to the building on higher ground.
This will disturb less wetland and provide a more dramatic view of the existing plantation house.

Abstract

"Like buildings with multiple levels It is my feeling that relationships can also be on many levels. While the idea of multiple museum levels can define a typical building , it in the quality of space and the context of the environment that work together to bring joy and understanding to an experience which aids the appreciation of the art form of watercolor. One way I have chosen to express my understanding of the physical manifestation of a building is to link the enclosed spaces with the surrounding natural environment. This will be done with both the optimization of environmental features which serves as a backdrop to the art that serves as original function of the idea of a museum to display and educate.

I have always been interested in Art. It is part of my family heritage. The design of a museum to house watercolor art is an attempt to "give back "on family land, a positive reaction to life. A building can be unique , and like life itself it brings a series of layers which can interest all those who come in contact with it. The world, as represented through the drawings and eyes of artists will be displayed in many naural ways. It is in the design of this watercolor museum I will fuse both the relationship of people/process with a building which will be part of the cultural landscape for posterity."

Thesis Re-Statement May 17, 2008

Why am I pursing this study?
I want to more complete understanding the quality of relationships as they pertains to free expression ,or lack of it, in architecture. To better define the role of freedom as a role of creating and sustaining personal, business and professional layers of relationships during the designing of buildings.
Watercolor art has been apart of many in my family for the past eighty years and it is both a homage and contribution to the spirit of this art form. I want to explore the presentation of this medium in a natural, creative and historical context.

What is my intention?
What I want to do is explore a building project which involves creating on personal and professional level the status of museum design today. My intention is to propose a place where the art form of architecture can serve and preserve freedom of expression. What is the nature of the relationships used in creating the Watercolor museum? Can it communicate to a wide world the importance of sketching in this media? Is this a timely pursuit? Can architecture contribute to many levels of relationship with this pursuit?
All the above question which I will address.

How will I accomplish these levels of participation? I am convinced that by exploring my professional discipline level and personal design expressions I can create a center which is inclusive and expressive in a positive way to all those who wish to learn and create in a peaceful environment the Watercolor medium.

Abstract:

The purpose of the thesis is to explore the importance of creativity in expressing the essence of relationship in a historic art form. It is important to profitably engage people in the production of Architecture. This is especially important to create novel and positive thinking in an organization, be it business or artistic. While managing the energy associated with any enterprise is important, it is especially important in the profession of architecture. By defining and clarifying the abstract roles which relationships have through experiences and case studies, applications to future practices will be enhanced.

1/8" =1'-0" Sections

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe-

"three things are to be looked to in a building: that it stand on the right spot; that it is securely founded ; and it be successfully executed" Elective Affinities tr. James Antony Frounde ,Book I chapter 9

"The fate of the architect is the strangest of all. How often he expends his whole soul, his whole heart and passion to produce a buildings into which he himself may never enter." Book II, chapter 3

Quality of Education

The exploration of the ideas brought me to add additional schemes. Yet it did not present to me a final design. It seems that the quality of the schemes is dependent on the resources and for the correct blend of form and function. The only results of this search was the opportunity to play with the materiality of the thesis. It is puzzling to find as one explores and includes things like prominent volumes and blending with nature, that the outcome is far different when one does not have the laser cutter.

Et tu, Parti?

The traditional debate on the subject of sustainability is stifled I believe by the perception that the natural environment is in conflict with the forces of Free Enterprise. Disturbances of the global ecology is a result of not making the proper reference to the parameters of the environment.

The new Watercolor Museum will be a zero footprint and CFC site. Innovation here is a reflection of the use of simple technology to preserve the natural environs for future creations.

Parti-Model Revisited

I have a strong sense that the envelope of the building is evolving and growing with each new bit of information and research. I find the more that one researches one element i.e. Living organic walls .. the layers of the building take a new and surprising greater possibilities to develop.

While I was looking at the different parti's it naturally forced me to choose one best layout. Ultimate it is all about choices....the right choices!

The Parti

Central ideas governing and organizing a work of architecture.

Unlike a floor plan which relates spaces inside the building the parti relates an essence. When I look at everything from the point of progress my charcoal sketch implies a relationship to a historical house and plantation. The museum is set in the midst of a natural environment and presents the visitor with a mandate to discover the new center. The Museum is slowly revealed in the winding path . The approach opens up to parking and and the entry on the lower level. The Upper levels contain the art and viewing areas, and the roof is observation to painters.

As an a matter of reflection at this point, I find confrontation with the fact that having learned the way of sketching and hand drawing my digital acumen is perhaps in need of repair. What is necessary is to concentrate on the import and the quality of posts for the future. More time is necessary to study the intricacies of this new Meusem.

I find that in the process of research new ideas surface and present themselves as options. Research must be ballanced and practical.