AA Files

The AA Files is the journal published by Britain’s Architectural Association which is based in London. The feel of the journal is academic, and is definitely written by and for those with a strong background in architectural theory rather than those just evaluating or looking at current architecture (as a first year it was a little hard to fully understand). Concepts, philosophy and theory are important and the journal provides a forum for discussion and publication of opinions surrounding architecture. Articles include opinionated pieces, anecdotal pieces, research pieces and interviews with practicing architects, which creates a diverse journal.

The journal is structured so that large images of work are not really located along side articles, likely due to the fact that articles do not always relate to a specific building or building type but instead architectural philosophy. Also it leaves a lot more room for individual interpretation and deep discussion as there is no fixed building or image linked to the argument. Images are often arrange in a collage-like format or as an entire double page spread which is something I found quite strange – especially as some images seemed to have little to do with architecture (although they may have some links).

In its own words:
“AA Files is the Architectural Association’s journal of record. First published in 1981 and now in its 29th year and 60th issue, the journal contains essays and articles on architectural history and criticism, work by contemporary practitioners and designers, photography, art, music and other cross-disciplinary collaborations. Substantially informed by the AA’s public programme of lectures, exhibitions and events, the journal publishes original scholarship and projects by those who visit the school over the course of each year.”

Links to my design:
- Principles surrounding the natural state of architecture being cave-like and horizontal rather than vertical.(There was deep criticism of the verticality of city and tower blocks)
- Initially started looking at building a room that was all about what was visible inside – no windows with views of the outside.
- The Collage style used on the viewing screens
- Shape of the “cave” inspired by the twisted and contoured shapes in the image of Hiroshima Blast site and another image in the journal.

Majalah Arkitek

Majalah Arkitek is an Architecture Journal from Malayasia in South East Asisa and it also known as Architecture Malaysia(AM).
The journal is issued monthly and issues are either themed, for example, "Places of Worship" and "Medical Buildings" or alternatively catergorised as Mixed Projects.The journal is very much in the sytle of a magazine, containing numerous advertisements
for companies, events, products and services and has a more informal approach than the other journals in my project.This can be seen through the large image to text ratio, which along with the text itself indicates that this magazine is not
targetted specifically at professionals working in the architecture, planning or construction fields but at a much wider demographic consisting of those who do not necessarily have specialist knowledge of architecture. Consequently it does not really operate as a forum for an indepth debate surrounding architectural principles or concepts but instead takes a look at finished buildings in Malaysia.

The focus of the magazine is primarily on Malaysian Architecture, although each issue will often have an article looking at the work of a well known international architect, either historic and contemporary. Buildings presented in the magazine are often high end public and commerical buildings with a finish and aesthetic thst would unattainable for many. It can at times definately seem to be a display of wealth and luxury. Not conincidentally many of the buildings are located in the major cities of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

Most, if not all, of the buildings featured in the magazine are modern,this is prehaps due to the fact that like New Zealand, Malaysia was a British colony until the twentieth Century and is still establishing it's own unique style of architeture. The style featured is generally a combination of Islamic, Asian and European architecture, the three main cultural influences present in Malaysia. In saying most of the buildings are modern it does not mean they necessarily look stereotypically modern, nor are they stereotyically minimalistic and austre. The cultural elements, especially of Islam have resulted in a more luxurious look, especially with regards to interiors. Buildings that are not bult with cultural or Islamic influences often have advanced technology integrated within.Malaysia's Islamic Culture also gives way to one of the few mentions of principles related to architecture, when talking in regards to the Petronas Twin Towers in capital, Kuala Lumpur.The floor plan of the towers are designed to represented the Islamic principles of unity within unity and harmony, which is expressed through geometry.


The overall feel of this jorunal is that it is primarily about he aesthetics and functions of existig buildings and there are moments when it feels like it could be crossing into the realm of interior design.It is, however, useful for anyone interested in looking specifically at Malaysian, modern asian and modern Islamic architecture.


Influence on my design:

- the floor tower of the Petronas Twin Towers has influenced the design of my "cave" - but is simplified and relates more to the walls and ceiling as well.
- idea of a central walking area seperating two secondary areas and leading to the primary area, the working area, emulates a church and the radiating areas of mosques.
- Ideas of symmetry are seen in the gallery/foyer area - although is somewhat altered.
- biggest aesthetical guide (influence in my design), especially with regards to the screen but also in general.

Trying to upload that image and failing

Alright what it wouldn't let me post in the last post

Or i was going to. It came up with an error again.

Apologies.

I know, I know I didn't post yesterday. That, however, is not to say I didn't do any work!

So here is more progress from secondlife.

The Petronas Towers images below were mentioned in Majalah Arkitek for their floor plan which consists of two interlocking squares (to form in my opinion a kind of star shape) softened by circles placed at the junctions of the squares. This really helped me because it gave me away to further my design when I had come to something of a wall. However I decided to forgo the circles as they are some what fussy.

The Petronas Towers Floor Plan



The Square Shapes that make up the floor

This snapshot and the next one are of my first attempt at encorporating the floor shape into what I already had in my design. I wasn't really happy with it so I changed it.



The next set of snapshots were all taken to show how i did eventually decide to have the floor shape (and wall and box shape) unfortuantely at this stage I didn't take a picture from above but hopefully you will be able to see what I've done.















So that was the extent that I got up to on Wednesday.

And now for today.

Before I show you my work, i signed in today to see from my office:





Not really very attractive in my opinion - maybe i say that more in the direction of the giant greek warrior than the giant - although almost unrealistically thin - columns. No actually I don't. Well at least it doesn't toally block out my view of the sunset yet. Also it might be appropriate to now mention that there is a heck lot of abandoned and useless prims in Putahi! What the hell people when you are finished with something that is not part of your project delete it!! Its no drama to delete stuff, you seriously just press delete after selecting the object. All the abandoned prims remind me of space junk. And whoever Oat Wasp is has left a prim in what is my office. It has been there for weeks and I've asked him/her to remove it twice - I even offered a teleport to them, but they refuse to talk to me or move it. Most annoying because they haven't got the settings so I can move it or delete it myself!

So on to my work! Much more interesting than abandoned prims.

The first set of photos are all from the same stage in construction, which is basically the finished shell, taken from different locations.













The next set of photos are of the coded door - the code and techniques came from
http://www.sutor.com/c/buildsl/buildsl-doors/buildsl-doors-swinging/ it was really easy to do.







Well I tried to add one my photo but it wouldn't let me. It was related to a slightly different area of this. So I'll quickly put it in another post.

Progress

I feel I have made some progress today and am not nearly as grumpy and fustrated as i was yesterday. Which can only be a good thing. I am still thinking out the design with no mental or physical picture of what I want the whole to look like.

The area I made today is the area i intend to be used as "the office" part of the office. By that I mean the working area. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to link that area with some kind of viewing area for information about my journals. Also I do intend to get rid of the standard wood finish but there is not much point doing that until I've finalised thing.

Some pictures of what i believe to be progress:



This is my first attempt? Maybe arrangement is a better term. I had some further ideas for this but we are limited to 100 prims (primatives) and so i decided to try and find a more effecient way to build something very similar. (on saying this i think i just realised one way 1 can make another part of what I made today contain less prims. -.-)
The thing with this design is that I was intending to have this "cave" (the contorted/twisted box thing) in the centre rear of a larger space with the journals area at the front. This would have created a private office of sorta within a larger public space but it ended up seeming a little too closed off with not enough integration between spaces.
I'm writing this a couple of hours on and i can't remember quite why i didn't stick to some elements of that idea and am now considering returning to it.
Note that the "cave" was initially going to be more of a cylinder like that in my last entry but it didn't contort (the seeming obsession with contorsion does have something to do with one of my journals its not just my own little thing - think Frank Ghery and possibly Zaha Hadid) well and provide the physical space i was after.
Anyway one of my reasons for progressing the ideas was the previously stated over use of prims and a realisation that you can only really cut a prim in one place.



I want to show you the twisting from a distance. To me it creates something of an illusion of movement.



So the issues with the floor extended beyond the amount of prims to just not really working, due to the fact it seems impossible to crop prims effectively and the fact the ground isn't flat.


So this led to:



So the major changes here were: the rotation of the "cave" so it is more of a tranisitionable space that has more flow, the floor becoming all one level which seems a more effecient use of prims too me and a more practical use of floor space. Also i added 3 glass exterior walls and a glass ceiling/roof. It's basically made a contourted cube shaped tube inside a normal cube - I was hoping to create some juxtaposition between formal, grounded cube and a cube that has been distorted and had its relationship with the ground altered. Hopefully this is also working some way to incorporating two conflicting elements of my journals - the emphasis on geometry in Majalah Arkitek (Architecture Malayasia - although literal translation of Majalah Arkitek is Magazine Architecture)and the 90's-present reaction against pure geometric and traditional architecture by modern architects in Design studies. However I feel this has definately channelled Design studies more than Majalah Arkitek. Hopefully I'll be able to balance things out more.
And what about the third journal, AA Files - well that is where the idea of a cave has come from and it is also what is dictating my design as a ground-based horizontal design rather than a vertical building. So it hasn't been forgotten.

So more pictures for this design from different angles e.t.c.



Looking through the "cave" work zone. Hopefully the glass will look more like glass at some point because at the moment from the inside you can't really tell its glass - actually it may as well not even be there its so hard to see.



Looking out from the "cave" the area immediately infront of the cave is where I intend to create the "jorunal" area. In this picture i really like the twisitng interior on the left hand side. It kind of reminds me of folding or some form of accordian.



Looking from the righthand side of the "cave"



A view from the outside of the building. Note the curved semi-dome like contours of the cave roof. This was something of a happy accident which references the iconic domes prominent in islamic architecture (e.g. mosques).Islamic architecture is one of the things that was present in Majalah Arkitek - although Christian architecture of churches was too so maybe I should encorporate that. (however they were modern churches so maybe the seeming modernity of the building thus far is reference enough.)

Overall I'm finding that i'm learning to think in secondlife (although I do always have to have a pencil and sketch book next to me).There is one thing I am slightly annoyed about - that is that I get my best ideas when I'm dozing off and am also completely unproductive in the afternoons. Mornings should last forever.

Pen, Paper, Toilet?

Oh my gosh two posts in one day. I must be going great.

On the contray I'm not. I started with some sketching on a sheet of paper - yea so old fashioned but I cant think in secondlife and it takes too long to do things. So yea put some ideas, text and image on this page:



Then I decided I needed to stop procrastinating and actually work in secondlife. Thats where things go wrong. Part of my design ended up looking like a public toilet (this is the only bit i actually worked on too. Plus I'm considering whether my design will spatially work and have some architectural merit. Furthermore I have no concrete idea of what I want only partials that don't seem to be working out too well.

So the glorified toilet:

So there has been an obvious long period of absence from my blog (and also secondlife) with final crit for Design, an essay due for European Studies and studying for Architectural Technology this projet somewhat stupidly got put on the back burner. Apologies to the two people I know check this in hopes of some form of an update. Though honestly I think the main person I've let down is myself :(.

On the plus side I have researched and gone through my journals. They seem in many respects worlds apart and I'm stuggling to know where to even start designing. Contridictions between the texts are rife so its partially a case of what to include and what to ignore. Furthermore two of my journals are very academic and almost inaccessible to a fresher architecture student. They aren't particularly inspiring either as there is a lot of text and little of anything else. I'll be creating a seperate post for each of the journals which I will hopefully linked to or displayed within Secondlife. At the moment really i just need to figure out what to do. I'm even considering starting with a pen and paper even though the emphasis of this project is what you can achieve on the computer.

Over and out