Before proceeding to read this post, I would advise you to read the first
part of it first, if you haven't read it, that is.
After a long process and several minor projects in between the major bicycle shelter project, it is finally finished! The result may seem rather similar to that of the previous post, but most of the changes lie in the interior, and also in the exterior materials. Below is the final presentational poster: (Click on it for full size)
The changes in this final version of my project lie, as earlier mentioned, in the interior and material. First of all, I was adviced to rethink the interior, so it is more dynamic than the previous one, while somehow also keeping the building's simplicity. What I did was add a vertical floating staircase on one side of the building, that leads up to a sleeping platform - one that is cosier than the previous staircase sleeping elements. On the exterior, I only slightly changed the shape to an even more simple one, and also changed the material to concrete, in order to create an even more mystical and displaced structure in the natural landscape, while also allowing more flexible construction systems, such as the floating stairs and the sleeping platform.
As you may remember, my whole idea with designing this rather weird and simple box-shaped shelter, was to create a mystical and weird effect in the landscape, and despite great enthusiasm from the professors' side, the project was critiquely contently accepted due to its far too simple shape and also due to my Donald Judd prefrences. I too was very sceptical with the whole concept and at times even hated the box I created, but I sticked with it to the very end, experimenting with what the outcome of such a design would provoke. Below is also the final rendering of the building. Once again, the landscape is not that of the Southern Italian coast, but unlike my previous render background, this one at least depicts a coastal landscape, and also a natural landscape that is more common to that of the one that is originally present at the actual site of the project.
So to sum things up, the results of this project are rather mixed - and that for a good reason as well. Being my first project, it will always haunt me, both in negative and positive ways. Also, despite the result, it has thought me many lessons on how to work on such a project, that I have no doubt will be rather useful to me from now on. Some of these are first of all, that I shouldn't hurry to conclude to the design of my project before trying various different designs and functions. That is perhaps the most important lesson. Also, I have experienced that having different teachers judge your project, quickly ends up in a huge mess of different people's opinions, which results in you having to decide which advices are the best to integrate in your designs - And as we all know, there is no exact right or wrong in the architectural universe, so that can be quite challenging! Besides these lessons, I have learned many other minor ones, but those I won't mention here, but rather illustrate in my future designs! The first step has been taken, let's see where the next one will lead.
- Andy Minchev
