College project - HELP!

[moonman]

i am currently studying architecture at college and have just started my final major project, does anyone has anybody got any ideas on what i can design and build to scale? i'm not following a brief at all yet! cheers

[gioia]

Are you looking for scooter/SF related ideas or architectural ones? may help if you were a bit more specific

[moonman]

it can be scooter related, anything really, for my last project i designed a V.F.M venue for brighton seafront that had jump the gun and the modern art gallery combined in aswell, it was inspired by the front mud gaurd of an ss90 ;D

[Perkin]

I think NickJ is an architect...

I have one or two other contacts as well.

[charliec]

what about a giant shredded wheat that you could walk into? that would be amazing! (clearly, i have just been thinking about this, there is a man in that advert who is looking for something in the wheat and he is like nothing here..... good for the maths too i spose?)

or mabye somthing like these? www.finerareprints.com/vol_classical_bartoli2.htm
like find old pictures and drawing of buildings from ancient time and reproduce them (model version of course!)

[jacques]

You say final project...Is this for Part 1 or Part 2?

Museums, art galleries etc have been done to death. With the last 8 arch students my director and I interviewed for placements they all did exhibition spaces, cafe's etc. (edit...none of them got a job...the one that got the job had the simplest portfolio, good designs and presentation / communication skills)

Have you thought about a renovation project? Does it have to focus on public realm? Where do you live? What are your aims...If I could have open book right now I'd do something like a homeless shelter + church + skills centre / creche etc under a highways flyover... Collaborate with some engineering / art students. Pick old disused brown field land and develop on that, it's more sustainable. To make it all the more tangible go and speak to some charities (Venue in Bristol & Bath a good example) and see what they need most out of these types of facilities. This will help you establish a brief to work & design to. (edit2: the above is just an example...you could replace with Medical Clinic...Office for Google? etc etc.)

Think about open space, movement network links, social / economic improvements, urban design, light & shadow, materials and their suitability in the immediate context etc. etc.

And most of all let your designs be honest about what they represent and provide. I cannot personally abide pretentious designs that go off at a tangent.

And tell the story about your design...start with a thorough analysis, what is your brief (even if you set it yourself), your concepts, design development, consultation, case studies, layer your analysis so that you fully explore all opportunities and constraints (design parameters).

Move onto detailed design and build a model. Personally I'd prefer to see a well designed scheme in card / balsa wood than a bad scheme in coloured materials.

Get working! ;D

[scotia]

50,s drive in/internet cafe hybrid!

[iamme]

i'm a architecture student also and love when this design ideas just seem blocked. but you got to send me some stuff on that last project you did.

[triffid]

do yer own work fella, you will only be kidding yourself by putting in someone elses work as your own, you will be found out eventually, and if it is an an architect I hope it doesn't prove fatal for some poor sod

[Perkin]

One thing that pisses me off about this country is that we're surrounded by great countryside but it rains all the time, and when it does, there's next to f*ckall to do to entertain the kids for a day.

I'd love to take them somewhere where we could have a forest walk, a semi-outdoors (covered) picnic and where they could play on an adventure playground with some semblance of weather protection, just so the whole thing didn't turn into a miserable washout.

Oh, and if we can avoid getting ripped off at the cafe, that would be a bonus, too.