Revised Masterplan

The main criticism of my masterplan was that, although it was based on average Venetian proportions, the overall layout could be built in Leeds, in Manchester, London etc. It didn't look specific to Venice, so I had to adjust it to look like it had grown over time.

To begin this study, I cut out (to scale) building blocks from central Venice and overlaid them as best I could over the top of my old masterplan:

I experimented overlaying these shapes with each other and with the old masterplan, in every possible combination:

I settled on this layout, combining the shapes of the central left with the old masterplan in the centre:

The darker areas in the image above are where the two set shapes overlap. I liked the grey routes through the site, the chicanes, the fact there was no straight route from A to B. Following on from this, I re-drew the AutoCAD file:

The language is the same as the old masterplan - grey represents residential development, orange the commercial/retail (shops and bars) and the pink shows a new community centre. The winding paths through the site show up more clear on this diagram, a feature that was very apparent when walking through the street of Venice.

I then sketched down some shadow studies of the central courtyards. I like how the dark pathways open up into light courtyards, an experience I enjoyed in Venice:

I then sketched some of the views within these spaces, at human level. It's amazing how a couple of trees and people can add so much life to a space:

Although not exactly a maze, I wanted the spaces between the blocks to bit a bit confusing so people would accidently explore courtyards and spaces that they had not intended to at the start of their journey.