Volumetric Studies

The brief for the volumetric study was to go beyond thinking of a building as an individual object and take serious consideration about its interaction with its specific context. I chose Site A, Murano, and this involved masterplanning the immediate context around it. The island at the moment is mainly derelict - there are a few warehouses but I learnt from spending time on the island that the majority of the area is overgrown or deserted, hence the reason to create a masterplan.  

After myself and a team of students created this laser cut model of Venice, we split ourselves up to design different areas within the initial masterplan. Within this area I had to choose a site for my building design, illustrated here with a matchstick cube inside my black foam board masterplan.

These series of gifs show my first set of volumetric ideas for suitable scales of development, based on cutting away sections of a solid piece of cardboard. The gif below shows at first: 

1. A 3 storey box, to demonstrate the maximum size of development for the site. 

2. The same box with an overhang in my new proposed courtyard, allowing people to pass under, with a triangular section on the third floor that allows views to the communal garden areas to the north.

3. A bottom heavy design that sets back each level to maximise light 

4. A mixture of 2 and 3, featuring both overhangs and set backs.

This next gif shows the same series of volumetric proposals looking north over the courtyard:

I then started experimenting with the form of the masterplan around the site, moving and rotating sections to create different spaces whilst still keeping the same size floor plates: 

I currently think that this (below) is the best location for the site - it overlooks a courtyard and has views north towards the new Vaporetto link and the communal gardens; and views south over the courtyard and (on the top storey) views looking towards Venice. The same series of volumetric shapes have been placed on the new site to see how well they respond to their immediate environment: 

I was interested to see how my area of the masterplan related to other people's proposals for different areas of the masterplan. I was pleased to see that the (cardboard) section above my (black) section followed the same line, and was of a similar height; albeit with more dense massing. 

From an aesthetic point of view I'm pleased I bought black foamboard rather than white foamboard, as it really contrasts well with the wooden model. The colour of the cardboard also seems to work against both elements, but my final presentations will be of a higher standard.