Window for Contemplation
For this project brief, we were asked to design a window on a building of our choosing and an interior space to contemplate. This could be a retreat or a seating area and we had the option to have our client’s collection away from this space or somehow have it involved in our design, depending on our client’s needs and if they wanted to get away from it all.
I decided to have my client’s collection incorporated into the contemplation space as his ethos is healthy living among plants and well being, so it only made sense for my client to practise ones preaches and have them close by. I also kept my client the same, developing his profile further so that he collects air purifying plants. This choice meant that it was a conscious decision to have them by the window, as the plants will be able to purify the air when they are open and I will be able to have windows capable of being open and allow the potential to have my building located on a busy road or built up environment.
After looking at various window frame designs, I came across gridded and cuboid framed structures that divided the glass plane window. I knew I wanted to incorporate my plants within the gridded frame system one way or another. So I began sketching my ideas onto paper which when I began annotating, evolved.
My key words or phrase has subconsciously been ‘bringing outdoors into the indoors’ and blurring the lines between the two as I have been designing for my client. The ideology promotes what my client believes in so I decided that it has to be a core theme for my project.
I began researching green ways of living in outside and inside spaces and came across this study below. I also researched the type of plants for growing vertically and vines were a recurring result.
The use of neutral colours of wood, stone and concrete allowed green to become to feature colour and really made nature pop. The contrast inspired me to do this with my space and allow my client to contemplate on the importance of his work. The stepping down into the seating area creates a fully immersive experience with the surrounding greenery and accentuates the height of hanging ivy. There is a use of gravity, which allows yourself to let go of the world and contemplate on your deep thoughts.
Once I arranged my mood board I sketched the initial sections and what I envisioned my contemplation space to be, inspired by the key elements from my mood board. I then created sections in AutoCAD which was something I was still getting to grips with but I found this method arranged my design in a layout that made sense and felt realistic. I then created a visualisation of the space in Sketchup then Photoshop which I am also still unfamiliar with so this took up a lot of time, however I really enjoyed bringing my ideas to life and portraying it into the atmosphere I wanted to create.
I also created some axonometric drawings which I have never came across before so I decided to do this by hand so I had more control and intimate involvement of the process. I then rendered this over with colouring pencils.
After the Tutorial
Following my tutorial, I was inspired by Tadao Ando’s work and looked at his window frame arrangements of various shapes of glass panes that symbolised the complexity of humanity. I thought that this would be a great juxtaposition with the idea of holding the plants and how human influence plays with nature. The Greenbox project in Cerido was also another inspiration on how the steel frame becomes a support for the vegetation and the idea of wilderness growing outside into the interior so I felt I could relate this to my project and have the ivy really incorporated into my design by building them into the walls and window and really considering the root/water system.
My design transformed unintentionally into a Japanese inspired zen garden and a greenhouse space where my client could connect with his collection, nature and isolate this with the view outside for context which blurs the line on what is interior and exterior.
Model