Sarah Clark

THE GRID MEETS THE HILLS OF SAN FRANCISCO

ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN II LEARNING PORTFOLIO

THE SITE: THE GEORGE STERLING MEMORIAL PARK

In our design studio, we began with a study of two San Francisco neighborhoods, or more specifically, hills. Once we gained a bit more knowledge on the area, we chose a site. Due to my personal liking for a park below the Alice Mable Tennis courts atop Russian Hill, I chose the plot of land at Lombard and Larkin. I felt this would be an ideal spot due to its close proximity to Tourist destinations, the quality of the surrounding neighborhood, and the need for this outdoor space to be improved. The goal of the building would not only create a calm environment for researchers, but a mecca for relaxation and enjoyment of the outdoors.

My project was heavily influenced by the history of the site and George Sterling, whom the site was dedicated to. His influence of poetry, literature and the arts became an increasing enhancement to the program and goals of the center.

THE INITIAL GESTURES

We began the semester with gesture models. With my initial models I began to expand on the early themes I had. Inspired from the grid, I wanted to explore the concept of Layers. In my first two models, I successfully made two gestures that really inspired my whole process. I referenced them both throughout the semester they helped to guide my project forward. I felt they were both strong in content while remaining delicate and aesthetically interesting.

My second model focused on the concepts of layering, cubes, and the stretch of layering on a path. As if you took a stack and pulled it away from itself.

My first model was based on concepts of cubes, grids and layering. Although the lack of 3-dimensions limits this model, I found it very successful and informative.

THE MIDDLE GESTURES

Here I developed quite a few models I didn’t really like. They were not conveying exactly what I wanted them to , and some were a bit off topic. I was just trying to pump out different ideas and directions but none of them really got to the point that my first two models had gotten to. These models really just told me more about what the first two models needed to be about. They helped me direct my process by seeing where I went right and where I went wrong.

DEVELOPING A LANGUAGE

This was the first model that I feel made real progression. It captured the feeling of the first model I made, this time with a larger scale and a sense of dimensionality and space that it really needed. Although I knew it needed more complexity, I felt that I really started developing a language that could be improved and developed. This model really played off of my ideas of layers, cubes, and extension, but nicely incorporated the different axis’.

DEVELOPING A LANGUAGE

This was the second model I did that really led me through my project. Based directly from the previous model, I needed something with more complexity and more competing components. So I began to break things up and convey the stretch and extension that the grid exhibits when it hits the hills. This model contains the cubes that had been a continued focus, and various planar squares which convey the breaking of the cubes, extension and layering within the model.

RESPONDING TO THE SITE

As we began to respond to our site I lost focus. I wasn’t entirely sure how the building should stay gestural or how the building should resemble a building. So I began using planar elements and unfortunately lost the language I had developed in my gestures. These models remained very closed and were not really helping me realize anything about my project. They didn’t interact with the site, and did not have much potential for improvement. I seemed to lose the value of the work I had done preceding these models.

RESPONDING TO THE SITE

This was the first point where my ‘building’ was able to convey the themes of my gestures. I was having a little difficulty at this point with the scale of the building and how I wanted the areas to interact. I was also noticing that I began compartmentalizing my work. First with the gesture model and the site model, but then with the research center and the exhibition spaces. I realized I needed to define what I wanted these areas to convey, and how they could interact on such a large site. This model had the right language, but it was too large and wasn’t separated the way I wanted it to. It also wasn’t very realistic in terms of a real building.

RESPONDING TO THE SITE

With this iteration I began to develop a more realistic building. I was still discovering how I wanted things to sit upon the site. Here, I was still playing with the notion of extending the buildings out from each other. However, this displacement of the Literary library upon the Research library seemed to disrupt the open glass wall I wanted to border the bottom of the site. Despite the fact that I was still figuring things out, I felt I was getting closer to what I wanted this building to be. I also realized I wanted the building at a slightly smaller scale, this iteration seemed intrusive to the existing area.

RESPONDING TO THE SITE

I needed to respond to my site in a more direct way. I was in a different boat than my classmates, I had no goals of reconnecting the grid through my building. However, I did want to create a cove within the center of the site. One that would create a sense of tranquility nestled up away from the bustle of traffic. I wanted to give access to the inner courtyard by entering under a bridge that would connect the two centers together. Here I toyed with the idea of the Literary Library being the bridge to connect the center. Unfortunately, this extension made the center too large and it took over the entire site.

Here I was also defining a harsh straight line at the bottom of the site. This was in response to the wall of the buildings facing the libraries and the geometry of a perfect grid.

EXPLORING MEDIUMS

During the semester, we began exploring different medium for our plans and sections. When moving away from modeling and toward hard-line plans I find my work tighten up. I lose the interesting quality that my work holds. However, with charcoal as a tool, I found I was really able to create plans that held the beauty that my models can embody. I feel that charcoal is a good tool for me to use and I hope to continue using it in the future. My goal is to use it to ease slowly into hard-lines drawings so that I don’t lose the quality that makes my work interesting.

PLANS AND SECTIONS

I realized that my Plans and Sections need a little work. I do like how they require me to commit and make decisions, however, I feel they suffocate my work. I need to work of this. If the building I am designing is truly interesting, my sections and plans should show this. Perhaps I was trying to dive into end of semester building world to fast, or maybe a few more tries and I would have been able to develop an interesting section and plan. Fact is, I know this is an issue that needs improvement.

THE FINAL MODEL

I gained a lot of clarity in this model. I defined the circulation spaces, the bridge, and the placement of the center on the site. I solidified a few elements to the indoor space that I tried to convey in this model, like sinking the model of the city into the floor and creating steps and paths to walk over it. I was able to define the relationship between the center and the exhibition spaces. For example, here, I chose to have the entrance to the research center and the lecture hall parallel to one another. This was due to their mixed use. I decided how the center would sit above the ground, and how much digging would occur. I do feel that I waited too long to make these decisions though. I think I sort of froze and I regret that. All it did was stunt my work. If I made these decisions from the start I would have gotten feedback and improved.

THE LEARNING PROCESS

I realize that I work best in my modeling work. With iterations, I am able to convey exactly what I want to convey. Sometimes, I am even able create and then apply some meaning to it. However, design does not lie in just the modeling. I need to start taking a holistic approach to the process. My drawings need work and I know this. My documents, although they improved from the beginning of the semester, need work. I feel like I have good ideas and I can identify what works and what doesn’t work, but this becomes overshadowed by my inability to express this in 2-d and verbal form. I need to perfect the art of taking what's in my head, and sharing it with others. Practice with the moment sketches might help share my ideas as well, I felt I worked well with those.