ASSIGNMENT 2 – Building Typologies
This semester you will be concentrating on one type of building (or building typology The first half of the semester we will concentrate on researching and documenting many different examples of the building type. The best type of buildings to study are institutional building types. Below I have included a short list of building types. You do not need to select only from this list, but this will give you an idea of which building types work well. Also when selecting a building, the more specific you can be on what happens, the easier it will be to do research, i.e. instead of a school, a better solution would be a school for the arts or for the blind.
This will give you more opportunities to explore the use of the building. Many schools have been designed, but concentrating on a specific aspect that needs to be incorporated into this project, will strengthen your project. This will be you thesis for the semester.
Building typologies:
Dormitory, Clinic / medical facility, School – all types, Bank, Theater, Courthouse, Post Office, Crematorium/Mausoleum, Library, Hotel, Museum, homeless shelter, community center, sport facility…..something you have not designed. Condominiums and apartments will not be acceptable building typologies.
The approximate area will be 35,000sf, and multi-stories.
You will need to select a building typology and then concentrate on a specific aspect i.e. clinic for the elderly or rehabilitation. The first part of the research will be gathering a minimum of 10 examples of this building type. You should collect plans, elevation selections, writings. These should be compiled into a blog. We will be analyzing these buildings for the first part of this semester.
Once you start collecting your examples, you will be required to analyze each one. You will need to read about each one, collect drawings and images, write about each one and create diagrams based on the lectures and readings. Each example with have this detailed research and analysis. All of this documentation will be incorporated on your blog.
You will need to answer the following questions for next class:
1. Which building typology you are researching?
2. Why are you researching this building typology?
3. What is the specialty of this building type you would like to research i.e. museum for dance, school for digital media…
4. What are the examples that you will be researching… list the examples, location and architect (10 examples)
5. What are you goals for working with this building type?
6. What are the program elements that you see included at this point in your building? (may evolve once more research is done)
The answers will be on your post. You should include the question as part of your answers, so if other looks at your blog they will be able to understand your posts.
Later in the semester you will each be given someone from the outside that will continuously review your project and give comments to your blog.
The blog will include, images, sketches,drawings, writings and scans of sketches. It will act as your digital sketchbook and research document.
