woa!

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[[ My Site || My Band ]]

This is probably the most complete and outstanding pieces of Architectural work I have ever seen on DA!
Spectacular - great job!
It'd be good to see some of the specs of the building as well.

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Designing and Building houses made from Straw and Mud.

Check us out at....... ~agincourtgreen

wow, this is really amazing, the project itself is magnificent so as the banner.



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"What is Bad? I've told you already: everything that has in it's foundation, weakness, jealusy and revenge."

Chapter LVII
THE ANTICHRIST
NIETZSCHE

Absolutely wonderful submission. It's almost as if some alien life form has landed and taken over a 'normal' building and changed it to what it looks like today, feeding off the building and spreading to the surrounding area. The layour showing every floor level makes it more understandable, also.

What is the parts on every floor in the ceiling space that exit the building? I can only guess some sort of ducting for ventilation etc?

I'd like to understand more what everything is made of, for example, are the tunnels etc ...glass? or some sort of plastic? polycarbonate?

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-alun

Yeah i realised i hadn't really ecplained it at all - the projects concept is parasitism at its core, in that it uses the existing concrete tower building (UTS in sydney) as a means of structural support, gathering inhabitants (from the inside -> out) and as a source of energy (yes the ventilation system was designed to feed from the existing plantrooms (which would be expanded). The current site is a massive 70's brutalist concrete tower which of all things houses a university campus...the parasite was designed to eat away at spaces it could find and reveal the inner workings of the campus to the public view...at the same time generating activity of the surface and a providing a much needed facelift that is more engaging with the surrounding environment...materially i was thinking in terms of steel and glass, a percentage of which would be solar..

glad you like it!

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There's plenty more where that came from! >> [link] >> My Shop [link]

oh yeh and the HVAC system was suposed to exposed so people could see the 'veins' etc feeding into the original tower from the inside...like one of those plastic biology models

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There's plenty more where that came from! >> [link] >> My Shop [link]

Alright mate sorry its taken awhile for these comments but we were kinda looking at a format for our critique.

Site contextFrom the few photos of site and your description- it looks like your Symbiote would welcome an invasion. Too many extensions of buildings mimic or just duplicate the style of the original building. Whereas I agree with your approach- the best way to find an union is often through contrast. I would have liked to see a deeper study into the existing building just to have a broader picture of its particular context- More photos of the building as a whole and maybe a focus on materiality.
Cultural context A mixed use building I believe combining Academic and Residential use correct? I think universities should have their vibrancy on display to the city. University have natural diversity and excitement about them, and yet are housed in very inward looking environments. I think that what better urban signifier for a university than a window into its world. I would have like to have seen an auditorium incorporated into the main south east corner of Symbiotic - what a vision for any person speaking at that university- speaking out to the city (you’d have to face the students in towards the old building or they’d just stare into the city for the whole lecture)
Spatial arrangement / organisation It’s difficult to work out your spatial arrangement due to not knowing what space is for what function. Maybe an colour keyed overlay over the plans may help?
Structural Design I think your structural strategy could push a few more boundaries- I think your structure should have the capability to grow organically. Got to keep the structural engineers on their toes. Have a look for the following- these projects are tiny in comparison to the scale of project suggested- but just may make you think a little more about having a more challenging structure. ‘Icos’ Observation Structure by Giles Ebersolt & ‘Silva Spider’ a prototype by Richard Horden, Jurgen Amann and Thomas Wenig (students); Andreas Vogler (coaching) Both of these projects feature in a great little book called XS Big Ideas, Small Buildings(it’s a great little book- worth a purchase)
Material/Construction DesignI feel materiality could be an area for improvement on this project. Like I mentioned in site context- a study of the materials use in the existing building could leading you into a great study for materials the Symbiote. I can understand you wanting transparency but may looking into some other materials would give the Symbiote a more organic impression. Maybe look at architect Matthew White’s inflatable house design, which came third in the Future House London RIBA competition. He looked at the possibility of adding polymers to a inflatable material that hardened when UV light was shone on it. The idea came from dentistry fillings where UV light is shone onto the paste to make it harden. Or even transparent ETFE as used by Grimshaw’s Eden project. (Check [link] . Go to Projects>Full Project List> Eden Project for some stunning images.) Something like eden using hexagonal shapes may also give you room for expansion within your Symbiote- a ETFE panel could be removed and a spot(pimple) of a say reading room grows on your façade?
Environmental Design Not too sure of the sustainability creditability of this project from what is shown. Surely a sprawling design such as this would be able to incorporate some kind of natural ventilation strategy (If its not already). Some organically styled wind scoops maybe driving air into the building? This may interest you flexible photovoltaic’s being developed by the military-([link]).
Representation I feel this building has been well represented in this presentation. I would like to have seen some sketches/ concept or maybe even a fantasy-esc hand drawings of this project. Something along the lines of H R Giger ([link]) maybe.
Accuracy and detail of drawings
Presentation Concise presentation giving an interesting summary of a very interesting project.

In summary- an really interesting concept that is well represented and presented. Maybe if your wanting to develop this project in anyway- worth looking more into the capability of your Symbiote growing? It’s materiality and sustainability issues. Have you played Command and Conquer?- In the game you can’t building much without enough power stations? Maybe your building grows to use up the power it creates? It could conquer the city? If its method of generating it’s own power is considered more.

Let me know what you think- it'd be great to get your response.

Cheers Steve
~stkennedy admin of *ArchiByte

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*ArchiByte A place for designers with an architectural interest to share and contribute ideas.

Wow what a comprehensive comment! and some great insights, funnily enough a few of the references you mentioned had been used or at least glazed in particular the eden project and hr giger (i actually abstracted a giger print and used it as the patterning for the green glass!) The banner was for my final project last year, i've now graduated and am cad-mokeying for a health firm - but hey you gotta start somewhere

I really appreciate the time you took to critique it - if only my jury panel were as (apparently) enthusiastic about it! If you're intrested i can rummage through my old files and folders and see if there's any developmental work that's worth a look.

Precedent wise i was looking at and reading a lot of Greg Lynn, Stan Allen, Lebbeus Woods, Nox, etc.. for anyone who's interested in this type of architectural thought..

I guess you could say its godless architecture because i never reached the details!

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There's plenty more where that came from! >> [link] >> My Shop [link]

I'm glad you appreciated the comments- I hope you like the format and it was clear enough?

If I were you and spend a little more time just working this project up alittle. I've spotted on your frontpage that Giger is one of your favourite artists. I think there could be a very rewarding image drawing your building up in a Giger style (a bit of a challenge too.)

So are you on a year out? Or finished the course? (Sorry I'm not quite sure how you become an architect in Oz)

I think precedent wise if your keen to dig out some of your developmental work- It'd be great to have a look- We have a section called ArchitecturalConcepts[AC] (its actually our scraps- but we feel it serves a better purpose as a place where people can post sketches and talk about there theories) I am personally not clued up in the likes of 'Greg Lynn, Stan Allen, Lebbeus Woods, Nox etc', but I would really like to see/ hear more about their theories in the context of your work. Check this [link] its our first post to [AC] by our very own ~cad-monkey. But please don't be put off to put hand worked drawings/sketches etc. We want this to be a place of mutual learning.

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*ArchiByte A place for designers with an architectural interest to share and contribute ideas.