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DESIGN STUDIO MAJOR : Final Proposed Concept

 

CHRISTCHURCH ARTS & CULTURE CENTRE

The 'Silent' Architecture

 

The Christchurch Culture and Arts Centre is a proposal for a project that is engulfed by art and culture. Art, culture and architecture, when in unison presents itself with an amazing human experience that is open to individual perception.

 

The word silent bears an unspeakable amount of explanation but at the same time it can also be made up of just a few simple meanings.Thus, this proposal seeks to create a ‘Silent’ architecture that is open for individual perception by enlisting the relationship between art, architecture and culture.

 

Initial Design Concept

 

In approaching the design for the Christchurch Arts and Culture centre, inspiration was found in Christchurch’s diversity, the Victoria Park site and the culture itself. The form of the Christchurch Arts and Culture Centre emerges where these rich stories overlap.

 

A two dimensional circle was used to portray these stories of culture, art and diversity. The basis of multicultural and diversity is uniting and celebrating individual differences. Just like the circumference of a circle that is always determined by a unique radius and is always drawn towards a central force; each indvidual regardless of their unique cultural background, will always be drawn towards a unique central connection that will allow them to work together; and that connection is called Humanity. 

 

The Proposed Design

 

A three-dimensional form of a circle was used as the first approach to representing the connection between culture and diversity as an architectural form. The three-dimensional form was then distorted according to how the form will sit on the site and how the resulting varying intensity of thermal intensity on the wrapping surfaces will affect the facade; in turn creating a wrapping and twisting facade of different surfaces.

 

The wrapping and twisting of the form creates opportunities for the architecture to be unsettling and open to individual perception, therefore creating a form that is an excellent representation between art, architecture and culture.  

 

The Building Brief

 

The proposal is for an Arts and Culture centre with a variety of spaces. The building houses a main central theatre, an exhibition space, a gallery space/multipurpose hall and a library as the main interior spaces. The interior spaces are laid out in such that it wraps itself around the central theatre an opens up towards the courtyard and avon river. This encourages foot flow and movement on all levels to move along the curve and towards the courtyard and riverside.

 

The central theatre can seat up to 300 people on two levels, 172 seats at ground level and 128 seats on the second level. The building also contains all the necessary front of house funtions such as lobbies as well as the required ancillary functions such as administration offices, backstage logistics and dressing rooms.

 

First Thoughts

 

The purpose of the project was to propose a building that could act as a cultural anchor for the Christchurch CBD cultural development. The proposal should be able to define itself through its architecture and also crate a link between surrounding amenities by forming a strong urban experience.

 

This project encompasses elements of my own personal experiences being an international student that comes from a city that comprises of over 30 different ethnic groups. Having lived and being raised in a multicultural environment, a person would gain a certain connection between people of different cultures.

 

This genuine ‘silent’ connection can be defined by how, in some way you would understand each other and each others culture without having to say a word. Often, this silent connection is interpreted differently by different people. Thus, the aim of this project was to express my own personal experiences and perception towards how culture or multiculturalism can truly be expressed in the form of architecture, by enlisting the relationship between art, architecture and culture.

 

The result, is a form of architecture that is able to define itself. A distorted form which bears a representation of a ‘silent’ architecture that is open to individual perception.

 

The Mobius Structure

 

The way the structure works is based on the form of a 3-dimensional mobius strip where after one full rotation in the building’s plan, the ceiling has become the floor and the floor becomes the ceiling. This is accomplished by a varied structured rotation of the same form.

 

In this case, 26 rectangular structural forms is used. So in plan view, each one of the structural members are deviated to 10° from the one before it while in elevation, the deviation is 5°. Applying the repeated deviation 36 times formes a full circle in plan view.The primary structural steel frames acts as bases for where the secondary structures of the building envelopes are attached to.

 

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