Mid-Project Design

The design for my rooftop studios has changed quite a bit over the last few weeks. The most noticeable change is that the studio "trees" have been aligned in two neat rows (like a grove) according to the parking garage structure rather than located with little relation to one another (like a forest). This arrangement has birthed numerous opportunities for creating relationships from studio to studio as well as from studio to program space.

The program space below is still intended to be the "under canopy" space, but the new arrangement allows for the program space to better relate to the parking structure on which it sits.

The studio design review suggested many new ways to make the composition stronger and more clear. Future revisions to the design may include the following:

• A less rectilinear roof structure that expresses more of a gestural, floating concept.
• A roof that occupies more area, clearly defining its relationship to the columns supporting the studios and creating a shaded outdoor space at ground level that could be used by gallery (like the rooftop terrace at the Shaw Center.)
  
• Studio spaces redesigned to be more expressive forms, possibly including the intersection of multiple planes through the current volume to further illustrate the "tree form" idea (further investigation is required).
• Studios located a varying heights to create a more interesting "canopy environment."
• A program space that more clearly creates relationships with the parking structure and the studio spaces above.

The studio design review also helped me make connections with other projects that my peers are working on. Both Ben and Marc are working on projects that deal with similar issues like tension between natural and synthetic, and using views to inform design.

I am very excited about making these revisions and hope that the next stage of the project brings about just as many moments of "aha!" as this last stage has.