Tom Svilans (Stompin Tom)

[StompinTom]

Well, here goes!

I guess I'll read the rules before blatantly disregarding them

EDIT: H'ok, sounds lovely. Can't wait to take a look at this model kit...

To clarify, does one have to use a certain amount of elements from the model kit or is that pretty flexible?

I'm keeping the definition of 'pref-fab' pretty loose, as it can apply to things that have been fabricated before the actual assembly of the 'building', either mass-produced or not, for the intended or different purpose ('premade' as in 'made for another application/function/project' as in shipping containers being used for houses).

[bakbek]

Hey Tom, Very much looking forward to see what you come up with!

[StompinTom]

Re: model kit.

If I don't like 90 degree angles and Richard Meier, is it absolutely necessary to use the model kit? I've got much rougher stuff in mind for this one, though I may just go with it.

[StompinTom]

Color. Composition will come a bit later.

[bakbek]

Re: model kit.

If I don't like 90 degree angles and Richard Meier, is it absolutely necessary to use the model kit? I've got much rougher stuff in mind for this one, though I may just go with it.

go with it... you can add angles with your own elements, but part of this challenge is to see what each of you can come up with this initial set.

[StompinTom]

Never mind the model kit issue, I think I may have it somewhat figured out.

A lot about Modernism tended towards the imposition of rational (therefore, human socio-cultural) order upon the natural (existing, non-human, pre-human, etc.) world. This inevitably ended in disaster, which, after the reactionary tendencies of the so-called "post-modern" period, seems to point to a future based on the exposition of order within the natural realm (the Other), hence generative systems, biomorphic technology, biomimicry, emergence, etc.

Therefore, I think Paul Virilio's Hypermodernism (as a resurgence of Modernist principles within the context of modern info tech and new methods of production (mass customization, scripting, virtual media) and the ideology of speed (cinematic architecture)) is not so much a revival as a new way of applying architecture to a world which is increasingly mobile, de-centralized, based on local orders and rules, and individuated.

Side note: I find it funny how Modernism was declared dead in the 1970s (by certain individuals) even though it is still taught in more than a few architecture schools. That said, Prince Charles and a school in England (forget the name) still teach, and believe in, Classical architecture as the way to go. Good for them, I suppose, but so much for "progress", huh?

Another side note: I will probably be able to expand on this a bit more when I'm more sober.

[StompinTom]

I've been recently looking at, and loving, the work of Mendes de Rocha from Brazil.

Brutalism/monumentality/damn good use of concrete, etc.

[StompinTom]

Two main things keep running through my head: Lebbeus Woods' utopian urban interventions and Mas Yendo's in-progress work.

The project will be an intervention in a Modernist urban context, suspended from cables either from old buildings or unrealistically large trees (sequoias). I think the best way to describe what I have in mind would be a biomorphic, "dirty" architecture with a trace of steampunk and nanotechnology, set in a not-quite-dystopian setting. Know what I mean? Yeah, neither do I.

Anyway, the work of Syd Mead gave me a few ideas in how material usage and structural systems could look in the future.

Cool things:

Mas Yendo
http://letsfallasleep.files.wordpres...0/lebbeus2.jpg
http://architecture.myninjaplease.co...us-woods_2.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_l5VpZWTDVl...s400/woods.jpg

So, in many respects I could call this a continuation or elaboration of some of the things I attempted to convey in the GH House competition. Not sure why, but I suppose it's an indication of where I'm looking at in terms of architecture.

[StompinTom]

A wee bit of sketching...

EDIT: A bit of explanation of what that lumpy thing is. It's basically a cobbled together little building, made of different parts (old vats, pieces of airplane hulls, fragments of monocoque constructions, etc.) welded together as it grows. The idea is that it's an accumulation of space, determined by the expanding needs of its inhabitant. Therefore, there is no set design, it's a growth that takes its own course, much like the environment that it's set in.

The things at the top could be solar panels or water collectors or dishes for communication/observation/listening.

[StompinTom]

A tad bit of mood-boarding and blocking out the composition. Not sure if the big tall things should be trees or buildings yet. Perhaps cliffs? The balconies and such would be made up of the model kit.

Bottom right corner would be a scene of some sorts, I'm thinking. Maybe a bunch of old curvy parts strewn across that terrace there, as if being sorted or rummaged through, perhaps to patch up the hovering thing or maybe someone's looking for pieces to use to add onto it, to continue its growth. That would also be where the cable would be holding onto the surface cracks in the ground, much like a root system of a tree.

I want to emphasize that connection because it is an important part of how the whole thing works. Technically, it will be a good opportunity to practice modeling cracks and crevices and general grunge.

Thoughts?

[StompinTom]

Beginning to block out volumes and spaces for the right part of the image. Going a bit too far, maybe, with the wide open terrace with the holes in it, but that will allow flexibility in composition later, say if I want to explore that space more.

Otherwise, rough stuff, designing as I go, nothing fancy.

[StompinTom]

One more, and then I'll stop polluting this forum.

Testing a bit of beat up metal cladding. This will be what the exterior of the hovering thing will be clad in: old, beat up patches of metal.