Week 11 – Developing and Finalising Design

I already had a digital model of the St. James Theatre foyer space that I made after our site visit in week 3. Once I had a more clear idea around what my actual intervention would be in week 6, I was able to begin to model the intervention into the space. I did this by tracing over one of my surface designs from week 5 to create the outline of the forms that would become the installation. (I have a more in depth detailing about the development of my surface/installation design in my post from week 6 – https://wordpress.com/block-editor/post/spatialdesign.video.blog/925 )

After tracing the lines I extruded them to create the large forms of the installation. Without access to rendering software my model was left at this stage for a little while as I explored the colour palette and materials I would be using for the final design. During this time I decided to create an uneven floor surface in the space to further enhance the idea of movement. The floor contour adds another aspect for users of the space to consider as they manoeuvre around/under the large overhead forms. In certain areas the incline of the floor is quite steep and in others more of a gentle roll. Using movement as a concept for the space I thought it was important to try and create a space which really enhanced the experience of movement.

When I was able to access the lab at uni in week 11, my work progressed more quickly. I was able to apply the materials to the final rhino model and begin to check out the lighting conditions before starting to get some renders done.

The below images are the initial renders without any additional work done to them.

I was pleased with how the final design came out and I think it captures the concepts I was working with well. I wanted the entrances to be flush with the exterior walls to make it seem as if the design is almost like a cave, carved out of the side of the building. I didn’t want to include doors as I felt it was more of a hindrance given that the space was to function as a walkway. Instead I mimicked the shape of the installation forms and created an entrance that related the the interior of the space.

The final material of the installation is a semi-transparent fabric which prevents the space from feeling too crowded even with all the structures in there. The colour comes from the lighting which is situated inside each structure. If the lighting was turned off the space would be a soft grey/white palette as the original space has been blanked out to create a canvas for the colour to pop off of. With the lighting on the space is transformed into a bright, bold and inviting passageway, a bit different from your average city street route.