This section is meant to give you an insight into the work in my portfolio, and my opinions of it.

It starts with the very first project, Oasis I. We were put into groups within our tutor groups and then told we were designing a hut that we would sleep in overnight. Our design was very much function before form, as my group and I certainly didn’t want soggy sleeping bags. When we were assessed the next day we were asked if we thought our design had been a success or not (by that time it looked a bit worse for wear compared to some of the others around), we argued that we had managed to stay completely dry in it overnight for one night. Exactly what we intended for it to achieve. Parallel with this project we also started learning how to do various orthographic drawings. These drawings were the first technical drawings I had ever really done, I was pleased with them at the time, but looking upon them now I can see how much I have improved in a short space of time.

Next up is Oasis II. After returning from Paris we started our second project of the winter term. We had to design a ‘diversion’ to alter how people move through a space. Using the space outside the front of the library I designed a series of arches connected with flexible walls (modelled on the central section of a bendy bus). I wanted these walls to be moveable; this is because whilst thinking about my design I thought that it is all well and good creating a diversion, but within a year people will have found the single shortest path through. I wanted my design to be different in that with an ever changing design comes the ability to alter a person’s path they may have got used to. This was the not only the first real test of my drawing and model-making skills but of my ability to present my idea in a crit.

The Enlighten module was split into two sections, in the first we had to create a gallery space for an art piece of our choosing. The space had to illuminate the art using natural light. I found this module was good at getting me to experiment different designs by using sketch models, as it is impossible to see how the space will work otherwise. The other half of the module was ‘Bricks on Sticks’. Using skewers supplemented with cable and glues of our choosing we had to design a bridge that would span a 45cm gap and support a house brick. Unfortunately my bridge failed, but I did learn some valuable lessons for future designs about the structures needed to support a building.

For Folio we were also introduced to computer programs such as Photoshop and Premiere Pro. Having a small amount of experience using these programs prior to these tasks helped me pick up the new things I was learning. Although there is much more that can be done with these programs I feel I have sufficient knowledge from these lessons to create things such as Photo-montages without too much bother.

The first of two cultural context modules this year was House & Housing. For this we compared an influential building of the 20^th century. We then had to Model this at 1:100 and write a comparative essay. An Arts & Crafts house in Hertfordshire called Hollybank by C F Voysey was the house that I was given to model. I chose to write an essay called Modern Architecture- a Departure from the Ornate. In it I looked at the key features of modern architecture compared to earlier architectural styles, focusing on the change to simple lines and styles in buildings. I enjoyed this module, learning about the history of buildings that surround us is really interesting to me, and after looking at only a brief period of architectural history already appreciate the historical roots of the built environment I am surrounded by.

During the spring term we did our Caravanserai module. We visited a city farm in Stepney, our brief was to redesign and improve their existing facilities, and these consisted of a community centre and a rural crafts centre, including a traditional forge. I felt I might have had an advantage in this project as I live in a very rural area, I have worked on farms and have a wide enough knowledge to create a design that is viable as a community centre (with cafe) as much as it is able to still be a well run working farm. I started by assessing the site and finding out how I wanted this site, which is a community run venture, to not only be aesthetically pleasing but also be as usable and versatile as possible. As the farm tries to be as eco-friendly as possible I decided to go down the route of finding alternative methods of building that would make this building more sustainable. Although this was a big step for my first building design I thought that if I felt it was right for what the building needed I would have to bite the bullet and research as many alternative technologies as possible. I first started looking at earthship construction but quickly moved on from this to my next, and final, construction idea. Shipping containers can be upcycled and used as the structure for buildings, it takes minimal energy to fabricate a useable space from the steel shell. The construction technique used is very similar to a steel frame so finding details about construction wasn’t as difficult as I had first thought. There were a few details such as insulation and dimensions that took more research but I managed to find details/ solutions quickly enough. This was also the first time I was required to do landscaping on a project. As the farm had many uses I decided that instead of creating a complex landscape I would simply have a large open space. I felt this would be to greatest advantage to the farm, as it could vary the use from an area to put benches all the way to setting up stalls in the summer to sell produce grown not only on the farm but by the local residents. In the end I was pleased with my design. I felt I had managed to tailor specific parts of my design to the needs to the farm whilst still keeping it versatile enough that a change of use wouldn’t inconvenience them. I do feel my crit performance let down my design; I wasn’t able to explain a lot of the smaller design features that I thought would make a big difference to the use of the farm.