3D>...

Enlarging an area of my pattern and altering the scale allowed me to look at the spaces more as an urban field

Pattern Development...

To develop my pattern further i tried many variations of the original production rule.

From initially using isometric paper as a grid to aid my sketching of the pattern, this became a fundamental element to incorporate into my pattern.

Using this as a starting point i altered the baseline grid by angling the horizontal lines...

The lines offset at varying angles created spaces within the squares. By adding an element of colour this created a contrast of spaces.

This then formed a module which i repeated and overlapped at corresponding points. This created a heterogeneous element to the pattern.

I then looked at the what sort of patten would be created if i removed all the original grid lines. I found both patterns interesting and my next step is to translate the pattern from 2D to 3D.

Patterns, Patterns, Patterns...

Out initial task was to find 5 heterogeneous + homogeneous patterns. This was more difficult than i thought as i don't think i properly understood the concept of what a heterogenous pattern was.

However, since the first pin-up in which we discussed the patterns further i should realised that a heterogeneous pattern could very simply be made by changing a particular generative element or rule within an original pattern.

The next task was to focus on a pattern and develop this further by looking at the production rules more closely then producing 5 iterations of our own.

My pattern was fundamentally geometric and consisted of a series of squares. I looked at the squares in several ways. One was as a complete component of 6 squares that rotated 360° and each square is rotated off a central point and also positioned off the centre edges of each and every square,which creates an homogeneous pattern. (above pattern)

I then looked more closely at this component of 6 squares. As a set of threes that were hen mirrored which created a module of 6 squares that again rotated around a centre point.

Generating different production rules became a tricky task, as all i seemed to be creating was different homogeneous patterns, below;

Site Model...

Media Block

"Located next to the Millennium Dome, the Greenwich Peninsula is a highly constrained development site bearing the scars of a diverse industrial history. Covering 74 hectares with 2.5 km of river frontage the site stretches across the peninsular touching the Thames on both sides of the riverbank knee.

Media City: This is the site of London’s New Media Campus: a conglomeration of media industry headquarters and media education. This prototypical urban community will integrated a diverse programme into an coherent urban field.

What is the shape of this new urban quarter? Low or High? Field or Block? Open or Closed? Unit 9 will test and scrutinise principals of conglomerate ordering and juxtapose it with dense, tall, multi-programmed, ‘closed’ blocks.

The Unit continues the exploration of urban formations and buildings of projective nature that promote the production of new urban communities; projects that challenge conventions of private versus public urban space and contest ground versus building dichotomy." Unit 9 blog

The Site...

North Greenwich and the Greenwich Peninsula have an interesting history and is currently dominated by the large modern O2 arena/ Millennium Dome. The site has a strong industrial element to it and displays many historical components.

As a flood prone peninsula, the North Greenwich area remained undeveloped until the 19th century, when industrial development swept the area. Through good access to the river for importing and exporting goods, it became a prosperous home to rope making, cable making, and the manufacture of soap, linoleum, gas and other industries.

Other industries have come and gone, as have residential developments. Some of the first housing, in the Riverway area, has been preserved, providing a reminder of what it was like in the early 1800s.

Construction Week

Group 6 - Community Room

Presented with an oddly shaped site of approx. 30m2, our brief was to design and build a community room, minimum size of 3x4m.

The context of the site is within nearly 70 allotement sites, but currently has no facility for 'allotters' and their friends + family to meet/take shelter or have a tea-break. The Community Room is to act as a social hub for all the allotment holders and will be paid for by a grant from Haringey Borough of up to £1500. Access to be allowed for the plot behind and to the fence off the sides and back of the site as well as 'car' barrier to the south/front to be provided.

The key considerations for the group were:

• Community room to be low maintenance
• Clear boundaries
• Prevention of parking on site (spaced low level posts?)
• No decking or voids (the risk of vermin nesting under is too great)
• The shed is to have a solid base (e.g. Concrete pavers + hard core)
• Double doors out onto patio, ideally paved
• Interior light (windows) - this can be provided by polycarbonate sheeting rather than glass
• Multi-functional interior (adaptable)-for example window shutters become bench/table
• Sloping roof to allow for rainwater collection (water butt)
• Exterior/weather resistant table/bench (if finances allow)

The site also required clearing of weeds and grass, also levelling the site was key. Root barriers also requires to be used under the room/patio areas.

Design

Our design was to keep it fairly simple due to time and money constraints. We proposed to build a 'box' shape, constructed out of timber pallets. The roof is to slope in one direction into a simple guttering system and to be collected in a large barrel to be used by the 'allotters'. Wood was our main material as it was relatively easy to source and very workable in short spaces of time. Our main expenditure was the wooden structure, in which was treated and ensured a secure and robust frame for us to build upon.

Prefab

Due to weather conditions, it wasn't practical for the group to construct the walls on site, therefore after some negotiating with a local car garage owner we managed to secure a place to work under shelter. Here we laid out drawings of how the timber was to be marked out and cut, followed on by the actual construction of the walls. The walls, windows and doors were all constructed off site, which was only a 2 minute walk, then transported (carried, requiring entire group effort) to the site. The walls etc were then erected into place.

Wall, Floor + Roof

The walls, roof and floor were the next stages. The roof structure was incorporated into the main shelter, this was boarded with ply, then covered with old 'for sale' or 'to let' signs. The materiality offered a durability as well as an aesthetic value. The floor was then assembled from old and varied pieces of timber, which had to be measured and cut down to co-ordinate with each other in order to achieve a suitable floor finish. The walls were to be clad internally with treated plywood. This is an element that is yet to be completed due to difficulties in sourcing plywood.

To be continued...