Saturday, 18 August 2012

Submission 1....equus

The landscape and topography of Hamburg was a heavy influence on my design. I wanted Electra’s house to reflect the canals and bridges and the separation and voids they create. I did this by varying the levels of rooms and compartmentalising different areas of the houses.  The fireplace was an important symbol in Electra’s life so I made the hearth the key design element and designed the house around it. The chimney of the hearth also acted as the ‘tower’ in the first three design schemes.

model 1
                                          
                                          The hearth






In the second model I used corridors and narrow passage ways, as well as a change in level to reflect the topography of Hamburg. The fireplace and the water dividing the city into hundreds of islands were a part of Electra, defining who she became and what she loved. So I took the idea of the natural elements and used them and key design drivers in my design. In two of the designs, buildings one and two there is an external stair case which exposes Electra to the wind and in the second card model a landscaped outdoor courtyard exposes the earth element.

 model 2

















The third model I used varying levels in each room and separated one part of the building entirely creating a chasm running through the building. Unit 7 overlooks the river, reinforcing the connection the city of Hamburg


model 3











The long crossing corridors form a horizontal tower in the fourth model and connect each component of the house together.


model 4


Thursday, 2 August 2012

Character Profile......Story






Electra....of Hamburg

Born into poverty in the Factory district of Hamburg, Electra and her two sisters, Anna and Lavina, had a tough upbringing. Her father a factory worker raised his three daughters after their mother died during the birth of Electra, the youngest sister. The girls grew up with only the bear minimum and were teased at school because of their under privileged lifestyle. The family would spend their nights around the fire talking playing and reading whatever material that was available to them. The hearth was the centre of their lives, offering warmth and a safe place to spend time together.

Electra and her sisters loved singing, playing and acting and would spend a lot of their time busking on the streets of Hamburg to raise any extra funds they could. The director of the Thalia Theater, one of Hamburg’s many theaters, would walk past the girls several times a week and took notice. Impressed by the aura of the three girls and  their talent the theater director offered the girls a scholarship at the theater company in an incredible act of kindness and trust.. At the age of 16 the girls left home to build an acting career with the Theater director who became a surrogate mother for Electra and her sisters.

The girls were very close but Electra was always jealous of her elder, more talented sisters. When the girls had a disagreement, Anna and Lavina would often bring up the death of their mother and blame Electra for the incident. Resentment built up in Electra for her sisters and the people around her. She disliked the system and the double standard treatment of students in the theater, also recognizing this was a pattern throughout society. Withdrawing herself from her sisters and the people around her, Electra became introverted and enjoyed time spent alone reading and learning to cook. This was the beginning of a secluded life for Electra who became rich in money, not in friends.

Already a successful theater actor, Electra at the age of 21 decided to change her career path and venture into movie acting. She managed to land a European box office hit and flew into stardom and become a well known actor. However Electra was unable to cope with all the money and fame and was soon following a bad path. Electra began to drink heavily, which ultimately ended in an incident which was covered by the media in depth. After the incident she further distanced her self from the public and the people close to her and it was left to her sisters Anna and Lavina to help pull her out of the sad situation.

At the age of 27 Electra is now looking to move out away from her sisters where she can spend what time she has off the movie set, secluded and alone at home relaxing and doing what she enjoys. Her love for Hamburg runs deep and she wishes to remain, in love with the rivers and canals that break the city into a collection of scattered islands. The drama and grandeur of the theater and how it is reflected in the people and buildings of Hamburg fascinate her and provide endless amounts of inspiration for her roles. Due to her upbringing Electra recognizes the beauty in the simple things in life such as the satisfaction of finishing a book or the value an open fire can offer. Although now she has the means to be decadent and buy whatever she pleases, she wants a place to come back to and forget about the outside world. A place that takes her back to her childhood when Electra and her sisters would play in front of the fire. A time of innocence.