Project 3: Art Gallery

Site 1 :
The site is in Newtown, a place that is quite artistic and Bohemian. It is quite crowd as there is a train station nearby. Thus, many people can pass by this place. Moreover, there is a park at the back of the site. I think it is quite a good place for designing an art gallery.

plan view - this site is quite long and narrow.

street view
it is a very crowd and noisy place. People are all around this street every day.

a park at the back

Client:
My client is called Stephan Zirwes, who is a German aerial photographer. He likes taking photos in an aerial view. Thus, the objects in the photos become very tiny. Sometimes, he would make some small sculptures for his photos. Most of his photos have a landscape background. Therefore, I think what he is trying is say is that actually everyone is very tiny in the world.




Design theme : My design theme is trying to make the people feel very small in this gallery and integrate the gallery into the context site.

Precedents:

1. Orsay Museum: The artworks are everywhere in the gallery. The visitors can see the artworks from different angles.

2. British Museum: One of the significent elements in this museum is the glass roof, which can create a feeling of extensity and as if there is no roof in the gallery.

I think I can use these elements into my own design.

Drawings:

site plan

precedents

plans and sections

room plan and section - small room at the front

perspective - office and workshop

perspective - gallery

Model:

1:500 site model :
the facade faces the city, thus its height is similar to the neighbour buildings.

the height of the gallery keeps changing in order to integrate with the landscape at the courtyard.

the roof is full of skylights

courtyard

a small display area at the front to show the pedestrians what is inside the gallery. The facade is quite similar to the neighbour building in order to integrate with the cityscape.

There are some small sculptures hanging on the roof. The shadow of the sculptures cast on the floor is similar to the photos of Stephan.

The photos are posted on the wall. When people are walking on the ramp, they can see the photos in different distances and different angles. The contour lines in the display area are like the real landscape, so the sculptures can place on the floor. And the visitors have to look down to see the sculptures, which is like how Stephan takes his photos.

The private rooms are put at the back in order to avoid the noisy places. Moreover, these private rooms can be surrounded by the green area thanks to the courtyard and the park at the back.

the shadows on the private rooms are not so distracting. The office and workshop are brighter.

the stockroom has fewer skylights so that it would be darker. It is suitable for storing artwork in a dark place.

schematic models - I kept modifying my ideas with a similar concept.