Architecture Design: Understanding Spatial and Street Organization.

The next part of the semester design process was to understand the connection of different spaces in our own home. From thereon, we moved on to understanding the locality, and then even the larger location on various Google maps.

The first part of this particular exercise was to understand the different spaces in our own homes: the living, sleeping, eating, bathing etc. quarters. We did to-scale drawings of our homes and then tried to understand the connection of each room to the larger spaces of living. The connection of each to the other and subsequently to ourselves, was given main focus. This was achieved using bubble diagrams and scale drawings.

Particular focus was given to the activities related to each space and the usage and requirements of these spaces. Apart from that, conveniences and such other data were also depicted onto bubble diagrams.

 The next step forward was to understand Street Organization. This meant that we look at the street on which our homes are placed and try and locate buildings, shops and other areas of interest in an attempt to understand what made our homes typically unique. This was done with drawings and the usage of colors to depict different spatial areas in and around our homes.

 Google maps and Google Earth was used as a means of understanding the street organizations and main areas of public usage around our homes. Below, Google maps have been used to chalk out the different streets, the way they've been spaces and placed onto the ground and the location of my house (in RED).

The image below is taken from Google earth to understand the dynamic relationship of my house to its immediate and larger surroundings.

Understanding different zones, included the green and water zones in the area.

 Main highways and motor routes were marked to understand the spatial organization of the land zones.

 On a completely different note, I chose to look at my family background and chalk out my family tree in an attempt to understand the connection that I was working so hard and grappling with. To me, the feeling of a space deals with the kind of emotions the space generates when we are in it. This meant that the feel of a space would change for people according to the emotions that the space was generating in their minds. This also meant that any given space had the capability to generate a thousand emotions in a person and also a single emotion in thousands of people. This exercise's crux, lies in that realization.

Architecture Design: Understanding the Feeling of Personal Spaces.

Architecture Design Classes are an integral part of my education as an Architect. These Design classes comprise the best of both worlds: The Art and the more formal Technical education. 

For our very first class this design semester, we were asked to put in the essence of what personal spaces meant to us onto cheap brown sheets. The brown sheets would help eliminate notions of formality that we generally associate with cartridge or white paper. The significance of binding paper, then leads us to put our thoughts onto paper in graphical form without going too much into our rather technical and formal upbringing.

The lesson itself: Bringing the essence of our personal spaces onto paper, was a tough one because a feeling of a space, is rather an abstract notion. Therefore, my thoughts went out to defined curves and lines that are very abstract in their form but which, for me, help denote the "feeling" of the space.

The first few images are more abstract in their bearing. The next part of the exercise comprised of depicting parts of our own home onto these brown sheets so that we understood better what our personal space meant to us and how we connected with it. 

All the drawings were done in charcoal. This, being a new medium to us, was rather difficult to use. Even more so when we were dealing with 'feelings' of spaces. Being completely new to the medium and also rather awkward with new and uncharted design processes, I felt quite new to this process of thinking. 

From here on, the focus shifted from the feeling of spaces, to actually looking at personal spaces at home and depicting them onto this paper. I have tried to depict the feel of the space rather than focus on the quality of the drawing that I was making.

This last picture was supposed to be done in colour so as to show the change from charcoal to colour pencil. It also provided a relief from the same usage of materials, from Class 1.

My basic understanding of this lesson, is to be able to feel connected to a personal space and look into it as something that is closer to us. Since the main project this semester deals with HOUSING, its rather important to understand spaces that are habitable and that make us feel at home. These starting lessons, were a good way for us to look at out own spaces, from a different point of view.