Contextural Design
Yesterday I really read some books especially about Geoffrey Bawa’s design Philosophy.
I really wanted to crunge out the design. I set up the section studied his spatial design and used some of his design approach.
As I said to my students we need to learn from the master designers and Bawa is a really good one to learn from, relevant and contemporary.
The Bawaresque scheme is being developed and hopefully I have a full set of drawings by the end of today
The other schemes have not fully developed yet. Need to get the elevation and form out. I am referring to Correa’s Koramangala house as you know it. At the moment it’s low pitch vernacular with pockets of space taking in contextural clues
I need to find the materiality. I searched on books because I still have not mastered my design senses.
Charles Correa Koramangala House has that sense of scale so I tried to find the configuration of this house learning from that house.
Yesterday I managed to get a better order but now I am trying to integrate everything while thinking of the elevation and form in a more decisive manner.
Rationalizing, going in and out. Never really detailing because need to get concept and schema just right.
Two options will only be viable if they are two different and good ones.
Today, as I sat at my desk, two young architects came to my cubicle and I discussed about the ‘designer’ and how he/she have to take risks and determine his/her style in the design.
I think that now the heat is on to get the design matureas the client is coming mid October, it makes me think harder and try to take more risk. The ideas have to be shown earlier so that we get a really good design in time.
Lots of thoughts today about design and how difficult it is to ‘push the envelope’. I use Kamil Merican’s idiom which means to ‘deliver’ the best design. And what is the best design?
The whole experience should be desired from the start and the beginning of process. Just like the design thesis we approach slowly and tentatively and check our design against the Boss and second Boss. To make sure they are pleased or to comfort them that we are doing work, but in actual fact, we can be really independent and go for it. We can be more entrepreneurial a word that Boss said.
I recalled jostling with Boss during those school days and competing with him and trying to outdo him in design.
This is tougher because everything else that the contractor expert will come in.
Had a crit with a designer to just share ideas before getting more crit from Boss.
Suddenly I realised that I have not really started to design. I haven’t visualised hard enough.
Probably due to my inexperience. But I am always up for the challenge to make it as exploratory as possible.
The contrator will sort out the details later, but in terms of place and space, I have to push it to the limit.
Have not managed much work due to running around in the morning.
However this is the rationalizing phase, fixing stairs, lift, strategies, designing with the boundaries spaces that work and not leftover
Browsing books now but when you do that you need to have your own vision first.
To do original work you need to have your own vision and then look for examples of details, scale, materiality, texture and so on.
You must not look at books and magazine searching for vision
Left the sketch plans at home today. Not a good day… too many mishaps. Tried to sketch and start 3D / axono just to study spatial composition and get the voids right. Structure and services come later until the spatial and formal design get sorted.
What are our preoccupations as designers?
Writing the design thesis manual in tandem with designing a bungalow in Kuching and Doha for a middle- eastern client and most of all reporting my progress in a form of a diary gives much for reflection and purpose.
I quoted this in my Facebook status:
Having to crit different design thesis projects about 60 plus of them in the last three years day in day out actually sharpened my design skills cause I was suppose to visualize every single one of them every crit time … that was really a training for me…
If I had been just a studio master in any other year, I wouldn’t have had that training. The rigorousness of thinking and facilitating other people’s opinions to the students kept me at a high level of analyzing and critical thinking. These two skills we need to have our students get the basics done and it’s like the ‘lifeblood’ for their future. The foundation and useful tool to get to another level. I was just doing it faster as for business time is an essence and when I came to Juteras Design Workshop, I had the skills. I have to pick up other skills like construction and contractual skills though if I am serious about doing my professional practice.
Contextural Design 