10.01.2012

waiting for your reading responses!

4 comments:

  1. I found site matters the most important article. It helped me a lot and made me see the site from a different angle. Instead of looking at what’s in front of me, like the order and placement of the buildings and blocks, I started noticing the connection between the buildings, the sea and the site itself. Most of the buildings are oriented towards the sea and the site acts as a connection point, it is the transition from the sea to the city. In addition I found a relation between the building in our site and the other buildings around it they both have a multiple entry points and exits like a grid or a maze. The article showed me another meaning of site analysis.

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  2. after reading FIELD CONDITIONS , i can say that in our site there is different institutions distributed, such as fire house, UN department, public security building..., but we can still identify each one because each one has a unique structure and function. Then when i read SITE MATTERS it made me consider two things. The site it self how it is divided and built and the nature of the surrounding area, and allowed me to realize how the site interacts with the surrounding. But after reading SCULPTURE IN THE EXPANDED FIELD and after looking at the site i noticed that sculpture has lost its meaning in our time where we can't find any sculptural characteristics in the most of the building.

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  3. What the three texts have done is introduce me to a new way of thinking. A site cannot be thought of as just the limitations of its boundary, but more as a part of a whole. Everything is connected in one way or the other. The readings have stressed the importance of the relationship between individual elements, not so much the individual elements themselves. So instead of observing what was physically present, I began to see what was not. As I tried to de-familiarize myself with the site, I started to “fill in the gaps” in the areas where there were no architectural structures, and began to think of those spaces as transitional spaces between the structures, as opposed to just voids. Furthermore, a site cannot be perceived as a simple system. It is in fact very complex. It is a field of intertwining networks or “realities” that may have no obvious relationship. So, what these readings have also taught me is to try to notice these relationships and how they coexist and operate at the same time and place.

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  4. After reading the texts, I came to realize that an understanding of the site and its environment/urban structure is an integral part of building and is a prerequisite for a good design. Thus the site surroundings and design go hand in hand. I also learned that it is some sort of a predesign research that focuses on existing and potential conditions on and around the building site. In Tripoli’s case, the preservation of the history embedded in the existing area and initiating the potential activities that my design could have is vital to research about. The building location on the site is basically established by different viewpoints, and this I should also be aware of. Tripoli’s Mina has a strong relationship with one of the main roads that establish a co-existing force with the site. Moreover, the site’s location and size is integral with the other location and sizes of the existing buildings around it: The industries’ huge scale in proportion to the small-scaled residential buildings that engulf the site. I also realized that the neighborhood context could alter the function of the design, in this case the presence of a commercial, residential and industrial context could depict a new language to what should/or shouldn’t be on the site. Other factors, even if they seem unimportant, could mold elements and concepts later used in the design; such as wildlife, climate, culture, pedestrian and vehicular circulation, access, historic factors and utilities are all factors that should appropriately be studied for the particular site. The ferry station should meet its requirements however relates well to its’ external environment, and that could only be achieved through an understanding of these issues before designing. Moreover, since the ferry station will in fact last for many years and be used by people all over Lebanon then the analysis of the site should be taken into account. Future problems and capabilities should be resolved before starting with the design and this can be achieved by taking into consideration the materiality (since it is extremely humid around the Mina) and the relationship between the future station and the site itself (it should somehow ‘improve’ the traffic –function). Basically, take advantage of the good things nature has to offer and protect against the bad aspects of the site. Through those concepts and analysis only (that will later be developed) will I be able to develop incorporate meaningful responses/interactions with the external conditions of the site.

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