continued progress

Alright, this week I have finished my renderings and have started work on the entry to the towers and community spaces. I'm getting excited about how it is all coming along. I'll include some more renderings of the other apartment I have designed, my personal favorite. These images have been photoshopped (interesting verb), so they look a little different than the ones I posted earlier.





Also, some good ideas about naming the silos. I was thinking of calling the entire complex "The Lift," as in another word for elevator. So then the name for the rockclimbing area could be: Extreme Outdoor Adventures at The Lift (or whatever the owner's have called it, I can't remember). I like Lainey's idea of Elevate24 at The Lift. Does this sound too confusing?

And away we go!

This week I have spent a lot of time 3D modeling the silo apartments using Autodesk Revit software. This, of course, can be a pain at times and has on occasion made me want to punch my computer (which i would never do, Dad). But I am beginning to see the fruits of my labors. Also, I have been pleasantly surprised by the time it has taken to render some of these images... Last time I had to do this (for a corporate design project 1 year ago) I had one rendering that took 24 hours to complete. Awful. But I currently have one rendering going and it is 70% done at one hour and five minutes! Anywho, this won't be interesting to anyone who hasn't done this before, but what can you do? I going to include a couple renderings I've done in the last few days for your viewing pleasure:




The question of the day is... what would you call this apartment complex if you could choose any name, no matter how ridiculous? I'd love to hear your responses!

Kitchens in a silo?

Right now I am exploring the floorplans of these apartments. Particularly, the kitchens and bathrooms prove to be both interesting and challenging. I'm enjoying using the (limited) experience I have from interning in London in designing modern kitchens and baths. I'm going to include some pictures from an Italian kitchen manufacturer that I am loving right now. Pedini has some really innovative kitchen designs that use modern detailing (beautiful), sustainable materials (really!), and curvalinear forms (OMG!); hence they are perfect...






Enjoy!

inspired design from another continent...

These are photos of a similar silo project that has helped to inspire me in my design. The architecture firm MDRDV based in Rotterdam created this redesign project for a set of two silos on the canals in Copenhagen. Instead of filling in the existing silos to create apartments, they took the more inspired route and designed more spacious and airy apartments with better views that cantilever over the existing structure. The interior of the silos then becomes an open atrium for circulation, reminiscent of the Guggenheim in New York.

I hope that my project with embrace some of the inspired creativity of this project by creating apartments with some space in the silos and some space outside the existing structure.

Moving forward.

After a week of frustration linked with a confusing critique session, I am back from Spring Break with (hopefully) a new fervor for design. I have spent the week not thinking about my project, which some teachers may not approve of, but what can you do? I now feel more energized and ready to work!

My project for the next few days is to come up with "typographies" that solve problems that come from trying to fit an apartment into an unusual shape. How do stairs fit within the silos? How can I stack bathrooms, etc.? You get the idea... Then I will need to shift my vision from the micro to the macro and look at the way the apartments relate to each other and exit stairs and shared community spaces.

Question of the day is: how big do you think these apartments really need to be? Answer if you like and I'll be grateful for the input. So grateful that I may even design you a unit within the complex...

The idea for the use of the existing site and structure of the Omaha silos is to transform it into a vital mixed use facility. The facility will integrate the current rock climbing center with retail and offices and an apartment tower. The focus of my work this semester will concentrate on the apartments.

This week I have created a series of diagrams about the site and structure. I will include a diagram of the uses of the building structure, highlighting the separation of the rock climbing, retail, and apartments.

Site photos