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...