24/04

2ND INTERMEDIATE CRITIC

the same "ok, go on"..... i feel lucky.
he was not that nice this time though (maybe because my explanation was shitty and the project had quite obvious unsolved questions that made me nervous... about the rest, i really think getting to a point where the structure was plausible has been a major achievement. now i think ill just stick to what i have and try to pull it together with much more strength. like, with a more "continuous" logic, actual answers to things and thought-of plans.

for now im working on the VERBAL EXPLANATION of the project because it was one of the biggest flaws in the critic (believe it or not). and it also helps to clarify ideas.

so:

the building is a shopping mall on top of the existing financial center of Madrid.

the area is one of the most economically active and well connected of the city: laying along a main arthery that crosses Madrid from north to south, it already features a huge department store, shopping street, gym, bingo, bar/clubs and more. it is connected by bus, train and metro, existing a big underground station from where to check in and take the metro line to the airport.

the shopping mall has a longitudinal development, connecting the roofs of different buildings in the area. the main programs are located on top of these roofs and they all get connected by a path/corridor that goes from one end to the other.

the shopping mall is targeted at businessmen, so the program is oriented in that direction and complement the programs existing underneath ("on earth"): office depot, media and technology store, catering services, wellness center, entertainment areas, bars and club.

there are entrances from each of the highest office buildings in the area. thay give access at different points of the path through a hallway that can be used for short term stay or access to the main programs.

people from the street can only enter the mall from the evening/night area, open outside office hours and on weekends. this area contains the club, bars, cinema facilities, wellness and catering.

there is another route parallel to the main path for service purposes. it has its own accesses from the street for distribution and features storage, kitchens, changing rooms, administration etc.

in total there are only 2 levels to walk across the mall, even though each volume can be up to 5 floors high.

the routes get connected in the volumes on top of the roofs. these volumes work as crossroads for all communications in a "distribution floor", at the level of the main path.
the layout of each volume gravitates around a central space and features connections as:
- distribution floor to main program floors by escalators
- distribution floor to service floor by ramp
- distribution floor to office hall floor by ramp
- all floors by lift

the skin of the building works as supporting structure and contains all spaces, either its filled in or not. it lays on pillars and some roofs, working as beams and bridges between buildings.

(i would like to) the pillars are entrances on their own, so they give access to the service floor or the main program depending on the area.

16/03

FIRST INTERMEDIATE CRITICS

what a fucking nightmare!! i stayed all wednesday trying to print (from 1.30 to 10) and after that i was soooo fucking tired i couldnt even think of my project anymore. i think i might be ready again
(plus my sister and her friend came on friday and ive been showing them around/taking them out (specially the latter obviously) so its been my kind of holiday... i should work somehow today and tomorrow to be able to leave to madrid on wednesday... its being a great break but a little tight for working)

the critic went pretty ok, but just as usual i think. i mean, not an incredible fascination but a sort of "continue working, everythings ok". in fact he told me i had to be bolder, more monstrous.
its funny how all teachers agree on tellling me im shy here. thing is, yes, im shy, coz everyone tells me my projects in madrid and unrealistic and bullshit (of course thats my friends who are mostly conservative on constructive/projecting strategies, not teachers... i actuallty think all of them can be convinced by logic and usually find it fun to find an extreme/utopic project which can eventually be built).

i had been working on one version of the building til tuesday which was basically 2 connected volumes, one with an office extension (storage, meeting rooms, gym, offices, standup cafe...), the other with the leisure activities (from eating court to disco). there would be connections to the buildings below with communication cores.

well, so i decided to make it more accurate just on the day of the hand in (yay me, im the smartest one) and it was obviously more interesting but thats why i didnt get to finish printing til 10.
so finally i took into consideration the relief on the roofs (there were like different levels in each). i guessed some of them were the lift engines so i took them as a topography to work with and articulate the spaces... and they became so much richer. the program and the paths were finally defined and i stablished a more accurate use of the 54200 m2.
i liked thinking it was like this serpent of walking paths walking from the morning to the night, from work to leisure. a procesional conception of the spaces that were situated across this way and the tension of the 2 poles that sort of merged into each other.
it is also a response to the lack of space and conceived as a piece for further development around and on it (like a puzzle piece).
(i have to admit most of it was conceived afterwards, in a sort of analysis of what id done)

so as for the critic, in the end the conclusion was i had to choose another smaller place to be able to develop the m2 i had to cover much more extensively, with different entrances in the same building, crossings, parasiting on/around/covering the buildings. a sort of snake that goes around crazily. not only on the roof. then i can start thinking about structure-taking advantage of the existing, the connections and access from the buildings, how the spaces left work etc. basically that i should make the puzzle, not just a piece.

that because this piece was also "too polite", "too friendly", not really a parasite which is supposed to be somehow bad...people dont have an opinion about my building because they dont even see it!! it has to be more present, make people love it or hate it. i have to be a NICE MONSTER lol. (and neighbours will eventually move out hahha, leaving place for the ones who love it so much)

the words were: it has to be a CULT building, like weird films and icons that are NOT POPULAR because they are weird, not really understood, and people are not interested anyway.
Somewhere where EVERYONE WANTS TO GO (there i answered "but some people would hate it" and thats when he said the stuff about the neighbors, but not really about other people. i guess its because it would be so uglily fascinating that itd have an inherent attractive for everyone)

about all this i like the idea of:
- connecting a lot of places = net
- using the topography of the roofs
- tension between poles that drives to walking experience
- CULT (going over popular taste... like "im here, if dont like me dont look")


next edition, great quotes from the critics!