Gwanggyo City Centre

When searching the internet i came across this design on 'Conceptualist' designed by MVRDV based in Rotterdam, Holland. the company won a competion to redign Gwanggyo City Centre in South Korea with this amazing design consisting of a series of overgrown, hill like structures.

Via Contemporist: "To facilitate this all elements are designed as rings. By pushing these rings outwards, every part of the program receives a terrace for outdoor life. Plantations around the terraces with a floor to floor circulation system store water and irrigate the plants. The roofs of these hills and the terraces are planted with box hedges creating a strong, recognizable, cohesive park. This vertical park will improve the climate and ventilation, reduce energy and water usage. As a result a series of overgrown green ‘hills’ appear in the landscape."

I would be interested to find out if this would/could ever work.

Rain shelter feedback

I have just recieved feedback about my rain shelter project and the feeling that came through was that this is a work in progress and would need more work. the theory is in place to create a really interesting and dynamic structure that could really engage people with the falling rain. looking at it now i do agree with what my lecturers have said and i feel that a combination of this design and a number of the other designs that i created to get to this point could make something quite special. i may continue to devolop this design and see if i can intergrate it into my design for promenade park.

Rain shelter project complete!

After a lot of thinking and experimenting, i have designed a rain shelter that fits the brief that we were given and i am very happy with the results.  i set out to create a rain shelter that keeps you dry and protected from the elements, but also gives you the magical experience a waterfall offers. below is a model of what the shelter would look like.

Model of rain shelter

the shelter is really quite large, but this is intentional. i needed to create a structure that had a large surface area on roof to catch as much water as possible to then channel into the waterfall which falls from the lowest point of the roof. i have tried to make the materials in the model as close to what they would be if the structure were to be made. the roof would be created from thin and lightweight sheets of steel. in the model i have used foil to show this which is a bit shiney for my liking and the steel would have a more tarnished look about it. the rest of the structure would be made from wood.

Rain shelter in context

i have situated the rain shelter very close to the bridge and directly next to the path. this is so that it is easy to access and also so it doesn't feel like you are going out of your way to get to it. this should make it feel more inviting. i have also situated it here as it is in a great spot to channel the water from the waterfall back into the river. 

View from within the shelter

 the experience from within should be special and will hopefully make people look forward to the rain. you never know.....