Blue Space Cow's Account

The analysis, text and diagrams were such an incredible start to your project, I was hoping to see a fantastic solution that was the result of your studies. A couple of observations on the work that you have presented. I appreciated that you diagrams are hand drawn, but that they are clear in legends and north arrows. I don't necessarily need to read your text to understand them.

A challenge for you the next time around: While your text is well written (great job for that, by the way) but see if you can make your graphics explain the design without the need for text at all. You will need to use colors, hatching, line you had done in A1 and B1. Could you find a way to make diagram C similar? Is there a way to graphically depict the positives and negatives that you so articulately describe in words? As architects, one of the hardest challenges is that the buildings we design do not come with an instruction manual on understanding the concepts and rationale.

Thanks for participating in TAH2 and being a part of the community learning process to improve the curriculum but also how the projects can be discussed. You have a real talent to recognize the problem and consider a variety of options. Too often, most people take one option without acknowledging alternatives.

Best of luck in the future.

You are very articulate and thorough with your written explanations. The amount of thought and details included in your investigation and brainstorming are quite evident. The hand sketches have been nicely executed and are helpful in conveying information. The next step is to keep drawing (either by hand or on the computer) and keep developing your ideas. You can also make models (either by hand or in the computer) to explore design ideas. Then keep posting for continued feedback! Thank you for participating in the TAH2 pilot program. I hope you've found it to be a useful tool. I wish you all the best in the future. If you've enjoyed thinking about the challenges at the site or campus level more than developing the details of the building design, you might consider a career some day in urban planning or a focus on master planning within architecture.

Thanks for the additional information about your site and the barrier between the courtyard and the agriculture building, I'm curious to see photos. I'm also looking forward to seeing your massing study. If there are significant grade changes in the topography of the site they'll be important to consider, as that will impact the relationship between buildings and their effective heights too.

I appreciate your input, and I can definitely create a three-dimensional model of the school with CAD software. You're analysis of my school layout also proves the need for a massing study, because there's a comment about the campus that appears true when looking at an aerial view, but is inaccurate. When you said that the agriculture building is advantageous because of its central position on campus and nice adjacencies to the courtyard, it is actually further than it appears - not by distance, but by travel. There is a barrier between the courtyard and the agriculture building that forces students to make a detour either around the school or through the hallway of Building 4 or 5, which gives the appearance of it being behind the school. I'll provide a picture of this description shortly.

I've created a sun diagram in the "Collect Information" section, and will research similar aspects in regards to the height of the possible locations.

It appears that you've added a lot of thoughtful text, detailing the pros and cons of the proposed locations. Given what you've discussed, which location do you think you will proceed with for your design? Also, the traffic mapping is a nice visualization of how students currently move on campus. Your thought to possibly place the cafeteria at a currently low traffic flow area to help distribute the traffic better is an interesting approach. Another option would be the opposite, to locate it near to where students already pass, so that it is convenient. If you were to place a new cafeteria where the current agriculture building is do you see it as being a second cafeteria or replacing the current one? The advantage of that location is its centrally position on campus and nice adjacencies to the courtyard. The next thing to explore might be to look at a massing study of your campus (in three dimensions either with a quick physical or virtual model) so that you can study how a new cafeteria would fit into the campus at your proposed locations, starting to think about not just the plan implications but also the vertical relationships (how tall are adjacent buildings, how will that impact sunlight reaching the new space, will the proportions in elevation seem appropriate to the immediate context).

It's good to see your site plan with possible locations for your new cafeteria. What are the pros and cons of the different locations you've identified?

I appreciate your analysis and thoughtful review of the situation. The bubble diagram hints at a well conceived idea to benefit both the students and staff. Develop a criteria for determining which of the locations is best. You have already discussed that time and capacity are critical factors. What other issues are important in how large a space is required or to what other elements in the school it is adjacent to?

The plan is very helpful. You have demonstrated an understanding of the current situation and it is informative to an outsider who doesn't know your school. You have convinced me of the issues. Now I want to see what types of solutions you come up with. Great start.

You're off to a great start. You've articulated well the problem of your school being beyond its maximum capacity, and backed it up with some detailed numbers/data. I look forward to seeing more of your work posted. Think about other visual ways you can document and share the data you are collecting and analyzing.

I would like to see sketches of what you are thinking. How are you analyzing the existing school campus? Are you looking at student movement (traffic flow?) What problems (challenges) are you attempting to solve? I look forward to seeing your sketches.