Lotus Temple, 1986
Fariborz Sahba
On first glance, there are notable similarities between the Mother Temple of the Indian subcontinent and Jorn Utzon’s Sydney Opera House — in keeping with Bahá’í scripture, the Lotus temple is organized as a nine-sided circular structure that is comprised of twenty-seven “leaves” (marble-clad free-standing concrete slabs), organized in groups of three on each of the temple’s nine sides. The structure is inspired by the lotus flower and is arguably one of the most visible instances of biomimicry in contemporary architecture.
The aforementioned “leaves” are integral to the organization of the space and are classified into three categories: entrance leaves, outer leaves, and inner leaves. The entrance leaves (nine in total), demarcate the entrance on each of the nine sides of the complex. The outer leaves serves as the roof to the ancillary spaces, complemented by the inners leaves which form the main worship space. These inner leaves approach, but do not meet at the tip of the worship space and are capped with a dramatic glass and steel skylight. The temple is constructed primarily of concrete and clad in Grecian marble, resulting in the Lotus Temple’s pristine white exterior while the interior of the structure is revealed in true Expressionist fashion, with the precast ribbed roof exposed in the worship spaces.
EXPERIMENT - model one idea one (Manipulation of light and paper structures)
(Authors Own, 2014)
(Wikipedia, 2014)
Using inspiration from the ideas generation method that Frank Gehry applies, I similar scrunched up paper to get ideas for my temple design. The organic structures created are not only unique but also cast shadows on lower levels, making it easy to visualize them as building designs. The creases in the paper highlight where detail can be places and improvements can be made.
 |
| Authors Own |
(Authors Own, 2014)
Using the paper models, I sketched out the shape so it would be easier for me to choose three structures which would fit the purpose of becoming a temple the most. Each form is very unique although it has similar elements like the slanted slopes on the sides.
(Authors Own, 2014)
(Authors Own, 2014)
(Archdaily, website, 2011)
Crater Lake
24 Studio
“This
multi-use environmental installation serves as a meeting place where every area
can be used as seating for visitors to contemplate the surroundings, thus
invoking a social interaction within and around.”
The crater lake describes the topic really well, a space for people to gather around. It reflects clearly
within it’s environment, the left side curve symmetries a moving wave in the
ocean and the colours and
material used help it to harmonize with the surroundings. The structure is very
similar to the one of a Caldera Lake. The curves add fluid movement and the difference in level lift the structure making it
more intriguing and 3D.
(Space Time Architecture, website, 2011)
FOLDING ARCHITECTURE
By
Nathan Johns
“The
body is in a continual state of growth and decay that often goes unnoticed.
Similarly, an open landscape goes through stages of desolation and fruitfulness
in due season. These continual fluctuations found in our bodies and our
landscapes have inspired this fluid fabric sculpture which uses an ever
changing textile surface of coloured water and air to mimic the characteristics
of life. ”
Model Four - Floor Plan idea
(Authors Own, 2014)
For this model I used a long piece of coiled wire. It was really easy to create curves and waves with which is what I was looking for. The model made a very distinct shape which would be a good floor plan for my final structure.
Model Five - Floor Plan development
(Authors Own, 2014)
I continued to experiment with the floor plan idea, after showing the final results to my client we decided similar to how the Lotus temple has a very distinct lotus shape from birds eye view, the birds eye view design for this structure should be an om symbol.
No comments:
Post a Comment