Done!

This is a signing off from Matthew Portokalli. I hope everything has been done as required. I understand I have no space around the building to symbolise space and the environment but with my level of skill I could not manage it in the time unfortunately. Other than that I hope you enjoy the sketches, the design process, the evolution, the blog and the finished product.

Cheers,
Matt

3 of 3 Videos

The last of the three videos from the opposite end as the last video. Again I am very sorry about the quality I can't seem to find anything on how to improve it and am at a bit of a loss, I hope you enjoy regardless!

2 of 3 Videos

This video is a run through from the Stelarc end and ends up at the Ai WeiWei end with numerous cuts taking place.

1 of 3 Videos

I have struggled pretty hard with this whole video thing! I can't find the settings but I have had a good crack for a long while! This video looks at a view from the gallery, up through to Stelarc and then over to the Ai WeiWei workspace.

The Project as a Whole

This view shows all aspects of the gallery; Ai WeiWei's lower level to the left, the 50/50 ground-air gallery and the high rising Stelarc level. I've been mucking around with sandbox so we will see how the final video ends up though I will definatly add a photo.

The above image shows the area from the opposite angle of the previous photo. My favourite thing on the project has been the glass and it shows up well against the harsh surrounds and neutral setting of the gallery.

This image shows the project from a side vie wand to me is the most pleasing at it shows off every aspect of the building including the stairs. In many ways this sums up my journey as it has been a long and draining learning curve and I expect 1000x better from myself next time!

Stelarc Materials and Studio Development

Above is the final material product for the Stelarc level. The building mostly consists of glass and steel with the remainder made up of my custom materials; 'bright' which is located as a replacement to the glass as well as 'corse' whichs makes up the hard material on the base of the building. This view also shows off the varying materials used to make up the spiral staircase.

This view is inside the Stelarc builing and highlights the alternating patterns on the floor as well as the walls and ceiling. It also showcases the material used for the outer support structures and the internal cylinder support system.

Ai WeiWei Materials and Studio Development

Above is a view that displayes the stairs with a metallic fill, thick concrete as support for the underground structure, glass for the points that peek out from the underground to fill the space with light, the red effect on certain walls to break up the colour as well as the pattern, 'inconsistent' which is placed around the space.

With this inside shit there are images of the horizon pool in the middle of the floor for reflection, red highlights similar to the roof, hard concrete walls for supports as well as the 'inconsistent' pattern spotted around the space. In the back left hand corner you can also see the piece I chose by Ai WeiWei for scale.

My Materials

1-12 = contracting, damp, hard, worn, tangled, colourful, maluable, bumpy, bland, perishable, smooth and transparent.

13 - 24 = symmetrical, reflective, soft, frosted, robust, elastic, matted, webbed, rigid, inconsistent, dark and bright.

25 - 36 = sparse, dense, corse, rough, rippled, geometrical, controlled, fine, tesselated, curved, grainy and expanding.

Out of the above materials I chose two materials to use per level and they are:

ABOVE: bright and corse.

IN BETWEEN: smooth and transparent.

BELOW: rippled and inconsistent.

36 Words, 3 Categories

Above is the list four team members and mysef came up with. There are 36 material features, qualities and properties in total and they are split into three categories; ABOVE, IN BETWEEN and BELOW. To simplify they are as follows:

ABOVE: hard, worn, symmetrical, robust, elastic, matted, bright, dense, corse, rough, grainy and contracting.

IN BETWEEN: smooth, transparent, rigid, soft, frosted, dark, sparse, geometrical, tessellated, fine, damp, bland.

BELOW: maluable, bumpy, reflective, inconsistent, webbed, rippled, curved, controlled, expanding, tangled, colourful, perishable.

Stelarc's Stairs and Androids for Scale!

Above is a side shot of the staircase that will be used to access Stelarc's workspace. It highlights the shape of the staircase, the side profile in particular as well as the angles used to create the shape of the top, side and underside of each tread.

This is the top view of the staircase and focuses on the spiral aspect of the piece as well as highlighting the effect the manipulating of each tread has on the staircase. I believe it creates a strange futuristic feel while maining its functionality.

This image displays the stairs climb up to the building as well as a scale model to indicate the size of the staircase. This will not be the final product but what I came up with during the week. Materials will vary on the staircase as explained previously, and a new idea will come into fruition with a futuristic shuttle type room to be added to the adjoining gallery for an even more spaced out experience! Also another sneak peek of some improvements to the Stelarc level!

Ai WeiWei's Stairs in 3D and Androids for Scale!

This is the view of the underside of Ai WeiWei's staircase. It highlights the changing lengths of the stairs as well as the ribbon like shape that the plates on alternative sides of the stairs creates.

This is the same staircase from a top/side view. Again it indicates the visible space and free flowing nature of the staits as well as how the counterlever is used.

This image displays the stairs connection to the building though I was at a halfway point with the model. The stairs will be encased in a jagged wall as originally planned. The image is also a sneak peek of a few changes I made to the original 3D image of Ai WeiWei's level! In later posts the materials will also be added to show the stair in full swing!

Stair Designs

Rising | Darkness

 Above is my double page spread on my chosen design for Ai WeiWei's staircase inspired by two of the three words selected, Rising and Darkness. On the left hand side I attempted a front view and reasoning for the design, this includes: brighter features heading towards the workspace, a narrow top and wide bottom symbolising narrowmindedness of society and openmindedness of Ai WeiWei, a consistent riser for functionality and a changing length of stair with wall like a ribbon unwinding. On the right hand side is a side view of the riser and the stell plate used to counterlever the stairs alternatively to give this ribbon-like effect. Another more detailed front view is given with a few details on mood features such as lighting. The entire staircase will be made of steel as it needs to be stable for it to work.

 Machine | Existing

This is my double page spread on the design I chose for Stelarc's staricase inspired by two of my chosen words, Machine and Existing. On the left there is a top and side view at what I hoped the tread itself would look like. Being inspired by Stelarc's "Walking Head" meant this was always going to be a different design! I decided on a wide spiral staircase for Stelarc with no rails or ballistrades of the size of some of his artwork. As indicated on the right hand page with the stairs themselves I decided that five different materials would be used with every four of 20 risers being a different material from basic and stone age to futuristic towards the peak of the staircase, ie. Stone - Carbon Fibre as an example. There are numerous notes about this on the page and a diagram of how the staircase will be supported as well as mood settings such as lighting.

My Original 3D Models and Concepts

This is my original 3D image of my Stelarc level taken from the below section that is "Alternative". At this stage the plan was to use the strange angles on the section and manipulate them into steel and glass sections and this is what I came up with. I'm still not 100% with this idea but it took me so long to get used to the new drawing epuipment that I ran with it because I had spent so much time on it!

This image is my original 3D image of my Ai WeiWei level take from the section that is "Rising". I planned on making some kind of flame shape for the facacde of the building but was really struggling and after hours and hours it just looked silly! So I manipulated the flames concept to jagged uprising, like a more controlled flame with the basin displayed in the sketch almost like a fire pit.

My Chosen Sketch and Other Pages

Top = Stelarc Adjective = Alternative

Bottom = Ai WeiWei Verb = Rising

This was my favourite spread from my booklet and the two bottom right sections (Machine | Rising) was a close second to my chosen sections.

This image shows my first set of sections with my chosen section edited out and the loan page section (bottom left = Machine | Human) put in its place!