Model Links & PDF Links

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Vitra Railway Main Model

Vitra Railway Structural Model

QR Codes

Final Interactive Poster Progress

This is one of the posters. An animation is on the top right corner.

Layar Screenshots

Tiny URL:

http://tinyurl.com/267dtrh

Vitra Ceiling

Vitra Ceiling

Vitra Ceiling

Vitra Ceiling

 The Trains entrance to the station.

Vitra Ceiling

The station worked really well in Layar. I had no problems with the textures and the model is fast to look around.

Model Images and Animations

Layar Model in Progress

This is my low poly model for layar, as it turns out, using a cube keeps the poly count down so the only elements I had to leave out were the glass exterior tubes, which had a poly count of around 25,000 each. So without using the optimize tool in 3Ds Max The model is only 1000 or so polys. 

The red area indicates to the viewer where the model has been cut to reveal the interior. 

Text for Poster

Concept:

The intention with the re in vision of Frank Gehry's design museum was to utilise the forms of the underside of the roof to create an amazing roof space for the interior of an inner city train station. The initial idea of the train station involved masking the roof space in a cube, to hide it from the exterior.  The idea of masking the roof space was to maximise the ceilings impact on the commuter, and as you enter the station, you enter into an amazing space, which has a real impact. The forms of the ceiling are a clear contrast to the clean, crisp form of the exterior cube.

Structural:

The entire structure of the cube will be of a portal frame structure. This is the best method to use as a portal frame is capable of large spans without support. As also the use of a portal frame makes cladding possibilities greater. The cube spans for more than 80 meters unsupported. The exterior of the building is clad in a steel Colorbond® style cladding system, but the building is finished with six tubes that wrap around the entire exterior of the building.

Design:

The idea of the Train Station to be enclosed in a cube-like structure is so that the Vitra Roof form ceiling on the inside has a more dominating presence when on the station platform or when you are entering on the train. If the exterior of the building was equally as abstract in form, the ceiling on the inside would have a lesser impact.

The exterior cube structure is wrapped in long tubes. The tubes emit light at night time, and the colour of the tubes can be selected, and the combinations of the colours are endless. The cladding of the exterior of the building using tubes is  influenced by buildings such as the Water Cube in Beijing, and the Allianz stadium, which are both clad in a 'bubble' like lighting system. The straight, parallel tubes are a clear contrast to the ceiling inside, and they aid in the ceiling being the dominant feature.  
The Entrance to the Station is on the side. The entrance remains low profile as I wanted to keep the ceiling the dominant feature in this design. The entrance is simple, but effective. It is large enough to accommodate large amounts of people, but small enough to not make too much impact. 

Setting:

The Vitra Railway Station is set in a developed inner city. However, the train station is not the transport hub to the city. The organised planned layout of the buildings surrounding the railway station is juxtaposition to the form of the interior ceiling.
The interior ceiling could be interpreted as symbolising the chaotic vibrancy of city life.

The Ceiling:

The interior ceiling above the main platform is a 'stamp' of the Vitra Design Museum. I.e. the ceiling is not flat, but open and very high. The ceiling is designed to draw the attention away from the ground floor and station platform and upwards. The ceiling is constructed from a steel frame and clad in a light weight material. Cleverly placed lighting systems on the ceiling illuminate the finest forms.  

Railway Station Exterior

I have decided to do a Water Cube/Allianz Stadium inspired cladding for my railway station. The station exterior is going to be clad in 6 large glass tubes. 

The straight, parallel glass tubes are an interesting contrast to the interior ceiling forms from the Vitra Design Museum. The tubes also make for an interesting entrance into the station, as the exterior is thought-out, and planned, the interior ceiling seems unresolved. 

A1 Poster Layouts & A3 Montage

The main aim of my poster design is for my design and re-invision to stand out as much as possible. By having a clean, crisp layout, with not much going on, I believe that the design will be put across more effectively than if the page is crammed with too much information, animations, pictures and background images.

The abstract form of the roof system will need a poster layout that is not going to be too overwhelming for the viewer, and also so the poster does not seem too cluttered.

In my original poster layout I was using a large background image, this idea will be fully scrapped or if not, the background image will be made so it is not the focus of attention, and does not take any importance away from the main content. 

Grid Layout

Re-Invision In-Progress

An Interior shot of my train station.

This is the train I'm using

The underside of the ceiling

10 Textures and in-progress ideas

 A style of Cladding I may use for the exterior of the Building

 

Cladding Material Example

 Roofing Material

 Concrete

Idea for the interior underside of the roof.

 A attractive brick texture

 Tiles

 Corrugated Steel

Brick

Vitra Re-Invision Ideas

I am working towards reinventing the Vitra building as a abstract rail station. In collaboration with my tutor Matt Day, I have decided to carry ahead with an idea of a cube. Imagine getting a cube and stamping the vitra building into the base of it, what you are left with is the interior of what will become the train station. Then the interior will be made from a 'Vitra Mold'.

A Train Station with a curved ceiling system.

An Example of a Ceiling system that could be implemented for my train station ceiling

The ceiling will be in the shape of the Vitra roof shapes but the entire exterior of the building will be a cube. As the train approaches the station platform, it enters through a rectangle tunnel and the entire station opens up to reveal a vast open space with high ceilings. I have attached some working progress shots of the station ceiling. 

My Train Station Ceiling

The interior of the station will be fitted with regular train station type amenities, such as a cafe, toilets etc. 

The train station will be located either in the inner city, or in a rural location (as a juxtaposition).

The exterior of the building will be clad in an Architectural aluminum cladding system, consisting of various colours, such as the style in my textures section, or a bubble type soft skin, which will be lit in different colours, similar to the Allianz Stadium or Water Cube.

Water Cube

Water Cube

Allianz Stadium

To get the station working well in Layar, I will work on transforming the station into a skeleton type structure, which will mainly be open, due to the station being an enclosed rectangular type prism, it will be disappointing for the final Layar model to be just that, so by turning it into a skeleton, the viewer can look up into the station and walk through it to experience open space and the 'Vitra Style' ceilings.

Weisman Art Museum

ARCHITECT: Frank Gehry

LOCATION: Minneapolis, Minnesota

DATE: 1993

BUILDING TYPE: Museum

CONTEXT: University Campus

Due to its prominent site and design, it is hoped that there will be an increased awareness of the Frederick R. Weisman Art Museum’s collection and resources to the campus community through its welcoming architectural presence. Bounded by the Washington Avenue Bridge to the north, Coffman Memorial Plaza to the east, Comstock Hall to the South, and East River Road to the west, the site of the museum overlooks the Mississippi River and the Minneapolis skyline beyond. A drop in elevation of approximately 40 feet from the Washington Avenue Bridge and Coffman Memorial Plaza to East River Road determined the two major levels of access to the two primary programmatic components of the building. Vehicular access to the 124 car parking ramp as well as the loading dock of the museum is restricted to the lower level on East River Road, while the main museum level is entered from a pedestrian bridge walkway that connects the Washington Avenue Bridge with Coffman Memorial Plaza. The integration of this pedestrian bridge as part of the architectural composition serves to reinforce the museum’s role as inseparable from the campus experience.

The program of the museum is distributed on four levels in response to the dual access to the site. On the lowest level, adjacent to the loading area off East River Road, are the freight elevator, art storage spaces, a frame shop, and mechanical/electrical rooms. A small elevator lobby is also located near the entry to the parking ramp to bring visitors from this level up to the main museum level. The next levels are occupied by a carpentry shop and non-art storage, which are accessible from the freight and passenger elevators as well as from the intermediate parking levels.

On the main museum level, the gallery spaces, including the Weisman Collection, are articulated as a large rectangular volume at the southeast corner. Four sculptural skylights provide illuminations to the north, south, east, and west walls of the galleries. An interior “street” directly north allows flexible access to the galleries at different points. The mueseum store, a rental gallery, and a seminar room are located on the other side of the interior “street,” with frontage along the pedestrian bridge/walkway connection. Large picture windows provide pedestrian traffic with views into these spaces through the interior street to the galleries beyond. Also accessible from the bridge/walkway is the main entry to the museum and an airlock with the elevator lobby that enables the main museum level to operate independently from the rest of the building. At the center of this level is a 1.500 ASF black box auditorium for audiovisual presentations. Movable partitions in its west wall enable the auditorium to be open to the adjacent museum lobby for special receptions and events. Consequently, the museum lobby wraps around the auditorium to allow continuous circulation and entry to the south side of the galleries. A focal point of the museum lobby – a curvilinear pavilion projecting forward from the northwest corner, opens the lobby to both the river and city views. Finally, the top level of the museum houses administrative offices, the museum archives, and a mechanical/electrical space for the galleries.

From the west, the museum façade is articulated in a faceted manner to capture views up and down the river. A tower-like structure rises from the loading area off East River Road and anchors the undulating geometry of the elevations at the southwest corner. Inside the tower, offices of the technical director, the registrar, and the museum director stack on top of each other to take advantage of the spectacular views from the site.

The exterior treatment of the museum takes into consideration its adjacency to the Park Board property along East River Road. The required 65-foot setback is respected, and existing trees and grass areas along the Washington Avenue Bridge off-ramp and around the construction were preserved and restored.

A2: Frank Gehry "Vitra Museum", Final Renders