FLYING SOLO

ARTISTS

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Mona Hatoum

Mona Hatoum is an artist that mainly considers herself a sculptor however a lot of her work is related to architecture in one way or another. In the way that she uses industrial, tactile, and fabricated sculptures/exhibits. She uses the scene of her artwork as inspiration as well as the theme of her work. She uses very interesting materials like light bulbs and electric wires with furniture. She also uses a lot of furniture which is one of the reasons why I think people might associate her with an architect. Her work to me is so intriguing but I find it hard to find meaning or perspective on them. Mainly because I don't have much context to her work, but they all seem so abstract.

Frank Gehry

Frank Gehry is an architect/artist that creates obnoxious buildings that demand attention and speculation. The first building is part of a university. I think that the way that the stairs pokes out into the street/walkway area is obnoxious and sort of cocky. Although the second picture looks like a packet of fries, it looks almost like the windows are crying and screaming because of the chaotic mess that they're arranged in, and almost like they're trying to run away. These buildings are two very interesting pieces done by Gehry.

Bruder Klaus Chapel

This chapel was designed for the local farmers to honor their patron saint, named Bruder Klaus (Brother Klaus). Essentially it is a chapel that resembles the "the flare of a star that can be attributed to a reference of Brother Klaus’s vision in the womb." . The chapel was made in a very interesting and innovative way in that it was covered in tree trunks and then burned to leave a charred wall for the interior. It has a very elegant and basic look to the outside and then a very interesting and intricate look to the inside. It is interesting because unlike the main idea of architecture, it is not designed for much function. There are no toilets, no running water, no electricity, no roofing. It is peaceful yet also uninviting. To me, the inside looks very violent and harsh, and metallic. A very interesting quote was left on the page;

“To me, buildings can have a beautiful silence that I associate with attributes such as composure, self-evidence, durability, presence, and integrity, and with warmth and sensuousness as well; a building that is being itself, being a building, not representing anything, just being.”

ARCHITECTURE IN ART

MODESTY IN ARCHITECTURE

MATERIALS IN ARCHITECTURE

My inspiration for my building has come from contour maps. I've always been intrigued by their interesting look and also puzzled by how circles can create a 3D effect. I will use this to make 1 building in 3 parts all with this similar structure on Google Sketchup for my design. I hope to somehow project this over a scene, for example print it on plastic and cover a picture of an area with it. I've decided to do it like this to remind myself of the landscape in Oman with all the sand dunes as well as the mountains.

Google Sketchup is where I'm going to be drawing up the sketches of my sand dune buildings. It is really fun and really easy to use. I freehand draw all the 'levels' of each of my buildings, and then I select a color from the color wheel. I thought that different colors could make it have a different gradient with a more interesting landscape.

GOOGLE SKETCHUP

INSPIRATION

PURPOSE

The purpose of these buildings are for _______ in a desert. It is a building that doesn't impose itself on the environment around it, it more compliments and disguises itself in the environment around it. It contrasts very much with Frank Gehry's buildings. I consider myself much more humbler than Frank Gehry so I think that this is a very appropriate type of building that is quite personal actually. I think it reflects my home, Oman, that I have been living in for 13 years now, and have grown a huge respect and love for the landscape and the country. I think that these buildings are a respectful tribute to the years and time i've spent in this country.

To make my building more suited for the environment that I'm planning to put it in, I need to think about how I'm going to keep the building cool. I also want to make the buildings as self-sustainable and green as possible, because that is something that I would really like to see in more buildings now. By doing research I have found ways to do all of these things. After which is just a matter of me implementing and designing them into my buildings.

Keeping the building cool

tinting any windows
having a reflective roof
facilitating effective ventilation
install efficient lights
thermal mass ( conduction of heat by the materials of the building)

Being Self-Sustainable

electricity - solar power
water - no way of harvesting the water would be appropriate, but recycling the water is called grey water which can be done
food - growing using grey water but only limited food.