Spatial Fabrication Studio

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My final model communicates the themes that I had worked with throughout my design development, which were: reflection of bodies and space, and light. To achieve the reflections in my design I used materials like mirror and transparent PVC plastic.
When deciding on light conditions I was heavily influenced by Zumthor’s ‘Therme Vals’ Spa.

When entering the space there is a long dark pool and little to no light. When looking at the distorted reflective ‘feature’ wall in the background is persons first interaction of the reflection of the body. When continuing through the to the back of the space, the exposure of light increases greatly. The idea between going from dark to light is contrasted with the night time to day time. As mentioned in my blissful bathing experience, I enjoy bathing in the dark which is what influenced me to make this decision. When moving to the back of the space the person will encounter a hall way of water with a ramp going down into the next pool, a more cooler temperature. There are big windows on the left side with a look out to the forest to feel connected with the nature outside, When looking around there are ‘feature’ walls all around reflecting the water, light, custom made ceiling and outside forest. Behind the feature walls towards the back are the two private spa pools, which are much hotter and smaller than the other pools.
In terms of temperature, the dark pool has a temperature of 36 degrees Celsius – quite warm, the ramp pool has more of a body temperature and the private spa pools have a temperature of 40 degrees. As far as ventilation conditions for the first pool there is a small window at the top of the wall on the left.

In the model the dark walls act as the ‘feature’ walls, which will consist of different sorts of reflective materials. I am yet to figure out what material to use for the walls of the pools and the main walls. So far I have considered stone, tile or concrete. The shards of mirror and wood in the entrance acts as a wall with slits of light coming through from the lobby. The bathrooms and changing rooms are unisex as it is very important to consider all genders when making these design decisions.

Materials I used for my model:

• Thick white cardboard
• Black cardboard
• Bulsa wood
• Mirror
• Transparent PVC sheet
• PVA glue
• Blue tack

My forest consists of rimu, kauri, totara, nikau and kowhai trees.

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My first attempt at making a quick model of my idea was pretty basic. I was inspired by how Zumthor played with the light and reflection in his bathhouse and started off by adding feature walls in the space.

In my development of my draft concept model, I continue to make new additions.

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Above are some sketches I did of my concept. When drawing these ideas, I was mainly thinking about light exposure.

I felt concept of my modified draft model communicated the theme of light and reflection, however I had the issue of the pathways being too narrow and was not 100% sure about the placement of the windows.

Modelling the Ceiling of my Bathhouse concept

As part of my Digital Fabrication minor project, I will be designing the ceiling of my bathhouse proposal, using laser cutting techniques I have learned.
For the ceiling I will continue to use the theme of reflection to mirror the image of waves of the water of the pools, on the ceiling.

Below are some sketches of my initial ideas:

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I tried to draw one of my ideas into Rhino (below) which I liked the look of, but ended up using this specific design for one of the feature walls of the bathhouse, instead of the ceiling.

I decided on the triangle shaped ceiling as I thought it represented the image of waves well, giving my strongly linear bathing space some irregularity.

The material I thought I would be using for the ceiling was bamboo. However, the grains of the wood when folding the triangles caused the material to snap. Ultimately after a few unsuccessful attempts in laser cutting the bamboo, I decided on the final material being cardboard, which was a much more pleasing and successful result.

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The Therme Vals Spa was designed by Peter Zumthor and first opened in 1996. Therme Vals is located in Switzerland. I am intrigued by Zumthor’s aesthetically pleasing interior and how slits of light shine through the space making it very calming and beautiful. As my theme is about reflection and light I thought his concept could help with the development for my design.

(retireved from: https://www.archdaily.com/13358/the-therme-vals)

Material Research

The Guggenheim Museum, located in Bilbao Spain was designed by Canadian-American architect Frank Gehry. The structure of the museum is made entirely of aluminium, limestone and glass. Noticing how it is located on the waterfront, I was interested in the way he played with reflective materials and how it would reflect the water around the space and how I could use a similar concept in my own design. I also felt that curving the walls was a very unique and clever way of using aluminium material.

(retrieved from: https://www.guggenheim-bilbao.eus/en/the-building/the-construction)

Our group started on the model by going to Albert Park and collecting different live materials to use for the pocket forest. (Eg. moss, leaves, sticks, bark, rocks, dirt, gravel.)
Specific individuals of the group had kindly brought recycled cardboard boxes from their homes, which we used for the base of our site. Some of us had the job of making the base and forest, while the other had the job of constructing the building.

Below is the finished pocket forest with our group site building.

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Update on Pocket Forest

We had to make a slight change to our group site model, once we started individually modelling our bathhouse concepts, which involved having to dig out 20mm of the base for our own pools. This alteration was surprisingly easier than I thought to make.

I have decided that my pocket forest will consist mainly of New Zealand native trees, such as Rimu, Kauri, Kowhai, Totara and Nikau. Each tree are very different looking and the sizes of the trees can vary from small to very tall.

The native birds I have chosen to include in my pocket forest are tui, kiwi, pukeko, kereru and NZ fantail.

Native NZ Trees

Kauri tree can grow up to 50m or more and is know as one of New Zealand’s tallest trees. There is a disease spreading that is killing the trees, which is why we cannot go near the Kauri trees anymore.

(retrieved from: https://organicmechanic.co.nz/blogs/theomblog/ten-native-trees-you-should-know)

Other native trees and their heights:

• Rimu – can grow up to 50m high
• Totara – can grow up to 30m high
• Nikau – can grow up to 15m high
• Kowhai – can grow up to 8m high

Te Aranga Design Values

• Rangatiratanga: Chieftainship right to exercise authority.
• Kotahitanga: Unity, togetherness.
• Kaitiakitanga: Guardianship and stewardship.
• Wairuatanga: Spirituality.
• Manaakitanga: Hospitality, kindness.
• Whanaungatanga: Relationship/Sense of family connection.
• Matauranga: Knowledge/Wisdom.

The Ngati Whatua have rangatiratanga over the whole of the AUT site, including the Dadley building, and I acknowledge that they are the hosts of this part of the land.

Whanaungatanga is when relationships are tested and strengthened at all times. One way to build relationships and strengthen them is through Te Aranga Principle 2: Whakapapa. This is where the significance of mana whenua are recognised. In order to use this design principle in the project, I intend to name each pool after a mana whenua ancestor. In order to do this I would need to consult with mana whenua, in this case Ngati Whatua Orakei, or one of the other iwi in the Tamaki Collective.

The pocket forest continues to the enhance of the well-being of kaitiakitanga. The value is supported through the Priciple 3: Taiao, which means “the natural environment is protected, restored and/or enhanced”.

Our site for this project is the Dadley building – AUT Campus, on Mount St. This was the former Spatial Design building of AUT. The Dadley building will eventually be demolished. Our brief is to design a bathhouse for the basement of the Dadley building and creating a forest for the site in small groups.

We first started the project by visiting and measuring the site, which is currently being used for old storage. I felt that the space seemed quite small because of the bulky columns but there would be no way for me to remove them when designing my interior, as they are there for structural purposes.

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