ARCHITECTURE SITES THAT RELATE TO THE VIRTUAL WORLD

http://archvirtual.com/blog-2/

http://secondlifetutorials.blogspot.com

http://tetravol.com

BLOG'S FROM PREVIOUS YEAR

http://zphi002arch.blogspot.co.nz/2011_04_01_archive.html

http://carolineofficedesign.blogspot.co.nz/

http://yejinyoon.blogspot.co.nz/2011_06_01_archive.html

LIBRARY (FINAL) PICTURES

                                           

                                       The 5th Floor has been removed as it didn't fit with 

                                   our design and was surplus to requirements.

                                   Therefore we have moved the study area onto the 

                                   4th floor. 
Also vegetation has been added around 

                                   our library to liven its surroundings. 
Our library 

                                   has been designed to personify a human heart, 

                                   highlighted by the shells that imitates 
the actual 

                                   shape of a heart. The exterior is plain and simple 

                                   to show the simplicity of the physical 
heart but the 

                                   interior is very complex to convey the complex 

                                   personal feelings and emotions of the heart, 

                                   highlighted with the transparent floor on ground 

                                   level that acts like a dome for the sub-conscious 

                                   thoughts.

                                      "A book should not be judged by its cover, but by

                                   what it possesses internally".


                                                   FRONT VIEW OF LIBRARY

Shows the primary elements of the library.

TILTED VIEW OF THE 3RD AND 4TH FLOOR

 Shows the brown, bubinga texture of the 

                                         of the 
higher storeys.


ON THE SECOND FLOOR

                                    Shows the positioning of our blog walls, as well

                                    as the clear 
glass barriers that make up the first

                                    floor. Our elevator is also a main feature in this 

                                    level.


                                                      ON THE FIRST FLOOR

 

                                    The main highlight is the 9 journals(3 each) that 
                                    make up our library.



                                         BACK-PART OF THE SECOND FLOOR

    The lights on the upper levels have been manipulated

      through
 Scratch to move in and upwards/downwards  

direction as well as disappear. Also our glass wall
 

     window feature is interesting as it creates a distinctive

     shadow pattern that moves around 
library throughout

                                 the day.


THE ELEVATOR

 An elevator has been installed for easy access

                                     to the upper levels of the 
library. 


CLOSE UP ON THIRD FLOOR

                                         The wall texture on on the inner shells of our 

                                     library contain multiple
 linear patterns to give

                                     the occupants of the library an interesting place 

                                     to relax.


  THE BRIDGE

                                     The bridge links the 3rd and 4th floor together.
                                     It is simple with transparent glass 
barriers as 
                                     the bridge is visible from the front view and is 
                                     a critical element 
to the look of the library.



THE GLASS WALL

                                         The glass wall is aesthetically appealing as it

                                     creates different shadows throughout the 

                                     different times of day.

THE LATTER STAGES

                                    The main element of this stage of our construction  

                                 process was the addition of the 5th floor.


FRONT VIEW

                                     The library as a whole with the added 5th floor,
                                     personifies the brain from the "open heart" 
                                     
shells. 


CLOSE-UP VIEW

   Shows the connection between the floors from

     level 3 to level 5 with the brown bubinga 
texture

                                      linking the storeys together.


THE 5TH FLOOR

                                     This area is a book shelf and study area.

      Particles are used on the roofing to 
imitate stars 

                                     on the sky. The staircase almost acts as a tendon

                                     link from the "brain"(5th level)
 to the "heart"(Shells)



                                                   5TH FLOOR STUDY AREA

                                    The study area has been placed on the highest
                                    level possible to relax the occupants
 with the 
                                    beautiful surrounding scenery. Also the glass
                                    skylight on top of the roof gives the occupants
 
                                    natural light instead of artificial.



                                                    5TH FLOOR BOOK SHELF

                                     The bookshelf is situated on the top level so 
                                     that people visiting the library
would have to 
                                     visit all levels in order to get out books, 
                                     therefore personally experiencing the whole
                                     
building.


GETTING STARTED

 The main theme behind our library is to use two semi- spherical shells to create a heart-     like shape.
 Our library is situated on a hillside so we can challenge ourselves to adapt to 

  the surroundings.

FRONT-SIDE VIEW


FRONT VIEW

             SIDE VIEW                                                                                     BACK VIEW

FINAL DRAWINGS

Through experimentation of previous concepts and developments, we gathered all the elements that we liked and we came up with our final design.

SYMBOLISM: The two shells personify the human heart and as the exterior is very plain, it conveys the simplicity of the outer heart. However the building being black portrays mystery. The interior is sophisticated with numerous features showing the complexity of the inside of the heart, such as emotions and feelings. Our hidden feature, the transparent floor on the ground level, is a dome for the sub-conscious mind where deep thoughts are gathered.

INTERIOR: Our library consists of numerous levels, where occupants can explore each floor almost like a journey. The ground floor will have our 9 journals placed on bookshelves. The 2nd floor will contain the 3 blog screens. This floor will have internationally known architecture websites, and our 3 blog addresses. A circular elevator takes the occupant to the 3rd Floor. Here we will have some chairs and a table where people can sit and read. Going up the ramp will be the study area. We will have a lot of tables and chairs for users to sit down and have some quiet study.

EXTERIOR: The outer walls are very smooth and simple. The circular form with straight lines were too direct and corners were distracting, as opposed to the sphere, there is a
feeling of rotation and forever spinning.

LANDSCAPE: A site should be located where there are some geographical structures as it could provide scale and show some sense of reality.

MATERIALS: Possibly low cost, standard construction where walls will be made of wood and beams and cantilevers will be made of steel.


FURNITURE: We will be modelling some chairs and tables ourselves but some furniture will need to be bought at the Second Life Marketplace.

TEXTURES

TEXTURE 1

                                     This texture will be applied onto the interior walls
                                     of our library to apply a futuristic look. The rounded
                                     linear patterns will help with this effect.



                   
                                                                 TEXTURE 2

                                      This texture is used for furniture, creating a 
                                      sense of a shiny, clean satin like leather.
                                      We used the Curves and Level in Photoshop 
                                      to heighten the individual lines. We then used 
                                      the spotlight tool (omniscient light) to focus on
                                      the centre, brightening up the inside and slowly 
                                      darkening the outside.