ARCH1390 2012 Anders Huxtable: Assignment 3

The SANAA Zollverein Design School focuses strong on the concept of a grid design while also playing with the viewer’s perception of scale. By having a large unorganised grid of windows it doesn’t allow the viewer the ability to establish sizes of area or heights of floors which draws back on its impact on the local setting. Similarly BIG’s design the Wall in Taipei City also uses similar concepts in that it has a grid design and at first look it appears to be quite a regular grid but to increase their building floor space they have wrapped the building along a curved path. The Wall in Taipei City also has a strong concept of a porous scale with the large openings allowing light and atmosphere to pass through reducing the perception the viewer has of the size and impact of the building. I have therefore decided to follow these two concepts of the grid design and the use of this porous scale theme to design an art gallery. The art gallery follows the cube and irregular window layout to reduce the sense of scale achieved as well as establishing itself along a path that weaves through the local setting leaving it with a minimal impact.

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