ARCH 1201 - Precedent Studies (Holocaust Museum by Moshe Safdie)

In the Holocaust Museum the use of light was strongly effect in showing the lengh of the building and emphasising the momentality of the structure. I appreciate such use of light and will try to incorporate it into my designs so that the Gallery could be effective in showing the grandeur of mother nature and that nature is the ultimate moment that ever existed.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Precedent Studies (Kiasma by Steven Holl)

Steven Holl played with lighting with many different techniques. With the similar site to ours his gallery is a large long space where opque glass was used to filter the light so that the space within was glowing. The filtered lights will also reflect of the white minimalist walls therefore making the whole space seem delusional and fictional.

With the long strip there is also the use of windows creating small openings so that limited light could enter the space. Also by adjusting the height and size of openings different special effects could start to come in.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Precedent Studies (Sibuya-Ku House by Yuko Nagayama)

What is unique about this building is that like the site we were given it is designed for a narrow site. With the site being narrow this building used it to its advantage by composing its geometry and colour in order to make the space feel bigger than it actually is.

Openings from small courtyards are used to absorb light into the building. The openings are usually vertical as the two building from either side block of any source of the light from an angle.

The use of exterior courtyard draws light and with the surrounding walls tilted to an angle the light is able to reflect into the interior.


The division of exterior and interior is ambiguous therefore making the people who interact with the space feel like if they are in a more spacious space because an exterior space will have direct access to natural light and the open sky therefore making the space seem bigger than it actually is.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Project Three Site Choice

With the final decision being Site One because the unique narrow and long site will be a good ground to construct something that will be suited for the theme of my artist. The sunlight will also be of a higher quality at site one therefore allowing better use of light for my gallery.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Project Three Introduction

Introduction

Now you are ready to design a building, that is, a formal composition occupied by human activities. In this project you will design a dealer’s art gallery that specializes in contemporary and experimental art. Many of the artists exhibited are relatively young and are working on the margin or outside the art mainstream. Since it is a commercial gallery, selling the displayed works is important. In other words, it is a shop. However, the gallery sees its role as also encouraging exploration and experimentation within the contemporary arts. As such, it serves a critical and cultural purpose in Sydney and Australia. The dealer chooses to work and live in one place; therefore, part of the gallery is also the dealer’s house.

Your project is to capture, in architectural terms, the spirit of the dealer’s intention. The overall building, as well as the main rooms, are to celebrate and enhance the ideas and qualities of the particular art that the gallery houses. The main interior spaces, and the exterior courtyard at the back of the site, are to serve as areas for displaying and experiencing works of art. Service spaces are also required for administrative, storage and workshop purposes. A small apartment for the gallery owner is to be provided.

Interested Artist : Ernie Gerzabek

752 Magic toybox
43x43x43cm / 17x17x17in cube, coloured recycled wood assembly on board
$1200 to $2000 price range

785 Floriade
76x102cm / 30x40in, acrylic / canvas, self-framed
$600 to $900 price range

682 Desert moods
107x137cm / 42x54in, acrylic / canvas, self-framed
$1200 to $2000 price range

589 Waterside shift 3
61x91cm / 24x36in, acrylic on canvas, self-framed

$500 to $800 price range

Background

I am a professional landscape painter and abstract artist and sculptor. I was born in Budapest, Hungary and immigrated to Australia in 1958. I started painting in 1970 while practising as a Chartered Architect. Following my retirement from Architecture in 1997 I commenced painting full time.

I pride himself on being a self-taught artist as I do not follow in the footsteps of any teacher or master. I have a very broad range of original approaches, thus cannot be pigeonholed into a single ‘style’.

Inspiration and artistic Influences

My main inspiration is Nature, the unique landscapes of Australia, the United States and Canada:- the unspoilt countryside, wilderness areas, deserts, wetlands and seashores.

As to artists who most influenced me, I must admit I admire Vincent Van Gogh’s use of colour and his emotional intensity. I love Paul Klee’s sensitivity and deep insight into our inner beings. I marvel at Kandinsky’s exuberance and sense of composition. I am amazed at Picasso’s inventiveness and broad range of interests.

As for Australian artists, I love John Olsen’s imaginative expression and playfulness, Fred Williams’ unique ability to extract the essential abstract elements of a landscape, and most importantly, I am most impressed by Emily Kngwarreye’s innate mastery of colour, structure and connection to Country.

Interpretation and expression

I am often told my interpretation of natural phenomena is unique, quite surprising and somewhat unpredictable. My paintings not only encapsulate the essential elements, colours and features of a particular place, but also recreate the ambience and the ‘feel’ of being there.

I tend to create playful, decorative and inspiring images, which are both optimistic and spiritually uplifting. Typically, my work is highly original, exuberant, vibrant, confident and eye-catching. Most of my creations are richly textured, overflow with dazzling colour and charged with positive energy. Other pieces are introspective, soft and meditative.

I believe my artworks are not only collectable but also provide long term enjoyment and relaxation as a counterbalance to the stresses of everyday life.

Exhibitions and collections

I had more than 26 solo shows since 1999 and have participated in countless group shows in commercial galleries and other venues. I am an exhibiting member of Mosman, Ku-ring-gai and North Shore Art Societies and also of The Sculptors Society.

My artworks are sold in a number of commercial galleries in Sydney, they are highly sought after by art lovers, interior designers and architects.

Apart from Australia, my works can be found in public and private collections all around the world, including the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Great Britain and many other European countries.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Final Presentation Model Photos

"Firstly thanks to Sandra and all who made this project possible."

Narrative - " A lonely man lost in the middle of a tundra at night searching for light and warmth to rest in."

Like my drawings I decided to take a photo to show the vast natural environment enclosing this structure

To give a brief view of the model from the surface to give a general idea of the composition of the elements necessary to enter the cave. I made the lighting to be a strip of light in order to focus on the main area where the narrator will interact with the building.

A upper corner photo shows the strength of the light coming from within the structure itself, beaming into the distance and beyond.

Looking from the edge of the valley the narrator gets lured into the glowing interior space hiden from view at plane view.

The narrator gradually moves around the valley in order to attempt to enter the valley via the ramp on the other side. The spread of the glow almost seem like it is following the narrator himself taunting him to enter the valley.


The narrator makes his way towars the ramp where he realised the danger envolved with the isolated ramp and the gradual descent at first but the gradual increase in steepness. There will be a point where the narrator will almost seem to slide into the valley and after then the escape from the valley seems almost impossible.


After realising that he will not be able to climb back up the cave he starts to make his way to the destination where the light continuous pours out welcoming him into the enclosed space under the mass and ground.

At this point he will be able to witness a clear difference in elevation where he is now in a basement like area and that the tundra/ reality is above him. He has finally escaped the harsh reality and hopefully enter his delusional world through the mystical portal.

As he enters due to the blinding light he looks back to reassume himself of the exit from the space. The light emphasises the delusion and supernatural aspect of the space. Seeing the blurry reflections and a room full of mirrors he begins to imagine distorted views of himself thus forcing him into a different world.

When we gazes back to the entrance it is long behind him. Instead he dwells furthur into his more comfortable delusional world.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Final Presentation Drawings

I made a drawing of the site plan as due to the constraints of the model base being only 25cm x 25cm I thought it was necessary to emphasise the idea of isolation therefore I drew the opening in a large field with natural grass waves surrounding the site itself.

In the axonometric I drew the different important components of the building. First being the ramp as it is the circulation point of the building. There are also the enclosing mass making the building underground and then there is the interior space of the building where blurs reflections could be seen from the aluminium walls.

The illustration of the floor plan shows the lighting effects on different levels. The first one is one of above the actual valley where the light is streaming out of the valley and the bottom one shows that the light source is coming from within the interior and streaming out into the distance.

The section is a more specific view of the lighting created from the interior space as it streams vertically out of the space and immerse the human figure with curiosity and the light almost seem to be drawing the human figure into the space itself. The light almost is sucking the person into the space with the light vacuuming the darkness from the area.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Developed Design + Working Model

Working model for experimentation of delusional spaces

Like the Spiritual Retreat I created a working model for a delusional space by creating a imaginary space within a cube. The idea is created when the entrance is not clearly defined as one could enter from both sides and also the exit will be identical to the entrance itself. When the space has an entrance which is same as the exit it almost seems as the space doesnt exist as when you enter the space you immediately exit it without realising. With this idea it greatly applies with the visual effect which means it almost seem like an optical illusion. Another sense of delusion is by applying a transparent wall within the cube itself. It seems penetrable with the direct view from the entrance to the exit however through a small doorway one will not notice that there is a transparent wall embedded within the cube itself.







Working model for rough composition of the final development

The final consist of a great monumental triangular wall to narrow the vision of the narrator thus leading him into a valley of delusion and fiction. The design incoporates some ramps which lead down into the valley where the previously experimented delusion space is. The narrtor will then make his way down the valley in order to reach the outburst of light from the delusional space as he seeks warmth and rest.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Inspirational Architecture (House of Spiritual Retreat)

The spiritual retreat really caught my eye when it offers a delusional view when you view the building from a distance. From a distance it seems the building is cube but as you get closer you start to realise that only 2 faces of the cube actually existed.

The doorway in the intersection of the vertical planes opens up a imaginary portal. Even though it is just a walkway to the other side because of the mentality that the building is a monalithic cube one would imagine that it will lead to an interior space however instead it lead to a interior like exterior space. You will be able to view the scenery behind the buidling however you will still have side walls. So it is like a walkway to a whole new world which is escaping you could say reality.

At night from a distance the building is like a white spot glowing in the distance. It almost seem like a delusional and extra terrestial space. It almost will attract anyones attention in the dark. In relation to my narrative you almost see the person himself visiting the place as it shows signs of civilisation due to the light.

The landscape beside the house is similar to that of in my narrative. Being isolated it has an even greater of an impact than if it was in the middle of a city.

Duncan Chang

ARCH 1201 - Inspirational Artists and Designers

These are some of the inspirational artists that influenced my design.

UVA is an artist group that specialises around lighting. The particular work that really influenced me was their work with the growing portale which was displayed in London. The portale which is actually a LED panel interacts with the people around it through sensors. I almost fits into the idea of my opening with the delusion room which revolves around the narrators desires.

Mary Miss is a sculpturer which designed spaces which are invisible to naked until you are right on top of beside it. I was influenced by the idea of delusional space appearing in front of narrator. It is like the space under the grass area where the person will feel like they are walking over a normal grass field until the come across the pit where they find out they were actually walking over a space which was embedded in ground therefore without realising walking over a "non existent" space.

Robert Morris plays around with light and mass. The concrete sculpture was there to show his idea of floating mass. The idea is quite similar to Mary Miss's pit where a person is tricked into believing that the mass they are walking on is connected to the ground however without noticing untill walking over it that it is actually a floating mass. The mirror cubes also convey the idea of delusion through its reflection of light. Being a cube made from mirrors it almost seems that the cube contains no properties as it is reflecting all light which makes contact with it. Therefore it could be said that the interior of the cube is a delusional space for no one knows what is actually within the cube because of the distraction of the exterior mirror and the mirror preventing penetration of any kind through the cube.

Robert Smithson also works with mirrors however his work doesnt resemble the mirror cubes with clean and faultless reflections. His work is of shattered and confusing reflections giving delusion in the sense that one cant see oneself from the mirrors and creates a false understanding of the actual appearance.

Duncan Chang