Supplementary Assessment: Completed Section Drawings

SECTION A 1:100

SECTION B 1:50

Exemplar 5: Norman Foster - Clarence Hotel

CLARENCE HOTEL BY NORMAN FOSTER

What drew me into this section of the Clarence Hotel by Norman Foster was the horizontal depth of the image, achieved through combining a section cut with a perspective shot as well as effective shadowing. This section also incorporates real photographs of the existing context and neighbouring buildings which allows a better sense of what the building would look like in its proposed context.

The main heroic space of the building is coloured and secondary spaces are left white and shadowed creating an effective contrast. The use of colours through a gradient (in case this, dark drawing up into light), in the heroic space guides the views eyes up the image and creates vertical depth. This vertical depth is further emphasised by the perspective aspect of the shot. The eye level of the viewer is placed at ground level making lower levels appears lower and higher levels appear even higher, adding to the quality of the section. As my building is longer than it is tall, I think it will be difficult to emulate this vertical depth however, I liked Foster’s contrasting effect  between private and public space, high traffic and low traffic spaces and hope to bring aspects of this into my drawings.

People and objects are also placed numerously throughout the section. However, through the use of transparency, we are able to gauge which spaces of the building are perhaps private or public, service or significant spaces. I think this use of transparency will help in my portrayal of different spatial relationships in my proposed building. 

REFERENCE

Foster + Partners. (2008). Clarence Hotel, Dublin, Ireland [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=10121&q=clarence

Exemplar 4: Richard Meier - Hans Arp Museum

HANS ARP MUSEUM BY RICHARD MEIER

I have chosen this section specifically in contrast with the other sections I have chosen as a basis for comparison. No colour exists in the image except a light blue background and, similar to Exemplar 1 and Exemplar 3, background buildings are shown transparently allowing the main section not to be overshadowed.

Although it is obvious that this drawing lacks the energy, colour, activity and life that the other exemplars possessed, it is still quite evident that it is still not a construction drawing. The manner in which it portrays information and the type of information it is portraying is more formal. As the information being portrayed is different, this requires a different technique to be implemented. The lack of colour, shadowing and sparse use of people in the section shows a lack of quality of space, however, allows focus to be placed on the structural elements of the building and the external façade pattern and detailing. Spatial relationships are also considered.

Although the techniques of this drawing differ substantially to my other chosen exemplars, I feel that it closely resembles my own personal drawing style and is a type of technique that I can draw, work upon and emulate when completing my projects. However, as the idea behind that section for this part of the assignment is to represent the quality of the space in my section, my goal would be to combine this drawing technique with the other colouring techniques of the other sections in order to portray the spatial quality of my project, through my style successfully.

REFERENCE

Richard Meier & Partners. (2011). Royal Alberta Museum [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.arthitectural.com/richard-meier-partners-royal-alberta-museum/press-release_arch-drawing_page_10/

Exemplar 3: Renzo Piano - Greek Cultural Centre

GREEK CULTURAL CENTRE BY RENZO PIANO

Unlike Exemplar 1, which gave the illusion of a 3D image, this second section, also by Renzo Piano is a section of a 3D model. I believe this gives the image a horizontal depth, often difficult to portray in a 2D section image. I feel that one of the purposes of a section image is to portray what happens in a space at the section cut. The addition of a 3D element to a section also allows information that occurs behind the section cut to be shown. This 3D element is something I would like to incorporate into my drawings. Piano also utilises the same background gradient technique as in the first image, whereby a strong blue sky fades to a lighter hue/white allowing the building to come forward.

The complimentary colours of orange and blue are used to great effect in this image. Unlike Exemplar 2, the orange in this image is used to highlight areas of high traffic, where many users would congregate, as well as high focal areas of the proposed buildings. Service areas, car parks and less important spaces are shaded a cool grey-blue which works in contrast with the orange coloured areas. As mentioned in my Exemplar 2 blog post, this use of complimentary colours is a technique I plan on utilising in my drawings.

I felt one of the downfalls of this image is the lack of context and neighbouring buildings, which makes it difficult to get a sense of how the building may look and feel in its proposed site. The image however stands as a great comparison to the other exemplar section images which do show the building in context. I also felt that the section line and structure of the building at the section plane should have been darker, bolder and coloured black in order to visually define the borders of the building and natural ground line. These are elements I will be incorporating in my drawings.

REFERENCE

Piano, Renzo (Architect). (2009). Building Section [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.architecturecaribbean.com/blog/2009/08/04/

Exemplar 2: Richard Rogers - Centre Pompidou

CENTRE POMPIDOU BY RICHARD ROGERS

Unlike the other exemplar section drawings I have chosen, the most noticeable thing about this drawing for me is how flat it appears in comparison, at first glance. I attributed this to a lack of shadowing.

Upon further analysis I found that this lack of shadowing resulted in a lot of white space which compliments well the high amount of colour used in the image. This intense colouration gives the section life, energy and activation. I concluded that the lack of shadowing, has worked immensely well in this case and had it been added, may have been to its detriment by appearing too busy. The high amount of colour implemented also risked having the image bleed out, making visual navigation difficult for the viewer, however this is supplemented well with the copious amounts of white space.

Visual navigation is important for this section in particular as a lot of activities and information is being portrayed. Because of the clever use of white space and colour, the various parts of the section are able to be distinguished from one another allowing the viewer to take in different parts of the building as they peruse.

The background of the section is a very strong blue which differs from the other exemplars which employed lighter shades of blue as a gradient, allowing the building to be highlighted as the focal point. In the case of this section, however, orange hues are noted throughout the image, in particular the building structure. As blue and orange are complimentary colours, the strong blue background compliments the orange hues, making them appear brighter and stronger, bringing these parts of the building forward against the blue background. This clever use of complimentary colours is something I would like to use and extend upon in my two sections.

On the topic of colour relationships, it is also observed that the surrounding, neighbouring buildings depicted in the section are coloured a dull grey making the white space appear whiter and enhancing the overall image.

In completing my drawings, I believe it is important to first decide upon the kind of information I would like to portray and the method that would be best to use. The above section in comparison to the first exemplar is a good example of this as they both are the same type of image, however they portray the qualities of the spaces differently. At this point in time, I am leaning towards using similar shadowing techniques from Exemplar 1.

REFERENCERichard Meier & Partners. (2011). Royal Alberta Museum [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.arthitectural.com/richard-meier-partners-royal-alberta-museum/press-release_arch-drawing_page_10/

Exemplar 1: Renzo Piano - Harvard University

HARVARD UNIVERSITY BY RENZO PIANO

The strategic use of shadowing in this section by Renzo Piano, gives the 2D image an illusion of a 3D image as well as adding to its horizontal depth. The colour of the background is a gradient sky blue which fades down to a lighter hue towards the building allowing it to stand out in the image.

It is also noted that the yellow/orange colours are used to highlight areas of high traffic and also perhaps, the most important space of the building. Less important spaces, car parks and service areas of the building are left uncoloured to emphasise the importance of the coloured spaceS.

I found that the most predominate thing about this image is the bold, black section line. This is contrasted with the structural elements of the building which are shown in red where the section is cut to contrast with the bold, natural ground line. What I’ve also noticed is the ratio of the building along the streetscape. The building only occupies ¼ of the street; this allows the surround neighbouring buildings to be depicted accurately and allows the viewer to gauge the relationship of the building within its context.

On the topic of context, the existing buildings in the background of the image are transparent allowing the sky to bleed through. I believe this is so the existing buildings, which are observed to be significantly larger than the proposed, don’t overshadow the image, taking away from the focus point. I’ve also noticed that the trees in the image that sit along the cut of the section are shown as solid entities, however, as they recede into the background, they also become transparent and lighter, drawing focus back to the elements that sit on the section plan.

I plan on employing many of these techniques and elements into my sections, in particular the use of a strong section line, gradient background and background building transparency as I believe they are the strong points of this image. I do believe however, due to the long nature of the site, it may be difficult to incorporate such a wide streetscape into my drawings.

REFERENCE
Piano, Renzo (Architect). (2008). Harvard Univesity [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.nysun.com/arts/harvards-three-art-museums-will-share-one-name/80353/