PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The idea was to understand the context of Hamburg City. The first step was to design a sculpture in the middle of the city, without any clues as to the function or program that the sculpture was going to offer. The challenge was to then fit in a suitable function, based on the context, to the sculptural form. This is the design brief. The above visual is a hybrid developed from three individual study models that transforms into the final sculpture and the architectural project thereafter.

The hybrid was formed out of three triangle based models. Each face of the hybrid model was studied, interior and lighting aspects of each face were studied, and interior study models were developed using advanced software. The built form is laid about the north-south axis. The side facing the north has greater percentage of glazing and lesser skin whereas the south facade has greater skin and lesser glazing, a contradictory juxtaposition.A lot of initial study models were made and their impressions on the site and adjacent context were interpreted. The most interesting fact was that the models were completely not related to or influenced by each other. Each model was of a different nature, owing to the fact that it was not to be comprehended as an architectural material in the initial stages. The models were placed in the site and their reactions to their immediate surroundings was analysed, keeping in mind only the sculptural form. When once a suitable model was identified, it was again kept in the site and analysed in terms of entry, access, climatic context, sunlight pattern etc., and the model was fine-tuned stage by stage. Then the sculpture was perceived as a built form, and finally, a suitable and a context responsive function was fit into it. This is the design process.