Equus - Submission 1

My character is Uccello. He is a painter that bought a block of land in the countryside. The site sits on a small road and has views onto a valley. My character doesn't like interacting with others and his way of engaging with his surroundings is by painting them.

My idea that I wanted to carry through my four designs was a thick curved wall that surrounds the front of the site. I chose to use a wall instead of a tower because I felt my character needed something larger to protect him from the surroundings. This wall helps create his own environment and makes him feel safe. Each design pushes him to engage with the surrounding environment more and more.

Design 1:  

 Design 1 is my first computer model. I have split it into three buildings (1 contains living areas and kitchen, 2 contains his study and 3 contains a bedroom and bathroom). Each building in design 1 is connected, but I have tried to encourage him to go out into the environment by making each building have an entrance that is only accessible by going outside. The buildings are joined back to the wall with timber beams, these beams help define the boundary of his property and let him still feel like he is in an enclosed space when he is inside. In these outside spaces one wall is clad in metal that reflects an image of him so he can see everything around him and also see the progress he is making by being outside. All of the windows in this building are small and not at normal eye level, allowing him to choose when he engages with the outside environment.

 

Design 2: 

Design 2 is my first hand made model. In this design I have made two curved walls and connected them using glass. I chose to do this so that if he has to go outside his property he has the time to think and prepare himself on the journey, this corridor also allows him to prepare himself if he has any visitors. In this design I have chosen to have the buildings showing the boundary of the site and created outside spaces within this boundary. I have also made breaks in these buildings allowing him to venture outside. Once again the 3  buildings are split and he is required to make a journey to move between them. I have chosen to add water in this design, surrounding building 1. This water pushes him out of his comfort zone by making him cross it to enter and exit but also allows him to reflect himself so he can see his progress is making and also allow him to see above him.

Design 3: 

Design 3 is my second computer model.  In this design I have gone back to using one curved wall. This design pushes him to use the space surrounding the buildings even more. A larger decking is attached to building 3 (his studio, unit 6). To get from his studio to the decking he must climb over a large rectangular ledge. This ledge helps separate him from the surrounding environment and allows him to chose when he wishes to leave the safety of his studio. I have used water again in this design, but this time the water connects all of the buildings. The most direct route between all of the buildings is to cross the water but I have designed it so he can enter the buildings other ways, but these ways he has to go around the buildings, pushing him into the environment even more.

Design 4: 

Design 4 is my second hand made model. In this design I have pushed my client as far as I can. I have put buildings 1 and 3 on the ground level and made building 2 (his studio) sit on top of building 1. I have also included a lot more windows and sky lights in this design pushing him to look outside and engage. Buildings 1 and 3 are still connected by timber beams to make him feel safe and are separated from the ground by timber beams that run beneath them. There is water that runs along building 1, allowing him to catch his reflection from within this building and building 2 above. Building 2 is a glass box that sits on the timber beams that connect the two buildings below. The studio is cantilevered on two sides really pushing him to feel like he is part of the environment but still safe within the glass. By putting the studio on top he is now able to see over the wall, which means others can now see him, which would really push his limits and test how much he is willing to engage with others and let them engage with him!

Paolo Uccello

Paolo Uccello an Italian painter was born Paolo di Dono in 1397. When translated from Italian Uccello means birds. He is believed to have changed his name due to his love of painting birds. Uccello was so obsessed on getting the perspective in his paintings perfect he would stay up all night in his study trying to grasp the exact vanishing point.

He grew up being an outsider because noone understood his deep love of art. He would dread leaving the house because he didn't know how to interact with others. He would spend most of his time locked away from others painting til all hours of the morning to achieve the perspective he so craved in his paintings. He was famous for painting trees in their natural colours which many before him did not do. He gained this skill from sitting for hours in his study looking at the trees that swayed in front of him.

Uccello bought a large block of land in his forties after his mother died. It was located in the countryside. He bought it to escape the busy city life and focus on his painting. It overlooks the villages main road that is filled with stores. He wanted a dedicated studio space where he could paint and observe the environment around him.

Uccello would barely leave his house and wanted a long entrance to his house so that he would know when someone was approaching. He would engage with the surrounding buildings by painting them and their occupants. He would wander throughout his house until he found a sight that caught his eye. All of this time spent observing meant he understood the personalities of all things around him yet no one knew the smallest details about him. His wife was the only person who got to see into Uccello's mind.

His wife's illness was what ultimately ended his painting work. In his last years of life he was a lonely forgotten man who was afraid of hardship in life.