Below is my presentation script i had prepared for my verbal presentation.

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Hi lectures and architects, my name is jia jun, it’s a pleasure for me to present you my design of the hideout, specially for my client, Alexander McQueen and I hope that you will like my presentation. So before taking my presentation in, I would like to brief about what architecture means to me. To me architecture is not just about designing a house that simply fits the client personality; it’s about making use of the space as I believe that space arrangement and designs would affects ones who’s inside emotionally, experience and mood. So my design would be more focusing on suiting my clients needs and make positive impact on my client.

 

 

Starting off my presentation I would like to brief about my hypothetic client, Alexander McQueen who was a fashion designer. He was called the infant terrible of fashion world whose design carries images of Salvage Beauty filled with Victorian Medieval and Romantic Primitive themes. While his work is resourceful with vibrantly shocking yet elegantly beautiful fashion. He was said to suffer from mixed anxiety, depressive order and drug abuse, probably due to his turbulent life, problem of sexual disorientation, lost of mother at later ago and pattern of life. It eventually led to a tragic ending when he took his life at the age of 42.

 

 

 

 

Proposal

 

I believe that architecture has the healing power for the user. With the power of spatial organization, careful arrangement of spatial progression, the use of natural elements such as water body, light and shades and appropriate choice of building materials, we will create an environment to sooth ones soul a place and a sanctuary to attain inner peace.

 

 

My proposal is trying to achieve that to create an urban hideout where McQueen can resort to when he is sad, depressed and troubled. It is a place where he will come to rest and meditate, in contact with natural elements like sun, water and wind and eventually achieve inner peace.

 

 

The hideout expresses externally on the building façade with delicately and elegantly designed screen wall to reflect McQueen’s charater whose work is flamboyant, delicate and elegant. The screen wall also helps to screen off the surrounding for privacy of McQueen on the interior.

 

 

Spatially, I have designed a progression of spaces as you move through the building to experience the physical changes of the environment from space to space, level to level, in order to calm oneselves to attain an inner peace.

 

 

It started off from the street which is very public. As you walk up the staircase and close the main dorr, you will shut out the noisy street behind and arrive at the living and dining space with bare minimal furnishing for simplicity. This will be the first space to break away from the daily hussle and bustle of life where one can remove his jacket, tie, shoe and rest in the sofa for a moment, perhaps with a glass of cold drinks.

 

 

Having enough a good rest to calm himself down, he can proceed to move upstairs to a mezzanine floor through the simple and open concrete cantilever stairs where he will arrive at the mezzanine floor which is roofed over with tempered glass covered with thin sheet of water to create a dreamy, rippling and soothing underwater like space for meditation. Again everything here will be simple and bare minimal so that you can only sense the natural elements around you… the natural light and shades, the ripples and sound of water or selected music played from hifi.

 

 

Finally after hours of meditation, one can proceed up a staircase in the form of a concrete tunnel to reach the roof top water garden, a water court consist of a pool of calm, clean water over the tempered and laminated glass skylight. Here one will have direct contact with the natural elements: sun, wind, water, clouds so that one experience oneness with nature.

 

 

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REFLECTION

I learnt a lot from this project.  It became a really interesting project because of how much I got into the client and his character.

All of the books and extracts that I have learned about McQueen helped me learnt how to properlly analyse the process of designing for clients.

 

The biggest challenge was the mountain amount of work that had to be done by the submission date. I was very satisfied with my work, but it proved to be a feat because of the fact that my model was not easy to make.

I put my all into doing the drawings well (I didnt want to overlook them either) and the model, hoping to convey the design intention from every aspect - from material to structural support, to concept and emblems and the adherance to the client's personality.

 

It seemed to be a success during the presentation day and while it seemed as if there were some negativities, I was happy with the response from my external moderator and friends.