Material Exploration

Man, Nature & Ecology

Prepared by Salmiah Aziz
"When the earth is shaken with a (violent) shaking,
And the earth reveals what burdens her,
And man says: What has befallen her?
On that day she shall tell her story...."

(Qur'an 99:1-4)
(chirag yadav, 2016)
 Man and the Environment were created to interact with each other
on balance basis. Whiles the natural environment is to create a fair decent shelter
and to provide food supplements including economic resources of gold, oil, and so
on, man on other hand is suppose to care and protect the environment from
destruction.

(modernghana, 2013)
 Unity of humankind and nature

Man lives from nature — i.e., nature is his body — and he must maintain a
continuing dialogue with it if he is not to die. To say that man’s physical and
mental life is linked to nature simply means that nature is linked to itself, for man
is a part of nature.

(Karl Marx, Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844)

Conceptual Design / Theme
The “from uncertainty to focus” model
Retrieved on May 3, 2019 from
https://www.flickr.com/photos/laurencipd/3369982611/
What is concept?

- A concept is an “IDEA”
-Something formed in the mind; a thought or notion
-Mind representation
-Solution
-Driving force of any project, an identity for the work
What is concept?

- Idea - Image
-Theory - View
- Notion - Intention
- Parti (French) - Plan
- Conception - Thought
- Opinion - Impression
- Abstraction - Hypothesis
- Philosophy - Design
- Belief
- Inspiration
Manifesting programs into the Conceptual Section:
Formation of conceptual model w.r.t. Conceptual section:
Where do Ideas (Concepts) come from?

- Site Analysis
- Program (Functional Requirements)
- Place / Culture / Society
- Technology / Material / Method
- Personal Architectural Influences
- Movement
- Space / Emotions
- Speed / Technology
- Memory / Place
- Precedent Research
Design concepts will and should influence the whole project, and include the:

Exterior and interior - orientation, massing, form, apertures, height, light

The landscape - hard and soft surfaces, types of planting, scale of painting,
arrangement of planting
Finishes - colours, styles, textures, materials
Fixtures and fittings - genre, style, scale, amount, material
Structure - light, heavy, traditional, modern, vernacular
Materials - colours, hard or soft, weathering, types, styles, locally sourced,
vernaculars
Dimension of Concepts

Any building concept should provide:

- Exterior Expression
- Interior Experience
Level of Expression
The concept should be appeal to both:
-The Normal Layman
- The Professional Specialist
Elements of Concept Generation and Expression
- Function
- Form
- Materials
- Structure
- Lighting
- Ventilation
- Meaning
- Philosophy
Benefits of using concept in design:
- Give depth and meaning of your work, the more innovative and coherent your
concept, the more interesting your work is.
- Open the door for more related ideas, they make you think and research. A richer
concept, means a richer building.
- Your creativity make you special
How to communicate and express your concept?
a. Multiple tools can be used to expressed your idea:
- Drawings, all sorts of drawings are applicable even if section
- Conceptual models
- Use little concept

b. Using different materials, colors and methods might help you both understand
better what you are doing and hence express your concept.

c. Sometimes you needs multiple tools to express your idea.

How can I express a concept?
1. Diagram : Drawings of geometric shapes to show different relationships witihin any
given space.
How can I express a concept?
2. Parti : A type of diagram that serves as general idea to to figure out a building’s
program or layout. They are usually in the form of quick skecthes or even 3D models.
How can I express a concept?
Parti Model
3. Morphology: The study of form of things, in particular.
Conceptual Models
Conceptual model can be used to express:
- Layers of a project; verticle horizontal, and rotated planes,.
- Outer shell
- Circulation, whether vertical or horizontal and types.
- Materials and colors
- Any construction issues
- Coherence with Topography
- Any other idea you want to communicate
Concept models can be used to express any number of your projects elements and/or
features, the direction you choose to go down is really dependant on where your
concept is being derived from.
However in many cases it’s just about picking one and running with it, and then
choosing another, and then another.

For example they can be used to investigate:

•Interactions with the site
•Direction
•Movement
•Typology
•Light
•Shadow
•The vertical and and horizontal planes (plans and elevations)
•The external and internal materiality
•The outer shell
•Circulation (through and around)
•Structural features or limitations
•Form, proportion and massing
•Its orientation