I felt that this week's lecture would have been quite useful last week as it touched on the subject of mapping. But nonetheless, Dr. Jean Trottier provided a very useful lecture on design process. He gave us a quirky analogy of how eating a lobster is similar to design, if you don't understand how the components fit together, it can get pretty messy. He also made a good point that scales are irrelevant, and that the functions of spatial elements can be applied anywhere. It's very important to understand spatial hierarchies and how they relate no matter what discipline of design we may choose. Dr. Trottier went through the steps of development program, site documentation and inventory, and finally analysis. The GIS mapping system was also introduced to us, a program that all designers now use to understand the land on which they build on. It's so important to understand what is going on in the soil and hydrology to prevent disastrous accidents ie. building on places prone to mudslides. Slopes also are a big part of consideration when building a structure. Using a simple trigonometry equation you can figure out the slope of any site, finally an application of grade 10 math. A strong message Dr. Trottier left with us is that we shouldn't build on the most interesting part of a site, instead we should use it! An observation that seems so logical and simple, but not often practiced. The example used was the Barnes House, by Patkau Architects. Instead of building on the top of the mountain, the house was designed to work with the slope. The entrance of the house is the lowest point and you worked your way up to the common area where the beautiful view was the climax. This way the view became a very powerful experience, indeed a very successful way to design.
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