Here it is. The famous Cal Poly Pomona Arch 301 house project. While the program only calls for 600 sq. ft. of space, this project is known to be the “sink or swim project” of the program. The reason for this is that although the project is small, the model is huge; it is built at 1″ = 1′-0″ scale, and it is expected to be built replicating as much as possible the way in which it would be built in real life. This means real concrete, real rebar (which has to be checked off before you can pour your concrete), accurate framing, supports, materials, etc. Additionally, the appropriate foundation sizes must be calculated and modeled, the appropriate framing members must be sized and modeled, the building must comply (or feasibly be able to) local building codes and ADA requirements. Also, a complete set of construction drawings — including not only floorplans and sections but also framing plans, wall sections, and details — was to be completed. Needless to say, there were a lot of all-nighters this quarter.
Given all this, I was obviously over-ambitious with my design. It seemed simple at first. The design was physical manifestation of what I saw to be two very different uses of the house. One for rest; a bedroom area meant to be used for rest and relaxation. The other, given its location overlooking the Mt. Baldy valley, was as a sort of nature observatory; a place to appreciate and contemplate the beautiful surroundings. The house began as one and then split in two, figuratively and literally. While the design was settled on early on, however, the intricacy of the curvature and the problems faced with trying to accurately frame and build the house made for one ultimately quite unfinished model. Below are images of the model and some preliminary drawings of the project I was able to recover from an old email. The bulk of the work, however, was lost along with my stolen laptop and hard drive.
Joseph
Hey this is a really cool project, too bad you didn’t have enough time. What materials did you use for the curvatures in your design?
Jul 27, 2011 @ 7:02 am
admin
Thanks. The main structural rails were a painful process of trial and error. I tried bending wood, metal, everything. In the end I ended up laminated a series of thin laser cut profiles. The material is black styrene which I believe was 1/16″ thick. Each rail ended up being 5 layers of this stuff that I built up and glued around a bending jig. A heat gun then worked great to adjust the curvature.
Jul 27, 2011 @ 1:31 pm
joseph
Do you have any tips? I’m entering 3rd year and I’m pretty psyched about this project. Things I should focus on or things that aren’t necessarily important. Thanks.
Aug 11, 2011 @ 1:51 am
admin
This quarter is all about the big (expensive) model. Of course drawings and such are important, but make sure you give yourself enough time to produce the model; it always takes a lot longer than you’d think, especially at such a large scale. I’d say keep the design simple, but that will be drilled into your head by the studio instructors. My advice is to do something that will interest you. Explore architectural ideas that you are curious about and are willing to investigate, but do that with the caveat that it needs to be something that you can ultimately convey and build; it will be hard to convince jurors on an unorthodox design with an unfinished or poorly built model. Oh, and although it will be torture sometimes, remember this is supposed to be fun. Good luck!
Aug 11, 2011 @ 4:03 pm