1. What the body should feel like it should be doing, how it should be moving
2. movement, space, circulation, direction
3. The signals we give off as we move - haste, routine?
and provide new opportunities and interactions between people. (THRASHOLD)
OWEN G GLENN BUILDING - SCHOOL OF BUSINESS
Opening by main central stairwell, attracts you towards elevator shaft, however access to the higher levels is restricted to the people who work there. A person moves towards this opening only to be forced to continue through. Cannot stop because it blocks the narrow area, and because a person from outside the higher levels cannot access it. We instincively pause at this area, only to be pushed along.
This view is from the lower level, looking towards the bottom of the main staircase. The body wants to almost surface above this underground, it is drawn to the opening and light that comes from it. The body moves at a leisurely pace up the stairs. Goes with the students who are leaving this downstairs area which is a working area with lecture theatres and computer labs, to the cafe and atrium above which has a more relaxed environment.
This black wall, makes the body want to stop. Its sharp edge bluntly cuts the persons movement, and forces them to acknowledge the two different paths on either side. In this corridor, there should really be a continuous flow to avoid blockages however this wall almost challenges that idea.
This photo is taken from the door downstairs that leads out to Windham street. In this area, people should not be stopping for any reason as it is simply an entrance with alternative pathways leading off it. Due to the lighting and the coloured walls on both side, the body automatically wants to move forward as a sort of tunnel vision is created. In this area people tend to give off signals of haste, as they rush to their lectures classes and leave through this entrance to other parts of the university more accessible via this doorway like the Human Sciences Building.
This is the oterh corridor leading up to this second doorway to the building. It is neither inviting or uninviting. This building seems to house many corridors that lead off to various rooms, theatres and spaces, to possibly create a momentous flow when the building is busy, and direct people to there needed location quickly and efficiently. Two concepts that could easily be challenged as this route is also forced; there is no free will of movement. Students cannot wander at their leisure or explore.
The continuous use of red, is also very disorientating. It makes you feel like you have been in certain areas (which you haven't been) before. Along with its formal corridors, it almost forms a maze in the underground area of the building, an ants nest or orderly chaos that is hectic and busy.
This space, appears to have no importance, as it has no furniture or supply any reasons for a person to be there, apart from the fact that it is almost a breathing area between the corridors. It is another entrance. The space could be used more efficiently. People there barely go down this end of the space, as there is much reason to. It is one of the quite spaces of the building. An intervention could be developed here to encourage people to occupy this space rather than bypassing it.
This is a small study space that leads off to the previously mentioned space. It is a quite area for students who wish to be alone.
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516331092028681954" />This is in the large downstairs area just below the main stairwell and to the left. It is a space with a computer lab area and with furniture to invite lingering and interaction. However once again it feels empty, like the space hasn't been used to its full advantage. The body simply wants to walk through it and continue on to the stairwell. It doesn't want to have a seat.
Same downstairs area, showing the seats which are all vacant. I did go to the building in the holidays which may not offer fair results, requiring me to go at another stage during the semester however the people who were there, were not taking a seat.
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516329503286802914" />the photo montage on the wall, brings people towards this area. in a sense it makes the individual want to discover more about the building and the type of people who work here. the colour brings life and warmth into the downstairs area, and the large space in front of the board allows for movement and circulation around the board.
At the bottom of the grand staircase, in the atrium, we experience a sense of awe, or wonder, like in a tall cathedral. However due to the atmosphere and design of the staircase, the individual does not enjoy this. We do not instinctively look up or out of the window, which is a shame because it really deserves some attention. The experience is therefore undermined and forgotten in the hustle and bustle of students.
This is one of my favourite views in the building. It assentuates the colour coding throughout the building and generates the idea of a central axis within the building. The elevator shaft convey messages of power, control, strong, bold and brass were oureyeline directly travels upwards. However most people are too busy looking down on the floor to notice this architectural potential. The curves from the balconies and those unreachable staircases, creates a flow of one's line of sight. This view is aesthetically pleasing because of its shape.
alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5516328234003107746" />However this view is minimised or not notcied at all as people simply make there way up and down the staircase, watching their feet or following the curve of the staircase to the areas off to the side with their eyes. When walking up these stairs one does acknowledge how wide the stairs are. Yet, even after going to the building during semester the staircase isnt used that much, so why has it been built so big? To impose on us these preconceptions about business? or most likely has it just been designed as a large staircase for the atrium; a grand staircase between the student underground, basement area with lecture theatres and the open, light areas of the business world these students will one day really be apart of. The heirarchy between the various areas is severe with signs even restricting access to certain people. When I went up the elevator I could tell from the atmosphere that people didnt think that I should be there ( might have been due to my photo taking) but they could tell I didnt belong in this world of business. I wasn't on a straight course to my next destination, i was taking a leisurely walk around the building.
The height in the atrium makes you feel like your moving through the heart of the building, the part that is exposed and shows you the progress that is yet to be made, the goals that are yet to be achieved, and acts as a place where people can observe others from the various levels. Architecturaly, I love this view because of the curving balcony with the supported bridge and the support system visable, as well as the stairs that look like floating platforms. The individual experiences a sense of wonder when one looks up, however no one takes the time to.
To experience the grandeur of this entrance, you need up from your feet on the stairwell, and into the huge glass opening that offers a framed view. It wants attention, however the experience is ruined because it is almost ignored, plus the view chosen is of the ASB Tennis stadium which is being modified.
This is the cafe area on the first floor, looking from the atrium. Your path is unintentionally navigated from the curve in the roof and floor plan, along with the steel columns that almost bar off the area. However it creates a pleasant circulation through this area which during semester gets rather busy. It was interesting to note that this area shown was inhabited by all students while the seated area on the other side of the cafe contained a majority of what I presumed to be professers and lecturers. There was an obvious age split between the two different areas and I wondered why this was. Both areas are well lit up, however the curved black wall (which is repeated throughout the building) which the cafe is located within, sets two different zones or paths. The professers and tutors choose to sit at the one that seems more like the cafe, while students choose the larger area, that is one of the sunny spots in the building they are allowed.
From this viewpoint I experience the idea that the stairs are leading down towards something, that they are not simply turning off at the sides taking different paths. I feel like the movement should be continued straight through, not haltered by this seemingly glass wall when i can see that the building continues on either side.
This outer courtyard offers a great neutrol zone of the building where anyone is free to linger, stop, rest, eat their lunch or simply walk past. It is a area designed not just for business students but for the wider university community. However the same materials and square shapes almost suggestive otherwise.
Here the outside glass from the different levels, visually creates a ladder out the side of the building, however like the stiarcase in the atrium, there is no connection from the ground to the next level. Maybe one is never expected to get to that level.
Once again the curved shape of the building influences the path the individual walks along with the columns that act as a barrier almost. Makes you feel like you should not walk out from this controlled pathway.
One of the postgrad and lecturer only areas, visible from the first floor cafe area. Once again, no obvious link as to how one is meant to get up there.
With this view, I experience the idea that this building and the people within it are very modern, techno savy, fast pace people; the vision of the future. It comes across as a leading establishment in the country because of the power it emposses.
Walking up these stairs, I felt the experience that I was being forced into some small space, forced to change by bodily spatial needs to become accustomed to the shrinking height. Offers a gradual transition between the open skies to the 1 storey corridors.
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