Week 13

Resources

Lynch, Kevin. Image of a city. Excerpt

ULI publication on Agrihoods.

https://transect.org/codes.html This is provided by Robert. It leads to links on the Smart Codes that are the model for form-based codes. It is an overwhelming amount of information, so you may not want to get into it at the end of the semester.

Presentation specifications for Preliminary and Final

Each team should prepare two books:

• Book 1: Architectural presentation of your community. 12 pages.
• Book 2: Guide to architectural language and form-based code. As many pages as you need. I anticipate a minimum of 20 pages and perhaps as many as 60 pages.
• Book 3: Compilation of your writing for the semester into a narrative description of your project (not due until 28 April).

Books should be laid out as 8 1/2" x 11" pages, horizontal format, with a 3/4" gutter between left and right pages to allow for binding. Page 1 should be a right page, and last page should be a left page.

Good practice is to design several template pages and reuse them. See Revit titleblocks below for suggested layouts.

I suggest laying out the pages in Revit. I know that seems weird, but Revit does pretty well for laying out architectural posters and books and the resulting workflow is super smooth. Print the pages from Revit to a PDF file at 100% size onto letter size virtual paper, as a single file.

You can edit pages in Photoshop once they are printed to add trees, cars, people, and other humanizing elements. Use Photoshop stamps. It is really easy. You can also mask the drawings and add the sky.

Suggested formats for presentations are below. You can modify these, but make sure there is consistency within your presentation and with other teams' presentations.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1RyrWD6FSW0nBXR0QqgwsExbXBip0MpDy

Book 1 content

Your description of your community design should follow norms of presenting architectural work. Page 1 should have a big, strong image, such as a perspective, accompanied by text to explain the project. It might have location maps of the continent, the region, the town.

Other pages should present

• the community and town planning ideas, presented with diagrams, plans, sections, and perspectives;
• building designs, presented with plan, section, elevation, detail, perspective of interior and exterior.
• performance quantities, such as number of houses by size, sf of commercial and business space, renewable energy, rainwater capture, waste treatment, farmland, and so on.

Text should be sparse and primarily limited to page 1. Each drawing should be labeled discretely with a name, such as Transverse Section, Axial Section, North Elevation, First Floor, Site Plan, and so on. Scale should be indicated as a graphic scale. North arrows should be indicated on site plans.

Book 2 content

Describing a parametric model has few precedents. I suggest using the idea of a Visual Dictionary, such as the one by Francis Ching, A Visual Dictionary of Architecture. There should be two parts. Part A is the Vocabulary, while Part B is the Syntax. There may be a Part C that shows valid constructs and syntactical rules that are expressed verbally rather than as Revit families.

Part A should show a 3D view of the element and possibly plan, elevations, sections, of the element. It should show dimensions with labels when they are parametric. It may show multiple 3D views that vary based on parameter values. It may show the dialog of parameters to show the parametric relations and formulas. A material and color catalog would be informative too.

Pages in Part B should be typically based on views from a Project file that shows in 3D how multiple parametric families can be composed into a building design. Displace elements to make exploded views are probably very informative. Color coding may also be a powerful way to communicate. Note that 3D views can have text on them if they are locked (see the little icon at the bottom of the view).

Book 3 content

This is a 10 to 20 or more page written narrative that brings together your proposal, your literature review, and your conclusions about the project. What are the strengths and weaknesses of your work? What are the strengths and weaknesses of your tools? Can you support your hypothesis? Use a dry, academic writing style that supports your assertions with examples, citations, and other evidence.

Presentations

Be prepared to present quickly and concisely.

For the preliminary on 15 April, If each team takes twenty minutes, then we can have shared discussion at the end. The shared discussion would be about 1/2 hour. In your twenty minutes, make a ten minute formal presentation and then allow ten minutes for comments. Be ready to go at 8:30 -- the order will depend on the guests.

You may find it useful to video record your ten minute presentation. I have no objection if you simply play your video as your presentation. You can use Zoom to record voice and flipping through your PDF pages. I recommend writing a script, rehearsing, and begin prepared to record several "takes". You can use Microsoft Video Editor to splice together segments, cut out awkward moments, and polish it.

For the presentations on the 20 April and 22 April, you will get twice as long. My guess is that reviewers may be poorly disciplined and unfamiliar with the project and will ramble. Keep your presentation short -- a video makes it very tight and on point.

You all have a lot of material. It is just about finishing your design, pulling together and organizing the material, and preparing the presentation.