Associative design methodology : performative design for a modern work-teach-learn Unitec
Date
2017Citation:
Lukaszewicz, H. J.W. (2017). Associative design methodology: performative design for a modern work-teach-learn Unitec. A research project submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Professional). Unitec Institute of Technology, New Zealand.Permanent link to Research Bank record:
https://hdl.handle.net/10652/4232Abstract
This research project focuses on displaying the advantages of using the computer as a design tool through the redesign and reuse of a series of five joined buildings, Unitec’s existing buildings 111-115.
This divided into two parts:
In the first part the question is, how can the advantages of using the computer as a design tool be shown? This is explored by understanding the design method terminologies, discovering what the computer is being used for and how it is being used, and finding out what digital tools are available to implement these methods and processes.
The second part covers the reuse of Unitec’s existing buildings 111-115 and updating them through renovation. It reviews Unitec’s needs as an institution essentially as a client to the project (unofficially). It investigates office design and spatial planning as it is identified as a programmatic asset. It reviews the sustainability of materials both as a possible design factor and as sustainability is found to be a key issue for the project. Precedents with building typologies and purposes relevant to the findings of the previous topics are reviewed.
The site is predefined by the current location of the buildings and the future plans for Unitec as a campus. It was identified purposely as a good foundation to apply the digital design methodologies to. The site not only is the defined plot of land and its context, but the five joined buildings themselves. The buildings were investigated in their current state of use to identify existing problems that could be resolved and bettered. Physical characteristics of height, structure, and floor area were analysed.
The design combines lessons learnt through the research and is informed by Unitec’s needs and the three major driving factors that parallel Unitec’s views which are: flexibility, encouraging interaction, and reducing environmental impact. These ideas are to work in parallel with using the computer as a design tool in a performative associative manner to design a work-learn-teach complex as a reuse through the redesign buildings.