Initial Hand Drawings

First Model Steps

Feedback at this stage was to fix up some simple detailing such as the floor materials being flush with one another. Also the fact that the model isn't sited anywhere and that the part of the house that you choose does not need to be defined by walls/straight lines - need to give more of a impression of what it is like in each of these spaces. For this reason I decided to start again and to use this model as experimentation for the techniques and decisions I will make for the final model.

Initial Observations of the Villa Mairea

Strong sense of geometry
Despite the rigid boundaries of the building, there is evidence of free flowing elements such as the swimming pool and the balcony spaces - symbols of human freedom?

Connection between the interior and exterior
It seems as though nature is continued inside:
       - Packed earth on walkway extending out into the surrounding landscape
       - Use of columns to symbolise the surrounding birch trees

Materiality
Strong contrast between nature and built form:
       - Timber cladding is juxtaposed with a white exterior render
       - Circulation is directed by changes in material - stone to glass to steel
                                                                              - floor changes (stone to tiles to timber boarding to rugs)

All of this suggestive of a harmonious way of living between nature and man-made elements

Villa Mairea

I decided to select the Villa Mairea by Alvar Aalto located in Finland primarily due to the fact that I had never seen the house before. As I investigated further I became very interested in this house's connection with the surrounding Finnish landscape. It is as though the house and nature are as one.