Parametric Museum

Parametric Museum

Parametric Museum

Prompt: Historical building facade preserved while the rest of the block was demolished. The city of Halifax wants an adaptive re-use design for a cultural hub and museum.

Like any project, the process begins with the original idea and intent. Drawn from the long forgotten tunnels left by the colonial history of Halifax, the idea is lifted up from underground, and into the air.

With such an abstract idea, a parametric process may be the key to its resolution.

Process

Parameters

Case Study

Before I begin, I needed to understand the parametric process I was looking for. I imagined a design that utilized organic shapes that acted as a cutting object for a sharp cube shape.

I begin with this project to act as a parametric case study. From the images available online by PARTISANS, I developed a hypothetical process to achieve a building like this.

Establish
Baseshape

Base Shape

In the city of Halifax, NS, the site has four key parameters that help to form a simple cube.

Define
Cutting
Object

Cutting Object

The first concept for the museum was that of a museum, melted down from the surface and through the core.

The history, present and the future of the city would then be exhibited and inhabited around the central hollowed out core, featuring exhibits by Nova Scotians that are reconciling all three ideas of time.

The first concept for the museum was that of a museum, melted down from the surface and through the core.

Proposed
Concept

Proposed
Concept

Proposed
Concept

Manipulate
Object

Manipulate

The strength in this process, does not stem from the use of technology, but the iterations that technology offers. With an establish base object, and an idea for the incorporation of a cutting object, it was now time to rig the model to interact with a set of parameters.

Since the cutting object is sliced from top to bottom, I used the position of the sun as a parameter for manipulation.

Within the process, holes were then scattered around the tunnels generated from the cutting object. The size and shape of every cutting object is considered.

Once a process had been settled upon, the follow diagrams illustrate the process of manipulation.

Perforate
Pattern

After settling upon the final shape of the cutting object, all that was left to do is apply the details across the shape. To do this, I refenced the pattern of the historic facade that was left for conservation purposes.

By using the pre-existing pattern of windows and decorations, it is repeated around the warped building, which in turn warps the pattern itself along the way.