BEFORE shading. (the rooms have been divided into 4 sub spaces labeled with red numbers.)
AFTER shading.
The forms and shapes:The observation space is curvy while the documentation space is linear.
The organic shape of the observation space makes his movement in, out and within easy when he is doing observation.
The documentation space is linear. In contrast with the observation room which gains natural lighting, it indicates that this space gains more regulated lighting. Flat walls can be used to pin up drawings on. Rectangular space is easy to fit in working tools, such as drawing board which is normally rectangular.
The lightings:
As mentioned above, the observation space gets naturally from the sky. It contains information needed by the astronomy. It can be seen as a sort of heavenly light.
The documentation space majorly get lighting from below. It does not contain information but helps analyzing information. Though, the model-making uses light coming through the roof, it is not for lighting up the space.(see the program chapter below for more explanation on this)
The material and finishes:For the interior finishes, I want to use dark carpet(or cotton?) to cover up all the surfaces. It is dark so it absorbs disturbing light.The internal space does not allow light wondering everything. It comes from one direction and is absorbed when it reaches the walls. And it also keeps the space warm.
Major material should be concrete which is easy to shape. The cantilevered part should have steel beams running underneath its floor.
The program:The first phase of observation is a very rough observation that is done with eyes in space 1(see the non-shaded drawing). The purpose of this phase is to choose a specific area of the night sky on which the astronomer is going to do further observation.
- This space is a balcony/ a roof garden/ outdoor space. (I painted this area of the model in white to indicate snow)
- The stair-like form is able to let him to step , sit and even lay on. He can even climb upon the top to get a better view on the night sky.
- This space is kind of being projected out (see the axo drawing)，so observation can be operated without disturbance from other parts of the building.
The second phase is about filming happening in space 2. The room is working literally as a camera. A series of films of the specific part of the sky will be gained through this phase.
- The principle is shown as the image below. So lenses are in the roof and the floor is the screen.
- The various heights of the lenses in the roof are to adjust to different focuses. (see picture below)
- The room does not have other light sources so it is as dark as a darkroom would possibly ask for.
Then the polar night will end, the other half of the year will begin.The third phase is calculation and mapping. This is happening in space 3 which is floored entirely with glass. The room is working like a light box which is a powerful tool for drawing especially drawing for mapping.
- this part of the room has been cantilevered out as shown in section one as well as the image below
- because snow surface is quite reflective, when the sun shows up, the light is going to be reflected by the ground and then go into the space 3 through the glass floor.
The 4th phase is model-making. After mapping down the star map, he is going to be able to make a model of that area of the galaxy. Around noon, the building will cast a shadow on the ground underneath space 3 making the reflection not strong enough for doing drawings.
- Then roof becomes light source again.
- Think about the holes as POWERPOINTS, however they provide light rather than electricity.
- he is going to use optical fibre as a means of transmitting light from the holes in the roof to a glass ball attached on the other end of the fibre to lighten the glass ball. That is how he makes the galaxy model. (shown in section 3)
- The holes in the roof are very tricky to deal with. I decided to look for a star chart of the south pole, then copy it down to the roof. So that we will get an appropriate proportion of the stars with different brightness.
After this procedure, the four phases are to be repeated again when the sun sets.
Looking at the plan in conjunction with the axo drawing, they show a lighting rhythm starting from space 1. Light in space 1 is not that strong becasue he is meant to use that space at night. But it is relatively lighter than space 2. Then the third process is happening in a light condition (inside a light box). Finally, the model making phase happens when the room turns dark again.
There is a sort of light to dark, dark to light, light to dark...... a light changing rhythm within the program, which gives the two rooms a vivid sense of interchange between day and night which is a common phenomenon outside south pole, but south pole does not have.
Section One shows the relationship between the two spaces, the light is coming from the top left corner, then reflected by the snow ground surface penetrating through the glass floor into the documentation space.
Section two shows the observation space when it is in polar night period.
Section Three shows the documentation space when it is in polar day time.
