DESA1002 'Continuous City' <Hope Dryden>

Abstract

My concept for this semester was a museum in Isfahan. Through researching the city I found that the vernacular is lacking in contemporary architecture, with the predominate features being stunning intricate mosques to simple housing. Taking this into the context of my design I decided to link the old and the new, providing a place of transition for the city’s residents and visitors while bring together western and eastern cultures. I have chosen the location on my site due to its proximity to the main road, which leads to the tourist attraction of the gardens. The program of a museum was originally chosen due to the context of the site being mostly residential. Initially the museum was going to be traditional, showing the crafts of the Isfahan culture, but through doing the exercises I found that my design was becoming more and more contemporary, meaning that the outside did not reflect the inside. Therefore I decided to split the program into a traditional side and a contemporary which link via a bridge. This link of the traditional and contemporary is accentuated not only by the museums exhibits, but the very structure of the buildings themselves. The structure of the buildings shows this by the traditional being a load bearing structure while the contemporary is a framing system. The materials were chosen to suite each area. The base is of a neutral material while the traditional side is made of stone, the contemporary side being copper. This material was chosen as it wouldn’t be typically used in Isfahan and even though it’s contemporary now it won’t be forever; therefore the copper will age and blend into its surroundings. The external is reflected internally with the contemporary having wide open spaces juxtaposed against the alley way like hallways in the traditional.