Thesis Post #16 - Abstract Symbolic Design

Abstract Symbolic Design

This process began with the creation of bubble diagrams, modeled after those presented in Designing Houses. The process consisted of drawing circles of various sizes, which represent the different rooms of a house, in different configurations, in order to explore the spatial relationships generated by each configuration. At this point, my whole family participated in identifying which designs they liked best, although it remained unclear whether our children properly understood the abstract nature of these drawings. This did not seem to be a crucial point, since I discovered that the various bubble configurations shift into each other rather easily. In any event, I continued developing those designs which everyone liked and we all seemed to agree that we prefer to have separate structures, detached pods, for each separate function. This decision would later integrate very well with our pattern language development.

Now, at this point, I introduced scale and dimension and tried to have the drawings represent actual floor space. Again we explored various configurations and went back and forth between square designs and circular ones. The square ones seemed too ‘sharp’ and pointed, yet the circular ones did not lend themselves easily to an interior division of space. This was a dilemma that I never resolved in my designs, although the possibility certainly remains of a square house plan with very well rounded corners.

Next, I chose to continue with the circular style and see how it would develop over a theoretical one acre site. Again, I was playing with relationships between the areas of different spaces and found myself amazed at how small changes in diameter would have a profound effect on the proportions of the whole. For example, I found that a 50 percent increase in diameter translates into a difference in area of more than 100 percent! These drawings tended to remain abstract and, although interesting, rather impractical. Finally, I went back to a square design and developed a well-balanced division of space within it that later led to the functional Core House design.

As far as the site was concerned, I developed a concept of concentric circles radiating

out from the core house closely based on the permaculture model of activity zones. This model places the most intensive land use activities close to the main dwelling while the least intensive uses are placed farthest away. For these site design purposes, we again depicted our structures in circular form and temporarily abandoned our pod idea, placing the spaces together in the shape of a cross.

Finally, my advisors got their message through to me that I needed to choose what I wished these drawings to reveal. I was attempting to show both symbolic value and functional space use and so the result was confusing and giving me difficulty. So at this point, I abandoned the functional approach to these drawings and depicted them as pure symbolic representations. The final design was done on large 18 by 24 inch drawing paper, fully colored and labeled. They have been reduced in black & white and then recolored for this document.