SPA RESORT | Sopot, Poland | Unit 21 | 2009

 

The project was concerned with ideas of the ornamental and decorative in architecture. This interest came about as the result of research that was carried out about Polish vernacular building techniques and traditional Polish crafts. Preliminary experimental models developed a formal language that was inspired by the re-interpretation of one particular Polish craft called ‘Wycinanki’ or ‘cut papers’. This process of layering, offsetting, rotating and transforming resulted in a series of developmental models using digital pattern cutting techniques and 3D printing.

The thesis sets out to create a theoretical framework for the design of an architecture that is formally ornamental, as well as environmentally performative. The research method is derived from an investigation into the realm of parametrics and parametric modelling techniques. The subject of parametrics is examined both as a potential new methodology, for understanding and informing the design process, as well as through the application of parametric modelling techniques as a practicable design tool. The proposal was for a spa in Sopot, a small seaside town located on Poland’s Baltic coast. A series of seasonal, ornamental architectural interventions, containing therapeutic spaces and treatment rooms are scattered across the windswept beach-site.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Tutors: Abigail Ashton, Christine Hawley, Andrew Porter