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Material Composition of the Civic Collection

Part 2 Project 2021
Thomas Willington
Birmingham City University | UK
A collection of cellular study spaces used by visiting scholars to the University of Birmingham. Exploring the relationship between the occupant and the space they inhabit for contemplation. Influenced by Dom Hans van der Laan’ religious architecture, material composition of space is used to inform a juxtaposition between the wilderness and the enclosed garden, forming atmospheric spaces of contemplation.

The three archetypal forms, apparent in Van Der Laans work and used in the composition of the proposed cellular space:
1. Transitional space - darkened, peripheral space providing access to adjacent spaces through varying threshold conditions.
2. Contemplative space - key relationship between the material quality of the space and the activity conducted within the space.
3. Enclosed garden - inward looking space adjacent the contemplative space with a visual threshold between

These forms, their adjacency, material composition and visual relationship to one another, are intended to produce an individual experience, adaptive to meet the needs of the occupant and create varying atmospheric spaces for contemplation.

The cells are arranged around a central space becoming a ‘cluster’ enclosing the final archetypal form, the enclosed garden. Clusters are arranged to form a new entrance sequence to the campus reacting to the historic gatehouses, boundary wall, forming public squares.

Thomas Willington

Tutor(s)
Michael Dring
2021
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