Project Description:

The project is about selecting a complex canonical 20th century middle scaled building as a case study, analyzing it, then (select) and extract a particular trait of the building to study and step down in scale through repetition. Take it apart and study the selected part as a series of components.  Then use these series of components as the base to develop a program and redesign the building based from found research and analysis.

Selected building: Leicester University Engineering Building, London England 1959-64.
Architects: James Sterling and James Gowan.

Approach:

My approach towards understanding the building was to focus on the circulation on all levels, diagram and then extract this information.
The next step was to look at the potential expressions these diagrams made as single diagrams, as well as an overlaid composite.

Component:

Here I started looking at the skylight framing system above the major lab areas of the building taking it apart and studying the selected parts as a series of components.
The next step came about by identifying and isolating points of intersection that occur on the framing system and input this data into digital form.
Next set up a grid based on corresponding scale of the skylight framing system and building, and begin arraying and overlapping these points on the grid in both plan and section format, analyzing the results towards generating a program and technique for further
developing and redesigning the project.