Thresholds and Detail

An important aspect of any building is the way in which it is entered. This is especially important for my redevelopment of the Meyer Centre, as such an immense structure needs to keep the appearance of being at human scale. I want to achieve this through focusing on the end point of the façade at the base of the building, as it will shape the opening. Just by existing alone, the façade already softens the harsh edge of the rectangular building to reduce the appearance of entering a void beneath a large structure. 

In the lecture, we had a guest speaker who studied in USA and has opened her own firm in Istanbul. In the designs she presented, she often dealt with large structures that were composed of complex interiors that were reduced to the human scale through extensive detailed elements. She also talked about activating spaces deep within the building that wouldn't normally see much traffic, but encouraged exploration through the installation of narratives that created activity within the space. I found her approach to the design of large spaces very intriguing, and has resulted in me feeling the need to incorporate detailed elements throughout the interior design to create a sequence that unravels throughout the large space. An example of her work can be seen below:

Salt Research Centre, Istanbul - SANAL Architecture (http://www.archdaily.com/199709/salt-research-center-sanal-architectureurbanism/)

I experimented with some very quick and rough ways of adding detail to the ground floor opening that reacts to the extension and retraction of the facade (as seen below). However, DaVor noted in the tutorial that it was probably best to keep this area simple and not to over complicate it. It will probably be best to reserve this detail for the interior spaces.