With the advancement and development in urban lifestyle, everything has become much convenient causing individual started squeezing lifestyle of Eat, Sleep, Work and Play (ESWP) into one space created the phenomenon of singularity of spaces.
The existed working lifestyle (office) has slowly changed since then, which has less engagement between human ended up most time spent on sitting and lying down on their individual work desk while neglecting physical, social and community engagement.
The office typology that existed is all about deliverables and efficiency, that’s why the typical once are each employee are provided with their own working desk. And the connection between spaces are less defined and less encouraging users to get active.
Impression of my project is that this kind of office, they’re always imprison in their individual work desk which is much restricted to get active. This created sedentary lifestyle of working in the urban landscape.
According to Jacobs (1961), massive single facilities such as railroad stations, large parks and institutional campuses create vacuum in the area immediately next to their boarders because of the adjoining borders are a terminus of generalized use. Jacobs also suggested to figure out borderline cases, such as chess or checker pavilions, in order to blend the border and the immediate neighboring area together and yet keep the city as city and the massive element such as the park as itself.
My thesis project intended to subvert this kind of sedentary office lifestyle by proposing concept and strategies of active architecture.
Active architecture is defined looking into the:
Social - Meeting, collaborative,
Community - Common group of people, within, do things as a group
Physical - Movement, walking, fitness etc
The main research question:
‘To what extend that active architecture can do to subvert the sedentary lifestyle?’
Supported by sub-research questions
What strategy in architecture encourage active (social, community & physical)?
How does the relationships between sedentary ESWP inform the design?
How can the active strategies apply into building design?
As a basis study to subvert the lifestyle through active strategies. Looking into the sedentary way of living, I identified that most activity are carried out while sitting or lying down, the ESWP are done in singular space and causing very minimal movement engaged by the users.
Sedentary lifestyle is not a good thing as it will slowly lead to a lot of health issues such as obesity, heart diseases, diabetes and even death. Due to staying alone in single space for long period of time, the interaction between human are getting lesser. In the near future, what if human lose the ability to communicate between each other?
Design exploration derived from studying the ten principles of active design by Sport England, then summarized and architectural into 4 design strategies of circulation, platform, reward and obstacle.
Circulation strategy by altering the ordinary straight forward circulation with merging of both horizontal and vertical circulation, redefine to avoid straight and flat circulation at the same time forming pocket spaces if different spots and different levels allowing multiple informal meetings to occur.
Platform design accommodating spaces programme can be in the form of continued, centric spiral and ascending platform with program injected into all different platforms. Users get to experience spaces on different level as they travel up the building. One directional circulation encourages users to move up passing though all spaces allowing interaction with each individual space at the same time looking inwards to the building atrium.
Reward will be spaces or program to compensate users for traveling to a particular spot of the building as an encouragement. Having spaces designed framing views internally and externally, space quality (lighting), eat, sleep, play as reward recreational spaces, ‘Instagram-able’ spaces, pantry, retail, groceries, exhibition area and etc.
Obstacles of adding narrative and playful element into circulation to delay user’s travel to desired destination. In architecture, the obstacle elements are the walls, doors, windows, staircase and furniture.
The program of this office building will be revolve around ESWP. The buildings circulation incorporated with spiral multiple platforms connected through staircase and ramps. Staircase are designed and detailed becoming the ‘magnet’ to the users where intended to use them instead of lift. It will be the place for not only circulation, but also place where people will bump into each other encouraging social interaction.
Ground level will be mainly compromising active programme (fitness hall, gym) and multiple entrance public realm allowing users to penetrate through building up and down physically and visually connecting the building to the pedestrian context. There’ll be lots of positive pocket spaces created through modular exploration along the circulation allowing meetings, corporation and discussion. The system of the office block encourages work away from work desk but injecting personal storage desk than work desk where employees get to work in different spots within the building each day to get inspired in certain ways.
The journey within the building will then continued by having breakroom, pantry and recreational rewards spaces on the higher level spreading all across the building that actually encourages users to explore and travel more from space to space.