Material Site Interpretation

For our next assignment, we put to the task of interpreting our specific site in a way that is easily understood yet still conceptual.  The site I have chosen is the South Water front. How I choose to interpret it was through a physical word cloud.  I looked at the site and split it up into the 5 different sections that where apparent.  The 5 Freeway, the current development, my site, the Willamette River and Ross Island.  I then walked around the areas and wrote down different words that I felt really describe each place.  I used these words and placed them on an overlay of the site.

Word cloud of the sections in the South Waterfront

I then added physical elements to help accentuate each sectors feel.  For the 5 freeway i created busy chaotic roadway that shows over and underpasses.  The current site is built up with bass wood towers that look similar but different in height.  This shows the density and the similarity between each structure.  My site that I have chose to develop is open and to clear.  I kept it this way to show my current ideas about the site and the opportunities it has.  The next sector is the Willamette river.  I chose to cover this in a sheet of opaque plastic to give it a murky and watery feel to it.  The last sector is Ross Island.  I added topographic lines to it to accentuate the idea of exploration and a natural untouched nature.

Model in it’s final form

Alternate view of the model