We’ve got a new project for architecture. The first part of it was becoming intimately familiar with the site, so as to better fit a building into it later. The site is a waterfront lot on Boat Street next to Portage Bay. There are existing buildings on the site, a few covered boat docks that make it seem very maritime. There’s a parking lot on the street level, and it then descends down a flight of stairs through shrubbery to the water level.
I drew sketches of the some of the buildings, took photos, and wrote a few haikus to capture the feeling in words. Here they are.
Calm water lapping
Sun beats on corrugated tin
With wooden supports.
Water ripples in
Reflecting off stabled boats
Roofs are shimmering.
Concrete, plants, water
Floors without buildings, buildings without floors
A downhill approach.
* * *
The next step is to design a building for a fictional small boat co-op to inhabit the site. It’s one of those funny assignments where the first assignment is to design the clients, and then we make a building to fit them. Sort of like reverse engineering.
