Phillip Island Analysis

The traditional method of organising Race Track Facilities is flawed.

Spectators at Phillip Island are removed for the landscape due to Pit Lane and VIP facilities blocking the view to the rest of the track, the amazing landscape that is Victoria and the ocean views beyond. The excitement that happens at Pit Lane is hidden due to the distance from the viewer and relies upon huge TV screens to blast images of what is happening around the track and in Pit Lane.

From the second floor of the VIP facilities, located directly above the Pit Garages, you are closer to the action.........Too close in fact. The viewing angle means you see very little of the Pit Lane, except for the garage you are over, in which you get an eagle eyes view. They face into the North Western Sun, making it harder to see the track during afternoon events and they turn their back on the rest of the track, and the views. They too rely on TV screens around the room to help them view what is happening.

So what about the rest of the track?
When did only being able to watch the Straight / Finish line be a good thing?

I feel that remodeling how Race Facilities are designed is needed, and the perfect precedent for it is the Theater or Sporting arena.
The idea is to see the extents of what is happening.

By moving the Museum closer to the track, you can allow spectators to see into the Pits. To press their faces against the glass and see their favorite drivers.
Raising spectators to sit on top of the Museum would allow them a safe vantage point to see into the Pits, a lot closer then they would normally get, and also see other parts of the track in the landscape.

VIP's are now raised higher giving them a view of the entire track as well as down into Pit Lane and onto the Race Track.

The Pit Lane Facilities dont need to be a barrier segmenting the view and limiting the experience.

The passion that drive us.

I was recently asked.
"Why would you watch motorsport......why would you pay to watch it.....when you could get the same thing sitting beside the highway?"

 The difference is Passion.
A passion that those have that sit above tracks with cameras ready.

A passion that those have that choose to sit, waiting, watching to see something rare or different.

A passion may not be understood but is no less there. This passion can not be judged, nor questioned nor understood and deciphered.

You either have it, or you dont.

theater for Motorsport

The big question that I want to ask.....is what is the difference between the theater and watching motorsport from the grandstand?

I dont think there is much difference.....
The audience is different yes, but they are still there to watch a spectacle.
To watch trained professionals do something that we the average person can not.
There's no real difference between those  actors in this practiced and rehearsed movement that entertains us.

 

 The audience may differ in economics, social status, clothing or attitudes. however they all have a passion for what they are watching. and due to these similarities.....should the architecture of Pit Lane reflect the defined architecture typology that is theater? 

We could arrange the pit lane to be like that of a stage.....with the audience surrounding it. However, unlike Pit Lane. the stage does not have height and its this height that stops the audience from being able to see all areas. An important part of stage and set design.

Perhaps looking at the Pit Lane as not the center of the stage, but as an important part that is to played within the overall production that is motor racing, we start to see that the Pit Lane can be sunken, like that of an Orchestra Pit.
This could give views out over the track that would have been blocked before by the building. it could provide an individual platform for which the spectacle of Pit Lane can occur.
VIP's could look further a field due to the gained height of their rooms, above the spectators. like that of the wings of an auditorium.

 

 In doing this we can start to redefine the architecture that is Pit Lane.

All in a nights work

For those of you who wanna know what an architecture student does on a Saturday night.....heres a good example.

This is also a sectional perspective through my building, really gives you a sense of the speed at which the building is viewed.

The start of race the race track and Pit Lane Structure

Pit Lane Complete and Grand Stand, Starting the Super Structure

Half way through

Now to add shadows and depth

Complete.....I think it sells the idea

Populate

Photoshopping

OK.....
So heres a couple of images that are very crudely Photoshop-ed and it really gives an idea of scale from this project. Its going to be massive and I love it.

The idea is not to just provide a building for the Pit Lane but as a concept why not provide a space for all the buildings to take place. Grandstands, maintenance, offices, management, race control and pit lane
.
I'd love to know what it feels like to enter that building at speed, and moving down the straight with the light  changing as you go down. it would give the spectators a visual cue to understand how fast current and future race cars would travel. 

Modeling

Here's one of the models I'll be tabling in the up coming Concept Presentation on Monday. Photoshopping to come later tonight

Remember the idea is that the building is blurred.

Abstact of form

Question:
How you do give something the feeling of speed without moving it.
You change the way in which it is viewed.

The idea is to represent a sense of speed within a stationary object. Car designers need to design a car that looks fast stationary as this is when most people will view it, because if its a fast car, they will only see a blur.

Thats the same idea that I'm running with here. My building needs to give the veiwers (Spectators) a sense of speed. The same speed that the riders are feeling as they lean and twist into the corners.

To create a building in which you can see the bikes / cars wizz past, a building that accentuates the speed by blocking out some parts, forcing you to focus on when the vehicles are visible.

When you travel fast, you start to see things not in colors or shapes, but light and dark. On a train you notice how fast your going when the light is cut by trees and as you move along, you gain that sense of speed from the shadows that are being projected through the space.

Light dark light dark light dark

Your perspective changes when you travel fast. so this building looks vertical when viewed from the front however when you approach it from the either side, you notice that its warpped. You can see it leans in and out, like that of the riders. In a rider view, the building starts to climb into view, then leans into you, pushing into your space, then pulls away, a linear representation of the corners they are about to take. The building tells a story of the track.

Now to draw it

Conceptual Conception

1. What is the basic building blocks of the Pit Lane.....and does it need to be more than what it is?

 The pit lane ran alongside the track. Vehicles move at differing speeds.
The most important line is the Start Finish Line....Celebrate it.

2.Application of the curves taken from the track.

I've traced the tangents of the curves onto the building to help define the shapes and form.

3. Tangent 1.

I played with the idea of adding something to the building where these forces acted and pushed the building to respond to the site to generate the form

3.Tangent 2

The basic blocks of the building was cut, using the curves and a form is generated. Perhaps taking away from the building is a better approach.

4.Occupation of space.

First ideas of possible functional layouts. Museum of motor sport on the right, offices, cafes. Race control and the podium projected out over the track. corporate facilities located building the main building, with VIP rooms on the left.

Possible winners podium.

Strange where you see it

I always find it interesting when you find architecture is a strange form....normally somewhere you wouldnt see it.

This was an image that I draw as I was trying to understand the spaces that I needed to provide for my building. It was just an overlay of shapes and sizes.

The image below is a section......but really just the same image viewed from a different angle. It works.

Speed in Archiecture.

A friend showed me this image for a train station in Japan that reflects the speed at which the trains travel.

the architect explains that he always loved the way the light flickered through the windows at high speed.
Dark light dark light as you moved through the landscape.
he reflected this idea within the shading systems of the building and toyed with the idea of openness. he explained that these stations are always either completely open and above ground, or closed when below ground. None are half and half.

I like the way the edges are blurred and the definition of the buildings shape is blurred. I can use this.

The building is probably just as long as what mine will end up being, but not as high..
So i think this is a great example of how speed can be used to define the shape.