I was asked make a facade face lift of this existing structure and turn its style into a California Mission Architecture. The images is here are the actual present situation of the school that wants to turn its facade into a California Mission Architecture. To tell you frankly I have been an architect for many years now but this is the first time I heard about this type of style in Architecture. This style did not come up when I was studying this field and even when I am already practicing this profession. This just prove that there is always new thing to learn in any chosen field. Furthermore, this is just to prove that Architecture is such a huge field and every culture and nation is just different plus the ever continuing development of building materials used in construction. You have to know them as well to be able to sustain the knowledge and never be left behind.
From research, The architecture of the California missions was influenced by several factors, those being the limitations in the construction materials that were on hand, an overall lack of skilled labor, and a desire on the part of the founding priests to emulate notable structures in their Spanish homeland. And while no two mission complexes are alike, they all employed the same basic building style. The basic, common elements found in all of the Alta California missions can be summarized as follows:
- Patio plan with garden or fountain;
- Solid and massive walls, piers, and buttresses;
- Arched corridors;
- Curved, pedimented gables;
- Terraced bell towers (with domes and lanterns) or bell walls (pierced bellfries);
- Wide, projecting eaves;
- Broad, undecorated wall surfaces; and
- Low, sloping tile roofs.
Check Wikipedia for more information and sample structures with this kind of architecture style.
If you can see the structure, you will notice that the whole school is not planned well. As if every part is an extension of the adjacent structure. You could see beam crossing from here to there. Windows are covered with steel grills. And the most hard part is that there is no specific front elevation and if the image below is its entrance, it does not look like one. Another part that is hard is that as if if the whole structure does not conform to the 7 principles of Architecture.
I have been looking through images over google to find for inspirations and was analyzing if it could be feasible to make this school an California Mission Architecture Style incorporating the common elements mentioned above plus adding the 7 principles of Architecture to give the overall aesthetics we want to achieve but I think I could find any solution to my problem especially that construction cost should be the most aspect that should be considered.
The above image is just a simple and quick sketch of the first idea that came into mind on visualizing on this structure. I use google sketchup as my medium and overlaying with over the original image to visualize how would it look like. I am not satisfied on the first scheme that I made and I am stuck at this scheme already. Can not seem to think any more ideas to add on this to make it look like a California Mission Architecture. It should be simple yet elegant showcasing the style we want to achieve. So I am asking for your help if you can give me ideas on how can I improve the structure to make it an authentic Architecture of the California Mission provided with the difficulty in achieving this because of the status of the existing structure. Help me overcome the problem that I am stuck with.
if you like what you read... kindly buy me a beer...
