University of Auckland

The Window of Appearance
1995-1996

Computational Simulation of the appearance of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, 1175 BC.

The designation “symbolic window” in architecture is an expression used to define some windows which their symbolic overtones transcend their traditional physical functions. One of the documented stories in the ancient world is the Window of Appearances of the first temple - palace of Ramses III at Medinet Habu, Egypt, 1190 BC. The story says that Pharaoh was considered by the Egyptian as “a child of the Sun - God and hence of divine substance”. The Sun - God of the Egyptian “was believed to have a mansion in the horizon in which he appeared each morning and disappeared each night”. The horizon here expresses the seat of Pharaoh as the “Island of Truth" and the “Field of Blest”. Consequently, the ceremony of his appearance and the window which is part of it, has symbolic meaning. The name Window of Appearances became inherent to that window to indicate its specific use in the royal ceremonial appearances. Thus, the Egyptian articulated the window of the palace to give grandeur and predominance to Pharaoh as he stands to show himself in ceremony with the “horizon”, “the gateway of the mansion in which the sun showed itself each morning and each evening to fill the world with light and to blunge it with darkness”.

The simulation was done back in 1995, using Strata Vision for modelling and Radiance for rendering and animation.

The Museum of Edgar Allan Poe
1995-1996

Architectural Narrative of the story of The Fall of the House of Usher by Edgar Allan Poe.

This project, set in a realistic design process, aimed to test the limitations and potential of my Master’s degree assumption of the computer as a creative stimulus in the design process. By means of experimentation and exploration I applied design tools (pencil and/or computer) to the needs, constraints and opportunities of my design project

The task was to use the technique of writing short stories, focusing on one story in particular, to design an architectural tale. No literal interpretation is allowed, only a spatial approximation. The story I have chosen is “The Fall Of The House Of Usher” by Edgar Allan Poe. The design task involved devising a hierarchical structure capable of expressing the writer’s ultimate concept. Later, this concept will function as a metaphor for my design. This project will function as a museum that displays an illusion of horror. The interior spaces are galleries that exhibit some of the horrific activities depicted in the stories of Edgar Allan Poe.