This is the first unit of year 2. We randomly selected three keywords and designed a building that matched them. The keywords I got were “1900”, “Berlin” and “hat shop”. I think that in order to do this well, I first had to understand the context of Berlin in 1900. So I went online and looked up a lot of relevant information. I found Berlin in 1900 to be in the midst of the Industrial Revolution, with a mix of old and new cultures and unique architecture.

After learning about this, I began to think about how to combine the design of the hat shop with the background of this era. I saw a lot of pictures of that era, and I was very impressed by the top hat. It looks elegant and noble, and I think if you design a hat shop in the shape of a top hat, it will definitely be very distinctive. So I started searching the internet for “hat-shaped architecture” and started sketching based on the reference image. I drew a few different shapes of top hats, and I experimented with different lines and proportions to find a design that best captured the charm of the top hat.

I’m also having some issues. For example, I didn’t know what materials to use to build this hat shop. I went back to some architectural sources and found that wooden frames and metal sheets were common in those days. I thought maybe I could build my hat shop with these two materials. After deciding on the materials, I began to think about the details of the building. For example, how to design the “brim” of a hat? I looked up a lot of examples of architectural design online. In the end, I chose a clean yet unique design that would make the overall look more vibrant.

In terms of exterior color matching, I conservatively chose some colors that fit the background of the era at that time, so that the hat shop looks unique but not obtrusive. And I found many application cases of these colors in architecture and interior decoration on the Internet to understand the interrelationship between them and the matching principles.

I learned a lot through this unit. I learned how to understand the context of an era and how to develop from a simple idea to a complete design. I also know that there will be many problems in the design process, but as long as we continue to learn and explore, we will definitely be able to solve these problems.

Some pictures of the final design: