Design 4

This design is a response to the quiet, solemn and subdued nature of the caretaker. The house hovers above ground sitting on a podium. With everything being white like a morgue a feeling of emptiness as if no sign of life lives there is present. Like my first design solution this design resembles a journey with one end of the house hovering just above the land and the other end being the tower which is incorporated into the whole design to look unimposing. The 'wave' journey symbolises the continual rise and fall something.  To access another space one needs to climb up or down stairs which demonstrates a change in the journey. There are no windows in the house with the only natural light coming from the tower. This creates a dark and dull tone of space.

Design 3

This design is a creation, which responds to the caretakers occupation, maintaining gardens. While all of the other three designs sit uneasily with the land, this design crawls along the land like an alive plant. As the caretakers occupation means plants have become its friends, a dwelling which sits comfortably and neutrally with the land is necessary. The folding nature of the dwelling, with walls reaching from the ground turn unnoticeable into the ceiling, makes the connection between the natural and the man made more humble. Fenestration is merely a crack in wall letting in enough light for some growth however the windows are positioned high enough for complete privacy. 

Design 2

This design solution responds to the caretakers fear of the outer world and the need for refuge. An underground bunker with a ceiling height of 1500mm allows just enough space to crouch and contemplate life in an empty and insulated space. The dominant fort like part of the dwelling is intersected by a timber box which canterleavers out from the main part of the house. this canteleaver houses the bedroom, bathroom and tower. To enter the dwelling one must roll into it through a 1900x500mm door. 

Design One

This design symbolises the caretakers introverted and complicated nature. The house is a journey through the occupiers life beginning at the entrance where one needs to crouch down to enter. The house then goes underground where there is only room to crawl through the cold and hostile nature of the space. The structure then emerges from underground like a tree where one has decisions in which direction they want to take. The tower at the structures highest point is deliberately looking down as the caretaker is a visionary, however will never fulfill any of these visions. The severe rectalinear nature of the house as well as metal and concrete completing most of the exterior materiality of the dwelling acts as a strong and secure third skin for this vulnerable character. 

when I began designing I thought about the characteristics of the caretaker to direct the design process. 

The Caretakers mysterious personality is unknown.

artwork by Guy Denning

the caretaker: a berlin night creature

My name is Vladimir, Dumbledorf's night caretaker. I write this under the light and little heat from a candle. I don't want to be seen or talked to so I would rather illustrate myself through words. Most of the antics which folk of the town say are mostly correct. I do live by myself and have not talked to or been seen by another person for over sixteen years. I live a humble and content life where i live, which i will not share with you and i don't want to return to being a thread of society. When i was growing up I was the youngest four siblings in Dumbledorf. My father Harold used to viscously beat my mother in my earliest memories of my childhood until she died when I was three. No one knew about this and no one would believe the truth. My father was a proud on the surface who suffered a lot of issues, that I've never understood as i was too young and naive at the time. When I was five Harold went to war during bloody and brutal era in Germany's history. I lived at home with my two older brothers and older sister and did not go to school as there wasn't any during this time. As you can probably see I had little contact with other people apart from my siblings. Losing both of my parents at a young age made me scared of becoming close to anyone i guess as i was afraid of being hurt again. When i turned thirteen my two older brothers and my sister had all left home leaving me to look after myself. This is when i became the caretaker for the community park. I worked hard, like a machine which kept on going and going and going. I would see few people and the more i worked the more afraid of talking to someone i would get. I guess this bring me back to where i am now where i don't want to venture outside during the day time. I can sit for hours crouching in silence not even moving. sometimes leaving the house can be the greatest torture I know.

A lone tree is symbolic of a lone character.

a creature of the night

Little does anyone know about this solemn character. It is rarely seen or heard of, however people make remarks like, "I saw its shadow ripple in the moon lit wind." It is the gardener of the park in the tight-knit community of Dumbledorf in Berlin. People claim they have seen it but no one has proof of their sighting. No one even knows whether it is male or female but they do know that the night creature only comes out when it is dark so no one can see it.

It camouflages itself in the wilted foliage during the winter months when the streets are deserted and hibernates in the balmy summer months. Some people claim that it is a complex and contrasting character that has a contradicting personality. They claim that is is human but can't possibly be human. It is intelligent and has integrity but fears society. It has great visions of the future but will never fulfill them. No one knows if this creature is black or white, tall or short, fat or thin, friendly or mean.

This character has a dark, dull and pessimistic personality like a black and white film, which struggles through the plot however no one has ever heard it talk or make any noise at all. Never the less the caretaker seems to live in the penultimate dystopia to everyone but the ultimate utopia to itself.

Each night when no one is to be seen the caretaker comes out of hibernation to maintain the community park. It trims the hedges and clears the leaves and cuts the grass to an immaculate state. Some wait for hours in hope to catch a glimpse of who this gardener is and whether it looks like what the town folk have painted a portrait in their minds of. No one has yet seen it though. Rustling leaves make ears prick in curiosity and anticipation however it is usually the howling winter wind.

Most people believe this character has no name and lives in an underground disused tunnel. Other people believe it lives n a normal apartment that no one knows where it is so it doesn't attract any attention towards itself. Either way it remains a mystery...