Academic Portfolio, 2021

Ahmad Sultan

Ahmad Sultan

a.sultan.ahmad@gmail.com a.sultan.ahmad

SCI-Arc

PORTFOLIO

Ahmad Sultan Selected Works 2016-2021

Ahmad Sultan

SCI-Arc

STATEMENT

Ahmad Sultan has recently graduated from Southern California Institute of Architecture (M.Arch II ‘21). In the past, he received his undergraduate degree from Manchester School of Architecture (MSA), a joint program of Manchester Metropolitan University and the University of Manchester.

Before joining Sci-Arc, he worked for 3 years in various design firms, most notably, ARCOP, where he worked on large scale commercial projects, including Telenor 345, the national headquarters for Telenor in Pakistan, a project which won numerous prizes and was nominated for a World Architecture Festival award in the corporate category alongside projects by BIG and Foster + Partners.

Further work includes the Headquarters for the Silk National Bank in Karachi, currently under construction, and the $100 million Pakistan Kidney and Liver Institute (PKLI) in Lahore. He has also worked on projects in collaboration with the Agha Khan Foundation, whose portfolio includes healthcare, hospitality, and academic institutions.

Having just graduated from Sci-Arc, he believes that Architecture holds the answers to many important questions that are beginning to be asked about our future, especially with the effects of climate change and a burgeoning population beginning to make themselves known.

His interests include urban design projects, vernacular architecture, and emerging architecture in the global south.

Ahmad Sultan

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CONTENTS 7 Shrouded Figure DS 4000

DS: Design Studio VS: Visual Studies AS: Advanced Studies HT: History Theory

27 Shade Cloud Academic

DS 1420

51 Digital Catalyst DS 1201

75 Abstractions of War DS 5000

121 After Images Professional

DS 1200

145 Telenor 345 Arcop

171 Slice It! Academic

VS 4200

187 Advanced Material and Tectonics AS 3200

193 Design Development AS 3222

Theory

211 Theories of Contemporary Architecture I HT 2200

219 Theories of Contemporary Architecture II HT 2201

Shrouded Figure

Shrouded Figure DS 4000 Instructor: Jenny Wu 2nd Year Advanced Vertical Studio

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The studio explores the scale of material and its assembly. Students will be developing their own collection of details based on the properties of fabric and techniques of dressmaking.

How do the techniques of creating a seam, a crease, a drape, and/or a stitch translate to a set of

articulated methods of assembly in architecture? What are the architectural possibilities for the third element, the pillow or the stuffing, that lies between the body and the garment? We will design our own ‘textile’ which cannot exist in the scale of body, but only in architecture.

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Shrouded Figure

Rei Kawakubo’s wraps were taken as an inspiration for this project. Her ‘Comme des Garçons’ collection has a number of items whose quality stems from the varying nature of the material’s wrapping and how this expresses itself in varying ways depending on the qualities of the material used.

The image above shows initial experiments to understand the fundamental qualities of the wrapped condition and how it can be translated into a digital 3d model.

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Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons

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Shrouded Figure

Rei Kawakubo’s wraps were taken as a departure point of this project, while the inside object was developed using a simple chesterfield patterned couch.

The quality of the fabric and its wrapping changes as it wraps itself around the inner object, sometimes flowing, sometimes tight, sometimes leaving spaces where one can look inside, a reveal.

Many interesting moments occur, like the one seen here where the fabric itself ends, leaving a ‘cushion’ free but where it imparts its imprint on that unwrapped cushion.

Hybrid Model

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Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons

Rei Kawakubo, Comme des Garçons

Chesterfield pattern couch

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Many interesting moments can be seen here where the quality of the wrap is continuously changing.

It is tight in the beginning, spills over at a corner before making its way up the structure. In places it leaves gaps where the inner object is revealed, whereas in other places it becomes quite loose and, freed from the dictates of the inner object, is liberated to take up its form dependent on its own indigenous qualities.

It ends at the top where it begins to impart its own textural qualities on to the inner objects themselves, which are uncovered.

Hybrid Model, front and back view

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Shrouded Figure

Physical Hybrid Model, Chosen for Sci ARC Spring Show, 2021

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Shrouded Figure

Proposal on site, top view.

My chosen site is a school next to Candela’s Church of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal (by Felix Candela) which consists of a continuous series of parabolic, concrete shells that forms the entire building, analogous to a singular continuous shroud that covers my hybrid model.

My project shares some qualities with Candela’s design whereas other moments present a point of departure.

As opposed to the singular continuous shell of the church, my project consists of a number of cushioned masses which are stacked and shrouded by an exterior wrap creating a complex of multiple buildings with a degree 17

of independence from o Similar to the hybrid, the wrapped in various ways directions more akin to K textile designs.

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Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church, Felix Candela

one another. e buildings are s and Kawakubo’s

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal Church, Felix Candela

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Shrouded Figure

Proposal on site, perspectiv

Various parts of proposal massing

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ve view

The massing is split into three chunks with varying degrees of wrapping.

The front has the heaviest and tightest wrap. At the back, the wrap has a looser quality, while the auditorium in the middle is a hybrid whose facade takes on the quality of the wrapping, a mediation between the shrouded and unshrouded

condition.

There is no separating wall between the church and the school. They are part of the same plot of land, which creates more openings and leads to an interplay between the church and the school, leading to interesting moments.

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Shrouded Figure

Here, you can see the tight and loose wrapping quality of the fabric imprinting onto the ‘cushion’ as was the case in the hybrid model as well, while the mass itself is uncovered.

This hybrid condition leads to a third ‘in between’ interpretation of this project.

The mass in the center is the auditorium, which connects both the other masses with each other visually.

It lies within a slightly excavated part of the ground to create a multiple levels of the project. Visually it is nestled gently into the ground.

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Shade Cloud

Shade Cloud:

Radically Augmenting housing in Faisalabad, Pakistan.

DS 1420 Thesis Advisor: Marcelyn Gow Graduate Thesis Project - M.Arch 2

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Pakistan is particularly vulnerable to the challenges posed by climate change, including both flooding and drought, in addition to the urban island heat effect.

Existing structures no longer adequately respond to user needs and the current ecological imperatives of the world,

neither can we afford to replace them wholesale.

My thesis proposes to address this dilemma by using an augmented, as opposed to an adaptive, approach to this problem, by retrofitting existing structures to customize them to suit the world we live in today.

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Shade Cloud

SITE

Faisalabad, Pakistan

The climate in Pakistan is generally arid, characterized by hot summers and cool winters, and wide variations between extremes of temperature at given locations.

My proposal provides a solution to the opposing problems of increasingly hot summers and seasonal flooding.

Kohinoor Flat

Existing Str Kohinoor Flats, Faisalabad

The existing relatively op to a large gr such a built

The map above shows the urban density map of the city. My site is located in an open area with potential for increasing density.

The site as has space in blocks and surroundin 29

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ts Complex

ructure

Green Space

g structures are situated in a pen area, which is adjacent reen space uncommon for t up area.

currently configured also n between the individual its immediate ngs have become largely

Pedestrianised Zone

Major Traffic Artery

pedestrianized.

It is bound on 2 sides by a traffic artery.

Furthermore, the site is situated near a canal which can be partly diverted through the complex to create opportunities for passive cooling as well as recreation.

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Shade Cloud

Original

360 ft

Proposal

740 ft 31

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My augmented approach involves taking on the scale of a neighborhood rather than individual dwelling units.

The scale of the neighborhood allows my project to set an example on an urban scale of the way forward when it comes to addressing the fundamental realities of today in a water stressed, semi-arid region like Pakistan.

45 ft

235 ft

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Shade Cloud

The third tier shows the trellis structure disrupted by three atrium spaces which act as light wells as well as public spaces for gathering and are connected by pathways in the cloud for circulation.

This 3 tiered diagram shows the logic of the shade cloud. The ground plane, which is the first tier, has been re-engineered to activate the public aspect of the proposal as well as become a sponge to absorb water during monsoon flooding.

New programming in the renovated original structure includes a school for residents of the Shade Cloud as well as a textile weaving unit, taking advantage of a skill already present in the city.

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The second tier shows an 8 floors high trellis structure covering the area.

The varying density of the trellis is key, from thick load bearing members, to lighter structural members acting as a connective tissue for the shade cloud, to shade providing elements of the cloud, helping to create micro climates.

Residential units are located inside the trellis structure. Private recreational areas for residents of the shade cloud are also plugged into the trellis, including a hanging garden as well as a theatre or auditorium space to form a vertical low rise mid density neighborhood arch-type.

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Shade Cloud

Shade Cloud seen in its immediate context.

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Shade Cloud

The ground floor can be seen here in isolation.

A materially new ground plane to reflect the local materials available in the area.

The diverted canal serves multiple purposes; primarily - in conjunction with the green space - to convert the area into a ‘sponge area’ capable of dealing with rising water during the monsoon floods, and secondarily to create recreational opportunities for the residents of the Shade Cloud, and forms part of a strategy to create micro climates.

The ground plane has been re-engineered keeping both the programmatic as well as ecological imperatives in mind.

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Athletics Ground

New perforated facade with jali pattern

A jali, is the term for a perforated stone or latticed screen, used as a shading and ventilation device in the subcontinent.

New canal network based on jali pattern

It is used in a new porous facade opening up the original structure to serve as a new marketplace as part of a new programmatically active ground plane.

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Shade Cloud

I approach the project through 3 scales, the first being the scale of the neighborhood which the proposal as a whole provides, with all facilities either within the structure or at walking distance.

Other than residential units, a theatre space or auditorium is integrated as a part of the trellis structure.

The second scale is the dwelling units themselves. There are multiple formats of units available to cater to various needs. The units are well furnished and are also located to take advantage of views from elevated vantage points with balconies and generous windows.

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Shade Cloud

The main outdoor community space is a suspended garden within the trellis, provided with generous shading as well as cooling through a mist mechanism drawing water from the diverted canal below, creating a micro-climate.

Other platform spaces have also been provided which are free to be used as desired by the residents.

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Shade Cloud

A view looking down in one of the three atrium spaces which act as light wells for an otherwise dense structure.

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Shade Cloud

The school and textile weaving unit are located inside the renovated existing structures whose facade has been opened up based on contemporary jali patterns.

Traditional taxis, known as rickshaws are driven by a number of people in the Shade Cloud, so space for their parking has also been allocated.

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Shade Cloud

A view of the front garden facing the new marketplace breathing new life into the ground floor of the Shade Cloud.

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Shade Cloud

The third scale is the details such as the jali patterns spread throughout the site on various scales, providing aesthetic as well as shading strategies.

Together with mist generated from the canal below, it forms a passive cooling strategy, which is important to the ecological imperatives of this project as they help to create micro climates within the structure.

The jali pattern has been incorporated into the renovated mosque, seen here, an important element of any neighborhood in Pakistan.

The jali pattern was also used as a departure point for the public garden, on the right, designed to have pools of water elements instead of just a linear canal network. These areas also form spaces of congregation.

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Digital Catalyst

Digital Catalyst DS 1201 Instructor: Damjan Jovanovic Partner: Hsiang Wang 1st Year Design Studio

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SCI-Arc After Images Fall 2019 Rachel McCall, Ferda Kolatan Partner: Shayantani Mukherjee

Digital Catalyst reflects on value in the post-digital era, where the museum architecture has become the catalyst for digital content.

Museums and artifacts are regarded as objects struggling in the value system. While we focus on communicating with the masses, the boundaries between

popular and elite culture become blurry. The museum plays a double-side role as both encyclopedia and content farm.

It could be superficially transparent, democratic, subtle and natural, but substantially institutionalized, centralized, explicit, and artificial.

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Digital Catalyst

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Office

Experience Space

Gallery

Gallery

Storage/Archive

Circulation/Flex space

Education

Theatre

Our project’s departure point was various massing models heavily influenced by design projects by OMA, and took its inspiration from collectives such as archizoom.

Special attention was paid to the grid both as an organizing, and disrupting element.

Restaurant

The project requirements dictated that we design for three main elements, storage space, display space and nature space. Our design is one with emphasis on plan, which integrates all the programs present in the project.

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Digital Catalyst

The planar base geometry was subsequently painted over with very fine aggregate.

This aggregate was not meant to be simply a facade but was also to be operationalised at various scales, from as small as something you could hold in your hand to as large as an architectural space to be inhabited.

The aggregate is a mix of the digital and physical, and the infinite intersection of the base geometry with the aggregate at various scales, in both digital and physical form, became the generating force for creating the architectural experience in this project.

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Digital Catalyst

Proposed Theatre Design

The main theatre stands out due to its relatively vertical orientation and conventional plan, making it the focal point of the project aesthetically.

The entrance of the museum is also from the main plaza connected to the theatre.

The bridge is connected to the second floor exit of the theatre which is where traffic gets distributed to other parts of the museum.

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Interior Space, Theatre

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Digital Catalyst

Interior Space, Theatre

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Digital Catalyst

Interior, Experience Space

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The tubular forms are the experience spaces, which liberate items in storage by turning them into digital projections.

The digital projection of dynamic aggregates along with the projection of artifacts provides a great backdrop for your preferred social media platform.

These holograms also play a role as pop up advertisements, showing highlights of the week. If the holograms make you want to take the next step, those interested in authentic artifacts could eventually follow the tunnel to the display space.

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Digital Catalyst

The non-hierarchy of the museum is defined by the bridge which connects all the separate galleries together.

The digital aggregate also forms nature of a synthetic kind. A journey across the bridge becomes a walk through a futuristic topiary.

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Digital Catalyst

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Digital Catalyst

The small theatre diagonally opposite from the main theatre forms an informal environment and is programatically flexible. It also offers a viewing platform at the top, which is the highest point of the project, allowing sweeping views across the museum and also the city.

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Digital Catalyst

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The aggregate matter is operationalized through increasing it in scale and cutting through to make gallery spaces.

The infinite intersection of the facade aggregate and scaled up inhabitable aggregate make for unconventional spaces which take on another worldly quality due to both the shape and surface treatment of the aggregate.

Lifting the project over an excavated basement space for nature also removes it from its immediate urban context, which suits the world building aims of this project.

In a role reversal, it is the conventional parts of this project that form the disruptive elements.

A solid void element is also introduced in the interior, which along with differing levels and unique form, break the monotony of the gallery archtype.

Experience Space Gallery Circulation/Flex space Theatre

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Digital Catalyst

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Digital Catalyst

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Abstractions of War

Abstractions of War DS 5000 Instructor: Anna Neimark 2nd Year Advanced Vertical Studio

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This studio analyzes fortifications in the American landscape from archaeological surveys and engineering drawings. After extracting their formal logic, these military structures will serve as formworks for new design concerns: against the prevalence of private development, we will

project new approaches to urban block design and collective living.

Part II brings the abstract forms developed through the students’ analytical studies into the urban fabric of Los Angeles.

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Abstractions of War

Plan drawing, La Citadelle de Québec, Samuel Holland, 1757.

Plan View, La Citadelle de Québec, Present Day.

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The fort I analyzed was the Citadel in Quebec. The construction of the fort started in 1830, but plans for it were drawn up much earlier, this drawing of the idealized version of the fort is from 1757.

The cost involved ensured that the fort wasn’t actually built until much later.

The built form itself departs from the idealized version as well.

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Abstractions of War

Detail View.

This fort has two defining layers, the inner layer of 4 bastions, and an outer layer of 3 ravelins. This was a common design, where the ravelins protected the curtain wall of the inner fort, so as to leave no obvious weak points.

The plan of the fort takes its overall form from the idealized version, and details from the as built version.

The most interesting moments occur in places where the symmetry is broken. Such moments did not exist in the original plan and became important as I moved forward to the model fabrication phase of the project.

In the detail view, you can see a close look at a bastion and 2 ravelins.

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Roof Plan, La Citadelle de Québec, 1:128 Scale.

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Plan drawing, La Citadelle de Québec, Samuel Holland, 1757.

This is a cut plan of drawing of the fort and it demonstrates a way to inhabit what is essentially a very thick wall.

This aspect was important in my housing proposal, part of which you can see on the right.

Floor plan, Proposed Hou Scale: 1/16” =

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using = 1’-0”

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Plan and Section of Drawing Room, The Cabinet Maker and Upholsterer’s Drawing Book

The method chosen for the fabrication of the model is called ‘Developed surface’ which is a technique to present 3d structures in 2d space. This was used in the 17th century to as a representation of indoor and outdoor spaces, as well as entire cities.

On the right is an unfolded drawing of a structure in the fort similar to the drawing you see above using the technique of developing surface.

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Unfolded building, La Citadelle de Québec.

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Taking this technique one step further, I identified open spaces in the fort, which were surrounded by multiple buildings.

The walls of the plaza space seen in the middle here is formed by elevations of 4 different structures.

It’s unfolded version can be seen on the right.

Plaza view La Citadelle de Québec.

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Unfolded plaza, La Citadelle de Québec.

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Plaza locations, La Citadelle de Québec.

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Unfolded plazas.

4 such plazas were identified. All of them have different qualities and sizes.

One is a wide passageways, One is almost completely enclosed, another has only one exit, whereas the original plaza is spilling from various openings.

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Model, folded and unfolded.

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Unfolded plaza, La Citadelle de Québec.

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Model, folded and unfolded.

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Unfolded plaza, La Citadelle de Québec.

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Model, folded and unfolded.

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Unfolded plaza, La Citadelle de Québec.

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Model, folded and unfolded.

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Unfolded plaza, La Citadelle de Québec.

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The chosen site for my social housing project was the El Dorado golf course in Long Beach. I chose to limit the project site to the lower left quadrant of the golf course, as marked in the drawing on the right.

El Dorado Golf Course

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My site is demarcated by these two roads that are perpendicular to the site. I was interested in the urban grid of the road network and wanted to extend that logic to my site. There is an underlying centerline grid generated from the road network which became the organizing element of the site.

The buildings you see here are placed precisely on the gridlines and dictate the shape of the resulting plazas.

Figure Ground Plan

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N Studebaker Rd

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East Stearns Street

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Abstractions of War

This drawing shows the scalar shift happening once the threshold between road and golf course is crossed. The plazas are situated so as to be a continuation of the road network.

The urban condition is reversed, and now all the housing is squeezed on to the roads and the residential space becomes the plaza.

El Dorado Golf Course, Roof Plan

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Proposal Plaza, Folded (right) and unfolded

The plazas of the proposal are drawn in plan oblique as a continuation of the developed surface method, i.e a drawing technique to present 3d structures in 2d space.

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Rendered image of plaza

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Proposal Plaza, Folded (right) and unfolded

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Rendered image of plaza

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Proposal Plaza, Folded (right) and unfolded

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Rendered image of plaza

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Proposal Plaza, Folded (top) and unfolded

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Rendered image of plaza

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After Images

After Images DS 1200 Instructors: Rachel McCall, Ferda Kolatan Partner: Shayantani Mukherjee 1st Year Design Studio

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Objective:

Program:

“We are challenged to re-imagine and to consider what is ‘architecture after images’; to invent the new stories that demand new forms, aesthetics and ways of being in the world.”

A 22,000 square feet co-working, retail and recreation space in Chinatown in Downtown Los Angeles.

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After Images

This project began as a series of incursions in Chinatown (where our site was located). We were tasked with finding and documenting objects, large and small, that we found interesting.

These objects were then put together as 3d meshes; mostly as a slightly distorted version of their counterparts in the real world.

We proceeded to mash these objects together to come up with interesting forms, which we used to mine architectural data from.

Meshes (right) 3d printed on landscape (above)

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Our departure point for this project was thus a sculptural one, and in the process we unlearnt what architecture should look and feel like, which allowed us to liberate ourselves from the constraints of ‘conventional’ architecture.

Meshes (right) 3d printed on landscape (above)

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Axonometric View

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Meshes were used in both additive and subtractive fashion to carve out habitable spaces, while keeping their unique qualities intact.

There are offices embedded in the landscape, the first floor is retail space as well as a social gathering space while the remaining floors provide additional co-working space.

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Shell Base in Landscape

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The landscape for this project was developed to a high degree of sophistication before the building began to take shape, and provides habitable moments as well as outdoor spaces.

The site object relationship - how the structure meets the ground - was a critical aspect of this project.

The building rests on, and is entered through, a shell which rests within the contours of the landscape.

This shell cannot be seen from the elevation view, and the heavy mass seems floating in mid air, establishing a visual tension which became the departing point for the project.

Shell Base in Landscape

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Axonometric View

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This element of visual tension is also enhanced by the textures used for this project. Whereas the textures of the landscape reinforce its fluid nature, the tectonic texture used for the facade acts to impose a structure on what is otherwise an undulating, flowing object-space.

The tectonic nature of the texture was also used to locate the windows on the facade.

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1st Floor Plan

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Circulation was confined to the north of the building separated from the rest of the structure by an atrium produced by a ‘crack’ in the facade enveloping the entire building.

Two light wells are also carved through the solid massing to let natural light penetrate the building.

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Hybrid Plan/Section Physical Model 135

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Roof View

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Section

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The crack in the facade can be seen here. This, together with the light wells allow natural light to enter. The organic nature of the spaces is enhanced by the texture used, which is an inverse of the texture of the landscape outside.

This is done to create subtle connections throughout the site. The texture used throughout the interior is the same, varying only in opacity across floors, thus acting as a unifying element inside.

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Aerial View

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Telenor 345

Telenor 345 Architects: Arcop (Pvt) Ltd.

Winner: World Architecture Community Award 2018

Client: Telenor Group

Nomination: World Architecture Festival Awards in ‘Corporate’ Category.

Budget: USD 50 Million

My Responsibilities: Was present on the site office and involved in Construction Administration phase of this project. Also contributed to Design Development phase and interior design as project progressed.

Status: Built

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Arcop After Images Fall 2019 Rachel McCall, Ferda Kolatan Partner: Shayantani Mukherjee

Telenor 345 is the national headquarters of the Telenor Group in Pakistan.

relying on local materials and skills, which were critical in the design process.

It creates a new work space paradigm, whose principles are based around sustainability, vernacular architecture, and an enriching work experience, while

It questions the role of traditional hierarchical organizations by creating open work zones and remaining adaptable to meet the challenges of the work space.

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Telenor 345

The Telenor Campus creates a distinct architecture which is planned around step wells; woven together through an internal street which changes in width and volume as it staggers around the complex.

Traditionally, courts have always played an integral part in local architecture, be it residential, institutional or religious building types. These central spaces become the main socializing hubs for the workforce.

In Telenor’s campus, this concept is used as a focal point, interconnecting blocks around large water bodies in the internal courts to encourage social interaction between the users.

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Arcop

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Telenor 345

TOPOGRAPHY Located in Islamabad, Pakistan, the site for the Telenor campus is made up of 15 acres of an undulating landscape which exemplifies the Potohar plateau region, where this area is geographically located.

The design ensures that the site’s existing topography and natural water courses remain intact: for this, inspiration was sought from the historic step wells of Pakistan’s Punjab province, used as an architectural device for storing rainwater, also known as Baolis.

Original

Proposed

720

720

655

655

Section AA’

Section AA’

720

720

655

655

Section BB’

Section BB’

720

720

655

655

Section CC’

Section CC’

720

720

655

655

Section DD’

Section DD’

720

720

655

655

Section EE’

Section EE’ 149

Arcop

A 720

B

700 680

C

660

D E

A’ B’ C’ D’ E’

N

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Telenor 345

FLOOR PLAN 1 WORK ZONES 2 RECEPTION 3 MULTIPURPOSE HALL 4 ATRIUM 5 CAFETERIA 6 DAY CARE 7 MULTISTORY PARKING 8 SCULPTURE GARDEN 9 CITRUS GROVE

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The plan is for an open space office environment divided into 5 work zones (shown in different colors) with a water body in the center of the structure. A bridge connects both sides.

Much of the contoured landscape was left untouched. A number of different species of trees were planted to enhance the landscape as the importance of the surroundings in creating a conducive work atmosphere was taken into account.

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In addition, a sculpture garden was also situated within the landscape to provide a different sort of refuge from the office environment. These elements are complemented by the natural stream running along the boundary wall.

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Arcop

WORK ZONES A/B/C/D/E CONNECTING BRIDGE DAY CARE

1 3

2 4

5

6

8 N

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Telenor 345

The circulation corridors and the meeting rooms overlook the central water bodies. The main street connects the work areas with meeting rooms, social zones and breakout spaces, all of which combined become the main zone of communal activity which lies between the outdoors stepwell area and the indoor work environments.

All these zones weave in and out of each other providing multiple opportunities for work, interaction, collaboration and social activity. The main street is present on every floor and forms a central element in the design of the structure, bringing everything together.

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MAIN STREET OPEN OFFICE WORKZONE UTILITIES CONFERENCE ROOMS SILENT ROOMS MEETING ROOMS SOCIAL ZONE

N

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Telenor 345

SECTION The Ground and First floors are duplicated in certain workzones, whereas the second floor includes terraces, which are present on both north and south sides to take advantage of the splendid views on offer at the site.

The opposing sides of the campus are connected by a bridge which offers opportunities for people from various departments to meet as they pass by each other during the course of the day.

Solar panels are also installed on the roof to generate power for the

1 TERRACE 2 WORKZONES 3 UTILITY ROOM 4 MEETING/PROJECT ROOM 5 CENTRAL WATER BODY 6 MECHANICAL ROOM 7 SOLAR PANELS 8 RAMMED EARTH WALL 9 STONE JALI 10 ENTRANCE FROM CAR PARK 11 MULTI LEVEL CAR PARK

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building. The ramm as well as concrete thermal capacity, e energy requiremen

Other sustainability include rain water low flow fixtures in occupancy sensors

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med earth material have a high ensuring reduced nts for the campus.

y mechanisms harvesting and n addition to s.

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WEST FACADE Conceptually the block orientation is kept in the North-South direction to minimize heat gain. In this regard, the insulated stabilized rammed earth flank walls have been placed in the East-West directions with minimum openings.

The expression of materiality is celebrated through the use of fair-face concrete, rammed earth and local stone.

The stabilized rammed earth walls strongly depict the natural hues of the Potohar Valley soil belonging to this area. The conversation continues in the internal courts with the use of local stone in the step wells and ‘Jaali’ screens which filter the harsh summer sun.

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SOUTH FACADE Generous windows have been placed on the north-south direction to allow indirect light to penetrate the campus.

The water body in the middle creates a void which enables all parts of the building to receive natural light.

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Interior view of water court in the center of the campus

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Outdoor view from Day Care center

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Interior view from atrium showing a mix of programs.

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Interior view from atrium showing fair face concrete, rammed earth, and local stone.

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Indoor space looking on to the water body at dusk.

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Slice It!

Slice It! VS 4200 Instructors: Andrea Cadioli, Curime Batliner Partner: Shreya Shridar

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Objective:

Methodology:

“Following the contemporary explorations of the 2.5d canvas in post-digital area, the project investigates the architectural facade as a space of multiplicities and singularity, deeply public and in an infinitely state of fluxation.”

Simple geometry was designed and animated using a script to produce complex shapes and movement, a facade always in motion, always demanding attention.

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Final fabricated design

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The final step of making the dynamic facade involved fabricating a repeating design element (in our case a triangle) that was then mounted on a Stäubli robot and assembled later in photoshop.

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Philharmonie de Paris, transformed

Advanced Material and Tectonics AS 3200 Instructors: Maxi Spina, Randy Jefferson Partners: Aseel Alamoudi, Bashayer Bamohsen, Kovarthini Sekar 183

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A course studying material and tectonic qualities of facades and envelopes; an investigation of how structural systems work as an integrated system to realise a project.

Case Study: Philharmonie de Paris by Atelier Jean Nouvel.

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Detail A1

Detail A2

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A1 - Primary Envelope

Structural frame (primary support) Stainless steel frame fastener with bolted connection (secondary support) Support grid for facade Sealing membrane Insulation Support Plate Aluminium bird tiles

Screw connecting tiles to grid Aluminium bird tiles

A2 - Secondary Envelope

Structural steel welded rectilinear frames

Aluminium Panel Double profile forming edge of the demountable trunks of braided venture beam Structural Steel welded transition frames

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Detail A3

Detail A4

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A3 - Wall Detail

Waterproof Membrane Rock Wool Insulation Aluminium Plate I-Section Column (vertical support) Double Plaster Braided SS mesh on Metal Stretch I-Section Beam (horizontal support) Running Profile 180mm x 100mm Double profile forming the edge of the demountable trunks of braided venture frame Connecting rod IPE 220- horizontal support of the braided venture frame CF90 min (panel type) fibre cement by connecting rod Frame of parallel bars holding together

A4 - Floor Detail

Interior wall - coating of woven mesh Double glazing insulating film on high joinery and base silicone vertical seal High bead arch with high seal Galvanised steel interior and vapor coated Frame of parallel bars Double plaster Spinning frame profile facade Candle support rod Rock wool insulation 150mm thick plates Waterproof Membrane Threshold of maintenance - braided SS mesh on metal stretch

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Detail A5

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A5 - Primary Envelope

Aluminium and Glass Tiles Connecting Grid Structural Grid Waterproof Membrane Insulation Supporting Sheet

Our objective was to transform the tectonic qualities of the facade. Our changes are as follows:

project.

3. We defined these two changes by changing the cantilever from metal tile to concrete, thereby using materiality to refocus attention to our transformation.

1. We replaced metal bird tiles at the top periodically with glass tiles to change the aesthetic (A5).

2. We changed the shape of the front to a linear contemporary one, while also making it almost 50% transparent to let natural light flood into the main hall of the 190

Philharmonie de Paris, transformed

Detail A6

Detail A7

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A6 - Wall Detail Steel Frame

Waterproof Membrane

Interior Finishing

Insulation

Joint between panels

Glass Frame

Exterior Finishing

A7 - Window Detail

Vision Glass

External Weep

Glass Spacer Setting Block Thermal Break

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Design Development

Design Development AS 3222 Instructors: Herwig Baumgartner, Matthew Melnyk Group: Shuo Feng Carnation Kng Ahmad Sultan Kyle Balster

Zhaoqi Zhu Rene Perez Ignacio Jordan Scheurmann Aseel Alamoudi

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Jinyu Rao Heena Patel Hsiang Wang Mitsuki Ikeda

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Objective:

Program:

To take a design developed by one of our student studio teams at Sci ARC and figure out how it will come together and be constructed in the real world.

A design for LACMA by Mitsuki Ikeda and Zhaoqi Zhu.

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CONSTRUCTION SEQUENCE

1) Site excavation and debris clearing 2) Soldier piles at site boundary 3) Concrete shoring between piles 4) Basement level concrete poured 5) Basement level walls and columns poured 6) Basement level core members poured 7) Horizontal beam members placed 8) Core members poured for remaining levels 9) Ground level concrete poured

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CONNECTING ‘EGG CRATE’ TO CORE MEMBERS Egg Crate Structure

Egg crate transverse beam connection detail sequence: 1) Pilot threading 2) Steel plate 3) Fasteners 4) I-Beam 5) L-bracker joint 6) Fasteners 7) Perimeter I beam 8) Fasteners 9) Steel Plate 10)Fasterners 11) U-Bracket Joint 12) Egg Crate

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STRUCTURE COMPLETE

After egg crate is fixed in place the facade consisting of modular metal polygons is fixed in place and the remaining floors poured.

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ENVELOPE, FACADE DETAILS

Rigid Insulation Waterproofing membrane Silicon beading

Modules are connected with fasteners and connection members and covered with a Titanium facade

Unified Waterproofing Layer

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FACADE CHUNK

GFRC Interior Material

Facade Interior view

Fac Facade Exterior view

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cade Chunk

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FACADE CONNECTIONS

Facade to R

Facade to Floor Connection Detail

Sequence: 1) Steel Tube skirt 2) Steel plate 3) Facade system 4) Steel plate 5) Fasteners 6) Floor covers

Facade to G

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Sequence: 1) Steel plating 2) Steel connections 3) Facade system

Roof Connection Detail

Sequence: 1) Concrete curb 2) Steel flashing 3) Steel plate 4) Structural facade 5) Secondary facade 6) Fasteners Aesthetic facade

Ground Connection Detail

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ROOF CONCTRUCTION

Corrugated decking covered with concrete Pour Slip

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Waterproofing membrane and Protection Mat Planter concrete pedestals Drainage

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Filter Sheet Growing Substrate

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MEP

In Out Ventilation

Electricity

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Municipal Supply Grey Water

t Water

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The Unbuilt and the Unfamiliar

Dusty Relief, R&Sie

Theories of Contemporary Architecture I HT 2200 Instructors: Marcelyn Gow, John Cooper

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The Unbuilt and the Unfamiliar

Defamiliarization, reduced down to its

which qualitative information regarding the world is made sensible, distributed to our sensory capacities. It engages the mind in a subjective manner as we come to certain conclusions about the entity that we are evaluating.

essence, may be described as encountering familiar entities in unfamiliar settings. This definition is not comprehensive but does allow us to investigate the effects of defamiliarization. Viktor Shklovsy was the first person to put to use this term in relation to art. As quoted by Michael Young in his essay ‘The Aesthetics of Abstraction,’ Shklovsy states: “…art slows down, elongates and intensifies attention. This elongation is the aesthetic experience itself. “And so, in order to return sensation to our limbs, in order to make us feel objects, to make a stone feel stony, man has been given the tool of art…

By estranging objects and complicating form, the device of art has a purpose all its own and ought to be extended to the fullest.”

The purpose of defamiliarization is to make the viewer think and react to this object or entity being observed. It arouses in us a curiosity that can lead to further action on our part as a result of this experience.

Aesthetics, which is to say art, and defamiliarization can be linked through the medium of abstraction. “An aesthetic abstraction does not seek to produce knowledge. Its sole effect is to destabilize and redistribute sensible information. You see differently, you feel differently. This is prior to any cognitive understanding of the affect being produced.”

Multiple judgements may be formed in our mind simultaneously about this entity; it might present itself in different forms depending on our view of it, for a single object can be viewed in many different ways; most buildings have at least four different facades, for example.

Therefore, it is hard to come to a single monolithic conclusion about any object. A strong personal like or dislike in many instances take us deeper into the world of the aesthetic as we search for the reasons behind our initial reactions, which may form and inform revisions in our mind about our original value judgements.

In this way, the idea of abstraction is inherent in the world of the aesthetic.

Aesthetics is our introduction to the world , to our lived reality, a reality which is always a many faceted thing.

Michael Young gives examples of what he considers to be abstraction in art. The first example, Tauba Auerbach, has produced a series where three dimensional sculptural work appears together with paintings, and

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the sculptural work takes on a quality of having been used to make the paintings, thereby placing what look like the tools used to produce the paintings along with the finished product. In this way multiple mediums exist as part of the same continuous process within the same space, producing the feeling of defamiliarization.

His second example is that of Thomas

moment of comprehension that encompasses what defamiliarization is.

Young’s final example is of Harmen Brethouwer. The artist uses a series of paintings, where each painting is of a different stone texture. This is done in such fine detail that on initial viewing the paintings actually look like the material they are representing, but once the viewer

Copyshop, Thomas Demand

Broken White, Harman Brethouwer

Demand, who is known for his hyper realistic work of imitating real life environments using only paper models.

Demand then photographs the models of the spaces he has created, which with a cursory viewing will look like any other normal work space. A closer look, however, will make clear that, although the environment in the picture does actually exist in paper model form, it is in fact fundamentally different from the space the paper model environment seeks to imitate.

It is actually this stretch, starting with the moment of looking and ending with the

realizes that they are paintings, we start to question whether it is the painting that is fake or the stone texture they imitate.

These three examples all use the device of misdirection before eventually revealing themselves in their true form. At which point, we might ask ourselves which version of the ‘truth’ do we want to believe.

One thing worth noticing about the nature of these examples is that none of them is an architectural example. We are talking of installations, paintings; the closest we come to architecture is a photograph of a paper model.

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It is interesting to ask ourselves of why this is so. What is it about the built world that makes it devoid of any examples of defamiliarization? One possible, perhaps likely, reason could be that once you build something in the real world, the ideas behind it diminish somewhat. Faced with the concrete reality of a building, the driving forces and ideals behind the design take a

city when making the design of the museum. The architect says:

Section, Dusty Relief, R&Sie

“Bangkok is a very dusty gray and luminous city. The pollution cloud, CO2 residue, filters and standardizes the light with only gray spectral frequencies. Over 50 different words could be used to describe the tones and the touching aspects of the absence of color….luminous, vaporous, pheromonal, hideous, shaded, transpiring, cottony, rugged, dirty, hazy, suffocating, hairy…

The dust dresses the city and her biotope, even going so far as to modify the climate…”

back seat. After all, what has more presence than a built structure in any urban grid?

Paintings, installations et al. are open to multiple readings in a way that architecture is not.

If we take this explanation to be true, then is it possible for us to find an example of defamiliarized architecture in unbuilt projects? One such example would be the Dusty Relief/B-mu project by R&Sie. This design for a museum of contemporary art in Bangkok operates on the dichotomy of the interior and exterior. The architects were ‘inspired’ by the dust pollution of the

This led to the exterior façade being wrapped in an electrified grid creating an electrostatic field. This ‘skin’ of the museum collects all the dust from the city, which accumulates over time, giving the façade an unpredictable appearance that will change over time.

The interior is completely different from this as its design is dictated by the norms of a museum, but the design is taken further to mark a dramatic contrast with the exterior.

The interior is clean white cuboid structures arranged neatly throughout the project.

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between white windowless walls.” R&Sie again: “We are talking here of two distinct geometric structures: one is Euclidian, globalization incased, where cultural merchandises are circulated in an aseptic and deteritorialized universe, and the other typology, plunged in a intoxicating urban chaos.”

deteriorating environment is borne by the great majority of masses who are less fortunate, people living in slums, in tightly packed, unsafe apartment buildings, even out in the open. The global elite wants to partake in all the pleasures of life but is not comfortable with facing the consequences of those actions.

This phenomenon is so widespread that it

Dusty Relief, in the beginning (left) and covered with dust over time (right).

This design sets up an almost contradictory dichotomy as you pass from the exterior to the interior. The exterior calls to attention the pollution that Bangkok – and most other large cities globally – are afflicted with. Once you enter the interior, which is a clean white space, almost scrubbed down like a hospital ward in its appearance; you are then ‘safe’ from the hazards of the environment outside as you are now present inside a membrane which keeps the interior clean.

This is once again a commentary on how the consequences of our increasingly

even has a name: NIMBY, short for Not In My Back Yard. It first came into use when electric companies were looking for sites to situate large infrastructure projects in the US in the 1970s. It’s more contemporary usage has been in relation to the pollution crisis afflicting the world today.

R&Sie conclude by labelling the dichotomy of their project ‘schizophrenia’ and liken the exterior process to ‘breeding the dust… exacerbating a localization’ while the interior is ‘white climatology….running on the world art scene.’

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The answer is surely not.

in this project. Experiencing the exterior over time as it changes from a series of planes to a shapeless mass of uncertain medium and material will be a disorienting experience for any passerby. You don’t even have to enter the building for it to affect your thinking.

If you choose to go inside, the dramatic change between the dirty outdoors and the clean interior, not just environment wise but also in shape and form, will also be a revelation a viewer is forced to grapple with. The interior is almost otherworldly in its sparseness and must make for an unsettling experience.

And of course at the end, you will step back out, out in the world, the noise, the dust, and perhaps you will feel relief as you are now standing in a world you are much more able to recognize and navigate. The elongation of attention is quite likely to last for the entire time you spend inside, and will reinforce itself as you cross thresholds, firstly at the point of sight of the exterior facade, secondly as you cross from outdoors to indoors, thirdly as a feeling of disquiet as you go through the “a deterritorialized volume imprisoned between white windowless walls” which is the interior, and lastly as you exit the building.

The experience will almost certainly be diminished. There are many reasons for this. As mentioned before, abstract ideas can carry many expectations which simply do not translate when the reality is before us. Ideas are also open to multiple interpretation which enrich the experience of thinking about them, interpretations which rarely make the transition to the real world.

As a museum, the interior will hold artwork that many people will come to see, and so the otherworldly feeling of the interior might not hold. The interior will also have artwork and artifacts - since this is a museum – further normalizing the experience.

It is, however possible, for the experience to maintain its integrity as intended if the project is treated as an installation rather than a museum. If the interior is completely empty and open to only one person at aperhaps we can get close to what was intended by the architects. It may be comparable to walking around in Thomas Demand‘s paper model spaces.

But art installation is not architecture, and the purpose of the museum is lost if treated in such a manner.

The question we asked ourselves earlier why are none of Michael Young’s examples of defamiliarizing entities architectural in nature - now has an answer. nature - now has an answer. My hypothesis is that it is impossible to find defamiliarizing examples in the world of architecture. The very act of building is one of normalizing an experience. As we experience any space,

Schizophrenia is probably the right word for this experience, but the question to be asked is, if this project was to be actually built, would the experience of it remain the same?

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we will start to comprehend it in our own way, and make sense of it. The experience will diminish with every passing second as we navigate through an architectural space.

The elongation will certainly be present, but will lose its potency with time, and might well be soon forgotten. time, perhaps we can get close to what was intended by the architects. It may be comparable to walking around in Thomas Demand‘s paper model spaces.

But art installation is not architecture, and the purpose of the museum is lost if treated in such a manner.

The question we asked ourselves earlier why are none of Michael Young’s examples of defamiliarizing entities architectural in nature - now has an answer. nature - now has an answer. My hypothesis is that it is impossible to find defamiliarizing examples in the world of architecture. The very act of building is one of normalizing an experience. As we experience any space, we will start to comprehend it in our own way, and make sense of it. The experience will diminish with every passing second as we navigate through an architectural space.

The elongation will certainly be present, but will lose its potency with time, and might well be soon forgotten.

The fact that Dusty Relief/B-mu might work better as an installation than architecture further reinforces this point, but mundane realities like budgetary constraints affect architecture much more than art as sculpture, paintings or installations. A project on this scale for such a limited use (only one person at a time) is simply not feasible.

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“Aesthetics operates through tensions between the sensory and the intelligible, one that cannot be properly conceptualized prior to the redistributing break.” Once this we see the break, once the seam between reality and allusion is revealed, the defamiliarizing entity becomes normalized.

In conclusion, defamiliarizing projects are inherently unbuildable. To build them would be to familiarize them. The unbuilt remains defamiliarizing.

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Bibliography 1. Young, Michael. “The Aesthetics of Abstraction.”

2. Atwood, Andrew. “Rewriting Abstraction.”

3. Böck, Ingrid. “R&Sie reading Bataille’s Formless.” Accessed 11/29/2019. https://www.nextroom.at/article. php?id=28376 4. Roche, François. “Dusty Relief.” Accessed 11/29/2019. https://new-territories.com/ roche2002bis.htm

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Site Analysis through the Lens of Forensic Architecture in Contemporary Practice

Survey Maps using Satellite Imagery

Theories of Contemporary Architecture II HT 2201 Instructors: Marcelyn Gow, John Cooper, Erik Ghenoiu

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Site Analysis through the Lens of Forensic Architecture in Contemporary Practice Eyal Weizman states that Forensis, the origin of the term Forensics, is the ‘operative concept of a critical practice, one that is committed to investigating the actions of states and corporations, and also to critical reception on the terms by which contemporary forensic investigations – on the scale of bodies, buildings, territories and their digital representations - are currently undertaken.’ It ‘seeks to perform across a multiplicity of forums, political and juridical, institutional and informal’ and its objective is ‘articulating contemporary notions of public truth.’

Forensic Architecture is also the name of the firm founded by Eyal Weizman, which ‘undertakes advanced spatial and media investigations into cases of human rights violations, with and on behalf of communities affected by political violence, human rights organisations, international prosecutors, environmental justice groups, and media organisations.’

Their methodology is based on extensive site analysis as a departure point for all their investigations. This essay will look at a case study - Genocide in the Ixil Triangle, which was the focus of long running military operations in the 1980s - to establish their methods.

According to their website, ‘Forensic Architecture (FA) was commissioned by a Guatemalan NGO, the Centro para la Acción Legal en Derechos Humanos (CALDH), to support their efforts to gather evidence for the trial

‘architecture could indeed describe the pathology of the contemporary era; buildings, cities, infrastructure, and territories (as well as their ruination) could potentially occupy an analogous place to that of the human body in forensic medicine for example.’

Eyal Weizman

Forensic Architecture, an emergent prac-

tice involving the production and presentation of architectural evidence—relating to buildings, urban environments— to aid in legal and political processes takes as its departure point site analysis of their chosen area of study. This essay argues for adopting those methods – inherently done after the fact in the case of forensic architecture – in the contemporary practice of architecture as a way to preserve histories of site, of cities, of societies, and uses two case studies to demonstrate opposing conditions, one where the history of the site became central to the design, and the other in which the history of the site was erased completely.

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of the country’s former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt, whose brief military regime ran from March 1982 to August 1983, and senior members of his security apparatus.’

Their site was limited to two villages caught up in military operations, which were razed by the military who then set up their own ‘model’ villages nearby. This was a part of the military’s strategy to establish a

This was then compared to the buildings that’s stood on the site in the present; these surveys helped establish this area as a site of major violence during the military operations, and were presented alongside other evidence at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, where the Ixil people had filed a case against the country’s former dictator Efraín Ríos Montt.

The methods of site analysis vary on a case by case basis. In Forensic Architecture, the objective of this site a orary practice of architecture, but what if this was not the case? What if these practices became more mainstream in design practices today?

What if the story a building could tell went beyond just its opening date and its own site?

How would it impact the narratives we build around identity and culture if buildings started telling the stories of the past through design practice?

How would that project connect to its immediate surroundings and its wider context if it held a deeper meaning than simply an office building or a bank or a financial center? Two examples demonstrate the difference.

Mass grave, Guatemala

foothold in the region, one which had been previously semi-autonomous.

The site analysis involved field surveys of those villages, and, in this specific case, following agricultural vegetation patterns (the houses and their traces were long gone by then) to discern where houses originally stood in the villages in question. The results of these surveys were compared with satellite imagery of those villages, particularly the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), a technique that assesses photosynthetic activity in plants to identify changes in land cover over time.

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The site that the Gherkin now occupies was only vacated after a fertilizer bomb planted by the IRA exploded, destroying the Baltic Exchange building, which stood at the site, killing 3 people and injuring 90, on April 10th, 1992.

opened to much fanfare in April, 2004. ‘If Foster + Partners’ newly occupied Swiss Re Tower was any more revolutionary it would rotate,’ said one headline.6 ‘Whether you like or loathe tall buildings, the Gherkin is a supremely skillful addition to London’s skyline…the Gherkin’s curving form constantly entertains and enlivens,’ said another. Foster + Partners themselves

The Irish Republican Army (IRA), fighting to end British rule of Northern Ireland, claimed responsibility for the attack and warned of more to come. The bombing took place as traders celebrated a jump in shares after the fourth consecutive electoral victory for the Conservative party.

None of this information is present on any Foster + Partners publication regarding the Swiss Re building, neither is it mentioned

by Swiss Re themselves. There could be several possible reasons for this. Annette Fierro, in her essay ‘Inscriptions of Violence: London’s landscape of Commemoration’ investigates this phenomenon. She states: ‘When commercial interests of such magnitude are involved, the need for a commemorative rite is quick to be diminished if not entirely obliterated…Do the forces of a market economy work inherently to repress ancestry of violence, intervening in whatever psychological function is granted by whatever form of commemoration to the recovering city?

This particular iconic dimension of 30 St. Mary Axe makes this particular junction poignant: the most prominent of buildings in the public gaze is strangely divorced from the violence through which it was created.’

30 St. Mary Axe, by Foster and Partners

touted a shape that redistributed wind flows, minimizing cooling costs, low energy light fixtures, decreasing the electricity bill, space for bicycle storage, encouraging an active lifestyle, and so on.

Swiss Re, the client, claimed the ‘Gherkin’ was ‘London’s first environmentally progressive working environment.’

Buried under all the sustainability narrative of this building is a fact unknown to many.

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Another probable reason is also a stereotypical British culture of ‘business as usual’ which may have manifested itself after the bombing, but whatever the case, the violent origins of the Gherkin never find a place in any official or non-official narrative. The extent to which capitalism is capable of erasing narratives not suited to its purpose can be seen clearly in this case.

the RAF and USAAF. Assaulted by the Red Army in 1945. The words ‘Dem Deutschen Volke’ (For the German People) were inscribed in Bronze and set on the façade in 1916. The bronze used was taken from canons captured from Napoleon a century earlier.

In 1918, the German Republic was declared from a balcony just under those bronze

Cupola of the Reichstag

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the new Reichstag building, also by Foster + Partners. The building serves as the German Parliament, and as such is a very different project in nature than 30 St. Mary Axe. The building is rich with history, which simply could not be ignored. A brief summary: Hated by Bismarck, torched by the SA (Sturmabteilung, the Nazi Party’s original paramilitary wing) in 1933, bombed by the Lancasters and Flying Fortresses of

letters.

All of which had to be taken into consideration when designing the Reichstag for a modern, reunified Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

Before the redesign by Foster began, however, something else happened, which began the metamorphosis of the building which Foster’s design sought to continue. It was completely wrapped in silver sheets by the artists Christo and Jean-Claude in 1995.

The effect of this was instantaneous.

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As stated by Monika Gruetters, a Member of Parliament from the CDU: “It was only after Christo had wrapped the Reichstag and opened our eyes to the true topography of this building that we understood that it is in fact our house. The house of an entire population, a democratic building in which Parliament, the

on the walls as boarding was stripped away, which became a controversial flash point of the design process. Should they be kept? All of them? Some of them? Norman Foster on the issue:

Preserved Graffiti

“I felt very strongly that the fabric as it emerged should preserve the scars of war, of civic vandalism if you like, and there should be a very clear demarcation between what was a record of the past in terms of the traces of history. That those graffiti, obscene or otherwise, should be an integral part of the fabric, and would convey messages of its past and its rebirth with clarity.”

representatives of the people, sit.

And something of the spirit of this happening survives today. The (wrapping

by Christo) made the building popular at last. Suddenly it was more than just a building fulfilling a function. In a few weeks the wrapping of the Reichstag put years of history in a proper perspective.”

The first order of business for Foster was to strip away the layers of a number of redesigns over the years. Graffiti left by the conquering Red Army soldiers was found

In the end, it was decided to keep some of the graffiti while not showing the most offensive ones. The most vulgar sign that can now be seen, barely legible in the building’s southeastern corner: “I fuck Hitler in the arse.”

This process is analogous to the field survey done by Forensic Architecture (FA) in Guatemala when compiling information in their case study. It involves, in the beginning a stripping away of layers, both metaphorically and physically, to reveal the scars of history, in this case, on a single building, and in the FA case, a landscape capturing two villages which were the site 224

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of genocidal violence. The results of this site analysis reveal every act that has taken place on that site, which is then used to give a deeper meaning to not just this particular project, but also allows it to connect to a larger context, as we shall later see.

In the case of the Reichstag, we go one step further. The building as originally built had a dome in its center, which, after suffering much damage in the war, was demolished in 1956. After initially being hesitant to the idea, a new dome was erected, this time in glass, by Foster in the old one’s place, which forms the public access part of the Reichstag. Citizens can wander up this dome while looking down on their representatives in the main chamber of the building. This powerful metaphor became the best known part of the building in a country which was used to a surveillance state in the form of the Stasi, and before that the Third Reich. Transparency became a buzzword for the new Germany after decades spent under dictatorship, and signs of the Reichstag in all its manifestations, from a symbol of the newly united empire of the 1880s, to the short lived Weimar Republic’s democracy, to the fascist Nazi Reich, to finally the liberal democracy Germany is today, can be found in that building today.

The difference in memory and representation in these two cases can be explained by a number of reasons, culture being foremost. The varying nature of the projects gives us a clue, but there are larger forces at work here.

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London has been the site of much devastation over its history from the Great Fire of 1666, which left in ruin 80 percent of the city, to the 57 consecutive days of bombing during the Blitz of 1940-41, to sporadic IRA bombs in the last part of the 20th century, to Islamist terrorist attacks in more recent times, yet the city’s infrastructural fabric is almost mute on this aspect.

The most visible monument to the memory of this destruction is ‘The Monument’ commemorating the Great Fire and a wholly inadequate form of memory.

Germany, on the other hand, has embraced its history, partly due to the fact that the extent of horrors perpetrated by German regimes in the past have imposed a form of moral burden on its people and their representatives. Berlin is replete with landmarks to keep the memory of those horrors alive, and the Reichstag, in addition to standing in its own right, also becomes part of a larger fabric of remembrance spread throughout the city in a way London has completely failed to realize on any level.

The Gherkin, though it may be a financial center and not the seat of democracy like the Reichstag, neatly fits into the larger London pattern of erasing its history, and this phenomenon must be seen in light of this larger pattern. Remembering

SCI-Arc

history through the means made available

by Forensic Architecture in the here and now (as opposed to decades later as is inherently the case in forensic architecture) help connect architecture to a wider landscape and have a deeper meaning than simply a building with a specific function.

Architecture orders our lives in ways big and small that are not easily discernible, yet manages to miss such a big opportunity to become a layered tapestry of our lived past and all the ways in which it informs our present. The stories we tell are important, and choosing to erase history in so blatant a manner, to practice architecture by using the device of tablua rasa as a departure point, robs all future generations of understanding and embracing this history, both good and bad. ‘Forensic architecture thus intensifies the investigative capacity of architecture and turns it into a mode of public address, a way of articulating political claims.’

The Reichstag, and Berlin more broadly have shown the way forward. The building has not just managed to remember its past in an honest and straightforward manner, but has, through this gesture, managed to move forward and reinvent itself to serve a vibrant democracy in its latest iteration, in the process restoring the democratic dignity of this institution. It has shown how a cultural identity can be expressed clearly in architectural terms, which has given the latter an opportunity to expand its role beyond its blandly functional nature. Perhaps London (as well as other cities) should take a hint.

Bibliography 1. Weizman, E. (2019). Forensic Architecture: Violence at the Threshold of Detectability.

2. Fierro, A (2011). Inscriptions of violence: London’s Landscape of Commemoration.

3. Genocide in the Ixil Triangle, retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://forensic-architecture.org/investigation/environmental-violence-and-genocide-in-the-ixil-triangle 4. Reichstag, Foster + Partners. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https://www.fosterandpartners.com/projects/reichstag-new-german-parliament/ 5. The Graffiti That Made Germany Better. Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https:// www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/07/the-graffiti-that-made-germany-better/373872/ 6. The Eagle has Risen, The Guardian.

Retrieved April 20, 2020, from https:// www.theguardian.com/theguardian/1999/ apr/19/features11.g26 7. Neil MacGregor, Reichstag, Germany: Memories of a Nation. BBC (Producer), Retrieved from https://www.bbc.co.uk/ sounds/play/b04k6tvd

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