PRAXIS REAL AN ENTOPIC ATHENAEUM
CHANEL HYTOWER chanelhytower@gmail.com 631.873.5100 Thesis Advisor: Associate Professor Naomi Frangos New York Institute of Technology
CONTENTS I.
PREFACE THEORETICAL PRECEPTS
II.
UTOPIANISM IN THE EPHEMERAL WORLD
III.
IDEOLOGICAL CASE STUDIES
ENLIGHTENMENT REALISM WHY SITE MATTERS. WHAT IS AN URBAN SCAR? OF OTHER SPACES SPACES IN PLACE: ENTOPIANISM
THE UTOPIC APPROACH THE SPECTACLE MEGA EVENTS THROUGH TIME & SPACE BURNING MAN DISMALAND THE FLOATING PIERS THE BRION CEMETERY
IV.
PALIMPSEST SITE
V.
PRAXIS REAL
FLOYD BENNETT FIELD
27 29 33
37
39
43
THE PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE MAPPING EXPERIENCES: THE HERO’S JOURNEY AERONAUTICS AQUANAUTICS ASTRONAUTICS RELATING GEOMETRIES
REFERENCES
11 15 17 19 21 23
51 53 55 59 63 67
PREFACE
Our studio looks at architecture through the lens of memory under the theme of URBAN SCARS and investigates how architectural interventions can repair broken, interrupted fabric, but also recover identity of place, and heal deeper underlying factors and events that are both cause and effect of its rupture, including, history, culture, politics, economics, environment, ecology, psychology, and emotion. While each student was free to choose site and program, each was asked to develop a critical position on how they choose to Re-Member place within a city or along its fringes, such as, urban voids, derelict infrastructure, discarded buildings, palimpsest markings, suffering landscapes, etc., and think about its resulting impact. By “re-stitching” urban fabric in variations of addition, removal, alteration, transformation, preservation, renovation, extension, and/or expansion, projects attempt to infuse the forgotten “architectural body” with new life. This book in particular will focus on the utopic approach of the designer. More specifically, this thesis will critique the use of specific ideological frameworks that do not allow the architecture to speak to its context. Architecture that is not linked to its urban condition is simply an imposition of the designer’s ego on a site. Every place has external forces that affect it and ground it in realty. We as designers have a responsibility to that reality. Through a two semester studio sequence, I researched and developed inquiries on the topic of
“urban scars”. After intensive global analysis, I was able to
develop a design proposal as three scales: urban, building , and detail. With a process oriented approach and critical analysis of this issue through the lens of memory and ideology, this thesis explores the potential of architecture that speaks of genius loci while still embracing place through ephemerality.
9
I. THEORETICAL PRECEPTS
ENLIGHTENMENT
In the mid 18th century, architectural theorist Marc-Antoine Laugier began to speak of his thoughts on urban design, starting the notion of the architect as an ideologist of society and thus initiating “Enlightenment architectural theory”. His ideas on urban design were guided by the formal parameters of the aesthetic of the picturesque and applying it to the dimensions of the city. An ideology such as this was significant during the seventeenth century because it helped destroy the previous Baroque themes of the city.(Fig1.0) Laugier claims “No longer archetypal schemes or order, but instead the acceptance of the anti-perspective character of urban space.” 1 Fig 1.0
1
Manfredo Tafuri, Progetto e Utopia, Italy 1973 pp. 4 Figure 1.0: St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican City, designed by Gian Lorenzo Bernini in the 1660s. It exemplifies the Baroque city planning ideals of large public spaces with views of important buildings.
11
Fig 1.1
as new ideologists of society, architects instigated a shift in architectural theory. This new “enlightenment” dialogue allowed the city to be understood as a natural phenomenon rather than an accumulation of mechanisms. “Urban naturalism, the insertion of the picturesque into the city and into architecture, as the increased importance given to landscape in artistic ideology all tended to negate the now obvious dichotomy between urban reality and of the countryside. They served to prove that there was no disparity between the value accredited to the city as a productive mechanism of new forms or economic accumulation.” 2
Once opposition between the urban and suburban is challenged, then there is opportunity for reason and nature to be unified. In instances where reason and nature come together it can argue theoretically, that instance would be considered utopic.
2
Manfredo Tafuri, Progetto e Utopia, Italy 1973 pp. 8 Figure 1.1: London and Westminster improved, London 1766 by John Gwynn
ENLIGHTENMENT The global implication of architectural ideologies propelled research on the relationships between architectural object and urban organization. With consideration of the entire urban plan rather than a focus on strategic placement of objects, urban plans have the potential to unfold and inspire emotive moments in oppose to the forced perspectives of the previous historical themes.(Fig 1.2,1.3) Fig 1.2
This shift in thinking is what lead us to move away from just the principles of order towards a paradoxic equilibrium of opposites. “...the struggle between...the demand for order and
the will to formlessness.” 3 Francesco Milizia writes:
Figure 1.2: Piazza Del Popolo with Santa Maria dei Miracoli & Santa Maria Di Monte Santo by Carlo Rainaldi in Rome 1661-79 Figure 1.3: Piazza Del Popolo (aerial view) Manfredo Tafuri, Progetto e Utopia, Italy 1973 pp. 16-22
3
“A city is like a forest, thus the distribution of a city is like that of a park. There must be squares, crossroads, and straight and spacious streets in great numbers. But this is not enough. It is necessary that the plan be designed with taste and vivacity of spirit, so that is has both order and fantasy, eurythmy and variety....” 3
A city should be an accumulation of contradictions and variations at all scales. Whether it be at the scale of a detail, a building, or on a larger urban scale, there is always an opportunity for sensualism.
Fig 1.3
13
REALISM
15
Applying enlightenment theory to design can breed concepts that live in a state of idealism. A city with order and chaos, or regularity and irregularity is ideal but it cannot exist because it is an orchestrated reality. One can argue that the act of designing is an orchestration itself and so its is impossible to create the real. However, the real is not created, it is to be used as a tool to inform the design. Consideration of context is an important factor in design at every scale. There are systems that are influenced both inside and outside the area of a site. The area of influence, the area of control, and the area of effect are all relevant spaces within the context. “...self control, which is the only means of ensuring against deceptions, of precisely distinguishing and comparative relation of reality with ideal types in the logical sense, from the evaluation of reality on the basis of ideals.� 4
Manfredo Tafuri, Progetto e Utopia, Italy 1973 pp. 51
4
WHY SITE MATTERS.
17
To understand why site matters we must take into consideration how the design professional is given a site. “Professionals commissions begin not only with a client, but also with a pre-designated lot owned or controlled by that client. In this sense, designers often receive a site as a delimited given entity.” 5
When a design professional is given a site but are given restrictions as to what they can do it only hinder and limit the potential of the design. The best design strategy is always to look at the site first. Considering all things inside and outside of the literal limits of the site. “…the site has three distinct areas. The first, most obvious one, is the area of control, easy to trace in the property lines designating the legal metes and bounds. The second, encompassing forces that act upon a plot without being confined to it, can be called the area of influence. Third is the area of effect-the domains impacted following the design action.”
5
To have the best design outcome a designer must be able to look beyond the wants and needs of the client. What is equally important to the clients opinion in good design is being able to critically understand how a building can work in its urban environment. How will it be used? Who will be affected by it? How will it change the urban fabric? Good design isn’t one size fits all, good design must consider the site and all that inhabit the surrounding area.
Carol J. Burns & Andrea Kahn, Why Site Matters, Italy 1958
5
WHAT IS AN URBAN SCAR? When trying to define what an urban scar is we must consider things like architecture and memory. In many cases an urban scar site contains architecture that is deeply embedded in the memory of the place. What creates the scar ins the continuity of time. Time continues as the site remains the same. Trapped in its historical memory, abandoned and forgotten. (Fig 1.4) “Abandoned, forgotten artifacts, what do we do with them? Do we...remove, replace, reuse, renovate, remake, recycle, reconfigure, remember(memorial), reserve, reclaim, restore(preserve), recall, recollect, revive, revitalize, reinvent, rejoin...them? It is an urgent situation concerning our attitude towards past, present, and future artifacts, from pure preservation to total demolition of historical landmarks, It is an ethical question that cultivates our cultural history in the built environment, and also ignites out faculty of memory - collective, individual, personal memory, invented memory - that makes us feel connected to the world we live in.� Naomi Frangos
Figure 1.4: Abandoned airplane hangar at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn, New York.
19
OF OTHER SPACES
Figure 1.5: Iconographic diagrams on the six heterotopic principles Michel Foucault, Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias, 1967
6
Our lives are governed by many oppositions. What I believe to be the most important on is the intersection of space and time. In society there is an apprehensiveness towards time. However, time is the conducting power that places elements in space. A place in which time and space oppose each other is utopia. Utopias are where time is disregarded and space is of no importance. They are derived from the dreams of society but are fundamentally unreal. Utopias can have some loose relation to real spaces of society. “As a sort of simultaneously mythic and real contestation of the space in which we live, this description could be called heterotopology.” 6
This would be considered a heterotopia; a place that can physically represent the ideals of a utopia but still contain undesirable instances that grounds it in reality. Heterotopias can be defined in six principles(Fig 1.5): 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
Crisis Cemetery Juxtaposition of Place Slices of Time Opening & Closing Illusion
HETEROTOPIC PRINCIPLES Fig 1.5 FIRST PRINCIPLE “Crisis Heterotopia” Leaving “home” to be “elsewhere”
FOURTH PRINCIPLE “Slices of Time” “Heterotopias begin to function at full capacity whe man arrive at a break of their traditional time.”
SECOND PRINCIPLE “Heterotopia of Cemetery” As history occurs the function of a heterotopia will change with society.
FIFTH PRINCIPLE Opening and Closing Seems pure and simple but hide exclusions. Everyone can enter but that is only an illusion.
THIRD PRINCIPLE Heterotopia as Symbolism A series of spaces that are foreign to each other but represent something larger.
SIXTH PRINCIPLE A Function in Relation to All A space of illusion that exposes the real OR creating a space that is just as perfect as it is messy.
21
SPACES IN PLACE: ENTOPIANISM Constantinos Doxiadis’ concept of “‘entopia” was conceived in the 1960s. In contrast to the modernist utopias of the time, Doxiadis presents entopia as a place theory that breeds buildable and livable space. If utopia is a space where time is irrelevant and place is now importance, and heterotopia mirrors utopia making a joint experience of the real an unreal; than entopia is somewhere in between the two. (Fig 1.7) In his book,
“Between Dystopia and Utopia”, Doxiadis explains: “The present city - without reason, without dream - leads to dystopia and disaster. Utopias - without reason, with dream - cannot get us out of the impasse. There is only one road left - with reason and with dream - which should take us out of the bad place into a good place, which is not out of place, but in place an entopia.” 7 UTOPIA
without reason with dreams
DYSTOPIA without reason without dreams
HETEROTOPIA with reason mirrors dreams
ENTOPIA with reason with dreams
Fig 1.6
His interests in studying the patterns of human settlement helped to develop this place theory. Derived from the Greek words “en” and “topos”, meaning “in” and “place”, the Constantino A. Doxiadis, Between Dystopia and framework Utopia, London 1966
7
Figure 1.6: Iconographic diagram Figure 1.7: Graph of ‘topos” placement
by which entopia was created relies heavily on
mans relationship with his environment. This relationship informs Doxiadis’ five systems of human settlement. These systems are: nature, anthropos, society, shells, and networks. (Fig 1.8)
23
These systems contain layers that are what the built environment or “anthropo-cosmos� consist of. The first being land, the second is the man-made ground, the third is the human layer, fourth being the shells or building, and the last is the sky. This arrangement of layers grounds humans in a collective space that it is in place and real.
IDEAL
Fig 1.7
utopia
heterotopia
NOT IDEAL
entopia
dystopia PLACE
NO PLACE
25
II. UTOPIANISM IN THE EPHEMERAL WORLD
THE UTOPIC APPROACH As a capitalist society, it seems to be imperative to profit from the dreams and fantasies of society. This is exemplified in the ephemeral world of mega events. A fabricated reality that is void of time and disrupts space. Lack of contextual connections creates a utopic environment. Whether it be historic, geographic, cultural, political, or economic there must always be a link to the surrounding condition. Every project has a responsibility to reality.
Figure 2.1: New York World Fair site of 1967
Fig 2.1
27
THE SPECTACLE The word spectacle can be defined as “a visually striking display.” Mega-events such as fairs and festivals, like the World’s Fair can be considered spectacles in that they are forms of capitalist urbanization. Opposed to typical urbanization, capitalist urbanization uses events as a form of social control. An urban spectacle can be seen as a form of power, controlling mass consumption by presenting an illusion or spectacle rather that the reality. “In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation.”
8
Specticalism in mega- events are representations of reality through a constructed space with compilations of sensory stimulations. The viewers continuous disconnect from reality gives more power to representative illusions. REALITY
CA
PI TA L
IS
T
EL IT E
Fig 2.2
8 Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle, France 1967 Figure 2.2: Caricature of the utopian illusion
UTOPIAN REPRESENTATION
AUGMENTED REALITY
29
THE SPECTACLE The area of effect from specticalism spreads beyond the bounds of a mega event. There is a domino effect of sorts where the spectacle is the first domino to fall. It hits larger global systems (Fig 2.3) such as the economy, population,
MIND
urbanism etc. which then trickles down to the smaller scale of CONSEQUENCE O the community thus effect their quality of life.
Fig 2.3
CONSUMPTION
PERCEPTION
IMAGE
SHORT-TERM QUALITY OF LIFE PRODUCTION
TOURISM SOCIAL WELL BEING
MEGA-EVENT
SPEC
COST OF LIVING LIFESTYLE
POPULATION GENTRIFICATION
HISTORY LANDMARKS Figure 2.3: Mind Map demonstrating the systems effects by a spectacle
BRANDING
COMMUNITY
MIRAT
31
MAP
OF A SPECTACLE
IDENTITY
IMPORTS GLOBAL EXPORTS
ECONOMY
CAPITALISM
CTACLE URBANISM
TION
COMPETITION
EMPLOYMENT
TECHNOLOGY
ARCHITECTURE
INFRASTRUCTURE ENVIRONMENT
SUSTAINABILITY GOVERNMENT POLITICS
POLLUTION ECOLOGY
MEGA EVENTS THROUGH TIME AND SPACE The first World’s Fair took place in London in 1851; “The Great
Exhibition”. The organization of this event came in response to the demands for creating new economic links between nations. The Crystal Palace was design and built for the The Great Exhibition. The Crystal Palace was a cast iron and glass structure that housed all the exhibitions. Taking place during the Industrial Revolutions, the palace was a symbol in itself of the developments in industrial technology in the UK at the time. There is no question that the global competition ignited by the World’s Fairs is would brought us many life changing inventions. (Fig 2.5) However, as time has passed there has Fig 2.4
Figure 2.4: Locations of mega-events Figure 2.5: The Steam Engine was first introduced to the public during The Great Exhibition in 1851 Figure 2.6: The Crystal Place, London 1851 Figure 2.7: The current conditions of the Expo 2010 site
been a shift in intention. There is more focus on competing in
Fig 2.5
Fig 2.6
33
the global market and economic gain. This is exemplified in Expo 2010 that took place in Shanghai China. (Fig 2.6)The event was that largest to date, sitting on 528 hectare of land and welcoming 73 million visitors. To make room for the event many people ad businesses were displaced to use the land they occupied for the site. Currently the post event site is completely abandoned and overgrown. Ironically the theme of this expo was “Better Life, Better City” promoting sustainability. Yet what remains is a derelict site with echoes of past interpretations of the future.
WORLD’S FAIR OLYMPICS
Fig 2.7
London, United Kingdom Paris, France New York City, United States San Francisco, United States Turin, Italy Rome, Italy Chicago, United States Dublin, United Kingdom Brussels, Belgium Paris, France Vienna,Austria Melbourne,Australia Lyon, France Glasgow, United Kingdom London, United Kingdom Tokyo, Japan Los Angeles, United States Sydney,Australia Turin,Itlay Turin,Italy Marseille, France Philadelphia, United States Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm, Sweden Edinburgh, United Kingdom Moscow,Russia Berlin, Germany Berlin, Germany Amsterdam, Netherlands Cork, United Kingdom Antwerp, Belgium Antwerp, Belgium Cologne, Germany Brussels, Belgium Liège, Belgium Vancouver, Canada Innsbruck, Austria Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy St. Moritz, Switzerland Dunedin, New Zealand Milan, Italy Turin, Italy Genoa, Italy Lake Placid, United States Buffalo, United States Zaragoza, Spain Cleveland, United States Barcelona, Spain Wellington, New Zealand Porto, Portugal Lisbon, Portugal Athens, Greece Ballarat,Australia Buenos Aires, Argentina Calcutta, India Atlanta, United States Dallas, United States Tel Aviv,Palestine Trondheim, Norway Lillehammer, Norway Bergen, Norway Helsinki, Finland Kristiania, Norway Oslo, Norway Stockholm,Sweden Novgorod, Russia Gothenburg, Sweden Helsingborg, Sweden Glasgow, United Kingdom Moscow, Russia Copenhagen, Denmark Malmö, Sweden Tyne, United Kingdom Brisbane,Australia Manchester, United Kingdom Liverpool, United Kingdom Bremen, Germany Nottingham, United Kingdom Hanover, Germany Wembley,United Kingdom London,United Kingdom London ,United Kingdom South Kensington, United Kingdom Greenwich, London Bristol, United Kingdom Düsseldorf, Germany Ghent, Belgium Dresden, Germany Calgary, Canada Liège, Belgium Lille, France Frankfurt, Germany Prague, Czech Republic Mannheim, Germany Metz, France Stuttgart, Germany Nancy, France Vienna,Austrai Vienna, Austria Vienna,Austria Munich, Germany Munich,Germany Spokane, United States Seattle, United States Seattle, United States Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Nazi Germany Zürich, Switzerland Biel, Murten Chamonix, France Lyon, France Albertville, France Portland, United States Montreal, Canada Grenoble, France Bordeaux, France Genoa, Piedmont Genoa, Italy Genoa,Itlay Sarajevo, Yugoslavia Sochi, Russia Lyons, France Sapporo, Japan Milwaukee,United States Hobart,Australia Boston, United States Plovdiv, Bulgaria Toledo, United States Omaha, Nebraska Omaha, United States Oporto, Portugal Hampton Roads, United States Naples,Italy Naples, Italy Naples, Italy Salt Lake City, United States New York, United States Madrid, Spain Beijing, China Baltimore, United States Squaw Valley, United States Washington D.C., United States Lisbon, Portugal St. Louis, United States St Louis, United States St. Louis, United States Louisville, United States Geelong,Australia Richmond, United States Seville, Spain Yorktown, United States Auckland, New Zealand Nagano, Japan Daejeon, South Korea Nashville, United States Tsukuba, Japan Knoxville, United States Knoxville, United States Nagoya, Japan Aichi, Japan Kyoto, Japan Adelaide, South Australia Yeosu, South Korea Osaka, Japan Osaka, Japan Cape Town,South Africa Parramatta,Australia Long Beach, United States Atlanta, United States Atlanta,United States Santiago, Chile Charleston, United States Nanking, China Beit Dagon, Israel Jerusalem,Israel Jerusalem, Israel Tel Aviv, Palestine Shanghai,China Shanghai, China Coolgardie,Australia Hangzhou,China Porto Alegre, Brazil New Orleans, United States New Orleans, United States San Antonio, United States Kimberley,South Africa Brisbane, Australia Okinawa, Japan Miami, United States Kunming,China Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Hanoi,Vietnam Mexico City, Mexico Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic Kingston, Jamaica Guatemala City, Guatemala Manila, Philippines Lima, Peru Panama City, Panama Semarang,Indonesia Bogotá, Colombia Quito, Ecuador Sydney, Australia Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
35
III. IDEOLOGICAL CASE STUDIES
BURNING MAN BLACK ROCK DESERT, NV Burning Man is a festival that takes place annually in Black Rock Desert in Nevada; which is virtually the middle of nowhere. The aim of the event is very utopic; gearing towards principles such as self-expression, spirituality, and a society of artistic inclusion. But this all comes at a price being that tickets to the festival costs $200-$360. “...to create the temporary illusion of a commerce free world - utopia is an expensive endeavor.” 9
DISMALAND SOMERSET, UK Dismaland was an exhibition by Banksy in Somerset, England during the summer of 2015. The project aimed to be the complete opposite of the happiest place on earth, Disneyland. The installations in the exhibition were arranged to mimic that of a theme park but each piece spoke to dystopian qualities of today’s society. From police brutality to the distorted perception from the media. Rachel Bowditch “Performing Utopian Ideologies in Black Rock Desert”
9
37
YEARLY MIGRATION
CHAOS
SOCIAL EXCHANGE
SOCIAL CONSIOUSNESS
THE FLOATING PIERS BRESCIA, IT The Floating Piers was an installation by Christo in 2016. The installation consists of 220,000 high density cubes wrapped in yellow fabric floating on Lake Iseo, connecting the islands of San Paolo and Monte Isola. The floating surface allowed visitors the experience of walking on water. This installation is heterotopic in that it creates an instance where humans can do the seemingly impossible within a place grounded in reality. The Floating Piers mirrors both reality and the fantasy of the human mind making it heterotopic.
THE BRION CEMETERY ALTIVOLE, IT The Brion Cemetery by Carlo Scarpa is a private burial ground dedicated to the Brion family within a municipal cemetery just outside of Venice, Italy. The space is walled off and completely separate from the rest of the cemetery. The wall creates a threshold condition allowing one to cross over from one world to the next. Once on the other side there is no was to see back into the public cemetery; only out to the surrounding hill so Altivole. Though it is a place that houses death, experientially it is a place of peace. The emotive quality of the space is heterotopic because of its lack of connection to the rest of the cemetery but its strong connection to the its place.
39 URBAN CONDITION
TEMPORAL EXHIBIT
FIELD OF VISION
INSIDE
JOURNEY
41
IV. PALIMPSEST SITE
FLOYD BENNETT FIELD BROOKLYN, NY Floyd Bennett Field was New York City’s first airport. It was the site of many record breaking flights throughout the 1930s during the Golden Age of Aviation. Eventually, the city of New York moved the airport to a more convenient locations closer to transit, which is now known as LaGuardia Airport. Since then the site has been a naval station, a naval training station and now it is owned by the National Parks Service. However, the field is not just limited to typical park program. The NYPD has a division locate on the airfield, the NYC Department of Sanitation has their training facilities are there as well. With this random mix of program at Floyd Bennett Field, there is no connection to the history of the site other that the original runways that remain.
Fig 4.1
Figure 4.1: Postcard of Floyd Bennett Field Figure 4.2: Floyd Bennett Field Figure 4.3: Collage
Fig 4.2
43
Fig 4.3
45
47
V. PRAXIS REAL
Fig 5.1
49
This thesis project reflects on how an architectural construct could speak of a genius loci and still embrace place through ephemerality. How could both the ideals of society and contexualism co-exist in a spatio-temporal environment? “The whole world is merely an illusion of the senses and the sensory trace of that disappearance.�- Jean Baudrillard
Inspired by my readings, this proposal references the historical aspect of site to inform and reinforce a real experience that engages the spectacular, The coexistence of ephemeral and permanent structures link fabricated events to site specificity. The approach imagines architecture that grounds itself in the culture and history of place, while also creating fantastical experiences for the spectator that resonate beyond the bounds of the site.
Fig 5.2
Figure 5.1: Photo taken from the site Figure 5.2: Collage depicting the site through different lens as layers coming together.
PICTURESQUE LANDSCAPE GROUNDED IN HISTORY
Fig 5.3 Figure 5.3: Proposed master plan
51
In this proposal,(Fig 5.3) the thousand acres that make up Floyd Bennett Field are sculpted to created a rolling landscape that construct emotive relationships through ideals of the picturesque. Buried in these hills are the three navigation themed athenaeums - Aeronautics, Aquanautics, and Astronautic. They are all situated using site-lines and sequenced events to create an experience of wandering through a picturesque garden. By submerging the buildings, they are not seen as mere objects in the landscape, forcing the spectators’ focus to the landscape itself. These proposed topographical and architectural interventions become navigational devices within the new landscape, and orient the spectator to discover their way through an act of mapping out spatio-temporal experiences. Each athenaeum is programmatically geared towards a specific navigation typology; Aeronautics speaks directly to a palimpsestuous site, Aquanautics connects the visitor to the surrounding array of islands, and Astronautics evokes the potential of travel and a universal connection. By grounding the program in navigation, site and program have a contextual relationship.
MAPPING EXPERIENCES THE HERO’S JOURNEY Emulated as a “mono-myth” - a mythical archetype of the “hero’s journey” - the spectator - or hero - departs from his/ her normal life and undertakes the quest of a cyclical journey, whose visit is guided by a series of thresholds, from “known” to “unknown” worlds. This is where their transformation begins. The hero is faced with trials to overcome which leads him/ her to gain deeper wisdom or become apotheosized. The hero returns to his/her world transformed with what he/she has gained on the journey. (Fig 5.4) In terms of this project, the spectator is the hero, the known world is what exists beyond the site, the unknown world is the actual site itself, and the transformation takes place either within the space frame or upon descending into the particular athenaeums. When the spectator reemerges from this alternative reality, they have gained knowledge either about themselves or in regards to Fig 5.4
CALL TO ACTION
RETURN
Figure 5.4: Diagram of the cyclical mono-myth Figure 5.5: Sight line diagram
THRESHOLD
KNOWN UNKNOWN
THRESHOLD
TRIALS & TEMPTATION
TRANSFORMATION
REVELATION
53
Fig 5.5
THE LINES OF RUNWAYS EXTEND TO CONNECT TO THE SURROUNDING ISLANDS
POINTS ON THE ISLANDS ARE WITHIN THE FIELD OF VISION FROM ALL POINTS
THE ISLAND POINTS AREA ARRANGED IN THE SAME RADIAL LAYOUT AS THE RUNWAYS
THIS ARRANGEMENT IS STILL IN ALL FIELDS OF VISION BUT HAS PHYSICAL CONNECTION TO THE SITE
AERONAUTICS It is important that there is always contextual relationship both physically and interminably. This athenaeum themed in aeronautics has validity in that its theme is directly connected to the previous program of the site. The runways on the site are echoes of the past calling to present but they are currently going unanswered. As it is currently programmed as a park, the runways seem out of place. On the contrary, they are were perfected sited for their purpose. This proposal aims to reimagine the experience of a runway in a park. This Aeronautic building is modeled after a typical airplane hangar, only it is underground.(Fig 5.6) The giant entry that penetrates the main exhibition hangar is representative of the path of ascension and descension. This hangar has a glass roof to align with the ramp to bring focus to this visual flight path. The level below the hangar is a open space for historic exhibits focusing on the history of the site and the surrounding area. The smaller hangar to the left of the building is completely submerged and is programmed as a public mechanic workshop for the surrounding community. Figure 5.6: Underground Fig 5.7 Hangar built in Sweden to withstand nuclear attacks, 1955 Figure 5.7: Key plan
Fig 5.6
55
Fig 5.8
Fig 5.9
Figure 5.8: Study model Figure 5.9: Conceptual model showing the linear path of flight vs. the path of man, Resin Figure 5.10: Fabricformed detail of an interior wall, inspired but aeronautical charts. Figure 5.11: Aeronautical chart Figure 5.12: Section
Fig 5.12
Fig 5.10
Fig 5.11
57
AQUANAUTICS Where Floyd Bennett Field was once a peninsula, it is now an island.(Fig 5.13) Fig 5.13
This relationship to the water isn’t actually a new intervention. The site of Floyd Bennett was actually an island before it was developed to become an airport.(Fig 5.14) Bringing the land back in time speaks to its past but it also acknowledges the outlaying marsh islands that surround it. Fig 5.14
Fig 5.15 Figure 5.13: Diagram of change in land mass Figure 5.14: Map of Brooklyn in 1890 Figure 5.15: Key plan Figure 5.16: Conceptual model showing submergence, Resin
Fig 5.16
The entrance to the Aquanautics athenaeum is oriented perpendicular to the shoreline of the site.(Fig 5.15) Upon entering the long dark tunnel, the spectator cannot see water but they can hear and smell it. Around the bend at the end of the corridor the dark tunnel opens up to the space of the athenaeum. Sunlight floods the space from the opening above. The glass in the opening is warped in such a way that when the light passes through it seems as though you are under water. The floor begins to slowly descends down as the visitor makes their way through the space. On the right side of this ramp is a large lap pool that is connected to a 130’ deep dive pool at the end of the ramp. On the opposite side of the ramp is exhibition space, library, and laboratories. The objective of the program is to allow scuba divers to discover things at new depths.
59
The dive pool allows divers to test their diving abilities in a deep sea dive. The exhibitions space and library allows nondivers to expand their knowledge of aquatic life and travel. The laboratories give scientists the opportunity to test specimens gathered after an exploration. Fig 5.17 Figure 5.17: Image taken from the site Figure 5.18:Fabricformed plaster detail of interior floor condition insprired by Fig 5.17 Figure 5.19: Floor plans Figure 5.20: Section
Fig 5.20
Fig 5.18
61
Fig 5.19
UPPER LEVEL
LOWER LEVEL
63
ASTRONAUTICS The entryway to this athenaeum appears in the forest as a dark cave.(Fig 5.21) The entry corridor is like a an orbital path of a celestial body. As this body is passing through the atmosphere, it begins to curve in as it is pulled in towards the center of the building from a gravitational force. Once inside the building there are two ramps to the lower level that meet in the midpoint. One ramp is for the public, and the other is private for the staff. The point at which the two ramps meet, the opposite ramp breaks apart so that the other may continue down. This layout was inspired by the orbital paths of the planets Pluto and Neptune.(Fig 5.22) Though their paths intersect, the planets themselves never collide, just as the paths of the public and private may intersect they never collide.
Fig 5.21
Figure 5.21:Key plan Figure 5.22: Orbital paths of Pluto & Neptune Figure 5.23: Conceptual model showing oblate arrangements, Resin
65
Fig 5.22
PLUTO
NEPTUNE
Fig 5.23
Fig 5.24
Figure 5.24:Floor plans Figure 5.25: Fabricformed plaster interior detail inspired by Fig 5.26 Figure 5.26: Lunar chart Figure 5.27: Section
LOWER LEVEL
Fig 5.27
UPPER LEVEL
Fig 5.25
Fig 5.26
67
69
RELATING GEOMETRIES A 30 foot deep, elevated space frame is erected and stretched across the site. During a temporary mega-event, planks are installed as a walkable surface that also houses the various exhibitions. Columns arranged on a grid derived from contextual connections holds up the deep structure. The depth of the frame varies so it can float above the sacred runways. As the armature extends throughout the site it bleeds into the hills creating thresholds to be discovered. At this point the verticality and arrangement of the columns is mimicked by the placement and stature of the forest of lodgepole pine trees. As the spectator crosses the threshold from the built structural network to the naturally landscaped environment, they embark on meandering path through the forest, where they can discover the entrances to the athenaeums. Fig 5.28
TWO POINTS OF INTEREST: JFK AIRPORT & WORLD FAIR OF 1964
Figure 5.28Diagram Fig 5.29 showing referential site geometries Figure 5.29: Space frame Figure 5.30: Perspective
FROM THESE POINT EXTENSIONS AND THEIR INTERSECTION A GRID CAN BE EXTRACTED
Fig 5.30
71
Fig 5.31
Figure 5.31: Master plan with space frame erected
73
75
REFERENCES 1. Manfredo Tafuri, “Progetto e Utopia”, Italy 1973, pg. 4 2. Manfredo Tafuri, “Progetto e Utopia”, Italy 1973, pg. 8 3. Manfredo Tafuri, “Progetto e Utopia”, Italy 1973, pg. 16-22 4. Manfredo Tafuri, “Progetto e Utopia”, Italy 1973, pg. 51 5. Carol J. Burns & Andrea Kahn, Why Site Matters, Italy 1958 6. Michel Foucoult, “Of Other Spaces:Utopias and Heterotopias”, 1967 7. Constantinos A. Doxiadis, “Between Dystopia and Utopia”, London 1966 8. Guy Debord, “The Society of the Spectacle”, France 1967, pg. 1 9. Rachel Bowditch, “Performing Utopian Ideologies in Black Rock Desert”, 2004