ENDS 108 Final Portfolio

ETHAN THOMAS ENDS 108 /// LEARNING PORTFOLIO /// SPRING 2021 PROFESSOR /// DAVI XAVIER

/// COURSE DESCRIPTION This course consists of studio, lecture, and seminar classes dedicated to mastering the foundational techniques of design practice and critical thinking. This course requires serious dedication to your studies; every day you will draw, make models, and engage in reading, writing, and speaking about your work and the work of architecture in general.

Throughout this course you will be challenged by your instructors and peers and you are expected to respond to each and every challenge at the reach of your ability. This will be a transformative learning experience.

The design studio is a learning environment intended to provoke creative action and critical reflection. It is a place for open-ended exploration. It is a kind of education that fosters great responsibility in the midst of great liberty.

/// LEARNING OUTCOMES Students who successfully complete this course should be able to advance their knowledge and skills in the following aspects: - Define, debate, and defend the basic premises of a design project.

- Develop a project using a critical and rational iterative method.

- Manipulate two- and three- dimensional materials and geometries.

- Create and evaluate works of design using formal concepts, including the concepts of interval, ratio, proportion, contrast, hierarchy, rhythm, scale, etc.

- Interpret and propose a project using conventional forms of orthometric drawing, including plan, elevation, and section, as well as the techniques of line-weight and line-type.

- Analyze, evaluate, and comprehend the context of architecture which includes site and urban location, but also the cultural, societal, historical, and theoretical context of architecture.

- Understand and implement the various ordering principles of architecture and how they can influence design (Operations of Design)

PROJECT #1 /// DEFINING SPACE

/// PROJECT DESCRIPTION This project intended to recap the knowledge acquired in the first semester of the course while deepening the discussion of the grid in Architecture. Three grid ideas were discussed and developed in the form of figure-ground studies: the "typical" grid (1"x 1"), the Fibonacci grid, and the Golden Ratio grid. The final goal of each grid was to have three hierarchical spaces (primary, secondary, tertiary) defined by slot conditions.

/// LEARNING OBJETIVES Investigate Defined Space Investigate Implied Space Investigate Hierarchy / Primary, secondary, tertiary spaces.

Investigate Slot Conditions: Continue and Terminated.

Investigate Ordering systems / The Grid Investigate Figure-ground composition Investigate Sequence

/// THEORETICAL BACKGROUND - Jeffrey Hildner: Picasso Lessons: The Sixth Woman of Les Demoiselles D’Avignon, 2011 - Colin Rowe: The Mathematics of the Ideal Villa and Other Essays, 1976

/// READING RESPONSE /// THE MATHEMATICS OF THE IDEAL VILLA /// COLIN ROWE While the Villa Malcontenta is a fantastic structure in most every way, it is quite repetitive when compared to Garches by Le Corbusier. Garches is very complex and diverse in what it offers in terms of figure, form, and space with every floor and room.

While Colin Rowe did have a very compelling argument and made very solid points, I cannot agree with him. Although may critics and architects alike seem to define beauty and greatness of a structure simply by numbers (such as the Fibonacci sequence, golden ratio, etc.), to me, greatness and beauty of a structure is defined by much more than that. Le Corbusier is known for his “rule breaking” designs, and Garches is certainly no different in this aspect. It may appear fairly simple in its design when looking from the outside at the facade, however in plan and once inside, the spaces created are anything but simple. Much like some of his other designs, Le Corbusier takes the entire house and wraps it around large windows that completely open up the house, and allow for a great amount of prospect. Once inside, the combination of curved walls that break up rooms and spaces, as well as the use of ramps and stairs, create the true experience of compression, expansion, and terminated slots. All things we have focused heavily on these last two semesters.

Unfortunately, Villa Malcontenta, is nowhere near the same in terms of creativity or experience. Villa Malcontenta is just a combination of repeating elements and thrown together geometric figures. While there is definitely something to learn from the Villa Malcontenta, in my opinion, it just doesn't offer the same experience or opportunity as Garches does. Perhaps if you're trying to learn more of a minimalist or simplistic style, then the Villa Malcontenta would be the way to go.

PROJECT #2 /// PRECEDENT ANALYSIS

/// PROJECT DESCRIPTION The precedent analysis exercise focused on discussing the relationship between object and context. Using canonical architectural projects, students must develop a critical view of the precedent, displayed in the form of drawings, theoretical critique, and analytical diagrams. The Modern Movement was the historical background chosen as the departure point for the selection of the projects, which spanned from 1928 until 1998. The exercise proposed to observe the ramifications and influences of the movement starting from Europe and sprawling over the other continents, also paying attention into other architecturaland sociological languages developed after, such as Post-Modernism and Phenomenology.

/// LEARNING OBJETIVES The precedent analysis proposed the understanding of the following topics: - Project’s relevance within architectural history (discourse); - Projects’ relationship between architectural object and its context (body + city); - Projects’ relationship between program and formal composition (diagrammatic existence); - Project’s relationship between material and formal composition (tectonics); - The use of passive systems in an architectural project; - The articulation of operative verbs to define a parti.

/// THEORETICAL BACKGROUND - Roger H. Clark: Precedents in Architecture: Analytic Diagrams, Formative Ideas, and Partis, 2005 - Antoni Di Mari & Nora Yoo: Operative Design: A Catalogue of Spatial Verbs, 2013

PRECEDENT ANALYSIS /// PROJECTS TIMELINE

PRECEDENT ANALYSIS /// THEORETICAL CONNECTIONS

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// REM KOOLHAAS /// 1998

/// ABSTRACT The Maison À Bordeaux, which directly translates to “The House in Bordeaux”, was commissioned in 1994 and built in 1998 in Bordeaux, France by an architect named Rem Koolhaas. Although highly debated, some argue that the Maison À Bordeaux should fall under the postmodernism movement, as they believe modernism peaked in the 1960’s and died in the early 1970’s. However, some people argue that the Maison À Bordeaux is still directly related to the modernist movement within architecture, as the modernism movement, as well as postmodernism continues into the present day. Regardless of which one of these you may believe to be the correct answer, for the purpose of this, we will be looking at how the Maison À Bordeaux largely has ties to the modernist movement, but also a little bit of the postmodernism movement way of thinking.

To begin, Modernism is not just simply another style of architecture. “It presents a new way of thinking. Modernist architecture emphasizes function. It attempts to provide for specific needs rather than imitate nature” (Craven, Jackie. "Architecture Timeline Western Influences on Building Design." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021). The Maison À Bordeaux certainly fits this description, as its primary focus is to allow the wheelchair bound father accessibility everywhere within the house, ie. function. Another stamp of modernism style is that the architects of modernism believed in applying scientific and analytical methods to their designs. In other words, their designs were often opposite to the expectations people had and seemed to often defy gravity. This is also certainly applicable to the Maison À Bordeaux as it takes on the style of having three houses stacked on top of one another, something we’ll explore more a bit later. With the third story seeming to float on top of the middle volume as well as cantilevering over it, it's very confusing as to how it is even standing, much less supported. The volume that is cantilevering over is supported by a solid steel tube that houses a spiral staircase that runs through all three levels of the house. In addition to that, there is a solid L shaped brace that supports the back side of the house, which is also accompanied by a steel beam that goes along the entirety of the roof that then connects to a steel tension cable that is buried underground to stabilize the house. Now, when looking at the modernist movement, “Modernist architecture generally has little or no ornamentation and is prefabricated or has factory-made parts. The design emphasizes function and the man-made construction materials are usually glass, metal, and concrete” (Craven, Jackie. "Architecture Timeline - Western Influences on Building Design." ThoughtCo, Feb. 16, 2021). This also directly ties to the Maison À Bordeaux, as those are almost the sole materials and design elements in the entire structure, including the interior spaces. Lastly, architecture students of today are taught that there is no such thing as “new” architecture, as all buildings today draw from plans and built designs from the past, as copying and mixing together already existing buildings is the most successful way to achieve a good design. Although this is a postmodernism way of thinking, it can be applied to the Maison À Bordeaux to see how it connects to early works of the modernist movement; as we can see direct ties between the Maison À Bordeaux and the Villa Savoye

by Le Corbusier, which was built in 1931, right in the middle of the modernism period.

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B FLOOR PLAN- LEVEL 0 0

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1. MAIDS ROOM 2. GUEST ROOM 3. LAUNDRY 4. KITCHEN 5. OUTDOOR LIVING ROOM 6. INDOOR LIVING ROOM

7. MASTER BEDROOM A 8. MASTER BEDROOM B 9. PATIO 10. BEDROOM C 11. BEDROOM D 12. BEDROOM E 13. PATIO

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1. MAIDS ROOM 2. GUEST ROOM 3. LAUNDRY 4. KITCHEN 5. OUTDOOR LIVING ROOM 6. INDOOR LIVING ROOM

7. MASTER BEDROOM A 8. MASTER BEDROOM B 9. PATIO 10. BEDROOM C 11. BEDROOM D 12. BEDROOM E 13. PATIO

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FLOOR PLAN- LEVEL +2 0

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1. MAIDS ROOM 2. GUEST ROOM 3. LAUNDRY 4. KITCHEN 5. OUTDOOR LIVING ROOM 6. INDOOR LIVING ROOM

7. MASTER BEDROOM A 8. MASTER BEDROOM B 9. PATIO 10. BEDROOM C 11. BEDROOM D 12. BEDROOM E 13. PATIO

SECTION A 0

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SECTION B 0

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ELEVATION- NORTHWEST 0

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MAISON A BORDEAUX /// GROUND CONDITION

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// STRUCTURE + AXIS

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// PASSIVE SYSTEMS

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// POROSITY

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// CIRCULATION + PROGRAM

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// OPERATIONS

CARVE + OVERLAP

MAISON A BORDEAUX /// TECTONICS

/// READING RESPONSE /// PRECEDENTS IN ARCHITETURE /// ROGER H. CLARK In the introduction the book states that it is important to know how buildings connect to each other, beyond just who the architect was, the location/site of the building, and when it was built. This is largely achieved through diagrams, these diagrams are used to showcase different attributes which help to compare different qualities between different buildings which are different from style, period, function, or time. However, these diagrams also showcase how these different attributes relate to each other to sometimes achieve the same things. The purpose of diagrams is to look at the different spatial characteristics of each building in a way that each part of the building, as well as the parti can be easily understood. This understanding is mostly through the fundamental elements and relationships between characteristics of the building. First, The analysis is conducted by itself, and then in comparison to another item.

To begin natural light is where daylight is able to enter the building, and within each space, it enters that space in its own regard.

Natural light is a medium for interpreting the form and space of the room, as well as the perception of the volumes and masses within the room. This is done through the quantity, color, and quality, of the natural light. Now, massing is different from mass, massing is the perceptual image of the building as a whole. Massing is said to be “relative” to context, masses, patterns, and hierarchical elements. Next we look at circulation, circulation is how a person experiences a building, and use-space is almost the sole focus of decision making on circulation for architects relative to the function of the space. Now, circulation can terminate, be separate from, through, or inside of these different spaces. It can establish hierarchy, locations of entry, center, and terminators of space. When looking at units,a unit is defined as a defined entity which is part of a building, which itself may have one or more units. Units can be spatial entities which correspond to volume, structural components, massing, a collection of these elements, none of these, or the use-spaces mentioned earlier. Units are considered as separate from, adjoining to, overlapping of, or less than the whole, but most certainly part of the whole. Lastly, In the plan to section or elevation, the plan organizes horizontal movement and space, activities, and generates form elevation while section imagines horizontal space and understanding. Consideration of one of each (plan, section, and elevation) will impact the layout of the others through concepts of similarity, difference, equality, and proportion.

PROJECT #3 /// FILLING THE GAP

/// PROJECT DESCRIPTION The assignment represented the speculation of housing density in an urban context where the ground is the focus and the beginning of all the relationships in the city. The negative space is usually understood as an empty area; however, the negative was the site in this project. The assignment questions were; if existent density and context are the hard edges of this current urban scenario, how is the infill appropriated towards a healthy future for the city? If the sky is the limit, how this new density occupation can be defined? How can cities grow on top of one another without neglecting each other or its inhabitants? To investigate these issues, the students explored foundation concepts such as organizing principles and operative design allied with contemporary housing theories. These elements established the theoretical framework for the proposals.

/// LEARNING OBJETIVES This project enabled students to reflect upon the following points: - The importance of observing existing relationships in the city; - The importance of scale; - The importance of the courtyard – the importance of the void; - How architecture reacts to its context; - How ground conditions act as elements of inclusion/exclusion; - How operational design leads to architecture.

In addition, the following theoretical subjects were discussed: - Right to the city; - Density and livability; - Segregation and equitable environments; - Housing in the 21st century.

/// THEORETICAL BACKGROUND - Jane Jacobs: The Death and Life of Great American Cities, 1961 - David Sim: Soft City: Building Density for Everyday Life, 2019 - Urbanized, 2011

CONTEXT MATRIX

FILLING THE GAP /// SITE + NEGATIVE SPACE STUDY

FILLING THE GAP /// GRID + NEGATIVE SPACE STUDY

FILLING THE GAP /// SITE + GRID + HABITABLE SPACES

FILLING THE GAP /// SLICING STUDIES /// HORIZONTAL

FILLING THE GAP /// SLICING STUDIES /// VERTICAL

FILLING THE GAP /// PERSPECTIVE SECTION /// CONTEXT

FILLING THE GAP /// RENDERS