AAD_SU21_044

M e t a •m o r p h o u n

Mariami Maghlakelidze Columbia GSAPP MSAAD 21’

Metamorphosis

and

CONTENT

01

Orders of the Garden

Critic: Mabel Wilson |Advanced Studio V

02

In Between Water and Sky

Critic: Mario Gooden +Torkwase Dyson| Advanced Studio VI

03 Energy Pavilion

Critic: Jared Friedman | Re-Thinking BIM

04

Continuous Architecture

05

Critic: Steven Holl, Dimitra Tsachrelia | Architecture Apropos Art

Microscopic Law Critic: Benedict Clouette, Andrés Jaque | Transscalarities

06 Other Natures

Critic: Michael Wang | Summer Workshop

07

Didactic Scalar Ecology

Critic: Tei Carpenter | Advanced Architecture Tutorial

Mariami Maghlakelidze MLA, MS AAD Candidate at Columbia University GSAPP

www.mariabstract.com

ii

Orders of the Garden Architecture is never neutral, it either heals or hurts. From the racist practice of redlining, to the segregated spaces of the Jim Crow era, to the invention of ‘low-income’ neighborhoods, architecture has historically been a crucial tool in enforcing systemic injustices.

In East Village, Manhattan, neighborhoods with predominantly Black, Indigenous and people of color are located adjacent to inhospitable conditions which have been a result of these racist histories. The lack of care for these residents is evident in the lack of access to equitable social, structural, and environmental infrastructure.

This project breaks down the garden to our understanding of its essence— not as a noun as it is popularly understood, describing a physical place, but as a verb defining an exchange of care at all scales. Using St. Mark’s Church-in-the-bowery as a point of contact, this project focuses on identifying and tending to these areas in the city which have systematically been uncared-for.

Considering the history and location of the church grounds, this project proposes a range of garden prototypes for vast networks of care— for the gardener, and the performance of gardening; for rest, rejuvenation and gathering; for the garden, and the medicinal herbs and vegetables that the space provides with the possibility of growth; for the uncared-for and historically neglected communities in East Village, whose spaces these gardens will be adapted to in order to exchange breath, nutrition, and care.

The order of the garden is a reclamation of the urban space. It is a disruption of the formal systems that make up the orders of the city as we know it. It is a network that prioritizes the safety, wellbeing, and growth of all participants— human, non-human, and thing alike.

A conceptual story this collage tells is one that captures porosity, transparency, and movement in its design. It shows a garden, in the way that we continue to describe it- understanding the human, the non-human, and the thing itself as bodies of assembly in the performance, and as bodies which are gardens in themselves, engaged in a network of care between all participating members.

Lifting the garden off the grounds and the current floodplain and touching only lightly in certain areas.

01

SOUTH SECTION A

Advanced Studio V Critic: Mabel Wilson Team member: Urechi Oguguo 6

7

B C

A

B

A

8

9

B

A

GARDEN A has the structure raised above ground, away from the floodplain and reaching towards the sun for plants like some of the herbs and vegetables which require those qualities for sustenance.

SOUTH SECTION A

10

GARDEN B a dome sitting on the ground with a mostly covered inner shell, used for plant storage, community gathering and tea making using the herbs grown, etcetera- programs which demand for more cool, enclosed spaces.

GARDEN C is designed for the non-human entity - the plants - alone; respectfully raised above the area of the existing grounds of the church which contains most of the grave sites.

GARDEN D is a mobile garden prototype which can be collected and assembled in the homes of members of communities across the neighborhood allowing for residents to grow their own gardens at home.

EAST SECTION B

11

EAST SECTION B

12

NORTH SECTION A

13

14

15

16

17

In Between Water and Sky Migration of Blackpoll Warbler & Passaic River Today, during the climate change dilemma and the environmental crisis, it’s vital to not just simply mimic nature while designing but understand its essence and create a language of exchange between natural and built environments.

We, humans, are connected with the entire ecosystem, from the oceans that surround us to the water that makes up two-thirds of our bodies. Bodies of water, being fluid, are in a constant process of intake, exchange, and transformation. We have a constant connection to the natural environment as we breathe in and breathe out, however, after colonial, industrial, capitalist, and now, in this technological era, we have lost the spatial relationship, knowledge, engagement, and synthesis with nature.

Lenape Delaware people, Indigenous people of the northeastern woodlands, had a traditional ecological knowledge and complex understanding of the natural world transmit with symbols and mythology. In Native American culture, it is believed that all things possess an inherent virtue, power, and wisdom. Bird symbols were very spatial with their ability to soar above the clouds, perhaps to the heavens, and their sense of freedom inspired many. When a feather falls to the earth, it was believed to carry all of the bird’s energy, and it was perceived as a gift from the sky, the sea, and the trees. In order to rebuild our connection with the natural environment, it’s vital to understand what we have lost and learned from the practices of Indigenous people.

This project aims to create space that stands for various species by creating nests for birds. The structure will be an extension of the existing landscape of Passaic falls, Mary Ellen Kramer Park, and Valley of the rocks. Without defining the boundaries of the structure, nature will be integrated within and without.

Pavilion will operate as an informational board and ‘‘bridge’’ between natural and build environment.

02

Columbia Gsapp, Advanced VI Critic: Mario Gooden Individual work

18

19

Migration of Blackpoll Warbler The Blackpoll warbler departs from the northeast Atlantic coast and embarks on a nonstop transoceanic flight of up to 3 d and 2,770 km on their way to overwintering grounds in South America.

Medium: Ink, Charcal, Watercolor 20

21

Migration of Passaic River

Blackpoll Warbler Migration

Wynter Wells Drawing School workshop with Torkawase for Environmental Liberation.

Medium: Ink, Charcal, Glass chips 22

23

24

25

In Between Over Parallel Diagonal Nesting Flow Circular Stretch

Migration story of Blackpoll Warbler | Conceptual model 26

27

Obstacle

laminar flow Turbulent flow

Site Conditins| Water flow analysis at Great Falls 28

29

‘‘Deconstructing’’ Water, and story of the Plackpoll Warbler presented with undulating surface panels. The panels are streteched in the space with elastic wires. Forms create relations and conflicts with each other, rejecting synthesis or totality. Boundaries between the structures are never defined.

There is a Dissociation with space and time.

Migration story of blackpoll warbler Conceptual Construction 30

31

Migration story of blackpoll warbler Conceptual Construction 32

33

Blackpoll Warbler & Passaic river Migration from north to south 34

35

C C

C

C

A

C

C

B B

A B

B

B

A

Legend A: Water (Passaic River) B: Humans C: Birds Environmental Analysis 36

Spatial Strategy Diagram 37

Existing Shrubs

New Trees

Stadium Structural Emphasis 38

Site Plan 39

D

D

C

D

Habitat performance space aims to link humans and nature.

By creating nesting spaces for birds inviting different species and welcoming humans to experience engagement with nature. After crossing the bridge at great falls, A, force Pavilion is located that with an enclosed tight shape and wider opening at the end creates a tensWion and psychologocially forces humans to move forward and engage with habitat performance. Nature and climate Pavilions B and C operate as an informational boards that traces movement and transformation of nature. And lastly, D pavilions are for birds and different species to nest.

B

A

40

A: Force Pavilion B: Nature Pavilion C: Climate Pavilion D: Bird Nesting, species Pavilion Circulation

41

South-East Section 42

43

Bird’s Pavilion Structural Emphasis 44

45

Bird’s Pavilion

Bird’s Nesting Pavilion 46

47

NATURE PAVILION: In the Nature Pavilion architecture operates as an informational board that traces movement and change in ecosystem such as movement of the trees, birds in relationship to wind and sky.

48

49

CLIMATE PAVILION Looking up from the climate pavilion, understanding habitat performance in the sky. Climate pavilion operates as a telescope, observing the climate movement and change throughout the time.

50

51

NATURE PAVILION Structural Emphasis 52

53

Clmate and Energy Pavilion Keywords: Architecture + technology

Following the population growth, the consumption and demand for energy are currently growing far greater than the amount of energy produced.

In order to respond to environmental challenges, this project aims to integrate renewable energy into the public-open space.

Bryant Park, located in Midtown Manhattan was selected to design a Voronoi, Energy Pavilion that could accommodate public gatherings by providing a sitting area, integrating water collectors to collect all the stormwater on the pavilion site, and solar photovoltaic panels that could generate energy and power ‘Stephen A. Schwarzman Building’ (Public Library). Solar radiation, Wind, and water flow analysis were conducted to examine pavilion energy performance.

In 10 years oronoi, Energy Pavilion will generate 50,985,530 Kwh, avoid 34,160 Co2 emissions, and save 30,000 Barrels of oil.

03

Rethinking-BIM Critic: Jared Freidmann Individual work

54

55

December 31

March 19

June 20

Winter Solstice

Spring Equinox

Summer Solstice

Solar Analysis 56

Wind Analysis 57

Simulations | Rainwater flow 58

59

Continous Architecture Inspired from the Frederick Kiesler’s Endless House.

04 Architecture Apropos Art

Critic: Steven Holl, Dimitra Tsachrelia Individual work

60

61

62

63

64

65

‘‘Continous Architecture’’ with openings 66

67

Over the last 2 decades, there has been constant oil spilling in the mangroves of the Delta Region, and this constant pollution has not only affected the people at Ogoniland communities but also it has caused degradation of ecosystem services induced by the irresponsibility of the mega oil industry (Agbo-Ola).

Olaniyi studio managed to visit Niger Delta and get a water sample that they photographed with a microscopic scale to emphasize the molecular violence caused by the oil spill. The study aimed to show how environmental exploitation led to the hidden violence on a molecular scale while drawing in the viewer with photographic technicality, and beauty.

However, the roots of these issues are coming from much deeper aspects associated with social and political demands. What are the politics of this space, and its tensions?

Nigeria is a post colony in the temporal as well as the economic and political senses of the word. It has been formally independent since 1960 but it is still embedded in unequal neocolonial relationships under globalization (Feldner, 2011). From the neocolonial point of view, the global significance and impact that fossil fuels have on cultural and social imaginaries of the global North and South is foregrounded.

Water is vital for human well-being and while oil is spilling in the Niger delta, this environmental issue also overlaps with social problems that are exacerbated by poverty, economic and political demands. pollution from oil spills has damaged many traditional agricultural and fishing livelihoods. The lack of development due to over-dependence on the oil and gas industry and mismanagement of public funds, it has provided few alternative options to secure livelihoods. The failure system of economic opportunities is a cause of financial poverty in the Niger Delta and many intercalated complex issues related to politics.

Oil spilling in the water is definitely a critical environmental issue, However, in the case of Nigeria Delta, the issue is overlapped with social, and political aspects discussed above.

The transscalar work, by Olaniyi Studio, addresses a wide variety of issues and aspects of social, political, economic demands going on in many parts of the world from microscopic to micro, meso, and macro scales. Olaniyi Studio, with the photograps, art, architecture, law, engages the viewer in a complicit anthropological relationship with an environmental issue going on in Niger Delta. All of this causes us to raise the question about What are the ways in which these disciplines can protect their rights while also showing the value in the forms of knowledge that they live by in their environments. Also, how the balance right to ownership against our responsibility to promote human well-being, such question as this is relevant thinking through our problems: What do we own? Do we own land? Do we own a water? Do we own aur? Do we own world? How could the ownership possibly give us a right to pollute and disturb the environment?!

Reference: Feldner, M. 2011. Representing the neocolonial destruction of the Niger Delta: • Helon Habila’s Oil on Water. Journal of Postcolonial writing.

• http://yussefagbo-ola.com/

Evolution, growth, metamorphosis, transformation, expansion, happening in various scales.

Microscopic law = Slow violence

05 Transscalarities

Critic: Benedict Clouette, Andrés Jaque

68

69

Metamorhosis O ther Natures We live in a world where everything, the assemblies of bodies, humans or non-human entities, is inherently interconnected and operates as a medium in the constant ecological, political, cultural, or social movement of exchange or transformation.

Materials with it’s fluid or solid matter in between natural or nonnatural artificial processes are linked with the romanticization of the Anthropocene.

Similar to other processes in the ecology, sedimentary, igneous, and metamorphic rocks naturally occurring solid, are formed by physical changes such as melting, cooling, eroding, transforming, and compacting. We human bodies, with Anthropocene or Holocene future epoch perspective we do have various interventions on the ecosystems.

Today, nature lives with us together with its transformed way in which it has become concrete, plastic, steel, etc., and sometimes it’s really hard to understand the boundaries between natural or artificial, manmade nature. Perhaps which we can call it other nature.

This experiment aims to highlight the processes and combinations in which natural and artificial entities combine in the hybrid way which becomes Other Natures.

06 Summer Workshop Critic: Michael Wang Individual work

70

Exhibition Space, Avery Holl Columia GSAPP 71

Stone Metamorphosis.

Method: Crayons eroded into sediment Compacted into sedimentary rock Melted and cooled into igneous rock

Experiment N1: Stone Metamorphosis 72

73

Experiment N2: Natural- Artificial Nature |Metamorphosis 74

75

Experiment N3. Materials: Natural Stone Titanite + Tree Bark with Moss + Natural 76

77

78

79

Experiment N4. Materials: Burned wood piece + Spruce tree branch 80

81

Experiment N5. Materials: Broken Concrete Piece + Melted Silicone + Galvanized 82

Experiment N6. Materials: Wood + Galvanized Steel Wire + Starbucks paper Nap83

Experiment N7. Materials: Concrete + natural Stone + Galvanized Steel Wire + Natural Dried Flowers.

84

85

Didactic Scalar Ecology Eco-Sculpture Park and Museum

In the respect to the mastic beach’s didactic ecology proposing eco-sculpture park and museum which will operate as a ’’medium’’ and allow marshlands at the waterfront to heal over time.

Eco-sculpture by providing raised art platforms will provide space for artists to intervene and reinterpret what climate, sea-level rise, and environment means to them. This method, of using Keller Easterling’s “Medium” allows for the continuous change and transformations of the site in response to climate.

In the Museum the openings are chosen as a form of language to make visitors focus on the certain views throughout the mastic beach where they can observe ecosystems slow movement and flourishment The outdoor rooms become views that focus on the most important parts of the eco-sculpture park. Instead of idealizing the landscape, we are presenting the existence of the site and all of its entanglements, including abandoned buildings and muddy marshlands.

Today, we are framing present moments on the site, but we expect the views to slowly change over time as the ecology of Mastic Beach changes. Some of the views include the existing landscape and environment, views to the sky, views to the water and existing marshland, and finally, views to the museum.

The outdoor rooms create connections across spaces throughout the eco-sculpture park and museum. We see the outdoor rooms as another possibility of a scalar element created through the module and a broader continuation of the didactic potential of the museum and eco-sculpture park in Mastic Beach.

07

Advanced Architecture Tutorial Critic: Tei Carpenter Team member: Benjamin Akhavan 86

87

Hurricanes 88

Flooding Map 89

Site Map: Ecology Growth 90

91

Site Map: Circulation 92

93

Access

Intersection (Outdoor Room)

Kissing

Hardscape Art Pad (Road Reclamation)

Boardwalk Art Pad

Hardscape Art Pad Near Boardwalk

94

95

Geometric Aggregation 96

‘‘Repeatd’’| Digital Permutations 97

Asymmetrical | Slippage | Physical Permutations 98

99

Physical Model | Openings 100

101

Physical Model | Openings 102

103

104

105

Elevation 106

107

Section | vertical relationships 108

109

Ground Floor | Outdoor Rooms 110

111

Viewing Floor 112

113

Framing views to the existing ecostsem: Marshes and water.

114

115

116

117

Framing views to the Sky with a triangular shape, that emphasizes constant movement and climate change in the sky.

118

119

120

121

122

123

Framing views to the existing houses, marshes, and wetland.Instead of idealizing the landscape, highligting the existence of the site and all of its entanglements, including abandoned buildings and muddy marshlands.

124

125

126

127

Framing views to the Sky which focuses on the continous movement.

128

129

130

131

Framing views to the existing marshland and oceanfront which will exchange, intake and transform throughout the time.

132

133

134

135

The Outdoor rooms with the views to the museum become informational boards and ‘‘medium’’ that determines constant transformation, alteration, exchange, healing and renewal in the ecosystem.

136

137

Section | vertical relationships 138

139

and

P l o r •i o s i Defining Other Nature

140