SCI-ARC 2GB Studio Book

Ciudad Casa de Artes

A Vertical University in Ciudad de Mexico David Ma Southern California Institute of Architecture 2GB Semester Instructor - Anna Neimark

Contents —— I Overview & Precedent / 4 II Standing Diagrams / 10 III Studies + Development / 18 IV Final / 26

I Overview & Precedent —— Ciudad Casa de Artes is a vertical university campus in the heart of Ciudad de Mexico. It proposes a new configuration of the university campus, steering away from the presumed flat and horizontal layout, students are asked to apply a vertical configuration that can fit into a narrow triangular site in the urban fabric of Ciudad de Mexico. Moreover, students are asked to speculate on how the horizontal flat layout of a university campus translate into a vertical entity. Specifically, how a urban plan translates into a building section. These explorations mark the starting point of this project.

Precedent analysis began with an assigned existing university campus plan. Students are asked formally analyze the plan and extract valuable information of the campus, and reinterpret how these qualities would be translated into a new vertical building. After formally analyzing the campus plan, each student is assigned a building facade in Ciudad de Mexico, aiming to overlay qualities from a vertical entity with a horizontal entity of the campus plan.

For my precedent analyses, I chose Freie Universitat of Berlin's campus plan, and Camino Real Facade. They share some formal qualities, mainly in they are both configured of rectangular geometries and follow a grid layout. The analyses are not restricted to formal qualities, but also in negotiation of scales. The Freie campus is a massive urban campus embedded in the urban fabric of Berlin, but Camino Real facade is a partition/installation-like stand-alone structure that is significantly smaller than the Freie.

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Fig. 1.1 - Original campus plan using shadows to communicate heights

The early studies of the Freie was centered around portraying different height levels of individual buildings in a seemingly mat typology. Different densities of hatches are applied to recreate the similar effects of the shadows in the original plan. The analysis is broken down into four different height levels, courtyards, and corridors.

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Fig. 1.2 - First Freie diagram that use different hatch as a way to communicate height differences

Early iterations of the Camino Real and the Freie that uses black to render geometric qualities. On Camino Real, it depicts its geometrical shape and the view from two opposite sides at a 45 degree angle; On Freie,various shades of black and hatches are used to communicate different heights and depths present in a mat typology campus.

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Fig. 1.3 - Diagram of Camino Real

Fig. 1.4 - Elevation oblique of Freie

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Fig. 1.5 - 360F = 1C

Establishing a scalar relationship between the facade and campus that are differ significantly in size. On true size, 360 facades compose a campus.

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Fig. 1.6 - Fig. 1.9 - Overlay of campus analyses with grid analyses

Continuing from the scalar relationships, the overlays explore different combinations of analyses of the campus and the facade. The facade grid is treated as curtain wall that is behind the black masses. White lines are read as circulations.

These overlays explore different densities of components in the building.

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II Standing Diagrams —— Continuing from precedent analyses, the project moves to the second stage - enlarged standing diagrams of a chosen overlay diagram. Conversations evolved around painting tools and techniques, translating diagram into building, also horizontality and verticality.

For me, the most important quality was the oblique projection on a flat plane. The translation from a three dimensional digital model onto a two dimensional plane served as the guideline for my standing diagram. Also speculating on how the components in the diagram translate into architectural elements.

The standing diagram will be directly linked to the final outcome of the project in its elevational or sectional qualities, it will also be closely associated to the final massing of the project.

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Fig. 2.1 - Process of standing diagram

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Fig. 2.2 - Standing diagram render test

From the original diagram, reading of the oblique figures are translated through assigning silhouette lines and folding lines varied thicknesses that can be effectively translated from a line drawing onto a physical model, also the top faces and front faces are assigned different shades of black to preserve the reading. The black figures are read as individual masses inside the building, the gray grid embedded behind are curtain walls, where the thinner white lines become mullions of the facade system. Thicker white lines represent potential locations for local or global circulation that govern programmatic layouts or overall massing.

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Fig. 2.3 - Me (right) and my friends with our standing diagrams

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Fig. 2.4 - Iteration of smaller cutouts of standing diagram in site context

The standing diagram showed three skyscrapers adjacent to each other. This iteration shows effect of three towers as separate entities, while the iteration on the right shows the project as three towers as one entity but connected through a vertical volume.

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Fig. 2.5 - Iteration of smaller cutouts of standing diagram in site context

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Fig. 2.6 - Flat Stanley at the building site (Credit: Jixun Wen + Jingbo Huang)

Flat Stanleys are a way to envision an image of a subject in an environment. Images on this spread shows a Flat Stanley of my standing diagram in the context of Ciudad the Mexico.

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Fig. 2.7 - Flat Stanley at the building site (Credit: Jixun Wen + Jingbo Huang)

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III Studies + Development —— In our studio, further developments after midterm started with investigating the process of CNC milling, and attempt to establish a relationship of the milling process with our projects.

Aspects such as the required modelling specifications to accommodate the mill and how the model comes together are considered and implemented into subsequent development of the project.

I began with developing a series of joints that can potentially be used to assembling the physical model, then translating these joints into architectural components to investigate each joint's potential of functioning as a programmatic or spatial entity inside the building.

Also, the 2D drawing continue to influence the spatial qualities of the building, where joint diagrams for each block are drawn as elevation oblique, and stacked to become the section of the building. Architectural elements such as communal floors, walls and windows and behind walls are communicated through assigning a unique lineweight to lines from oblique joint diagrams.

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Fig. 3.1, 3.2 - Diagram of simple woodworking joints that can be applied to CNC milled artifacts

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Fig. 3.3, 3.4 - Axonometric and section of sample applications of joints on extracted forms from building

A study of application of simple joints in forms extracted from the building.

Changes were made to the corners of joints based on the limitations of the milling process, as the machine is only able to make filleted corners.

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Fig. 3.5, 3.6 - Assembled physical forms

This test served as a test of the limitations of the CNC milled artifacts in the process of assembly. As the individual pieces cannot fit together seamlessly, the gaps in between individual pieces need to be reconsidered as architectural components with the joints themselves.

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Fig. 3.7 - Fig. 3.11 - Assembly diagrams for five sample figures in the building in CNC foam palette

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Fig. 3.12 - In-between voids as masses in CNC foam palette

Fig. 3.13 - Joint diagram in axonometric

The gaps as architectural spaces.

As an extension of joint study in fig. 4.7 - 4.11, joints are drawn as individual forms nested within the larger entity. As a way to portray their locations and sizes in relationship to the larger form that contain them, as well as their relationship with adjacent blocks.

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Fig. 3.13, 3.14 - In-between voids drawn as elevation oblique

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Elevation obliques of assembly diagrams communicate the gaps as specific architectural elements. These diagrams are then contained within formal outline of each larger mass from midterm to compose the interior.

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IV Final —— Focusing on the relationships between three dimensional artifact in both physical and digital spaces and two dimensional representations, they begin to have a mutual impact and inform the other. Beginning with representing a mat typology in elevation oblique to represent their differing heights, combining that with a 1:6 ratio facade system that is significantly smaller in size to establish a scalar relationship and start to identify and re-represent specific elements in drawing as architectural elements.

From there, the physical model from CNC milling enabled the opportunity to apply a number of joineries to assemble the model together. The physical joineries then became transitional and connecting spaces in the digital space. The physical gaps produced from the model are translated to architectural gaps between individual smaller masses, specifically floor plates and walls.

Programmatically, each programmatic entity is configured individually and is assigned its unique program, connected by both global and local circulation methods.

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Fig. 4.1 - Midterm long section

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Fig. 4.2 - Site map

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Fig. 4.3 - Circulation diagram

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Fig. 4.4 - Program diagram

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Fig. 4.5 - Ground Plan

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Fig. 4.6 - 7th Floor Plan

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Fig. 4.7 - 20th Floor Plan

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Fig. 4.8 - 32nd Floor Plan

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Fig. 4.9 - (Above) Section detail

Fig. 4.10 - (Left) Short section

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Fig. 4.11 - Long sectionv

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Fig. 4.12 - North elevation

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Fig. 4.13 - East elevation

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Fig. 4.14 - Building projecting shadows onto the surrounding buildings

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Fig. 4.15 - Model photo at street level

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Thank you