J-H Yang MFA (Interior Design) Thesis 2016 - Design Process Documentation

JOE-HYNN YANG THESIS CAPSTONE PROJECT MFA(1), NYSID, SPRING 2016

Design Process

Documentation

THE CRUCIBLE A Secular Monastery & Global Affairs Center

Contents

THE CRUCIBLE A Secular Monastery & Global Affairs Center

Introduction Client Profile Case Study - Hospitality Case Study - Sacred Space Case Study - Mixed-Use Campus Site Selection Program Development Concept Research :

Buddhist Architecture Along the Silk Roads Design Development: Sketches Design Development: Schematic Plans Design Development: Storyboards Axonometric Studies & Final Renderings Concept Research:

Phenomenological Theory in Sacred Place-making Custom Furniture Designs

HOSPITALITY +

RELIGIOUS ARCHITECTURE + NYC WATERFRONT

INTRODUCTION

“What would a global conflict resolution center & Buddhist retreat in New York look like ...?”

This thesis will explore escapist hospitality within the context of the dense metropolitan cityscape of New York City. I believe there are still places in NYC, particularly waterfront property, or on scattered islands along the Hudson or East River, which might offer a sense of escape into another world.

My core idea was to utilize my Asian art expertise to design a space focused on Asian art in a nonreductive / simplistic way, particular based on the theme of the Silk Road. The Silk Road was a major commercial trading route linking East and West, reaching its peak in the 8th century, but existing since the 1st century BC and remaining even when Marco Polo went to the court of Kublai Khan in the 14th century. It seems appropriate for New York as “the crossroads of the world” and as the primary global financial center, that an escapist resort continues to play on the theme of trade and free flow of information and commodities.

Since the Silk Road was the main route of the transmission of Buddhism from India via Afghanistan, Tibet, and Central Asia, to China and Japan, playing up the message of Buddhism as avoiding crass commercialism and the distractions of mundane worldliness, through the use of complex Buddhist art from the 5th to 8th century might be an appropriate contrast to the pure luxury on offer. Most Buddhist-themed space celebrate only the minimalist Zen Buddhism from Japan, but I would propose the more visually complex and baroque Mahayana Buddhism of Tibet, Burma, Cambodia, and 8th century China.This thesis will explore escapist hospitality within the context of the dense metropolitan cityscape of New York City.

I believe there are still places in NYC, particularly waterfront property, or on scattered islands along the Hudson or East River, which might offer a sense of escape into another world.

While still focusing on a hospitality aspect related to the Buddhist theme presented above, I then considered expanding the program into mixed institutional-hospitality, by creating a center for global affairs but with a monastic retreat component. I was inspired by forward-thinking foundations like TED, Aga Khan Foundation, and the Aspen Institute, which tend to promote East-West dialogue, advances in human rights or conflict resolution. Just this week (NY Times, “Philosophy as an East-West Bridge”, Sept 16, 2015”) the Berggruen Institute in California announced a philosophybased initiative between China and the US “to look past contemporary political differences to their deeper intellectual roots.”

I am proposing a waterfront site in New York to serve as this policy center, with three separate program elements: (i) symposium / conflict

resolution / arbitration meeting spaces (ii) educational gallery and study center exploring Buddhism, and its philosophy of the “middle path” as a conflict resolution tool, and (iii) monastic retreat for practitioners, where visiting diplomats and speakers can stay while in conference.

Unique program requirements for this mixed use space are: (1) monastic cells for sleep/study/ meditation (2) chapel or worship space (3) symposium hall (4) arbitration meeting rooms (5) restaurant / dining hall (6) educational gallery or art space, possibly combining live performances like sand-mandala creation and dance. The space intends to have a private aspect for religious retreat and self-improvement, but also a public aspect in educating visitors about Buddhist philosophy and its historical complexity, but also as a location for high-level global affairs conferences and lectures.

PROBLEM STATEMENT This thesis project, a global conflict resolution center and Buddhist retreat in New York, poses the following questions of typology, program & interior design: a) To successfully create an exclusive, even hermetic, hospitality experience in New York despite the chaotic visual noise and emphatic character of this civty? Can a monastic environment be created despite street noise, variable air quality, proximity to technology and urban squalor? b) To balance the monastic lifestyle of internal reflection with the luxury amenities expected by diplomats and world leaders? How can an industrial waterfront site, such as a warehouse or power station, be converted to provide the exclusivity and privacy expected? c) To design interiors which are spiritual without overly Buddhist or Christian iconography? Can a chapel / worship space be focused on Buddhism without being a ‘period room’ or a ‘temple’? Can an interior inspired by historical Buddhism show relevance to 21st century life & technology without being kitschy, much less relate to the specificity of New York City? d) To successfully balance the private and public program elements for such a center? – ie. promoting spiritual self-reflection and study, but also functioning as a nexus for public outreach, education (eg. teaching Buddhist philosophy, or Asian art history), and diplomacy, especially conferences and symposia between East and West on trade, human rights, governance and conflict resolution? Can it be located near the United Nations but have its own degree of removal and separation from the distraction and chaos of the urban environment? e) To use the design vocabulary of East & West, with the interplay of water, light and space?

“The biggest determinant in our lives is culture where we are born, what the environment looks like ... But the second biggest determinant is probably governance. Good governance, or a certain kind of governance, makes a huge difference in our lives.”

Nicolas Berggruen

The Berggruen Institute is based in Santa Monica, CA, and was founded by billionaire Nicholas Berggruen to develop ideas that shape political and social institutions, as a non-partisan think tank. They “bring together the best minds and most authoritative voices to explore the fundamental questions of our time, from global governance to what it means to be human in the age of technology.” Its work is currently split between The Governance Center and The Philosophy + Culture Center, and recently announced US$1 million prize in philosophy, to explore common ground between East & West.

Particularly interested in both global affairs and art, he currently is sits on the boards of the Council for Foreign Relations, the Council for the Future of Europe, and the Commission for Global Ethics and Citizenship; but also MoMA, Tate London, LACMA, and the Beyeler Foundation. He is co-author of “Intelligent Governance for the 21st Century: A Middle Way Between West and East,” which the Financial times named one of the best books of 2012. He is also extremely interested in architecture and has collaborated on development projects with Shigeru Ban, Richard Meier and David Adjaye.

Nicholas Berggruen is sometimes referred to as the “homeless billionaire” because he lives in hotels and does not own a residence. He was the heir to the fortune of the art collector Heinz Berggruen, whose collection is now in a museum in Berlin, and he expanded his wealth through hedge funds to a current net worth of $1.67 billion.

CLIENT PROFILE

1

CASE STUDY : HOSPITALITY “The building’s muscular form is strong enough to stand up to both its tacky neighbors and the area’s older industrial structures. It exploits the clash of scales that has always been a gripping aspect of the city’s character. In short, it is the kind of straightforward, thoughfully conceived building that is all too rare in the city today.”

Nicolas Ourousoff, The New York Times

THE STANDARD HOTEL CLIENT: ANDRE BALAZS PROPERTIES ARCHITECT: TODD SCHLIEMANN, POLSHEK PARTNERSHIP (ENNEAD) INTERIORS: SHAWN HAUSMAN, AND ROMAN & WILLIAMS. 337 KEYS. 18 FLOORS. 204,500 SQ. FT. COMPLETED 2009.

CONCEPT: Two massive rectangular slabs book-hinged at the angle of the street-grid against the mirror angle of Gansevoort St, supported on 5 pilotis straddling the historic High Line, levitating 57 ft. above street level. Schliemann has cited Corbusier, Gordon Bunshaft, and Morris Lapidus as his inspirations, while Roman & Williams took their inspiration from Warren Platner for their iconic “Top of the Standard” interior.

Seasonal amenities such as roof garden and ice rink create “a living room for the neighborhood.”

10/14/2015

Google Maps

Google Maps

PLAN - 4th - 17th Flr, Typ.

PLAN - 3rd Flr PROPOSED CRUCIBLE SITE

SITE ANALYSIS: ANGLE OF EAST BLOCK = MIRROR ANGLE OF GANSEVOORT ST ACROSS LITTLE W.12TH ST Map data ©2015 Google

https://www.google.com/maps/@40.7405064,­74.0095743,18z/data=!5m1!1e2

100 ft

1/2

PROGRAM ANALYSIS

PRIMARY CIRCULATION

2

CASE STUDY : SACRED SPACE Richard Serra, Tilted Spheres, 2004

THE CATHEDRAL OF CHRIST THE LIGHT, OAKLAND, CA CLIENT: ROMAN CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF OAKLAND ARCHITECT: CRAIG W. HARTMAN, SKIDMORE, OWINGS & MERRILL 226,000 SQ. FT. COMPLETED 2008.

CONCEPT: Inspired by the theories of Rudolf Schwartz and the art of Richard Serra, Hartman uses the parti of the vesica pisces in a double-carapace of glass and wood, above a concrete plinth incorporating 16 ft. grade-level change across the site; in a three-pronged mission to sanctify, educate and serve 700,000 Catholics. The building is axially aligned to the nearby lake, and the Omega Window draws from the west portal of Chartres’ Christ Pantocrator, replicated in tiny perforations, all to “combine ancient geometries drawn from nature and early Christian metaphors, with the most contemporary methods of computational design, to create a luminous, welcoming structure.”

10/14/2015

“The presumption is that a work of architecture that embodies the creativity and challenge of new art is somehow unsuitable as a housing for traditional religious rituals ... in contrast, or course, to the Middle Ages, when churches represented the most forward-looking, innovative, and daring architecture and engineering that had ever existed.”

Paul Goldberger.

Google Maps

Google Maps

SOLAR PATH OAKLAND

AXIAL SHIFT 33DEG TO ALIGN WITH LAKE

Map data ©2015 Google https://www.google.com/maps/@37.8077633,­122.2607882,17z/data=!5m1!1e2

200 ft 1/2

SHOP & CAFE

RECTORY

PLAZA

Sketches by Craig Hartman, Design Partner. © SOM

Presentation Watercolor. © SOM SANCTUARY USE OF GEOMETRY ...

USE OF LIGHT ...

RELATIONSHIP TO WATER, SITE & CITY OFFICES

PARISH HALL (COMMUNITY SERVICES) CONFERENCE ROOMS

MAUSOLEUM

Computational Study: Intersecting Spheres. © SOM

Interior: ‘Reliquary Wall’ Chapel. Credit: Webcor.com

PROGRAM ANALYSIS

AIRWELL (ACCESS BELOW)

SANCTUARY

RETAIL SHOP

ALTAR & SACRISTY

CAFE

PLAZA GARDENS

RECTORY

CASE STUDY : OTHER SACRED SPACE PRECEDENTS

1. Le Corbusier, La Tourette, 1953-60 2. Walter Netsch, Skidmore,Owings & Merrill, U.S.A.F Cadet Chapel, 1954-62 3. Steven Holl, Chapel of St. Ignatius, 1997 4. Eero Saarinen, Kresge Chapel, M.I.T., 1955 5. Hiroshi Nakamura, Sayama Forest Chapel, 2013

4

2 5

3

1

“Williams & Tsien have propounded on their creative philosophy in a series of essays ‘on slowness;’ namely an accretive and patient approach to process, utilising the iterative quality of sketching and hand drafting, while seizing on the discoveries which might occur on reviewing layers of worked-on drawings and the subconscious movements of the hand..

This approach also extends beyond process to their conception of space, and the appreciation of spatial quality ...”

3

CASE STUDY : MIXED-USE CAMPUS

excerpt from author’s original essay, fall 2015.

ASIA SOCIETY HONG KONG CLIENT: ASIA SOCIETY ARCHITECT: TOD WILLIAMS & BILLIE TSIEN, TWBT ARCHITECTS 65,000 SQ. FT. COMPLETED 2012.

CONCEPT: Adaptive re-use of 1860s ammunitions warehouses along a mountainous stream-bed in the heart of Hong Kong using principles of Chinese garden design and phenomenological emphasis on slowness, silence, shadows and evocative materials. Waterfalls, cantilevered aerial skyways, and retention of ammo rail-tracks accent a sprawling complex of art galleries, dining spaces, meeting rooms and auditorium. whose multi-level dispersal and unfolding nature is only comprehensible upon gradual exploration.

1:250 on A1

PROGRAM ANALYSIS: LOWER LEVEL A

PROGRAM ANALYSIS: UPPER LEVEL

PRIMARY CIRCULATION

SECONDARY CIRCULATION

2ND STAGE ANALYSIS

Site Selection Program Development Concept Research

SITE:

THE GANSEVOORT DESTRUCTOR PLANT, MEATPACKING DISTRICT, NYC

THE GANSEVOORT DESTRUCTOR PLANT 2 BLOOMFIELD ST, NEW YORK, NY 10014 140,000 SQ. FT. A derelict 1950s incineration facility scheduled for demolition 2017-18, on Gansevoort Peninsula, the westernmost landmass on Manhattan, previously designated 13th Ave, Piers 52 & 53. Historically, Herman Melville, author of ‘Moby Dick,’ was Customs Inspector on Gansevoort Piers, 1866-86, and Pier 54 adjacent, owned by Cunard White Star Line, was the destination of the Titanic, and where her sister ship, Carpathia, brought the rescuees in 1912.

In 1956, the incinerator was the site of the only book-burning instigated by the US Govt. The FDA compelled Wilhelm Reich to burn his own material related to “orgone energy accumulation” which he thought could cure cancer. Gordon Matta-Clark cut into the side of Pier 52 to create “Day’s End,” 1975, a major work of Land Art amid gay sex trysts there. Today, apart from reinvigoration by the High Line, the Standard Hotel, and Renzo Piano’s new Whitney Museum, Thomas Heatherwick will construct an elevated park for Barry Diller & Diane von Furstenberg at Pier 55 in 2018.

RENZO PIANO, WHITNEY MUSEUM

STD MODEL INCINERATION PLANT, PLANT. 1950s

WILHELM REICH & ‘ORGONE ENERGY’

GORDON MATTA-CLARK, DAY’S END, 1975

PIER 55, HEATHERWICK STUDIOS

PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT

BLOCKING DIAGRAM: 1ST FLOOR

2ND FLOOR

3RD FLOOR

4TH FLOOR

5TH FLOOR

ECK ATION D OBSERV TACK ES AT SMOK LE PINNAC

L LIGHT NATURA S LU VIA OCU

RATION FENEST CIT Y, TO CLOSED ATER W OPEN TO

TIC MONAS GG HANGIN

T RE TREA

ANCE GOVERN

ARDENS

PUBLIC

CENTER CH

OUTREA

OPOSED NEW PR CE ENTRAN

E FEATUR L L A F R E WAT H-PIT INAL AS IG R O IN

STACKING DIAGRAM: LONGITUDINAL SECTION

THE GANSEVOORT DESTRUCTOR PLANT: Original design rendering by “A. Sigler, Chief of the Architectural Section,” 1940s.

Credit: Museum of the City of New York.

(FROM LEFT TO RIGHT) 1. Cave 19, Ajanta, India, c. 460 - 480 CE. Freestanding stupa in rock-cut apsidal chaitya-hall, carved with niche of standing Buddha, and triple-umbrella canopy.

2. Tomb figure, clay and paper on wood armature, with earliest example of tapestry-weave on jacket. Excavated from tomb datable to 688 CE, Astana, near Turfan. Credit: Xinjiang Museum.

3. Seokguram Grotto, near Gyeongju, South Korea, 751 - 774 CE. granite slab construction (ashlar masonry). View from antechamber to circular sanctuary and Sakyamuni Buddha.

4. Kneeling adorant from Cave 28, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, China, 7th Century CE. Removed by Langdon Warner in 1924, it is the only complete stucco figure from Dunhuang in the West. Credit: Harvard Art Museum.

5. Frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra, woodblock print dated 868 CE; the earliest example of woodblock printing in the world. Removed by Aurel Stein from Cave 17, the “Library Cave�, Dunhuang in 1905-07. Credit: British LIbrary.

RESEARCH ESSAY

1

Ritual Space Along the Silk Roads:

The Transmission of Buddhist Architecture

from India to China & Beyond

The Caves at Ajanta

Cave 9, Ajanta, India, c.100 BCE - 100 CE. Chaitya hall with nave, aisles and ambulatory. Central stupa with high base, spherical anda, square harmika, and inverted pyramidal chattri.

Plan & Elevation of the Great Stupa at Sanchi, the earliest extant Buddhist monument, begun during the reign of King Ashoka, 268 - 232 BCE. incl. diagram of the stupa’s symbolism.

[EXCERPT] “... Among the earliest examples of Buddhist architecture are the great stupas at Sanchi, Bharhut and Amaravati in India, dating from the middle fo the 3rd century BCE, said to have been begun by the great King Ashoka of the Mauryan empire. He is said to have disinterred the mortal remains of the Buddha (which had been buried in eight massive funerary mounds) and subdivided them further to distribute them to 84,000 locations throughout his empire. A ‘stupa’ was formed around each relic, composed of a hemispherical or egg-shaped earthen mound (anda), a cuboid reliquary container (harmika), and a tiered umbrella (chattri), an ancient symbol of royalty. These successively stacked geometric forms (sphere, cube, pyramid) form the distinctive shape of the stupa ...”

“... As we have noted, during the Early Buddhist phase, the Buddha was represented in sculpture and painting only by the use of aniconic symbols, such as the bodhi tree, the Wheel of the Law, his footprints, and the stupa-form itself. As such, the stupa-form became the interior focal point for a covered hall structure of veneration of worship, termed chaitya (meaning ‘sacred funerary mound’.) The earliest chaityas were probably wooden structures with elongated axis and vaulted roof supported by columnar posts, but the earliest surviving examples are those cut from the living rock in cliffs of the Western Ghats around the region of Maharashtra. Chief among these are found among 28 caves in a U-shaped river gorge at Ajanta, near Aurangabad, carved in two phases: five caved were executed around 100 BCE - 100 CE, and the remainder around 460 - 480 CE ...”

Cave 26, Ajanta, India, c.460 BCE - 480 CE. Chaitya hall with nave, aisles and ambulatory, Figural carving to frieze, bracket capitals to fluted columns, and false-beams to barrel vault.

!

AJANTA

MOGAO

SEOKGURAM

basalt, excavated cave

gravel conglomerate, excavated cave

granite ashlar masonry

cliff facing river

cliff facing river

mountain peak facing ocean

aligned to solstices

aligned east

aligned east

window illumines stupa

window illumines Buddha face

window illumines Buddha face

chamber size governed by rock ßaws

chamber size governed by rock ßaws

chamber size governed by Buddha statue

stone sculpture, relief carving, dry fresco

stucco sculpture, applied clay reliefs, dry fresco

stone sculpture, relief carving no painting

dense compositions, strong color

dense compositions, strong color

bare composition, monochromatic

two key phases, slow incremental development in form over time, (2nd phase echoes 1st closely despite 400-year hiatus)

incremental development over 1000 years (4th - 14th century), using Indian & domestically developed forms

mathematically calculated form developed from Indian prototype

chaitya & vihara

chaitya & vihara

chaitya only

wood structure precedents visible via carving

wood structure precedents visible via painting

cave structure predecent only, stone slab rivets

worship, study, living space

worship, possibly study & living space, or possibly funerary

worship, cosmic mandala

political function

political function

political function

Many other contrasting features are to be noted between the three sites, (see table above) but their political function is of particular interest. Just

Plan & Section of Cave 285, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang; an example of the vihara monastery type. Frescoed with inscriptions dated to 538 - 539 CE.

Cave 478, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, c. 557 - 581 CE; among the largest caves for circumambulation around a central pillar following the Indian prototype. Credit: Dunhuang Academy.

The Cave Temples At Dunhuang [EXCERPT] “... Grotto-based architecture in China

appears only in a Buddhist context, and given the Ajanta prototype, was probably imported in an effort to stay true to doctrinal sources and contexts. Unlike the basalt at Ajanta, the local rock at Dunhuang is a soft gravel conglomerate (sandstone), which was not suitable for sculpture or carved architectural details. As such, most of the applied decoration is sculpted in stucco over wooden armatures, and the walls are predominantly flat. False rafters and faux architectural details are painted in fresco.

In 366 CE, the monk Lezun had a vision that there were a thousand Buddhas shining like lights near the cliffs of Dunhuang, and he excavated the first monastic cell there overlooking a seasonal riverbed fueled by melting snows. ... Of the supposed 1000+ caves, 492 ornately painted caves have been found on the southern flanks of the cliffs, and a further 248 undecorated caves were found on the northern flanks. The applied decoration appears to have reached their peak in the 5th to 8th centuries, although the last painted cave was executed in the 14th century.

Cave 275, Mogao Grottoes, Dunhuang, c. 420 - 429 CE; among the earliest extant caves. With large painted stucco figure of Maitreya, Buddha of the Future, on lion throne. Credit: Dunhuang Academy.

A series of earlier caves from the 5th century follow the chaitya prototype from Ajanta, allowing for internal circumambulation around a central stupa or object of veneration. At Dunhuang, this usually takes the form of a squared pillar with niches of Buddha, or triad groups, on each of its four faces.

The arched shape of the niches are also derived from the peaked-arch of the chaitya barrel-vault and exterior windows of Ajanta. The roofline of these ‘central pillar’ chambers is rather unusual in that there appears to be a gabled tranverse roof

rising up in the transverse vestibule before the actual pillar. Unlike the Indian prototypes which have a longitudinal axis, the Chinese examples appear to be transverse, possibly derived from wooden hall-temple structures with Chinese tiled roofs, in which the hall uses a modular bay unit repeated side-by-side in odd numbers. The sacred pillar thus sits within a flat-roofed rear chamber abutting the main transverse entrance hall ...”

The Cave Temple At Seokguram

Longitudinal Section: antechamber, corridor and domed sanctuary. Seokguram Grotto, c 751- 744 CE. After Harrell, fig.4.

Diagrams indicating modular repeats in proportion of sanctuary and overall plan. Credit: art-and-archaeology.com; kscpp.net

[EXCERPT] “... While Ajanta and Mogao represent clustered ritual spaces excavated and evolving gradually out of natural rock formations over long phases, Seokguram represents a single architectural creation, formed by ashlar masonry to create a chaitya-griha grotto chamber whose proportions are mathematically calculated. Its harmonious proportions, based on √2 ratios, create a spatial mandala (concept map) representing the perfect nature of the Dharma, where the single unit is replicated in the many.”

(top) The key modular unit, the height of the Sakyamuni Buddha: 10’-8”. Interior view of the Sanctuary. (bottom) Archival photograph prior to restoration under colonial Japanese administration, 1909-13.

“... In plan derived from the chaitya prototype, the grotto has a rectangular antechamber, a flat-roofed corridor, and a circular sanctuary

facilitating circumambulation around a massive figure of Sakyamuni Buddha ... The sanctuary roof is a perfectly hemispherical dome, rising in five courses of progressively decreasing heights to a single capstone, whose component blocks were laid without mortar and required the calculation of π to an accuracy of 7 decimal places. The massive weight of the capstone and dome is locked into place by protruding stone slab rivets (tongtuldol), 10 on each of the upper three courses, cantilevered out radially and secured by the exterior mound of earth. As such, from the exterior, the grotto resembles a mounded funerary tumulus which harks back not only to the nomadic Steppes heritage of the Korean peoples themselves, but

also the 3rd century BCE stupa-mounds of Sanchi, Bharhut, and Amaravati which enclosed the earthly remains of the Buddha himself.” “... To outline its harmonies of proportion, the key modular unit is 12 tang ch’ok = 3.26m (10’-8”) high ...

As shown in the diagrams above, the height of the Buddha = 1 unit. The diameter of the pedestal = 1 unit; the diameter width of the sanctuary = 2 units.

The height of the Buddha and its pedestal = √2 (namely the diagonal of a perfect square with sides = 1 unit). The full height of the sanctuary = 1+√2 ...

Furthermore the width of the corridor =1 unit, and its height = √2. The width of the antechamber = 2 units, and the combined depth of the grotto = 4 units.”

Concept Sketches Schematic Plans Design Storyboards

DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

INITIAL MODEL FROM SCHEMATIC PLANS

CONCEPT SKETCHES

Rock Crystal ‘Five Element’ Stupa (gorinto), Japan, Kamakura Period, 13th - 14th C. Credit: Seattle Art Msm.

PAGES FROM DESIGN JOURNAL

STUDY MODEL OF GRAND STAIR & WATERFALL

CONCEPT SKETCHES PIRANESI, CARCERI D’INVENZIONE, PLATE XI, 1791

WILLIAM PEREIRA, GEISEL LIBRARY, SAN DIEGO

FRITZ WOTRUBA, DREIFALTIGEITSKIRCHE, VIENNA

INITIAL SKETCH OF GRAND STAIR, WATERFALL & CUBOID CASCADE

MOISHE SAFDIE, HABITAT 67, MONTREAL

PERSPECTIVE SKETCH OF INTERNAL SANCTUARY VOLUME (VORTICES OPTION) NOTE SKYBRIDGE AT RIGHT, OPPOSITE SLOPE OF RAMP-STAIR AT LEFT, AND CENTRAL PROJECTING VOLUME OF MEDITATION STUDIO, BRACED BENEATH BY COLUMN DESCENDING TO SANCTUARY FLOOR VISIBLE SEVERAL LEVELS BELOW.

(TOP) SKETCH OF INTERNAL SANCTUARY VOLUME (CURVILINEAR OPTION) (ABOVE) TOYO ITO, NATIONAL LIBRARY, TAIWAN, 2015.

CONCEPT SKETCHES

(ABOVE) MCKIM, MEAD & WHITE, GOULD LIBRARY, BRONX (RIGHT) PERSPECTIVE SKETCH STUDY OF SANCTUARY DOME STRUCTURAL BRACEWORK

LONGITUDINAL SECTION Scale: 1/16”=1’-0” NOTE: INDICATION OF SWIRLING RHYTHM OF ENTRANCE TOWERS. CUBOID STRUCTURAL LANGUAGE AT 1ST FLOOR ART GALLERY AND WATERFALL GRAND STAIR. DOUBLE-STOREY RESTAURANT WITH SKYLIGHT TO EXTERIOR. SPHERICAL SANCTUARY VOLUME, WITH PROGRESSIVELY DENSER VERTICAL SCREEN-WALLS TO THE CORNERS OF THE BASE LEVEL. 3RD FLOOR WITH SLOPING ANGULAR WALLS AND CLERESTORY WINDOWS. 4TH & 5TH FLOORS WITH MORE CURVILINEAR STRUCTURAL LANGUAGE AND DOUBLE-HEIGHT COLUMNS AT LOBBY RECEPTION & LOUNGE. LASTLY, INDICATION OF HANGING GARDENS AT 4TH & 6TH FLOORS, WITH SKYWAY ON 5TH FLOOR TO TOWER, AND SWEEPING UMBRELLA CANOPY OF OCULUS.

SCHEMATIC PLANS

PLANS, INCLUDING FURNITURE LAYOUT Scale: 1/64”=1’-0” FORMAL GARDEN

4F CLOISTER 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'

5F MONASTERY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'

6F 6F OBSERVATORY OBSERVATORY

20'

5FL SLAB5FL BELOW SLAB BELOW

0 5' 10'

CANOPYCANOPY ROOF ROOF ABOVE ABOVE

3F GOVERNANCE CTR

6FL SLAB6FL SLAB

100'

UPPER ROOF UPPER SLAB ROOF SLAB 11' A.F.F.11' A.F.F. (ONLY HVAC&DUCTS & (ONLY HVAC DUCTS MECHANICAL

BY OTHERS) MECHANICAL

BY OTHERS)

50'

6FL OCULUS 6FL OCULUS 12' A.F.F.12' A.F.F.

TOILETS

STAFF ROOM

30'

BAG STORAGE

20'

WAVE MOUND

FRONT OFFICE

0 5' 10'

LOBBY LOUNGE

RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)

2F WORSHIP SANCTUARY

SKY BRIDGE

OPEN TO BELOW

STAIRS DOWN

100'

SUPPORT SVCS

STORAGE

50'

WAVE MOUND

GALLEY KITCHEN

30'

LOBBY CAFE

TOILETS

FITNESS ROOM

20'

CLOISTER ROOMS

LINEN CLOSET

OPEN TO BELOW

TOILETS

0 5' 10'

HOUSEKEEPING

MEDITATION STUDIO

SVC CLOSET

1F PUBLIC OUTREACH 30' 50' 100'

0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'

0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'

LIBRARY

LIBRARY

PANTRY

LIBRARY

RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT

ADMIN OFFICES

TOUCHDOWN OFFICES

TRANSLATION, PRINTING & I.T. SUPPORT

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

RECEPTION

TOILETS

SANCTUARY

TOILETS

CASUAL SEATING

ENCLAVE

ENCLAVE

ENCLAVE

COAT CHECK

SOUTH ART GALLERY

NORTH ART GALLERY

SVC CLOSET

STORAGE

SM CONCLAVE RM

MED CONCLAVE RM

CEILING LINE (4FL SLAB)

3FL SLAB

OPEN TO BELOW

SM CONCLAVE RM

MAINTENANCE & STORAGE

SANCTUARY RECEPTION

ADA ACCESS RAMP (0" TO +42" A.F.F.)

OPEN TO BELOW

TOILETS

NOTE ROOF OF AUDITORIUM TO 6' A.F.F. (CLERESTORY WINDOWS ONLY)

CLOSET

LRG CONCLAVE RM

GREEN RM

DOWN TO SANCTUARY

STAIR UP (OPEN TO ABOVE)

AUDITORIUM MEZZANINE (+42" A.F.F.)

RECEPTION

AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)

AUDITORIUM

WATERFALL (OPEN TO BELOW)

REFECTORY / CAFETERIA

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

TOILETS

HOST STN

OPEN TO BELOW

TOILETS

SYMPOSIUM MULTI-PURPOSE HALL

SIDE CHAPEL

STAFF LOUNGE & SUPPORT SVCS

TEA CAFE

TOILETS

WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR

AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS

COCKTAIL LOUNGE

TOILETS

OPEN TO BELOW

HOUSEKEEPING & STORAGE

LAUNDRY

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

SERVICE AREA

LOADING & DELIVERY

HVAC & MECHANICAL (BY OTHERS)

SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE

SCHEMATIC PLANS

PLANS, INCLUDING FURNITURE LAYOUT Scale: 1/64”=1’-0” 6F OBSERVATORY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50' 100'

CANOPY ROOF ABOVE

6FL SLAB

5FL SLAB BELOW

6FL OCULUS 12' A.F.F.

UPPER ROOF SLAB 11' A.F.F. (ONLY HVAC DUCTS & MECHANICAL BY OTHERS)

LOUIS KAHN

LE CORBUSIER

LOUIS KAHN

BAGAN, MYANMAR

ETIENNE BOULLEE

TAKTSANG, BHUTAN

DESIGN STORYBOARDS: INSPIRATION PRECEDENTS

PETER ZUMTHOR

JOSEPH CORNELL

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

ANDY GOLDSWORTHY

JULSCI FULTO

DESIGN STORYBOARDS: INSPIRATION & MOOD

Final Renderings Custom Furniture & Material Application of Phenomenological Theory

CAPSTONE PHASE

1F

4F

AXONOMETRIC STUDY : FULL EXTERIOR

AXONOMETRIC STUDIES

2F

5F

3F

6F

INITIAL AXONOMETRIC SKETCH

PERSPECTIVAL SECTION:

DETAIL OF WESTERN HALF

TRANSVERSE SECTION WITH AUDITORIUM

PERSPECTIVAL SECTION:

DETAIL OF EASTERN HALF

PROPOSED EXTERIOR: GHOST SMOKESTACKS, HANGING GARDENS & UMBRELLA CANOPY

ANALYSIS OF CURRENT SITE & SIGHTLINES

SITE

CURRENT VS. PROPOSED EXTERIOR

0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

MIREI SHIGEMORI

PUBLIC OUTREACH

GEOFFREY JELLICOE

TOWERS 1F & ART GALLERY

100'

MICHAEL GRAVES

LIBRARY

RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

RECEPTION

AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)

COAT CHECK

AIDLIN DARLING DESIGN

TOILETS

SOUTH ART GALLERY

NORTH ART GALLERY

AUDITORIUM

TEA CAFE

TOILETS

WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR

AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS

TOILETS

SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

SERVICE AREA

LOADING & DELIVERY

1F MAIN RECEPTION & ENTRANCE

CUSTOM RECEPTION DESK,

WATER RILLS IN FLOOR, COURTYARD ZEN GARDENS.

INITIAL SKETCH OF ENTRANCE, RECEPTION & COURTYARD GARDENS

20' 30' 50'

LAWRENCE HALPRIN

0 5' 10'

CARLO SCARPA

PUBLIC OUTREACH LIBRARY

RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT

LAWRENCE HALPRIN

GRAND STAIR WATERFALL 1F

100'

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

RECEPTION

AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)

COAT CHECK

SIR EDWIN LUTYENS

TOILETS

SOUTH ART GALLERY

NORTH ART GALLERY

AUDITORIUM

TEA CAFE

TOILETS

WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR

AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS

TOILETS

SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

SERVICE AREA

LOADING & DELIVERY

1F/2F GRAND STAIR

WATERFALL CUBOID CASCADE, DESCENDING FROM

3RD FLOOR INTO ORIGINAL ASH-PIT.

0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

FRANK GEHRY

1F PUBLIC OUTREACH

ZAHA HADID

AUDITORIUM

100'

LIBRARY

RETAIL & TOWER SUMMIT

RECEPTION

SHOP ARCHITECTS

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

(-4" A.F.F)

(-18" A.F.F)

AUDITORIUM FOYER (UP TO MEZZ)

TOILETS

EERO SAARINEN

COAT CHECK

SOUTH ART GALLERY

NORTH ART GALLERY

AUDITORIUM

TEA CAFE

TOILETS

WATERFALL PIT & GRAND STAIR

AUDITORIUM A/V & DRESSING ROOMS

TOILETS

SECURITY & STAFF ENTRANCE

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

SERVICE AREA

LOADING & DELIVERY

1F AUDITORIUM & ART GALLERY

INITIAL SKETCH OF AUDITORIUM

0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

NORMAN FOSTER

2F WORSHIP SANCTUARY

SIR JOHN SOANE

RESTAURANT

100'

LIBRARY

PANTRY

ADMIN OFFICES

STAIR UP (OPEN TO ABOVE)

GREEN RM

AUDITORIUM MEZZANINE (+42" A.F.F.)

CLOSET

TOILETS

SANCTUARY

MAINTENANCE & STORAGE

SANCTUARY RECEPTION

ADA ACCESS RAMP (0" TO +42" A.F.F.)

OPEN TO BELOW

SIDE CHAPEL

STAFF LOUNGE & SUPPORT SVCS

HOST STN

OPEN TO BELOW

TOILETS

COCKTAIL LOUNGE

OPEN TO BELOW

HVAC & MECHANICAL (BY OTHERS)

HOUSEKEEPING & STORAGE

LAUNDRY

1F/2F RESTAURANT

WINDOW WALL VIEW ONTO WATERFALL,

CUBOID MUQQURNAS ON 2ND FLR DESCEND THROUGH FLOOR-SLAB,

NATURAL DAYLIGHT VIA ROUND SKYLIGHT.

0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

BENEDETTA TAGLIABUE

WORSHIP SANCTUARY I M PEI

OCULUS 2F & SANCTUARY

100'

LIBRARY

PANTRY

ADMIN OFFICES

STAIR UP (OPEN TO ABOVE)

GREEN RM

AUDITORIUM MEZZANINE (+42" A.F.F.)

CLOSET

TOILETS

SANCTUARY

MAINTENANCE & STORAGE

SANCTUARY RECEPTION

ADA ACCESS RAMP (0" TO +42" A.F.F.)

OPEN TO BELOW

SIDE CHAPEL

STAFF LOUNGE & SUPPORT SVCS

HOST STN

OPEN TO BELOW

TOILETS

HOUSEKEEPING & STORAGE

LAUNDRY

ROSS LOVEGROVE

COCKTAIL LOUNGE

OPEN TO BELOW

HVAC & MECHANICAL (BY OTHERS)

2F SANCTUARY

CUSTOM-DESIGNED ALTAR LECTERN,

NATURAL ROCK ALTAR-STAGE.

GOVERNANCE CTR 0 5' 10' 10' 20' 20' 30' 30' 50' 50'

DANIEL LIBESKIND

ANSELM KIEFER

MEETING RMS 3F & REFECTORY

100' 100'

LIBRARY LIBRARY

TOUCHDOWN OFFICES OFFICES TOUCHDOWN

TRANSLATION, TRANSLATION, PRINTING && I.T. I.T. SUPPORT SUPPORT PRINTING

RECEPTION RECEPTION

DOWN TO TO DOWN SANCTUARY SANCTUARY

TOILETS TOILETS

CASUAL CASUAL SEATING SEATING

ENCLAVE ENCLAVE

ENCLAVE ENCLAVE

LRG CONCLAVE RM ENCLAVE

SVC CLOSET

DANIEL LIBESKIND

STORAGE STORAGE

SM CONCLAVE RM

MED CONCLAVE RM

CEILING LINE LINE CEILING (4FL SLAB) SLAB) (4FL

3FL SLAB SLAB 3FL

OPEN TO BELOW

SM CONCLAVE RM

NOTE ROOF ROOF OF AUDITORIUM TO 6' A.F.F. NOTE (CLERESTORY WINDOWS ONLY) (CLERESTORY

SYMPOSIUM MULTI-PURPOSE HALL

WATERFALL (OPEN TO BELOW) BELOW)

REFECTORY / CAFETERIA

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

TOILETS

3F GOVERNANCE CENTER

VIEW 4: FINAL RENDER

CONFERENCE TYP. LARGE CONCLAVE ROOM, FOYER,

& TRANSITION TO SANCTUARY.

VIEW 3: FINAL RENDER

LIBRARY

TRANSLATION, PRINTING & I.T. SUPPORT

REFECTORY DINING BESIDE WATERFALL SOURCE.

3F GOVERNANCE CTR

3

4

0 5' 10'

RECEPTION

DOWN TO SANCTUARY

20' 30' MED CONCLAVE RM

CEILING LINE (4FL SLAB)

3FL SLAB

OPEN TO BELOW

SM CONCLAVE RM

STORAGE

2

TOILETS

CASUAL SEATING

ENCLAVE

ENCLAVE

ENCLAVE

VIEW 2: FINAL RENDER

TOUCHDOWN OFFICES

LRG CONCLAVE RM

SVC CLOSET

SM CONCLAVE RM

3F GOVERNANCE CENTER

NOTE ROOF OF AUDITORIUM TO 6' A.F.F. (CLERESTORY WINDOWS ONLY)

1 SYMPOSIUM MULTI-PURPOSE HALL

WATERFALL (OPEN TO BELOW)

REFECTORY / CAFETERIA

COMMERCIAL KITCHEN (BY OTHERS)

TOILETS

VIEW 1: FINAL RENDER

50' 100'

CLOISTER 0 5' 10' 20'

JUHANI PALLASMAA

GARDEN 4F & MEDITATION STUDIO

30' 50' 100'

HERZOG DE MEURON

MOISHE SAFDIE

FORMAL GARDEN

MEDITATION STUDIO

PERKINS & WILL

OPEN TO BELOW

SVC CLOSET

TOILETS

FITNESS ROOM

CLOISTER 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

KANO SCHOOL, 17thC

CLAIRVAUX

SUITES 4F & STD RMS

100'

FORMAL GARDEN

MEDITATION STUDIO

OPEN TO BELOW

SVC CLOSET

TOILETS

FITNESS ROOM

4F CLOISTER

TYP. SUITE, TYP. STD ROOM,

& MEDITATION STUDIO.

MONASTERY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

NOTRE DAME, PARIS

LOBBY LOUNGE 5F

100'

PETERBOROUGH CATHEDRAL

CLOISTER ROOMS

HOUSEKEEPING LINEN CLOSET

STAIRS DOWN

WAVE MOUND

SKY BRIDGE

OPEN TO BELOW

SUPPORT SVCS

STORAGE WAVE MOUND

MAYA LIN

TOILETS

BAG STORAGE

LOBBY LOUNGE

RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)

LOBBY CAFE

TOILETS

STAFF ROOM

FRONT OFFICE

GALLEY KITCHEN

VIEW 1: FINAL RENDER 5F MONASTERY CLOISTER ROOMS

HOUSEKEEPING LINEN CLOSET

0 5' 10' 20' 30'

WAVE MOUND

SKY BRIDGE

OPEN TO BELOW

STAIRS DOWN

LOBBY CAFE

1

50'

TOILETS

BAG STORAGE

LOBBY LOUNGE

RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)

2

SUPPORT SVCS

STORAGE WAVE MOUND

TOILETS

STAFF ROOM

FRONT OFFICE

GALLEY KITCHEN

5F MONASTERY

INITIAL ACCESS VIEW, BY SAND GARDEN, & LOBBY CAFE, WITH CLERESTORY VIEW

TO OBSERVATORY LEVEL.

VIEW 2: FINAL RENDER

100'

5F MONASTERY CLOISTER ROOMS

LINEN CLOSET

INITIAL SKETCH OF COLUMNS AND CLERESTORY HOUSEKEEPING

0 5' 10' 20' 30'

WAVE MOUND

SKY BRIDGE

OPEN TO BELOW

STAIRS DOWN

LOBBY CAFE

2

50'

TOILETS

BAG STORAGE

LOBBY LOUNGE

RECEPTION (-24" A.F.F.)

1

SUPPORT SVCS

STORAGE WAVE MOUND

TOILETS

STAFF ROOM

FRONT OFFICE

GALLEY KITCHEN

VIEW 2: FINAL RENDER

5F MONASTERY

CHECK-IN & CONCIERGE, & LOBBY LOUNGE.

VIEW 1: FINAL RENDER

100'

CELESTIAL OBSERVATORY

6F OBSERVATORY 0 5' 10' 20' 30' 50'

RAM SINGH, 18THC

PIET OUDOLF

CANOPY ROOF ABOVE

6FL SLAB

5FL SLAB BELOW

6FL OCULUS 12' A.F.F.

UPPER ROOF SLAB 11' A.F.F. (ONLY HVAC DUCTS & MECHANICAL BY OTHERS)

The Jantar Mantars of Northern India Noguchi as Photographer

January 8 - May 31, 2015

100'

6F OBSERVATORY

The Jantar Mantars of Northern India Noguchi as Photographer

JANTAR MANTAR CELESTIAL OBSERVATORY,

FORMAL PARTERRE WITH TOPIARY MAZES,

SKYWAY & REFLECTING POOLS. January 8 - May 31, 2015

RESEARCH ESSAY

Phenomenology & Sacred Place-making:

Interior Design Theory in Application

“A ray of light is not the same ray of light as came before ...

Space has tonality, and I imagine myself composing a space

lofty, vaulted, or under a dome, attributing to it a sound character

alternating with the tones of space, narrow and high,

with graduating silver, light to darkness.”

Louis I. Kahn, 1973

[EXCERPT] “...The parti is derived from the Buddhist stupa, originally a reliquary for the Buddha’s hair and bones, but now simplified into a conceptual mandala, or thought-diagram, of stacked squarecircle-triangle. This imparts geometric purity to the building’s section, and the program’s divisions of function. The lower two floors use the vocabulary of the cube in the public outreach areas of auditorium, art galleries and restaurant. The worship sanctuary expresses the sphere, and rises full-height through an oculus to a tri-form roof canopy. The fourth and fifth ‘monastery’ levels, with meditation hall and private ‘cloister’ rooms, echo this curvilinear language; while the intervening third floor has a distinct language of sliding planes , essentially an elision of the cube transforming into a sphere. This indicates the programmatic uniqueness of this floor, deveoted neither to insular contemplation nor public education, but to active application through global conflict resolution.

Design solutions in this Crucible thesis are inspired by, and respond to, issues of phenomenology in architecture, particularly arising out of the writings of Juhani Pallasmaa, and its application to the development of sacred space. By focusing on a holistic conception of sensory response, and by challenging the binary oppositions of buildingvs-occupant / structure-vs-volume / observervs-phenomenon, we edge towards a conception of place that is non-dualistic, almost Daoist in derivation. In other words, a broader philosophical conception where exterior-interior, materialimmaterial, solid-void are intrinsically inseparable, simultaneous, and fundamentally uni-valent.

Selected work by Peter Zumthor, Le Corbusier, and Louis Kahn shall be used as case studies, and the concept of ‘ma’ (space-time-interval) in classical Japanese architecture shall be discussed.”

In the Eyes of the Skin, the Finnish architect Juhani Pallasmaa discsses his concern of the patriarchy or dominance of the eye over the creation of architecture. This ‘ocularcentrism’ privileges appearance and rationalized focusing over the more fundamental haptic senses. In order to counter the alienation we feel within built space, Pallasmaa calls for our vision to become more ‘unfocused’ and ‘peripheral,’ and for architecture to restore primacy to considerations of touch, sound, smell, taste and physical orientation. As one’s perceptions are “fused into the haptic continuum of the self,” one discovers that “... my body is truly the navel of my world, not in the sense of the viewing point of the central perspective, but as the very locus of reference, memory, imagination, and integration.”

This reference to the omphalos, the navel of the world, is particularly resonant when discussing sacred space, since it is first used in reference to the Delphic oracle. Omphalos-stones were considered the power centers of the gods, and were set up in the adyton (the holy-of-holies) of the temple. One of the more famous modern usages of the term refers to the Foundation Stone of the former Temple of Jerusalem (destroyed 70 CE) enclosed within the Dome of the Rock, sacred to all three religions of the Book. Omphalos therefore integrates multivalent meanings: site of divine inspiration, site of temple foundation, site of generative power through the unity of phallus and uterus, the axis mundi, the fulcrum of the universe.

By applying a phenomenological approach, the generative sacredness of any space may derive from the complete integration of the fully human into the built structure ...”

2

CAMP CHURCH FOR MIGRANT REFUGEES, CALAIS 2016

ST. PAUL’S LONDON, DURING THE BLITZ © GETTY IMAGES

“Only in the vacuum lay the truly essential ...

The reality of a room, for instance, was

to be found in the vacant space

enclosed by the roof and the walls,

not in the roof and walls themselves.”

Okakura Kakuzo, ‘The Book of Tea,’ 1906

[EXCERPT] “...Equally important to Pallasmaa as the self-evident nature of process is the factor of scale and proportion: “Understanding architectural scaleimplies the unconscious measuring of the object or the building with one’s body, and of projecting one’s body scheme into the space in question. We feel pleasure and protection when the body discovers its resonance in space. When experiencing a structure, we unconsciously mimic its configuration with our bones and muscles ... unknowingly, we perform the task of the column or vault with our body.” This compares well with the aesthetics of classical Chinese (or Japanese) calligraphy, since the irreversible transmission of ink-characters onto paper or silk is interpreted using the somatic vocabulary of ‘bones, sinews, muscles, breath.” The connoisseur of calligraphy reads the order of the strokes, assesses the change of vertical pressure left in the brushlines, and intuitively echoes the rhythm and rapidity of the

movements of the wrist, shoulders and torso. By recreating the choreography of the creation of the text, by “unknowingly performing the task with the body,” we reach emotional communion with the original artist’s subjective state of mind , which resonates against the literal meaning of the text alone.

Sacred place-making now therefore begins to move away from the vocabulary of construction and engineering towards the language of choreography and music. Exterior structure, and interior space, “initiates, directs, and organises behavior and movement.” Therefore since it implies a bodily reaction, an active encounter, it necessarily involved embodied associations of time and memory. We approach a building, confront it, assess it in relation to our body-self, pass through it, exit; we do this to facilitate rest, domicile, play, pleasure, work, and worship ...”

STRATA, ZAK+FOX

WEATHERED OAK

CORBATA NERO VEIN-CUT, HONED

MEXICAN BLACK RIVER PEBBLES

HAND-MOLDED PLASTER TRAVERTINE BLOCK TILE

ACID-ETCHED & STAINED CONCRETE

LAHAF, ZAK+FOX INDIGO & MULBERRY STAINED LINEN

JINGASA, ZAK+FOX

TAN BRICK, TYP. MOLDED CUNEIFORM GLASS

VEINED ITALIAN CREMA, BRUSHED WOVEN TEXTILE

MATERIALITY [EXCERPT] “... With this discussion of boundaries, interventions and place-making, we have almost come full circle to Norberg-Schulz’s discussion of the tangibility of thresholds. He quotes Heidegger, “A boundary is not that at which something stops, but as the Greeks recognized, the boundary is that from which something begins its presencing.” In classical Greece, the boundary between the sacred and the profane was termed alsos, referring to sacred groves of trees growing at the mouths of caves thought to lead to the Underworld. The transition between one realm and another was therefore a physical thing; more specifically, living things of nature, which moved, changed, aged.

This is what makes gardens such powerful transitions, and Louis Kahn himself used groves of trees as transitions to the Salk Intitute, and to the Kimbell Art Museum, identifying these places as sacred realms (of art, of science, of humanism.) In praising the meditative outdoor room at Salk, which emphasizes the metaphysical by using horizon, ocean and sun, as well as the silvery immateriality of the light-filtering cycloid

vaults at Kimbell, Curtis writes, “... recently there has been a slogan of the ‘tectonic’as a supposed answer to a world filled with arbitrary images, but here again Kahn slips through the rhetoric.

Kahn’s architecture is full of inversions: masses which seem suddenly weightless, materials which dissolve into immateriality, structures which reverse load and support, rays of light which reveal the realm of shadows, solids whch turn out to be voids.” Simply put, he reveals himself a master of phenomenological place-making.

Norberg-Schulz discusses the key poem ‘ein Winterabend’ by Georg Trakl as phenomenology in the making of a home, but his analysis of the door threshold is equally applicable to ‘wanderers’ who seek entry to divine illumination rather than mundane domicile. “To dwell in a house therefore means to inhabit the world. But this dwelling is not easy; it has to be reached on dark paths,and a threshold separates the outside room from the inside. Representing the ‘rift’ between ‘otherness’ and ‘manifest meaning, it embodies suffering and “is turned to stone.” To paraphrase Norberg-Schulz:

“In the threshold, thus, the problem of (sacred place-making) comes to the fore ...” namely, the emobdying of ordeal-testing, symbolic passage and redemptive transformation.

By using the devices of phenomenology, ie. by recognizing intentionality, concretizing place, and by abolishing the binary oppositions of bodyworld / structure-space / observer-observed, we may be able to enhance the associations of sanctity and spirit in creaing a sacred space. To do this, we draw lessons from classical Japan, from Zumthor, and from Kahn: (i) focus on thresholds, transitions and sequences of choreography, (ii) use shadows, silences, peripheral vision, evocative haptic materials, and somatic scale (iii) introduce spatial-temporal off-breaks to heighten awareness of inter-relatedness (iv) consider negative space as an active presence whose tension and energy can be manipulated (v) allow the truth of construction, ageing, and the intrinsic character of materials to show through.”

“To me buildings can have a beautiful silence

that I associate with attributes

such as composure, self-evidence,

durability, presence and integrity, ... and with warmth and sensuousness as well ...”

Peter Zumthor

INSPIRATION :

COSMIC MOUNTAIN MANDALA

PLAN

FUDO MYO’O, JAPAN, KAMAKURA PERIOD, 13TH CENTURY. METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, NEW YORK.

SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”

AXIS MUNDI : LECTERN FURNITURE DESIGN, SPRING 2016 JOE-HYNN YANG, MFA[1] NYSID

SIDE ELEVATION

FRONT ELEVATION

SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”

SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”

INSPIRATION : MUGHAL ‘CHAHAR BAGH’ GARDEN OF PARADISE

FRONT ELEVATION SCALE 1-1/2”=1’-0”

PLAN SCALE 3/4”=1’-0”

AXIS MUNDI : RECEPTION DESK FURNITURE DESIGN, SPRING 2016 JOE-HYNN YANG, MFA[1] NYSID

cru·ci·ble ͞ ˈkroosəb(ə)l/

noun

noun: crucible; plural noun: crucibles

1 a ceramic or metal container in which metals or other substances may be melted or subjected to very high temperatures.

▪ a place or occasion of severe test or trial. "the crucible of combat"

▪

a place or situation in which different elements interact to produce something new. "the crucible of the new Romantic movement"

!

source: oxforddictionaries.com

JOE-HYNN YANG !278 School of Interior Design MFA(1), New York Thesis Capstone Project, Spring 2016. yang.joehynn@gmail.com (917)4004393