Res - An Architecture Manifesto

RES

RES-

RESILIENCE & REVIVAL An Architectural Manifesto

By Joo Liew

Preface The title, ‘Res’ refers to architectural resilience and is in place of hopes for reviving the value of once again leading architectural design with ‘form following function’.

This book addresses the current issue of decreasing quality in architectural design and practice, consequentially producing buildings that fail to withstand time and/or disaster, be it natural or manmade. From this, a future scenario relating to the anthropocene is contemplated in a context speculating architectural practice and its changes for the future.

CONTENTS

Introduction

08

Scenario:

the fixation

10

Sickness:

cosmetic disease

16

Resilience: architectural resilience 24 Final Words

58

References

64

Appendix: Illustrations

68

7

8

Mankind’s fixation on dystopian concepts stems from the

exhilarating

rush

experienced

post-catastrophe.

Building on the evolutionary driving force of “survival of the fittest”, mankind has evolved to become the planet’s dominant species through tool and construct manipulation.

Architecture, similarly, has evolved to meet man’s growing demands throughout the ages. The ruins of ancient civilizations stand as a testament to man’s greatness and survival instinct with their practical design. Unfortunately, as the assurance of survival in the modern world increases, man has grown vain and complacent: Contemporary architectural designs have followed the trend of favoring flimsy and aesthetically pleasing additions over functional improvements, significantly reducing their longevity and resilience to social and environmental hardships. If the architecture does not at least outlive its creators, it is undeserving of the right to remain in this world alongside the people it was made to serve.

9

SCENARIO

As dystopia is no longer improbable, it is now a reality we see plaguing past decade like an illness, particularly with increasing frequencies of natural disasters and human conflict. Overconsumption of resources and excessive reliance on technology has created deceptive design forms that hold no purpose aside visual display. Current architecture preoccupies itself with utopian concepts, showing ignorance of future context, whilst media fixates on dystopia via subtle background repetition of traditional buildings.

Fig. 1. Joo Liew, Encountering Scenarios from 21st century onwards, 2019.

12

Fig. 2. Fritz Lang, Metropolis Artwork Visualisation, 1927. Resilience that is monumental.

In anticipation and preparation of this scenario, mankind must look towards a fusion for design process, integrating technology to form synergies with human development.

Caution must be exercised in this process, lest scientific developments overpower the architect’s controls a la overdependence on computers in this era, leading to man losing his freedom and becoming a ‘human object’. In the architectural space, modern buildings must consider and incorporate a potential scenario where a dystopian future comes to pass, rather than solely focus on the utopian, ‘facadist’ aesthetic.

13

Fig. 3. Eidos Montreal, Augs Lives Matter, 2016. Standing among social disorders.

14

Fig. 4. Joo Liew, Computer overdependency in society, 2019.

15

SICKNESS

Current facadism poses a cosmetic disease. However true architecture does not hide strength beneath cosmetics. The façade itself becomes part of the core and is no longer differentiable from the structure. ‘Façade’ and ‘structure’ exists as one entity. This was once prevalent, in kernform buildings, wherein the façade is the beautifully sculpted internal bones of a building’s body. This core trait is seen in speculative designs for dystopian circumstances and historical buildings, preserving memories of hardship and human endeavors.

18

These forms were created for purer desires for humanity, not individual consumers diseased with modern-day materialism.

Contemporary

architecture

struggles

in

solidity and durability as facades take greater importance in the commercial market. In exchange for unprecedented ‘freeforms’ by computer, structural fundamentals are lost.

However, buildings created to attract are just as temporary as the whims of their customers and thus fails upon experiencing disaster. Collaboration of human intellect and technology progresses further in architectural resilience than kunstform focused buildings.

19

Fig. 5. Joo Liew, Facade vs Structure, 2019.

20

Fig. 6. Joo Liew, Computerised forms that look appealing but have no solidity, 2019.

21

Fig. 7. Vitali Bulgarov, Building in City Centre in Battle Angel:Alita, 2019.

Fig. 8. Square Enix, Concept Art Interior in Kingslaive, 2019.

22

Architecture in media more accurately resonates with design thinking geared towards resilience. To seem as though it can withstand wear and tear, immersing players into spaces in which the core structure makes the model.

23

RESILIENCE

Fig. 9. Joo Liew, Human & building resilience, 2019.

26

If it cannot withstand ruin, it is a liability.

Mankind’s fascination with permanence comes from the deeply rooted desire for immortality. However current consumerism trends draw temporary options that fail to address the issue of structurally failing buildings in disaster.

Architecture’s fundamentals once reflected human survival traits in its function and overall form. Architecture of the future needs to outlive its architects, retaining resilience through its entirety.

27

Fig. 10. Joo Liew, Interpretation of historical examples and fundamentals, 2019.

28

It is worth saving parts of history to improve what we have today. Behind once polished surfaces and invested labor, ancient styles draw an impermeable barrier separating the internal spaces from the threats of reality outside, as seen in ancient religious sites.

29

Traditional Precedent: Angkor Wat by Suryavarman II(KH)

30

Angkor Wat’s robust build enables it to remain structurally stable, reform its identities over time and continually express important cultural history in its statuesque form.

If architectural practice

would embrace a building’s

future, all aspects from conceptualization to production and materialization would extend its life far beyond its completion date, physically and metaphorically.

The sandstone blocks act as structure and visual elements that succeed adjacent buildings by withstanding the throes of time.

31

Fig. 11. Joo Liew, Power in a whole entity, 2019.

32

Only in times of desperation and chaos does the true potential of architecture shows itself—when it upholds itself and stands firm against the throes of time, of natural disaster to manmade destruction. In social-political dissonance, the propensity to design unreasonably tall buildings typically associates itself with show of authority, with little regard to resiliency during design. It is a consequence of regressed values in design, prioritising materialistic demand over structural resilience. Evident in optimising function and program to generate living space for users, architecture needs to survive long enough in its context, which requires structural resilience from the start of its design and construction.

33

Fig. 12. Vitali Bulgarov, Reimagined‘ Kowloon’ in Battle Angel:Alita, 2019.

Residential-Cultural Hybrid: Kowloon Walled City (HK)

34

Although deemed malignant in the progressive urbanscape until demolishment, the Walled City is a cumulation of architecture haphazardly composed by the society. During its lifetime, its growth was organic and rapid, with every resident and new residing space enhancing the intimacy between man (creators) and the building. Reflective of Hong Kong’s socially dystopic microcosm, it lacks the area to reduce internal congestion, similarly to the main city that is constrained by insufficient area. Any regular contemporary apartment block would burst at the seams by the amount of people it houses, whereas the Walled City is identical to a ‘sponge’, constantly configuring its solid-tovoid modular spaces for its occupants. The value here is that architecture is not expected to endure every hardship as that would be infinite, but it should at the very least be designed to endure and progress with the long term social/ political/physical issue in which it has always existed in.

35

Fig. 13. Joo Liew, Retrofit: Design Consideration of the Pentagon, 2019.

36

Political Hybrid: The Pentagon by George Bergstrom(US).

This old structure is retrofit with state-of-the-art internal mechanics. Its program adapts to technological progress whilst retaining the traditional structure from the time it was first constructed. Design considerations focused on building resilience from the beginning.

37

Natural Hybrid: Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito(JP).

38

Environmental discord tests the fragility of manmade structures. On 11th March 2011, the tsunami and earthquake in Japan left destruction in its wake yet Sendai Mediatheque, that was subject to full force of the magnitude 9 Tohoku Earthquake, remained relatively unscathed. Its main visuals derive from the reinforced lattice columns, also vital to maintaining structural rigidity and strength.

In the same prefecture, concrete-reinforced commercial facilities expected to withstand disaster instantly crumbled.

This fault arises from displaced design values. What was once core priority is no longer thus resulting in such failure.

Natural disasters are out of man’s control but building design is completely within man’s controlling parameters.

It is in this that architects need to build for the unexpected, not Utopia. The first is to build to conquer, then overcome nature’s forces. The architecture will not eradicate nature itself, instead it tames force and removes future vulnerabilities in buildings. Inherent disasters encourages architectural discourse to defy these severities that stem from nature. Should a building remain standing by the end of the chaos, it is worthy of remaining with its creators and mankind.

39

Primary vertical columns that hold the main structure and loads. The truss like system also serves as form-decoration.

Roof slab; both structural and decorative

Secondary vertical struts, supporting strength from vertical loads on the main columns

Column is part of the facade skin.

Foundations and footings that configure the columns, contributing to formal expression.

Fig. 16. Sendai Mediatheque Analysis, 2019.

Natural Hybrid: Sendai Mediatheque by Toyo Ito(JP).

40

Materials can be changed for resilience toward disaster such as installing high strength, impregnated concrete for earthquake resilience. Building components exist as one entity in which floor plates (horizontal structure) and skin (façade) are all tied together by the latticed columns (vertical system), baring all information of structural systems collaborating with its typology. From this, the design process has evidently considered for structural integrity and visual aesthetic of equal importance thus creating a resilient structure appropriate to its context and long-term program.

41

Fig. 14. Joo Liew, Growth of architecture in a ‘urban context’, 2019.

42

Beirut’s war-ravaged architecture re-imagines itself as a large-scale void with access restricted to only militia. It is continuously subject to excessive violence and forms of transgression, the liminal state of the city centre allows for life to occur in buildings’ programs. Programs of Beirut’s buildings shift with time yet can house occupants. A building’s memories are overwritten as users come and go, thus becoming timeless. In this sense, the architecture is indifferent to its environment, developing their identities and acting independently from the surrounding disasters.

The building imposes its power and influence on the everchanging malignant context. Architecture of dystopia is destructive in the sense it tames and re-establishes environmental space for future occupants.

43

The Egg by Joseph Philippe Karam(LB).

44

An unfinished cinema structure from 1965, that continues to hold its presence and identity in the city through its brutalist visual, in which bares structural integrity on the surface. The building’s overall shell is a fair hybrid of skin and core, a product of balance between technology and man.

45

Beit Beirut aka former Barakat Building by Youssef Haidar(LB).

Subject to Lebanon’s Civil War since 1924.

46

Structure a part of the form and expression of tectonics of the building.

A recent restoration has the building in a state of limbo, yet it continues preserving memories of conflict and disaster as Haidar only integrates extensions for attracting usability, similar to prosthetic limbs empowering the human body to work in its ideal state. Its resilience provides opportunity for both the building and its people to reminisce and redeem their city from the conflicts it is frequently subjected to.

47

48

Success in permanency comes from fusion of shared efforts from progressive technology and the Architect’s intellect. Building envelopes can increase adaptation with no need for human intervention to natural conditions.

Brighter days will allow facades to dim just as eclipsed hours allows for more light to penetrate the interiors. Heat exchangers will be built within cladding, replacing the need for oversized HVAC systems.

The streets free of pollutants as the anti-smog titanium oxide cladding absorbs the atmospheric poison. Facades will no longer be frail with only aesthetic as its prime characteristic, instead it will bond with the structural core.

Architecture becomes customizable with controllable automation from devices, such as the changing of colour scheme for atmospheric lighting. The exterior and interior will no longer be differentiable as they can fully customize for current needs and can transcend these needs as future scenarios change.

49

Svalbard Seed Vault by Peter W.Soderman(NO).

50

The Seed Vault is a hybrid of tech and man’s efforts. From the beginning its intention was to protect and preserve life inside, no matter the extremities of temperature and climate. Durability as the prioritized factor in the design process, the structure adheres to the landscape, appearing timeless and lasting.

51

Tensegrity. Truss system that creates the structural and visual elements of the building.

Enclosure due to form, which is actually the structure.

Fig. 15. Biosphere Analysis, 2019.

Montreal Biosphere by Buckminster Fuller(CA).

52

For humans, the desire to extend life is still present in buildings from the past. Buckminster Fuller’s Montreal E-biosphere relates human life to the literal environment thus developing autonomous systems that simulate the control over a microclimate. Its structure and aesthetic skin are formulated by algorithmic analysis of tensegrity, further refined by human preferences. The enclosed structure experienced harsh fires in 1967 but withstood the disaster due to the steel frame’s composition. It remains durable and capable of supporting extreme loads, acting as a true hybrid of technology with creator, structure with façade altogether.

53

Montreal Biosphere by Buckminster Fuller(CA).

54

Repetition of modularity that is visually and spatially subdivided into equilateral triangles impress visual complexities and upholds structural integrity that can contain a 7-story exhibition building, maintaining the microclimate within. Political protests from Tories led to attempted burning but the steel frame’s widespread structure could withstand fires as the design was strategically composed for permanence, to protect the internal program and inhabitants.

55

The outcome orientates toward permanence—building to last for generations post-construction date. It is essential for creators to embrace technological evolution for ‘smart architecture’ but do not excessively rely on this. Said architecture can accommodate for technological shifts whilst preserving the structural shell. Materials can be substituted for higher specifications with incoming technology.

Durability

Material

Preservation

progress

Resilient against

56

Decisions to integrate easily accessible service cores can make space for new technological systems into buildings.

The objective is to improve from history, in having lasting skins working with structurally sound cores and having flexible internal frameworks to accommodate technological enhancements and human needs.

Fig. 17. Joo Liew, Human needs architecture must account for, 2019.

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FINAL WORDS

60

The final judge of this architecture is time.

Over the ages, many creations lost the potential architecture once possessed due to superficial demand. Resources are overspent on frail bodies with little meaning but for market display. To be sold and broken shortly after, these bodies do not house significant purpose. Only architecture that stays intact through disaster have the right to remain in this world. Their survival precedes all other forms of flimsiness built from whims and fancies. Forms with such resolve and resilience can serve humanity, stand tall through the ages and protect its creators and inhabitants. True architecture encompasses personality; its presence grows only when given the chance to spend time in the same space as their audience.

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Fig. 18. Joo Liew, Visualisation of Melbourne 2200 where heatwaves may rise to extreme temperatures so livability is elevated, 2019.

REFERENCES _SCHOLAR ARTICLES “An Architectural Mix of Optimism and Dystopia.” 2015, accessed 10th September 2019, http://www. anewtypeofimprint.com/news-2/2018/1/24/u21j02naxmevjeijg5mb452zpst0j4.

ArchitectureWeek. “Engineering Report on Pentagon Disaster.” (2003): N1.1. Accessed 10th October 2019. http://www.architectureweek.com/2003/0212/news_1-1.html.

Brones, Sophie. “The Beit Beirut Project. Heritage Practices and the Barakat Building.” Archives, Museums and Collecting Practises in the Modern Arab World 1 (2016): 139-55. https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/ halshs-01299379/document.

Coleman, Nathaniel. “Building Dystopia.” Utopic Pedagogies 1, no. 1 (2007): 182-92. http://www. revistamorus.com.br/index.php/morus/article/viewFile/180/157.

Daniel Marques Sampaio, Michael Heilgemeir. Between Texts and Cities. Writing Visual Culture. Edited by Dr Grace Lees-Maffei. Vol. 6, Hertfordshire: The School of Creative Arts, University of Hertfordshire, 2015. www.herts.ac.uk/research/ssahri/research-areas/art-design/tvad-theorising-visual-art-and-design/ writing-visual-culture.

Finnsson, Geir. “The Unexpected Popularity of Dystopian Literature: From Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four and Atwood’s the Handmaid’s Tale to Suzanne Collins’ the Hunger Games Trilogy.”B.A Essay, University of Iceland, 2016. https://skemman.is/bitstream/1946/26094/1/Geir%20Finnsson.pdf (1).

Khoury, Melissa Plourde. “The Egg: Memory and Visual Structures within Representations of an Iconic Lebanese Ruin.” Visual Communication Quarterly 24, no. 1 (2017): 3-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/155513 93.2016.1272417. https://doi.org/10.1080/15551393.2016.1272417.

Miller, Jim. “Post-Apocalyptic Hoping: Octavia Butler’s Dystopian/Utopian Vision.” Science Fiction Studies 25, no. 2 (1998): 336-60. https://www.jstor.org/stable/4240705.

Mobbs, Dean, Cindy C. Hagan, Tim Dalgleish, Brian Silston, and Charlotte Prévost. “The Ecology of Human Fear: Survival Optimization and the Nervous System.” [In English]. Hypothesis and Theory. Frontiers in Neuroscience 9, no. 55 (2015-March-18 2015). https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2015.00055. https://www. frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2015.00055.

Nieuwenhuys, Constant. New Babylon: The Hyper-Architecture of Desire. Constant’s New Babylon. Edited

by Mark Wigley. 1 vols. Vol. 1, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 1998.

Ruzbeh Babaee, Hardev Kaur, Zhang Zhicheng, Zhang Haiqing. “Critical Review on the Idea of Dystopia “.

Review of European Studies 7, no. 11 (2015): 64-77. https://doi.org/10.5539/res.v7n11p64 http://dx.doi. org/10.5539/res.v7n11p64 Till, Jeremy. “Architecture of the Impure Community.” Occupations of Architecture 1, 1, no. 1 (1998): 61-75. http://www.mom.arq.ufmg.br/mom/biblioteca_novo_2/arquivos/till_archo.pdf.

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_BOOKS McMorrough, John. “Design for the Apocalypse.” Chap. 16 In Thresholds, 16-19. Massachusett: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2009.

Nieuwenhuys, Constant. New Babylon: The Hyper-Architecture of Desire. Constant’s New Babylon. Edited

by Mark Wigley. 1 vols. Vol. 1, Rotterdam: 010 Publishers, 1998.

Sadler, Simon. Architecture without Architecture. Archigram. Cambridge: MIT Press Books, 2005. https:// monoskop.org/images/f/ff/Sadler_Simon_Archigram_Architecture_without_Architecture.pdf.

“Ad Classics: Sendai Mediatheque/Toyo Ito & Associates.” 2011, accessed 10th October 2019, https:// www.archdaily.com/118627/ad-classics-sendai-mediatheque-toyo-ito.

Till, Jeremy. “Architecture of the Impure Community.” Occupations of Architecture 1, 1, no. 1 (1998): 61-75. http://www.mom.arq.ufmg.br/mom/biblioteca_novo_2/arquivos/till_archo.pdf.

Wright, Frank Lloyd. The Living City. Horizon Press, New York, 1958. _MISCELLANEOUS_PRECEDENTS & IMAGE REFERENCE “The Pentagon.” 2013, accessed 10th October 2019, http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/The_ Pentagon.html.

“Architecture and Dystopia.” 2015, accessed 10th September 2019, http://cargocollective.com/ danielkbrown/Architecture-and-Dystopia.

“50,000 New Seeds Deposited in Arctic Circle’s Svalbard Global Seed Vault.” 2017, accessed 10th October 2019, https://inhabitat.com/50000-new-seeds-deposited-in-arctic-circles-svalbard-global-seed-vault/.

“Ad Classics: Angkor Wat.” 2018, accessed 10th October 2019, 2019, https://www.archdaily.com/101004/ ad-classics-angkor-wat.

“Japanese Postmodernism: Ghosts of a Future Past.” Updated 18th December 2017, 2017, accessed 10th September 2019, https://www.iconeye.com/architecture/features/item/12713-japanese-postmodernismghosts-of-a-future-past.

“Ad Classics: Montreal Biosphere/Buckminster Fuller.” 2018, accessed 10th October 2019, 2019, https:// www.archdaily.com/572135/ad-classics-montreal-biosphere-buckminster-fuller.

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Sadler, Simon. Architecture without Architecture. Archigram. Cambridge: MIT Press Books, 2005. https:// monoskop.org/images/f/ff/Sadler_Simon_Archigram_Architecture_without_Architecture.pdf.

“Ad Classics: Sendai Mediatheque/Toyo Ito & Associates.” 2011, accessed 10th October 2019, https:// www.archdaily.com/118627/ad-classics-sendai-mediatheque-toyo-ito.

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ILLUSTRATIONS (DIRECT LINK TO TEXT) Fig. 1. Joo Liew, Encountering Scenarios from 21st century onwards, 2019.

Fig. 2. Fritz Lang, Metropolis Artwork Visualisation, 1927. Resilience that is monumental.

Fig. 3. Eidos Montreal, Augs Lives Matter, 2016. Montreal. Accessed 11th November 2019. https:// www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwj7i-PjpuHlAh VKfisKHd0rBoIQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.polygon.com%2F2016%2F8%2F3%2F 12368210%2Fdeus-ex-mankind-divided-augs-lives-matter-controversy&psig=AOvVaw0lJDx_l0a_ loI7MOlVzm1f&ust=1573532305084371.

Fig. 4. Joo Liew, Computer overdependency in society, 2019.

Fig. 5. Joo Liew, Facade vs Structure, 2019.

Fig. 6. Joo Liew, Computerised forms that look appealing but have no solidity, 2019.

Fig. 7. Vitali Bulgarov, Building in City Centre in Battle Angel:Alita, 2019. Accessed 11th November 2019. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ah UKEwjhpbSRp-HlAhXCR30KHcKsAYYQjhx6BAgBEAI&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dezeen. com%2F2019%2F03%2F13%2Falita-battle-angel-set-design-sci-fi%2F&psig=AOvVaw2LaFHhKFwugCQd 6JrKLiJO&ust=1573532401476481.

Fig. 8. Square Enix, Concept Art Interior in Kingslaive, 2019. Accessed 11th November 2019. https:// www.artstation.com/artwork/JB0B0.

Fig. 9. Joo Liew, Human & building resilience, 2019.

Fig. 10. Joo Liew, Interpretation of historical examples and fundamentals, 2019.

Fig. 11. Joo Liew, Power in a whole entity, 2019.

Fig. 12. Vitali Bulgarov, Reimagined‘ Kowloon’ in Battle Angel:Alita, 2019.

Fig. 13. Joo Liew, Retrofit: Design Consideration of the Pentagon, 2019.

Fig. 14. Joo Liew, Growth of architecture in a ‘urban context’, 2019.

Fig. 15. Biosphere Analysis, 2019.

Fig. 16. Sendai Mediatheque Analysis, 2019.

Fig. 17. Joo Liew, Human needs architecture must account for, 2019.

Fig. 18. Liew, Joo. Visualisation of Melbourne 2200 where heatwaves may rise to extreme temperatures, 2019. Conceptual painting via Photoshop.

Appendix content. Visualisations in given contexts, 2019.

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APPENDIX

For more architectural visualisations within specific contexts, please continue viewing the Appendix in the following chapter. The following concept artwork and sketches have been painted, drawn and compiled by the author of this architectural manifesto. These visualisations are based on futures where specified disasters occur in areas prone to the discord.

Minimalist visualisation: Form follows function.

Structural drawings and sections must prioritise function first so that a building may be born from the specified program(s). This requires human decisions and some technological inout for engineering analysis.

Minimalist visualisation: Form follows function.

Bare concrete creates the overall experience and a building’s use. Lifespan of the building was always considered first in design.

Structures that form the space and its spatial experience, program, function and livability. The form has always been a later assessment.

Research on structural components > sketch > program building > structural sectional sketch > 3D model drafting > Visualisation > (Contract + Construction)

Part of the process: Considering structure before form and before interiors.

Melbourne dystopia

List of contexts / countries to which the proposed visualised framework primarily applies:

Melbourne

Singapore

Montreal

Malaysia

Sydney

Malaysia

FUNCTION FIRST...

Constructing solid structure to encase area pods for living in/sustaining life.

...FORM FOLLOWS.

FORM

BUILDING + TECH

STANDARD FRAMEWORK OF PRACTICE

PEOPLE FUNCTION

=

INCREASED BUILDING RESILIENCE + LONGER USE

=

INCREASED L I VA B I L I T Y AND QUALITY OF HUMAN LIFE

FIN