A Singular Position

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A SINGULAR POSITION From the Many to the Single

Lourenรงo Vaz Pinto | SCI-Arc | 2020

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unctiona and Multif l a rs e iv n ble, U ecture , Comfortast- Assembly Archit n a ri ta li ti U ustrial Po A Post-Ind

“if the singular object is to be both utopian and destructive, future directed and exquisitevly representative of the present, it will be a peculiar object indeed. Its model will be neither architecture nor philosofy freestanding, as traditionally practiced, but a productive enfolding of one into the other - an event more than an object, a constructional operation in which each discourse interprets the other but nevertheless produces a new, irreductible, singular thing.�

K. Michael Hays

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INDEX Preamble Architecture Today Non Component The Singular Object

Before and During

pg. 8

The Component

pg. 16

Shaping Entity

pg. 30

Layered Approach

pg. 42

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

1.

PREAMBLE From the Many to the Single

A Singular Position a Post-industrial Post-assembly Architecture, counter-intuitively situates itself in an architectural spectrum of anti-efficiency and anti-modularity as the design drivers, to focus on the single production of architecture as a whole.

Gone are the days where the profession was considered an art form by the simple fact that everything was thought through, and everything was designed based on the idea of the “project”: from the door handle to the façade to its urban scale, the building used to be an object that was whole.

Industrialization and the digital age have undoubtedly brought architecture to new heights, but it has also stripped off most of its fundamental holistic qualities.

Architecture has historically evolved alongside technology, and thus, society, the meaning and use of architecture have always followed the current events like a stream merging a river.

The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical. The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.

It is undeniable that the architecture of today is different from its past. No longer is it built up from stone, wood, and dirt with minimal technology, the global society has transcended the methods of the ancients and have transformed architecture through ingenuity, rules, and industrialization.

The architecture discourse today seems to ignore that the discipline has become a component-based profession majorly. Such a statement becomes evident by observing the tools we utilize today, like BIM and its physically produced counterparts. The architectural system works based on the categorizing and subdividing of architectural components to ease the mass production of said components.

Buildings produced with such method end up resembling a Frankenstein concoction of structures, brands, aesthetics and code requirements.

Today architecture encounters itself as discipline far away from its structurally and aesthetically focused past into a world of “Architectural Frankensteins” where architectural components exist unequivocally and are thoughtlessly repeated for the sake of awe, profit and efficiency.

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Fig.1 - Utilitarian Proto-Piece, Chunck

Fig. 2 - Utilitarian Proto-Piece, Chunck

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

THE TRADITIONAL Whole Representation

“The idea that we can encapsulate the entirety of a pre defined spectrum into a simple 2D plane relays the idea that we can successfully encapsulate complexity, represent it and simplify it, through this process we can achieve an object that is whole through its representation� -

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Fig. 3 - Plan of VIlla Rotunda, Andrea Palladio, 1570

Fig. 4 - General Motors Technical Center, Warren Michigan

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

THE DIGITAL IN ITS INFANCY Repetition

“The digital in its infancy promoted no more than the pre-existing architectural traditions that existed so far through thousands of years of master to disciple tranference, the digital phenomena allowed the promotion and availability of the costly copy function with draftsman to become a comodity, the possibility of copying and pasting led to the expansion of the idea of component� -

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Fig. 5 - Magazine Cover, CPC 464, 1984

Fig. 6 - Magazine Cover, Your Computer, 1985

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

THE DIGITAL Systems

“The early days of the new avangarde, brough by the new digital possibiliies promoted no more than the pre-existing architectural traditions that existed so far through thousands of years of master to disciple tranference, the digital phenomena allowed the promotion and availability of the costly copy function with draftsman to become a comodity, the possibility of copying and pasting led to the expansion of the idea of the component� -

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Fig. 7 - Magazine Cover, CPC 464, 1984

Fig. 8 - Magazine Cover, Your Computer, 1985

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

2.

ARCHITECTURE TODAY

ARCHITECTURE TODAY

ARCHITECTURE TODAY

The Component

“The industrialization and mass production of our built environment and everyday objects has led to unfocused design philosophies where these produce and manufacture worlds for the sake of efficiency and profit.

To create an environment that genuinely fits its dwellers, we need to approach design, based on its entities, regardless if they are biological or robotic Entity-Centric Design pursues an ideology deeply based on its users seen and unseen needs, this is not a human-centric design approach for it foresees the rise of self-aware, intelligent and unintelligent entities; from cleaning robots to self-driving cars.� -

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

BUILDING COMPONENT Elements

“A component is a constituent part of a building (or other built asset) which is manufactured as an independent unit, subsystem or subassembly, that can be joined or blended with other elements to form a more complex item. Generally, components are ‘self-contained’ and sourced from a single supplier, typically the complete unit provided by that supplier rather than its constituent parts.”

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Fig. 9 - Rail, Slab. Stairs, Column. Elevator, Wall, Ramp, Door, Window

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

BUILDING COMPONENT Aggregated Elements

“Group of components or types to enable the reuse of standardised design or specification elements improving productivity of design and delivery as well as providing a location to hold specifications and lessons learnt in a simple and useable way. They may hold benchmark data for cost and carbon impacts.� -

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Fig. 10 - Facade. Corridor, Patio, Varanda, Room

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

OBJECT COMPONENTS Elements

“A component is a nontrivial, nearly independent, and replaceable part of a system that fulfills a clear function in the context of a well-defined architecture. A component conforms to and provides the physical realization of a set of interfaces.�-

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Fig. 11 - Bed, Shower, Faucet, Switch, Couch, Table, Stove, Armoire, Toilet, Rug ,Chair, Art,Oven,Fridge, Washer 23

Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

OBJECT COMPONENTS Aggregated Elements

“Group of components or types to enable the reuse of standardised design or specification elements improving productivity of design and delivery as well as providing a location to hold specifications and lessons learnt in a simple and useable way. They may hold benchmark data for cost and carbon impacts.� -

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Fig. 12 - Bathroom, Closet, Dinning Room, Bedroom, Kitchen, Classroom

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

THE AGGREGATE Aggregated System

“Group of components or types to enable the reuse of standardised design or specification elements improving productivity of design and delivery as well as providing a location to hold specifications and lessons learnt in a simple and useable way. They may hold benchmark data for cost and carbon impacts.� -

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Fig. 13 - Building Entity, Object Entity, Architecture

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

What’s next? After the industrial What’s next? After the repetition What’s next? After the assembly What’s next? After the aggregation What’s next? After the profit What’s next? After the efficiency What’s next? After the obvious What’s next? After the ambiguity What’s next? After the existing

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

3.

NON COMPONENT

NON COMPONENT ARCHITECTURE Killing Architectural Elements

The architectural object, instead of being the aggregation and conjunction of several outsourced components, should exist as a layered, unique object produced singularly for its users, irrespective if sentient or not, biological or mechanical.

The architectural object, therefore, is unified under the idea of layering logical user requirements, producing a soft, comfortable, utilitarian layered surface, with the necessary apparatus to satisfy users’ demands embedded within to produce an architectural object that is whole.

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NON COMPONENT

Lourenรงo Vaz Pinto | 2020

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

INDIVIDUAL ARCHITECTURE Singular Process

A collaboration between Daniel Arsham and Snarkitecture, Dig explores the architecture of excavation. The gallery space at Storefront for Art and Architecture was filled with a solid volume of EPS architectural foam, engulfing the existing interior in a flood of white.

Daniel Arsham created and inhabited Dig by carving spaces from solid infill using simple tools – hammers, picks and chisels. A cavernous entrance opened into the solid form, inviting viewers to witness the physical excavation and transformation of an industrial stock material.

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Fig. 14 - Dig, Daniel Arsham, New York 2011

Fig. 15 - Dig, Daniel Arsham, New York 2011

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

PATH ARCHITECTURE Fluidity

A study of pedestrians’ preferred routes formed the basis of the station’s new design, providing an open and welcoming public space with specific consideration for the needs of cyclists and pedestrians. Nørreport Station is not only a station but an urban landscape for people. It transforms Copenhagen’s busiest space into a single unified flow and becomes an integrated part of the pulsating city around it.

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Fig. 16 - Norreport Station, COBE, 2015

Fig. 17 - Norreport Station, COBE, 2015

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

INSTINCT ARCHITECTURE Social Order

Different structural styles of varying species including fire ants and carpenter ants produce diferent types of physical excavation structures, displaying how social order impacts architecture in a primal manner. The strange, abstract formations that once served as a home and a workplace are brought to the surface and the intricate details of the complex arrangements are revealed as works of art.

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Fig. 18 - Anthill, Aluminium molten, 2014

Fig. 19 - Anthill, Aluminium molten, 2014

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

What if, Architecture was not ambiguous, but focused on the singular object, Constructed holistically, not of components and its aggregation but folding and layering.

What if we focused on Architecture not as a sum of its parts but as an entity, and looking at the building as the body, does it make sense to have something so important be so randomly chaotic?

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

No more No more mass produced unrelated components. endless No more repetition for the sake of efficieny and No more aggregation as a universal architectural system.

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

4.

THE SINGULAR OBJECT

THE SINGULAR OBJECT A Layered Approach

“A Singular Position is an approach to design that aims to produce an usable system that is inherently useful by focusing on its entities, their needs and requirements, and by applying the entities factors/ergonomics, usability, knowledge, and techniques. This approach enhances effectiveness and efficiency, improves human well-being, user satisfaction, accessibility and sustainability; and counteracts possible adverse effects of use on entities safety and performance. ISO 9241210:2050(E)�

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THE SINGULAR OBJECT

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

THICKENSSSSSS An anti-component logic

Thickness in geology and mining refers to the distance across a packet of rock, whether it be a facies, stratum, bed, seam, lode etc.

Thickness is measured at right angles to the surface of the seam or bed and thus independently of its spatial orientation. The concept of thickness came originally from mining language, where it was used mainly to indicate the workability of seams.

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Fig. 20 - Thick Proto-Piece

Fig. 21 - Thick Proto-Piece

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

LAYERS, LAYERS, LAYERS An anti-component logic

In computing, a layer is a way of hiding the working details of a subsystem, allowing the separation of concerns to facilitate interoperability and platform independence. These generalizations arise from broad similarities that are best encapsulated by models that express similarities present in various specific implementations. The simplification provided by a good abstraction layer allows for easy reuse by distilling a useful concept or design pattern so that situations where it may be accurately applied can be quickly recognized.

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Fig. 22 - Layered Proto-Piece

Fig. 23 - - Layered Proto-Piece

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

Fig. 24 - Layered Proto-Piece, Chunck

Fig. 25 - Layered Proto-Piece, Chunck

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Fig. 26 - Layered Proto-Piece, Chunck

Fig. 27 - Layered Proto-Piece, Chunck

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

UTILITARIANISM It also works as an architectural space!

Utilitarianism is a family of consequentialist ethical theories that promotes actions that maximize happiness and well-being for the affected individuals.

Utilitarianism is a version of consequentialism, which states that the consequences of any action are the only standard of right and wrong. Unlike other forms of consequentialism, such as egoism and altruism, utilitarianism considers the interests of all humans equally.

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Fig. 28 - Utilitarian Proto-Piece, Chunck

Fig. 29 - Utilitarian Proto-Piece, Chunck

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

What if, We focused on Architecture not as a sum of its parts but as an entity.

Looking at the building not as an aggregation of parts but of situations, the building as the body that upholds several different functions, does it make sense to have something so important be so randomly chaotic?

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

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Graduate Thesis | SCI-Arc

Util A Poitarian, st-In Com dust fort rial able Post , Un - Ass iver emb sal a ly A nd M rchit ectu ultifunc re tion a

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