The Interface summary

A new “work building” in Rotterdam Pompenburg

Martijn Dahrs September 2019 - July 2020 m.dahrs@gmail.com +31 (0)6 83 36 93 07

Dear reader A summary of my graduation project is presented in this booklet. Between September 2019 and July 2020 during a year of research and design, I have developed a new type of office building.

Initiated before the COVID-19 pandemic, the building responds already to upcoming modes of working that have a new relation to place and people’s surroundings.

Internet. As an architect, it is increasingly important to be able to understand and address the increasing importance of the Interface in our daily life in order to develop productive and affective environments.

Therefore, the new office building project here is complementary to the Interface and suitable for a new ways working made possible by the Interface.

This project stems from my fascination of the interaction between humans and their surroundings. Nowadays, this interaction is largely guided by, what I call in this research, The Interface. The Interface has a significant impact on the way humans engage with their surroundings. It is our gateway to the vast network of the

In this booklet, you can find a short summary of the research paper written on the way the Interface operates. Then, it continues by explaining the translation into architecture. In the next three chapters the building is elaborated. And lastly, it is shown how this building should work ultimately.

Martijn Dahrs

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INDEX

04 RESEARCH

12 ARCHITECTURE

08 PROJECT

18 ACCIDENTS

10 SITE

22 SKIN

The Interface

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RESEARCH

SELLING STOCKS IN NEW YORK BUYING TOMORROW’S BREAKFAST

SPEEDDATING

SWITCHING THE LIGHTS OFF AT HOME

Nowadays, for a lot of activities one does not need to go to a designated place but these activities can all be done with the Interface.

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We currently live in a time of ubiquitous connectivity. Due to the Internet, and more importantly its interfaces we carry, we have gained freedom to do whatever, wherever, whenever. More importantly, these interfaces automate human actions algorithmically. Not only physical activities but also (relatively simple) cognitive actions.

These interfaces range from smartphones to sensors, and from fridges to light bulbs.

All the types of interfaces of the Internet are called the Interface in this project. In many aspects of life, automation by the Interface has a big impact. Whereas it was always the case that one depended largely on one’s physical surroundings to fulfill one’s needs, nowadays one can just order or find everything desired on the Internet without the need to go anywhere or visit anyone.

leisure are not binary opposed anymore, but instead have become seamless concepts and therefore to be considered as one and the same. This results in a new definition of the workplace, beyond the nineteenth century factory and twentieth century office building. The traditional company has deterritorialized and humans reterritorialize into new labor-leisure assemblages, resulting in a free and constantly fluctuating use of time and space. The activities done are what philosopher Simondon calls technical activities: creating new relations among heterogeneous entities, knowledge production, and lifelong learning. Humans no longer work for one company in one location, but they move extensively throughout the day, the week, the year while simultaneously their activities and collaborators differ, too

In this research, it is suggested that particularly in our working life, the Interface affects us intensely. The labor-leisure dichotomy has become obsolete. Labor and

The research is propositions. The manner in which engage with their

Research

concluded with five Interface impacts the humans interact and physical surroundings

CHECKING ON THE BABY AT HOME

SHOPPING FOR SHIRTS READING

MEETING WITH THE BIG BOSS

ORDERING FOOD

Even in places that are not considered buildings.

and other humans. It is a disruptive force that comes from outside architecture, but nonetheless impacts it.

The Internet consists of already enormous and still growing piles of data that are incomprehensible for ordinary people.

Therefore, the Interface is required. The Interface filters and converts this data into information with which people can interact.

By doing this, new potentials for pragmatic action are generated, since access to this amount and quality of information did not exist before.

The most important consequence of the workings of the Interface is automation.

The Interface allows to go from one situation to another one instantly. If you want something, you click on it, and you get it. Automation reduces the possibility of accidents and replaces these with comfort.

Accidents could be seen as serendipitous occurrences: things and happenings one randomly stumbles upon. These accidents are important because they

initiate potentials for pragmatic action: new discoveries and unexpected encounters.

Automation by the Interface changes the nature of work and therefore requires a different environment. Work used to be directed towards producing products or decisions. Nowadays though, knowledge is the desired outcome. Therefore discoveries and unexpected encounters, accidents in general, are necessary. It is concluded that a building nowadays should not strive to be “smart”, meaning attempting to be similar to the Interface, it should rather be complementary. Subsequently, a building should provoke accidents rather than strive for maximum comfort as the Interface already does this. By striving for accidents, our physical surroundings are tailored for our contemporary lives organized around the Interface.

On the next two pages, five propositions are presented that function as a conclusion.

The Interface

5

DATA

INTERFACE

NETWORK

USER

IP PROTOCOL

1

The Interface deterritorializes and alters the way people engage with their physical surroundings.

DATA

INTERFACE

INFORMATION

USER

= Digital Object

2

6

Research

The Interface creates information out of data and instigates new potentials for pragmatic action.

INTERFACE

A

A

ACTION 1

ACTION 2

New potentials for pragmatic actions

B

ACTION 3

New potentials for pragmatic actions

B

ACTION 4

New potentials for pragmatic actions

Time scale

3

The Interface automates which substitutes the potentials for accidents with comfort.

19th century

20th century

21st century

INFORMATION

Knowledge generating factory

KNOWLEDGE

4

Automation leads to technical activities substituting the notion of jobs, and a shift in work towards creation of information.

5

An intelligent building COMPLEMENTS THE INTERFACE and PROVOKES ACCIDENTS to enhance technical activities.

The Interface

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PROJECT

Three three-dimensional routes are individually dedicated to different modes of work.

A new and different kind of “work building” is proposed here. The building is meant for intellectual work, rather than physical work.

A building that is focused on heterogeneity and the continuous provocation of accidents. Nowadays there is no need to design a building for one specific company where a specific set of people do a specific set of tasks during a specific set of hours every day. As our working activities are taking place everywhere and all the time, a specific building to routinely visit is not necessary any longer. People are working less and less in fixed hierarchies and collaborations. We do not work for a company but we are freelance.

The building is intended to be used by entrepreneurs and designers, people that work on projects or develop products.

Working on projects and product development requires learning and the creation of new knowledge. For this to happen, collaboration and exchange are paramount. This collaboration and knowledge exchange is provoked by accidents, unexpected encounters.

The encounters inspire, create new

8

Project

linkages among people, and lead to a true knowledge economy.

Instead of working on one’s own work behind a desk for eight hours straight, it is better to have some discussion, take a nap, do some exercise, and undertake many other activities as well during a “working” day. Therefore, the building’s program is divided in four groups: (1) focused working, (2) collaborative working, (3) physical working, and (4) passive working.

The entire program is organized in three routes. These routes are comprised of different spaces, making the entire building basically circulation. The four types of work, passive and physical work, focused work, and collaborative work, are treated as equally important and organized in a continuous way. When one intends to go to a certain space in the building one always has to pass other spaces. The spaces flow over into one another. In this manner accidents are provoked. The three routes are subsequently intertwined with one another in 3D to provoke even more accidents.

Four types of working that should be continuously varied throughout a day.

Four types of work organized in three routes. These three routes are composed of different spaces.

The three routes are intertwined in three dimensions.

The Interface

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SITE

Pompenburg

Rotterdam Pompenburg

A “work building” in the twenty-first century should not be a destination in itself.

Instead, it should be intertwined with our daily life. This means a hyper connected and easily accessible building. Basically, qualities related to the comfort that the Interface has. The consequences of the Interface are tangible everywhere on the globe. And therefore they can be found close-by. The site of experimentation for the project is in the Netherlands. The research will be applied here and translated into a building.

The building is located in Rotterdam’s Central District, basically the only CBD of the Netherlands. It is an international transit hub with the nearby Rotterdam Central Station and two airports within 30 minutes. It is a high-density area, where a large amount of people pass by daily. And it is between the city center and residential areas, filled with a large variety of functions.

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Site

A part of this Central District is Pompenburg.

Pompenburg is the site of action. It has a lot of vacant spaces that could be potential sites for this project. In the near future, new large-scale developments will take place. High-rise dwellings will be added with some public functions as well. In the midst of this plan there is an empty area.

This site is positioned on either side of the train tracks in a hexagonal shape. It connects both sides of the train tracks, the updated Luchtsingel, and the roof of the former Hofplein station that will have a roof park on it. The site is interwoven with the new neighborhood as well as regionally and internationally well-connected. In a time where everyone can work everywhere, and increasingly at home, a building on this site could operate as a refuge for informal meetings and accidents and become an important incubator of public life in this area.

The site surrounded by the proposed urban plan

SITE

The site is surrounded by high rise buildings and covering the train tracks.

The Interface

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ARCHITECTURE

People move around on the landscape but the landscape itself is also the place where people work and meet one another.

The building is divided in two parts: a landscape and a skin. The landscape is the interior part where accidents are provoked, the reason people would like to visit and work in this building. The skin is the membrane between inside and outside and bears the loads of the building. The landscape is being discussed in this part.

The landscape is designed as a ramp that leads from the lowest point on the north side to the highest point on the south side of the train tracks. This ramp is subsequently deconstructed in two ways. Longitudinally, the ramp is divided in three areas, each with a different inclination: steep, oblique, and flat. Transversally, these three areas are then subdivided further to create different spaces. Through this deconstruction, a

12

Architecture

landscape appears out of a ramp. Through deconstruction, the ramp gets the logic of the three routes as discussed in “Project”.

In this way, site and program are combined.

By organizing the building as a landscape, all spaces throughout the building are continuously connected to allow for a fluid variation between ways of working. This amount of fluidity cannot be achieved by a regular office building with stacked floors and long hallways. In between working and while working itself, accidents can occur.

The different spaces that result from this deconstruction each have their own specific quality and purpose. From very closed spaces to open ones, from formal to informal, from introverted to extroverted, and from traditional focused working

In the perspective section, the building is visible in its totality. Entrances are on either side, the tunnel for the train is in the middle , and the continuity of the landscape is shown.

spots to spaces intended for relaxation, distraction or informal discussions. These spaces are usually reachable from three different routes and are never the end of a route. In this way, working becomes a playful and adventurous endeavor directed towards creativity and personal freedom. A user can always keep on moving through the building to work somewhere else.

While moving, the building invites its users to meet one another randomly and perhaps even start something new or make a big leap in one’s current work.

Ultimately the building has four floors.

Entrances are positioned on either side of the train tracks on the ground floor. On the first floor, users can enter from the roof park on top of the former Hofplein station. Three

entrances allow for an effortless entry and a fluid engagement with the building.

In the middle of the building above the train tracks, the auditorium is positioned.

The building is also penetrated there by the Luchtsingel. Besides some spaces for services, like toilets, elevator shafts, and climatic utilities, all other parts of the building could be used for working. On the next page, an exploded-view diagram shows all the different spaces. They vary from a bar-like space to a bürolandschaft, from a gym to an intimate meeting room, and from a coffee corner to a conference room. Each space is located on its own plane, either inclined or flat, attached to adjacent planes. So, one moves from plane to plane and works how they like, where they like, and when they like.

The Interface

13

The building is organized in four floors on which the types of working are distributed in different spaces.

14

Architecture

Each of the three routes is deconstructed into small heterogeneous spaces tailored for various ways of working.

The Interface

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dn up

up

up

up

dn

up

up

up

up

up

up

up

Ground floor

View from the front of the building

16

Architecture

First floor

dn

up dn dn

dn

dn

dn

up

dn

Second floor

Third floor

Above the train tracks, an auditorium is located. Above the auditorium, there is a gym, a space to meet in groups, and an informal space populated with seating islands.

The Interface

17

ACCIDENTS

The main objective of this building is to provoke accidents. More generally, it could be argued that this should be one of the main aims of any building in our contemporary age of digitization and an increasingly ubiquitous Internet. These accidents occur in many different shapes and forms. They could be seen as random occurrences that are impossible to predict.

Here though, they are seen as occurrences with a positive impact, thus serendipitous.

While interacting with the Interface, users have the opportunity to receive instantly whatever they desire. Therefore, the outcome is comfort. In order to grow in one’s work, unexpected and inspiring human interaction is often most important.

This is what this building attempts to enable.

Accidents occur between two individuals, but also among groups. They happen between acquaintances but also between strangers. They happen through long and detailed conversations, small talk, or presentations. But they are never planned.

In this part, a few accidents are elaborated.

Six perspective drawings on the next three pages show just a few potential accidents occurring in this building because of its organization and its spaces.

When entering the building, the user is welcomed with a range of opportunities.

One can stay on the ground floor or ascend by the elevators or by one of the many stairs. On these stairs, one can already start working but further exploration is also possible. Upon entering, other users are seen working on their individual projects or grouped together in a team working on a product. One can already hear people discussing or have a quick glimpse of their work while passing by.

The two images on the next page show two possible ways accidents might occur in a

18

Accidents

particular space. After entering the building and ascending the large staircase, one will arrive in this space. The first image shows a moment when it is very quiet and calm. It could be early in the morning or at the end of a long day of work. In the foreground, two people are bumping into one another on the staircase. In the background, a small group of people is discussing. These occurrences are potential accidents. The second image shows a large group gathering after a lecture. Discussing about what have just been presented to them or expanding their professional network. Because this space is very open, it is the largest space in the building, and connected to many other spaces on all three levels, users unrelated to the lecture are invited to engage as well.

On the next spread, four images show two other spaces. The one on the first page, is reached when climbing the stairs visible of page 19. This space is a large oblique plane right under the roof. It is full of seating islands and drenched in natural light. It could be closed off from the rest of the building by transparent curtains and it is intended for short stay and individual work. The first image shows a relaxed and informal discussion around a laptop. This discussion could have come about randomly. Meanwhile, the second image shows a group of people finding themselves in intense problem solving.

Everyone is focused on their computer and trying to bring one of the users further.

On the final page of this chapter, a living room is shown. This is a small and introverted space focused on the view.

This space is connected to a hill-type space: a staircase with personal desks that functions as a connector. This space can be used as a quiet zone where the users work by themselves fully focused. But also small presentations can be held. Organized, but also spontaneously among strangers.

From the south entrance of the building, the gradual extrusion or pulled windows is clearly visible.

The Interface

19

In this space filled with seating islands, an informal but focused work environment is created.

20

Accidents

At the very rear of the building, an relaxed and quiet space is meant for reading and one on one conversation.

The Interface

21

SKIN

The entire skin is made in wood and glass and functions as the load-bearing structure, the facade, and the image of the building.

The skin is composed as a folded tube.

The sides, roof and tunnel are treated as equally important and designed as one continuous surface. The skin is the loadbearing structure of the building and the membrane between the work environment and the city. Through this double function it is also the aesthetics of the exterior. The two long sides of the building are designed as wooden diagrids whereas the roof is a wooden space frame with the same dimensions. The north and south facades are not load-bearing and therefore can be

22

Skin

carried out in a lightweight manner. They are both in glass with a diagrid four times smaller.

Along the edges of the facade and around the “armpits” of the tunnel, the stresses are the largest. Wherever the stresses are smaller, structural members are removed, creating holes of three different sizes within the diagrid. The gaps in the diagrid are filled with glass panels to allow maximum daylight in the building for better working

Wooden space frame Wooden edge beam

Wooden diagrid facade Wooden diagrid cantilever Concrete wall Wooden diagrid tunnel Concrete pedestal

The entire skin is made in wood and glass and functions as the load-bearing structure, the facade, and the image of the building.

conditions. Due to the tall surrounding buildings, there are only specific areas of the facade that are exposed to enough sun light. Furthermore, the trains passing by and the adjacent gas station cause noise disturbance on the facade of the building.

Wherever the solar radiation or sound disturbance is high, individual windows are pulled inwards. Whenever the solar radiation is low individual windows are pushed outwards. This system results in an appearance of gradual inward and outward movement of windows.

The roof shape is optimized to allow for maximum daylight. The six corners of the hexagonal roof were computationally optimized, and pushed upwards and downwards. The optimum for winter and summer conditions are not same: two roof shapes are in fact optimal. These two shapes are combined and rationalized in order to arrive at the final shape of the skin.

By optimizing the building for maximum daylight and using only wood as a structural material, a sustainable building as well as a pleasant work environment is designed.

The Interface

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ir. Martijn Dahrs m.dahrs@gmail.com +31 6 83 36 93 07 LinkedIn Issuu TU Delft repository YouTube