to Crumple
Michael Headrick The University of Hong Kong Year One Second Semester 2012
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase One: Inspiration
Phase One: Inspiration
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Left: As a continuation from Semester One, the project took on certain characteristics from the very beginning. Triangulation, the crumpled form, and the circulation were all elements that played into the forming of this new semester. Right: Richard Serra’s verb list was the starting point for all of the projects. One word was selected and the time line of the Crumple House was started.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase One: Initial Acts
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Looking for inspiration for the crumple semester, analysis was an important initial act. This was a crucial move to then start visualizing the word “crumple�. Synonyms and antonyms helped to develop this visualization and gave us a hold on the word and also the connotations that were presented as one looks into the word.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase One: Inspiration
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Two: Initial Acts
Phase Two: Initial Acts
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Drawing 9
In visualizing the words from Richard Serra’s verb list, a range of mediums were used-from ink to charcoal. Medium played a major role in not only communicating the word visually, but also in the direction of the project.
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Two: Initial Acts
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Drawing 11
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Two: Initial Acts
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Three: Cast
Phase Three: Cast
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Sketches
Moving on from visualization, the ideas and concepts from the initial acts in ink and charcoal were used to then work on the first concrete casts. Form became a focal point as the exploration of how to communicate the word crumple started. Right: The use of tin foil as a mold became a primary technique to test and investigate crumpled forms.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Mold and Sketches
Phase Three: Cast
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Cast 17
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Cast
Depth within the cast became an apparent issue as it communicated the way that crumple digs into an object, creating cavities.
Phase Three: Cast
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Cast 19
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Cast
Phase Three: Cast
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Cast
The final conceptual cast posed a question of how to recreate the intricate and detailed crumple which appears in the tin foil casts. This element-including depth, distortion, a continuous line and compressionbecame the main inspiration for the final cast.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Cast
Phase Three: Cast
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Four: Rationalization
Phase Four: Rationalization
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Photocopy
One way to investigate this issue of depth was the use of photocopying. The machine could pick up the closest parts of the cast but then skipped over the very extreme depths in them. This became a way to rate how deep the cavities went and also draw these depths. The next step included work with drawing and rationalization of the crumpled form.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Photocopy
Phase Four: Rationalization
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Drawing
From the photocopies of the casts, depth drawings were produced. Then major forms were detailed and then even more specific forms were investigated. Then triangulation served to replicate the crumpled surface.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Four: Rationalization
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Drawing 29
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing and Mold
Phase Four: Rationalization
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Five: Final Cast
Phase Five: Final Cast
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Model and Sketch
From the rationalized mold, the form was investigated. The cantilevered form that was explored through this process stemmed from the idea of cave in-an major aspect of crumple.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model and Sketch
Phase One: Initial Acts
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Mold
The final mold mixed the triangulated crumple rationalization and the cave in form. This then worked to create a cast that has a continuous line of crumple in the surface while at the same time bringing in a more prominent shape that also exemplifies the word crumple.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Mold
Phase Five: Final Cast
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Model
In many ways this final cast also included the transformation of a solid box into a crumpled one. The very smooth outer edges then become an intense crumple at the center of the box.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Five: Final Cast
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Six: Circulation
Phase Six: Circulation
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Sketch
Moving into circulation, the challenge was presented to create a crumpled circulation for this concrete form work. Major shapes were selected throughout the cast and drawings started to investigate a crumple that cut into the box-a crumple of stairs and windows.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing and Sketch
Phase Six: Circulation
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Drawing and Sketch
A crumple was then introduced into the circulation-a crumple of depth not only in the major axis of the cast; but also in creating two halves of the box. This then translated into the crumple of movement, forcing the inhabiter to travel both up and down and back and forth as they navigated the box.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Six: Circulation
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Drawing 45
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Sketch
Phase Six: Circulation
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Drawing
The triangulation of the surface was again used to determine the positioning of windows and the facade of the box. From the corners of the box-the contours of the surfaces traveled to the corners of the windows. The width of the walls were also dictated by the size of the triangles and thus created a crumpled facade and crumpled wall (both internal and external).
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Collage
Phase Six: Circulation
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Seven: Reading Week
Phase Seven: Reading Week
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Photograph 51
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Photograph
Phase Seven: Reading Week
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Photograph 53
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Photograph
Phase Seven: Reading Week
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Collage and Sketch
The Reading Week trip to China was a break from the concrete cast design and an investigation of vernacular architecture in Guangdong , China. This allowed for the exploration of crumple within this architecture as well. Concepts were developed based on synonyms of the word crumplewhich included Void, Hall, Roof and Contour. These led to the development of collages and drawings that even further looked into the idea of crumple in architecture. One important collage (right) that went on to inspire the rest of the project was one that brought the crumpled roofs of the village to the ground level and suggested a crumple of even the ground.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Collage
Phase Seven: Reading Week
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Eight: Crumple House
Phase Eight: Crumple House
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Sketch
Initially, trying to combine the ideas both presented in the concrete cast and the Reading Week trip, the house took on a very literal interpretation of the concepts and taught about the differences between representation and analysis. This design was then rejected and a new design was suggested based on a deeper analysis of the given challenge.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Sketch
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Initial Ideas
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Drawing and Group Work 61
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Site
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Model
In choosing the site, there was an even greater move towards crumple. The concept of void played a big role in the choice and instead of choosing a regular building site-a void between sites was selected. This allowed for an better analysis of what crumple meant in this specific situation.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Site
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Drawing
The spaces of this void were dissected and then an artificial landscape was then developed. This landscape referenced the collage produced in analysis of the village. Much of the form of this artificial landscape came directly from the adjacent houses-as the idea of memory was introduced throughout the selection of this �void� site.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Site
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Model and Drawing 67
Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Site
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Model
Elements were produced as inserts into this artificial landscape. These elements created living space within the crumpled void and also created an extension of the ground that crumpled the view of any onlooker. These then became pieces that served two purposes, creating a crumple of the ground level, and then a living space within the void created by the site. This fractured house, which is only connected by the public artificial landscape, also references the village houses that were not actually unified under one roof, but were separated in different structures. Rooms were not connected as in modern houses, but were spread out among the village.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Sketch
As the final developments of the house were created, they started to reference the surrounding buildings. And also became a place for the discussion of what a house is and how a house relates to the surrounding. More questions were produced than answers-this became the crux of the project.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Model
The artificial landscape and the site in general was a crucial part of the project, adding to the crumple both below the ground and making an intervention at the ground level.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Model
The site buildings were a part of the model that added a context, but also became part of the new architecture. They served to show the old village situation and also give a reference for the new constructions. They also exemplify the concept explored in the artificial landscape.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Model
Elements of the houses were remixed and introduced into the new house pieces. This became another addition to the memory that these structures hold. They become a vessel for the old village and use the ancient to create a new space.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Model
The final model includes three layers-the site buildings, the artificial landscape, and finally the new constructions. These all work together to bring about the crumple in the site and explore the issue of a ground shift from the original ground level to a crumpled void situated in the void of the site.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Model
The entrance to the lower void is both by the landscape but also by access from the roof of one parts of the house. This is allows for traversing and use of the roofs of the house as well as the interiors of the house.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Model
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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Model and Drawing
The two major pieces developed included multiple references to the roofs and the angles of the old houses in relation to the artificial landscape.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Drawing
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Design
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This process is not over. A major lesson learned was that architecture is not stagnant. This dynamic field is continuously developing and the ideas which were presented throughout the semester-and even the previous one-will continue to affect the acts of the designer. There will be continuous development of the forms and concepts which started in this period of time.
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Second Semester, Year One | Michael Headrick
Phase Eight: Crumple House | Future
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