Konstantins Briskins Portfolio

Archive of the Lost Senses Konstantins Briskins Stage 6 Thesis

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Brief Outline

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1. Vinyl Records 2. Spare Duvet & Hats

Archive of the Collective Interior is a studio predominantly concerned with the current

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state of the architectural world and the metamorphosises the practice is undergoing under the Covid-19 pandemic. The studio is looking at what has been lost in the

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transition from the studio environment to the isolated spaces we as practitioners and

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1. Glasses & Cologne 2. Cereal & Sugar 3. Toaster 4. Plates & Utensils 5. Jackets & Shirts

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students inhabit. The relationship between us and our working environments which

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currently are in most cases our homes is one of the key topics to be explored and

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used as a design driver this year. By the means of close and rigorous assessment of such spaces one aims to find ways for the ‘lost’ practices to re-emerge in a new unprecedented way. Resistance to simply accept isolation and its daunting consequences in regards to the way we work is intended to produce designs that link our

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‘mental interiors’ and physical spaces we occupy and reimagine working spaces in

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the light of the global turmoil.

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1. Vinyl Record Player 2. Laptop 3. Chair 4. Tea Cup 5. Books 6. Bed 7. Phone 8. Kitchenware 9. Toilet Paper

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‘Room Levels’ (Opposite) - The diagram shows layers of my apartment and multiple activities occupying each height. This exercise represents the initial attempt to expand my knowledge about the studio and consequently enrich its experiential qualities.

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1. Clothes 2. Guitar Amplifier 3. Storage Boxes 4. Suitcase 5. Heater 6. Medicine 7. Rubbish 8. Refrigerator 9. Shoes

The Initial Stages

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“Texture is ubiquitous. It contains important visual information about an object and allows us to distinguish between animals, plants, foods, and fabrics. This makes texture a significant part of the sensory input that we receive every day.” (Liu, Lughofer and Zeng, 2015) From the beginning of the project, I kept finding myself drawn to the textural elements of the surrounding interior. Perhaps this particular strive could be explained by the phenomenon’s ability to offer a link with the lost natural world existing outside of the boundaries of an isolated space. In retrospect this area of interest gave the first clues to the main focus of the project – the sensory experience of nature. Even more captivating was the texture’s ability to produce an oneiric state since its tactile qualities acted as portals for memory and daydream helping one to transcend physical environments.

During my initial investigation of the space I inhabit my aim was to identify aspects of the room that both resonate with me and perhaps are somehow linked to the place I come from. It is possible to see the resemblance of topographical terrains in the painted wall (1) and folds of the duvet (6) or perhaps the top view of a forest in the bath carpet (5).

Other Surfaces: 2. – Working Desk, 3. – Kitchen Table, 4. – Linoleum Floor.

Tracing Methods In order to dissect textures of my studio space into its primary elements I experimented with tracing methods which allowed me to emphasize their topographical nature as well as directionality and form of its components. Reimagining tracing as a creative act allowed me to apply it in the later stages of the project and to use it as one of the main design drivers. I began to see the potential in the changing scales and how their juxtaposition could provide an alternative view of an object (duvet turned into topography (1:10) with overlayed textures (20:1 – blue; 50:1 – pink) I began to notice that textures change their qualities in these shifts. The diagram opposite demonstrate these shifts and following changes. For example, wave-like surface of the duvet becomes a series of repetitive irregular shapes at 20:1 and is abstracted completely at 50:1. A more subtle but as important change is happening in the shift from 20:1 (black circles) to 50:1 (pink circles) of the slipmat texture where points are becoming lines.

(Opposite) Diagram with juxtaposed scaled textures of a duvet and slipmat traced using different digital tools.

Sensory Intensification The next step was to collect and intensify the previously mentioned sensory experiences. My desire was to increase their haptic and visual impact by creating a cabinet where such experiences could be safely stored. The device consisted of three stacked rows with eight cavities in each row. There were twenty-four slots with raster engraved textures which could be put into cavities. The eight textures (slipmat, vinyl record, glasses case, sponge, metal table, wool hat, bath matt and toilet paper) were chosen to provide a wider array of samples with different qualities (regular, repetitive, abstract, directional etc.) and because of their links with the natural world (bath matt – forest, slipmat – hay stack, metal table – ice etc.). The top row contains magnifying lenses to add precision. Each of the slots and lenses can be rearranged and put into any cavity. The cabinet can be seen as a miniature prototype embodying the core design ideas which were later manifested in an architectural form.

(Opposite) MDF slots with engraved textures at different scales.

Texture Analysis Device in use.

Core Ambition In order to translate my investigation of texture and sensory experiences and the peculiar hidden memories of the natural world which could be found within domestic objects of my room I have decided to bring these experiences into the built environment by creating a museum of landscapes. My ambition was to compensate the loss experienced in isolation by creating an architectural prototype which could sustain natural environments offering a variety of experiences collected in one space. On the other hand, I began to see the potential to use my building as an environmental envoy emphasizing the detrimental consequences of climate change caused by unsustainable human activities. In other words, by presenting landscapes as protected micro worlds the project could change one’s view regarding nature. The powerful side of this message comes from the shift in nature’s relationship with people. Rather than being the “other” existing outside of our walls it becomes a part of us. “To put it another way, if we were to “come back to our senses,” we would realize that we are indeed a-part of-the-rest-of-nature, not apart from nature.” (Vakoch, 2016)

The diagram opposite represents the conceptual origin of the project as a uniform collection of landscapes brought into the built environment.

Main Precedent Olafur Eliasson and his environmental installations such as “Riverbed” helped me to frame the project’s ethical side. The artists approach revolves around the idea of memory which is also the prime focus of my work. In the Riverbed project Eliasson replicated his childhood memory of an Icelandic glacier landscape first inside a museum in Denmark and later in an Australian gallery. The most interesting aspect which I have later incorporated in my project is the juxtaposition of the artificial blankness of the gallery space and the roughness of natural landscaping. In my subjective opinion this uncanny relationship between the two phenomena produces a unique psychological effect where nature seems to obtain rarity and is presented as a mere trace or a memory of the world we once had.

(Opposite) Photo of Olafur Eliason’s Riverbed at QAGOMA, Australia. (1)

Chosen Site My desire for the project was to escape the limitations of my studio by creating a large-scale architectural proposal which would comprise the ideas and findings of the early stages of my enquiry. When choosing a site, I strived for a place which could act as an embodiment of the lost sensory experiences of the exterior world.

Hence, I have chosen to allocate my building at the threshold between the urban and the natural realms or in this case between the Gateshead Quayside and the River Tyne. Following my ambition to focus on the contextual aspect of architecture I have consciously attempted to work with the historical and cultural features of the site and made them particularly prominent in the way I approached this project. I began with a simple material and functional site analysis represented in the diagrams opposite but soon progressed into a deeper investigation of the site’s rich industrial past.

(Opposite) Site analysis of materiality and function.

The Lost Industries After the initial stages of research, I have identified three branches of industry relevant to the site and each carrying a potential to be addressed, explored, and incorporated in the project. The most immediate context is linked with the milling industry since the site used to be part of the Baltic Flour Mill extension warehouse which was later demolished. The diagram on the next page demonstrates an attempt to reimagine milling process as a spatial experience depicting the “journey” of a grain through different parts of the mill. However, following a number of discussions, I have decided that it would be wiser to address a broader context expanding the building’s cultural impact. Coal mining can be seen as the most prominent industry in the Northeast and hence offered another route for design exploration. The diagram opposite clearly demonstrates the importance of mines by marking each mine around Quayside as a dot and connecting the ones that were built in the same decade. After some consideration I have decided to focus on an industry that possesses both regional influence and a direct link to the River Tyne – shipbuilding. I believe that after choosing the mentioned industry as the main contextual link the project obtained a firm sense of historic and cultural identity which is not too specific nor too generic.

(Opposite) The diagram shows coal mines of Newcastle and Gateshead as white dots. The connected mines were built in the same decade.

Grain Movement Diagram.

Jarrow Shipyard To avoid abstraction which I has been battling with in the beginning of the second semester I decided to ensure the contextual link with the shipbuilding industry by analysing and incorporating the arrangement of the one of the most prominent River Tyne’s shipyards – Palmers’ Jarrow shipyard. The yard has been the most prolific in Britain from 1877 to 1883 and upon its closure hundreds of men organised the Jarrow Crusade marching from Jarrow to London as a sign of protest against poverty and unemployment in the area. (Tyne Built Ships & Shipbuilders, 2021) The shipyard’s history and the consequences of its decay can be seen as the epitome of the deindustrialisation of the Northeast. Causing both the economic loss and the loss of the collective identity the phenomenon provided an opportunity for addressing the problematic nature of the post-industrial world and the beneficial environmental aspects hidden behind it.

Photo of the Jarrow Crusaders on their way from Jarrow to London, 1936. (2)

Original Footprint of the Palmers’ Jarrow shipyard from the 1887.

Traces

Memory is a trace of the past existing in the present. Once this idea has been fully understood and conceptualised it offered a firm link between my initial ambition to produce a collection of natural sensory experiences and contextual investigations I had undertaken later. If nature is imagined as a trace of the world lost in isolation the same way the industrial past only exists in the form of a memory the two can be juxtaposed creating a scheme focused on the relationship between these traces. To put this idea to practice I have overlapped the original footprint of the Jarrow shipyard from the 19th century (yellow line) with the footprint currently visible on the cleared site (white line).

Overlaps

The overlapping parts of both footprints can be seen as points where the original memory (Jarrow shipyard) is still present within the “fake memory” (the currently visible footprint mainly consists of the buildings’ foundations built on the site after the shipyard’s collapse). I believe that the mentioned overlaps possess a unique quality which connects them with the life in isolation. Here the present (visible footprint) is in itself a mere trace just like isolation is a trace of the life we once had. The overlap then acts as a link between the “real” past and the “false” present or as a memory of the “real” heritage and the “real” life.

Value Hierarchy In order to give the previously mentioned mappings an architectural form I have decided to use the overlaps as spaces hosting cabinets of environmental sensory experiences and the parts left out of overlaps as representatives of the lost industrial past. In this way the project would offer visitors two conflicting memories that possess mutually exclusive sacrificial character. In other words, neither phenomenon could exist while the other one is still present. The unsustainable ways of the industrial past undeniably had a drastic environmental impact meaning that its decay offered an opportunity for a more sensitive and sensible approach to nature. To establish a clear vertical hierarchy of values and represent it spatially the overlaps were raised above ground level emphasizing the importance of natural memory. The industrial parts of the plans were then sunken and used as circulation between the pavilions. The pavilions were also raised for practical purposes since the Quayside has a history of flooding.

(Opposite) The top image represents the mentioned overlaps turned into plans. The bottom image shows these plans assembled on site

Sensing Nature The initial proposal to create a collection of micro-landscapes was altered to fit the direction the project took in the later stages. I believe that identifying its premise and its main focus as a cabinet of natural memories with an emphasis on the phenomenological aspect helped to frame my design approach. From this experiential perspective memory presents itself on multiple sensory levels which could be dissected into touch, smell, sound, taste, and vision. While taste is the sense least altered by The Art of Scent installation in Dubai created by Thierry Wasser, Christophe Laudamiel, and Patricia de Nicolaï to Daphnée Bugey and Jérome Epinette. (3)

isolation other four were undoubtedly deprived of environmental stimuli. My ambition was to assign a different sense to each of the three pavilions (the last comprising three smaller spaces) in the order these senses emerge in a human foetus: touch, smell, and sound. Vision would then act as a green medium for the mentioned architectural interventions. While thinking about alternative ways of sensory stimulation I have mainly focused on contemporary installations revolving around the subject.

(Opposite) Haptic poster of the “Take a Green Break” collection by a Singapore-based designer How Sok Hwee. (4)

Synthesis The finalised version of the project comprises three sensory pavilions with the last divided into three smaller spaces. The pavilions are scattered around the site and connected by an underground route. Both the route’s and the pavilions’ geometry is informed by the overlapping traces of the Jarrow shipyard and the currently visible footprint of the cleared site. The transition from Jarrow to Gateshead Quayside allows for the rich industrial history of the River Tyne to be experienced or remembered by bigger numbers of people varying in their origin and connection to the place. The Quayside is steadily becoming a cultural hub of Gateshead and Newcastle with both native and foreign visitors seeking to explore the area. The project’s core theme which is also its strongest aspect is the tension between nature and industry represented metaphorically in the collage opposite imagining Jarrow shipyard’s dry dock as a postapocalyptic overgrown site. This tension however is not resolved and asks for a personal reflection while offering a vertical hierarchy as a glimpse into the right way of thinking.

(Opposite) Collage reimagining Jarrow shipyard’s dry dock as an overgrown landscape with pieces of iconic gantry cranes scattered around the area.

Site Plan 1:500

Ground Floor Plan 1:200

First Floor Plan 1:200

Axonometric View

Perspective Section

Materiality

Exterior view of the site’s main access point and the Haptic Cabinet.

Following the project’s agenda materiality of the pavilions’ interiors are in an opposition with its exteriors and the circulation route. Charred larch cladding was used as the main exterior material to emphasize the rough aesthetic of the industrial past.

It is also referencing the fire which happened in the Baltic Flour Mill’s extension warehouse consequently leading to the mill’s financial collapse and the great fire of Gateshead and Newcastle. Ferrock being the chosen material for the roofs, floor slabs and the route has a direct connection with the shipbuilding industry since it is made predominantly from recycled steel dust combined with silica. The material is not only stronger than conventional concrete but is carbon negative making it environmentally friendly while its red hues complement the industrial aesthetic. The pavilions’ interiors are clad with white ceramic tiles to contrast with the coarse exteriors and present the lost sensory experiences of nature as cherished memories in the dystopic context of a completely artificial world.

Structure

Exterior view of the Olfactory Factory emphasizing structural details.

Corten steel being the main structural material is perhaps the most apparent of the architectural elements linking the project to its context. The exposed structure references both cranes of the shipyard and the ships themselves during the construction phase. The material in not only strong but weatherproof while its rust-like appearance realizes the project’s ambition to represent its exterior as an industrial wasteland. The hidden structure of the pavilions which does not conflict with its visual identity is made from timber to offset buildings’ carbon footprint. Details such as railings and window frames all possess similar structure-like qualities to unify the entire scheme.

Circulation

Circulation route with the view of the Sonic Nest and landscaping.

The sunken route connects the pavilions and provides a space for serene contemplation. Its minimalistic atmosphere allows visitors to fully focus their attention on the materiality of their surroundings and the pavilions towering over them. Being a rapture in the site it evokes a feeling of descent which in this case is both physical and psychological. From the outside buildings and trees seem to emerge from the broken ground like flowers growing on a toxic land. One finds himself roaming around an abandoned factory or a ghost industrial town which has been forgotten for centuries and finally rediscovered by the unexpected wonderer. There is something uncanny but simultaneously captivating about this type of journey which also remains open. There are many entrances allowing for alternative routes and freedom in the process of discovery.

Haptic Cabinet

Three haptic pods: wheat field, tree barks and stones.

The first pavilion related to the sense of touch provides an opportunity to reconnect with the most intimate and the earliest of our senses. Often forgotten in the field of architecture haptic experiences are extremely impactful and their loss is immediately noticeable once a person is deprived of them. The pavilion consists of six types of natural objects and textures including stones, tree barks, wheat field, sand, grass, and moss which are supposed to offer a collection of lost experiences for people coming from varying backgrounds. The collection can be easily altered by replacing one of the objects with a new natural artefact. There is additional space for soil and a roof light above each of the pods to allow for vegetation to grow sustainably. The pods’ small size suggests an intimate personal experience where a single person is able to enter the pod and relive his or her favourite haptic memories of nature.

Olfactory Factory

Chimneys with industrial smells and the natural “shells” in use.

The second collection of phenomenological objects is focused on the sense of smell. When entering the pavilion and crossing the threshold between the coarse exterior and the sterile interior one finds himself surrounded with peculiar objects.

Rusty Corten steel chimneys rise from the floor cracks mimicking the spatial arrangement of the circulation route. One leans in and smells gasoline. The next one smells like coal while the other has a district smell of burned rubber. These chimneys represent all the industrial smells which hopefully will be soon extinct but are still so common in the modern world. The suspended cubes raise even more questions but when entering the tiny enclosure composed of frosted glass and thin steel frame one can suddenly smell a conifer forest. There is also a sea, an ocean, the air before the storm and much more. The suspended state and materiality of these helmet-like enclosures reflects the fragile state of natural smells. All the smells in this pavilion are made with an absorbent resin and stored as capsules on the bottom of chimneys and in the smaller parasitic sections of the cubes.

Sonic Nests

Axonometric diagrams showing inner arrangement and structure of Sonic Nests.

The last pavilion comprises three smaller units hovering over the main circulation route. There are three types of sounds captured and intensified within the spaces. The first is the sound of fauna in this case produced by the birds inhabiting many nests forming the open enclosure of the first space. The second pavilion consists of water collectors suspended above a series of metal cascades. Visitors would be then able to release the water and experience a prolonged sound reminiscent of rain. The last pavilion uses recycled metal pipes from ships and factories with holes drilled through them. The pipes become wind instruments producing sounds of different pitches as the wind blows through them. They are also interactive allowing people to produce different sounds by closing holes of the pipes. Each of the spaces is accessed through a vertical ladder referencing the experience of climbing up the cranes which are ubiquitous at the majority of shipyards.

Shadow Study

Digital clay model representing light and shadow qualities during daytime.

The relationship between shadow and light in this project is a continuation of the general concept. The sunken parts of the scheme representing the lost industrial past are hidden in shadows. This darkness is similar to the one experienced inside shipyard warehouses. The pavilions on the other hand being lifted above the ground are sunlit continuously during the day presenting themselves symbolically as bright reveries of nature.

Night Light Study

Digital clay model representing light and shadow qualities during night-time.

During the night, the previously described relationship is reversed as the route becomes the main spectacle on the site. Light coming from the cracks in the land attracts and welcomes visitors to explore this labyrinth-like space. Night being a more mystical time offers an opportunity for deeper contemplation and hence it is worth to put an emphasis on the physical descent followed by the descent into one’s psyche. During the darker hours and a quitter time the space provides a more intimate experience focusing on the problematic nature of the lost identity of the Northeast.

Appendix A Part of the early investigations I have undertaken in the first semester was concerned predominantly with scale and texture and the relationship between them. The following appendix shows the analytical approach I have employed in order to discect the mentioned phenomena. While the findings I have produced were not reflected in the final proposal I believe that the process of comparison itself helped me to define my concept as a juxtaposition of two elements – industry and nature.

The diagram opposite represents the strive to reveal and unravel the intricacies within the hidden layers of an object.

I believe that the particular exercises that I have chosen at the earliest stages of the project helped me to define my area of interest. The meticulous plans of my studio and even more obsessive layers of the vinyl record player showed that I was mainly concerned with the ‘basic elements’ or in other words things that a system is composed of and how it influences its qualities. Knowing the basic element is being truly familiar with the system. That was the insight that I was willing to apply when using textures.

The diagram on the next pages imagines different scales of the same object (bath matt and woven hat) as ethereal autonomous worlds emphasizing the difference between scales of textures.

1 : 5 Scale

1 : 2 Scale

Texture Analysis Criteria of Analysis – three aspects of textures were assessed in the following phase. As “Tamura, Mori, and Yamawaki found in psychological studies that humans respond best to coarseness, contrast, and directionality, and to lesser degrees to line-likeness, regularity, and roughness.” (Liu, Lughofer and Zeng, 2015) To make the analysis more accessible points were assigned to each of the parameters (high contrast – 2, medium contrast – 1, low contrast – 0; directional – 1, non-directional

Bath Matt

Glasses Case

Toilet Paper

Wool Hat

– 0; regular – 1, irregular – 0). This type of assessment allowed me to define scales at which these textures have a bigger capacity to influence one’s perception. Why is this important? This question can be answered in two ways. Firstly, “a room with textured walls is perceived as less spacious than an untextured room of similar size”.

(Wang, Lu, Ohno and Gu, 2020) That means that perceptual intensity of a texture is directly related to its spaciousness – the ‘stronger’ the texture the smaller the space it covers is perceived. Secondly, its ‘strength’ is going to influence its atmospheric qualities. By applying textures and scales with higher intensities, one is capable to manipulate the subjective effects that a texture has.

The experience of using the device.

Low Contrast Regular Non-Directional (1)

Low Contrast Regular Non-Directional (1)

Low Contrast Regular Directional (2)

Low Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (0)

Low Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (0)

Low Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (0)

High Contrast Regular Directional (4)

Low Contrast Regular Directional (2)

Medium Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (1)

High Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (2)

Medium Contrast Regular Directional (3)

Medium Contrast Irregular Directional (2)

Medium Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (1)

Low Contrast Irregular Directional (1)

High Contrast Irregular Directional (3)

Medium Contrast Regular Directional (3)

Low Contrast Irregular Directional (2)

High Contrast Irregular Non-Directional (2)

High Contrast Irregular Directional (3)

Medium Contrast Irregular Directional (2)

High Contrast Irregular Directional (3)

Medium Contrast Regular Directional (3)

Medium Contrast Irregular Directional (2)

High Contrast Regular Directional (4)

Findings Before revealing the results of my analysis, it should be noted that the raster engraved samples were used to assess directionality and regularity while contrast was assessed from the actual photos which explains some ‘confusing’ rankings. As a result of the previously discussed investigation, I was able to draw a number of conclusions in regards to the set of domestic textures I have chosen. Firstly, there was an even distribution of low, medium and high contrast textures. Contrast was increasing towards smaller scales. Secondly, irregular textures were much more common which decreases overall impact of the samples. However, the regular ones were in most cases of bigger scale and would lose their regularity as the scale decreased.

It is important to outline that there was a strong link between regularity and function meaning that the objects were either created, arranged or performed using regular motion (knitted hat, repetitive grooves of a record etc.). Lastly, the textures were predominantly directional particularly the ones of smaller scales. One can argue that basic textural elements that internal environments tend to have some degree of directionality. Generally, texture intensity was increased as the scale of investigation was decreasing making the basic elements of textures more impactful than their assemblages.

The mentioned analysis can be seen as the first step of the process of understanding textures. Logically to implement the idea of reducing the gap between the internal and the urban/natural the textures laying outside of the domestic threshold must be examined and similar type of conclusions should be drawn.

Mapping of the domestic textures as a landscape.

Asphalt

Comparison

Brickwork

Medium Contrast

Medium Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

Medium Contrast

Irregular

Irregular

Irregular

Regular

Irregular

Irregular

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

Directional

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

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(1)

(2)

(4)

(2)

(1)

Assessment of urban and natural textures provided an opportunity for the compar-

Concrete

Grass

ison of the internal and the external textures. The set of urban samples consists of the most distinctive textures that can be found in most cities and are hence the most representative. The results are as follows: 1.

Urban textures were slightly higher in regards to their visual intensity (54:47)

but the difference was not crucial. Domestic textures would obtain intensity with the drop in scale while urban ones behaved in the opposite manner.

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Urban textures were noticeably higher in contrast than the domestic ones and

Low Contrast

High Contrast

Medium Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

Regular

Irregular

Irregular

Regular

Regular

Regular

Directional

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

Directional

Directional

Directional

(2)

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(4)

Leaves

only had one low contrast texture compared to nine in the domestic group.

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Medium Contrast

Paving Stone

There were similar numbers of regular and irregular textures with irregular significantly dominating both groups and being more common in the urban set.

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There was a noticeable difference in directionality between the groups with the

majority of directional textures in the domestic set (15:9) and the opposite situation in the urban group (9:15).

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While domestic textures tend to show how they were made in factories and

in rare cases their function the external and particularly the natural ones can reveal

High Contrast

Medium Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

Irregular

Irregular

Irregular

Regular

Irregular

Irregular

Directional

Directional

Non-Directional

Directional

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

(3)

(2)

(2)

(4)

(2)

(2)

Stonework

their history or even principles of the natural world. For example, paving stone shows

Tree

its magmatic past, tree texture exhibits multiple lifeforms at each scale, fallen leaves represents the changing seasons etc.

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Natural textures unlike domestic ones can be dynamic or malleable and change over time (water, vegetation, gravel etc.)

Medium Contrast

Medium Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

High Contrast

Medium Contrast

Irregular

Regular

Irregular

Irregular

Irregular

Irregular

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

Directional

Non-Directional

Non-Directional

(1)

(2)

(2)

(3)

(2)

(1)

Concrete Brickwork Tree 1:5 1:5 1:5

Paving Stone

Grass

20:1

20:1 20:1

1:5

1:5

50:1

50:1 50:1

20:1

20:1

50:1

Stonework

50:1

Leaves Asphalt

1:5 1:5 1:5

20:1 20:1 20:1

50:1 50:1 50:1

Appendix B The design process in the second semester has been particularly challenging in regard to the abstract approach I have employed. The first proposal represented in the appendix B shows an attempt to create an autonomous archive of landscapes with a central circulation core and landscape pods occupying the building’s periphery.

The proposal revolved around the eco-psychological theories which assume that nature should “be seen as the widest circle that includes and sustains the community in which the family is ensconced”. (Vakoch, 2016) In other words, by reimagining the role of an enclosure as the one which connects and consists of nature rather than separates us from it, I wanted to alter people’s perception of nature eventually leading to a more sustainable way of thinking. However, the proposal had virtually no connection to its surroundings and could be placed anywhere in the world. Since one of my ambitions for the stage 6 was to focus on the contextual aspect of architecture the mentioned design evolved into a more sensitive piece of design.

(Opposite) Schematic diagrams testing different types of circulation in the initial proposal.

Sketch demonstrating technological and structural strategies for creating artificial topographical landscapes.

(Opposite) Early conceptual sketch demonstrating the core ambition of the project.

Diagrammatic massing and development model.

新 陳 代 謝 (Metabolism)

Central circulation core allowing for a free plan of the periphery.

Ground floor containing a library space with admin office.

“Large Vegetation” units comprising a forest and a jungle.

Topographic or experiential units storing deserts, fields and hills.

Building’s shell that smaller units could be attached to.

Small units that could be quickly installed or removed.

Office and laboratory spaces (need to be resolved).

Top floor apartments for environmental workers.

Atrium’s glass cover allowing bringing natural light.

Appendix C A substantial portion of the design was influenced by the literary works of French philosopher Gaston Bachelard. In his book The Poetics of Space, the author gave a detailed explanation of “oneiric” spaces or spaces which are capable of producing a dream-like states. Since my design revolves around the topic of both memory and daydream, I found the book helpful and informative and have employed a number of spatial archetypes Bachelard used in the book.

The first pavilion relating to the sense of smell has an arrangement of a cabinet or a wardrobe with each of the pods exposed and visibly separated by partition walls creating an effect of a collection. According to Bachelard such containers are connected to our desire for secrecy and intimacy: “wardrobes with their shelves, desks with their drawers, and chests with their false bottoms are veritable organs of the secret psychological life”. (Bachelard, 1958) The smell pavilion borrows its intimate character from shells praised by the philosopher. According to Bachelard “to live alone; there’s a great dream! The most lifeless, the most physically absurd image, such as that of living in a shell, can serve as origin of such a dream”. (Bachelard, 1958) The suspended translucent cubes of the pavilion then act as shells. Once occupied they provide a solitary olfactory experience which is intensified by such intimacy and solitude.

The third pavilion represents the philosopher’s concept of nests. Here the idea of protection and double sheltering (by the tree and the nest) is pushed to its limits. “A tree becomes a nest the moment a great dreamer hides in it”. (Bachelard, 1958) The spaces are only accessed by a ladder and suggest that a visitor would associate the found experiences with a living nest and hence his sense of appreciates would be enhanced.

Bibliography

List of Images

1. Liu, J., Lughofer, E. and Zeng, X., 2015. Aesthetic perception of visual textures:

1. Harth, N., 2014. Riverbed. [image] Available at: <https://olafureliasson.net/ar-

a holistic exploration using texture analysis, psychological experiment, and per-

chive/artwork/WEK108986/riverbed> [Accessed 3 June 2021].

ception modeling. Frontiers in Computational Neuroscience, 9.

2. Getty Images, Author Unknown, Jarrow Crusade on its way to London, 1936.

2. Wang, C., Lu, W., Ohno, R. and Gu, Z., 2020. Effect of Wall Texture on Perceptu-

[Image] Available at: <https://moneyweek.com/410339/5-october-1936-the-jarrow-

al Spaciousness of Indoor Space. International Journal of Environmental Research

crusade-sets-off-for-london> [Accessed 3 June 2021].

and Public Health, 17(11), p.4177.

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