Studio C - Outpost

MOET

M U S E U M O F EXTINCTION TOMORROW

1

2

MOET

NAN LI Master of Architecture Studio C Studio 27- Outpost MOET

Advisor: Ariani Anwar | Nick Roberts

3

MOET

CONTENTS

4

THEME

p.5

SETTING

p.12

MOET

p.15

SCENARIO

p.23

PROCESS & PREVIOUS TASKS

p.31

Redefine the archive & the exhibit

MOET

THEME

5

What kind of museum MOET should be?

Archive - Seed bank

Exhibition - Artifacts

MOET

Museum is the architecture for archive and exhibition. In modern museum, the collected objects are exhibited in an artificial white cube space created and isolated from the constraint of time and external environment. The alienation of viewer from the exhibits intensifies people’s “fear of touching”. But what the museum of extinction should be? What differentiates it from other museums and galleries, considering it is a place to learn, understand, protect and celebrate something natural rather than man-made?

6

What is a seed bank for?

CONSERVATION – to act as a long term seed bank particularly for the storage of rare and threatened flora.

RESEARCH - to conduct research on the biology and ecology of seed produced

by Australian native plants.

PROPAGATION - to supply seed for the production of seedlings for planting in the ANBG living collections.

SUPPLY - to supply seed to registered organizations for research through the plant release program.

- The Australian National Botanic Gardens National Seed Bank MOET 7

Seed bank work flows

FIELD COLLECTION

GERMINATION RESEARCH

LIVE COLLECTION GERMINATION

QUALITY CONTROL

MOET

- The Australian National Botanic Gardens National Seed Bank

8

Associated science laboratories

Packaging lab - Humidification rooms set at 60%RH and 75%RH - International standard dry room at 15°C/15%RH - Climate controlled chamber

Preparation lab -

Laminar flow cabinets Benchtop autoclaves Temperature and light controlled cabinets Seed cleaning lab

Drying room - Equilibrium relative humidity sensors - Igasorb moisture sorption generator - Gravimetric moisture contents

Biological lab -

Temperature and light controlled cabinets Dynamic mechanical analyser Differential scanning calorimeter Germination scoring Lab

Digital lab Ergonomic stereo-microscopes Axiocam digital imaging (micro & macro) Refrigerated microtome Digital x-ray

MOET

-

9

How can the archive become the exhibit?

T

CH IV

TIF AC

T

AR

AR

AC TIF

IVE

AR

CH

AR

E

GALLERY

ARCHIVE

SEED BANK

LABORATORY

MOET

The design of MOET is an attempt to break the line between ARCHIVE and EXHIBITION.

10

- Gallery (exhibition) as temporary archive - Seed bank (archive) as an artifact - Laboratories as intermedium

SMELL

Drying Room

Fragrance gallery

Preparation Lab

Audio room

VISION

Packaging Lab

Specimen/ Botanical drawing

TOUCH

Biological Lab

Workshop/ Gallery

TASTE

MOET

Workshop/ Cafe

Digital Lab

SEED BANK & LIVING COLLECTION

SOUND

The artifacts displayed in the galleries will mostly come from the laboratories directly.

The laboratories themselves will be treated as artifacts, exhibited to visitors.

Galleries as temporary archive | Labs & seed bank as artifacts

11

MOET 12

SETTING

Royal Botanic Gardens

MOET

The Royal Botanic Gardens locate at the meeting point of Melbourne City, St. Kilda Art Precinct and the nature preservation area next to Yarra river. The site provides public education, civic generosity and natural beauty.

13

MOET

Hierarchy - Sloped site

14

The slope of topography changes dramatically. When I was walking on the slope, i felt that the hierarchy is really interesting. For example, the benches are in different layers and people can use them for different purposes and somehow the view and activities are interactive. The government building is right behind the site so we could say the site is in between of the city, the architectural form and the nature in botanic garden.

Architectural development 0

5

25

MOET

MOET

15

Hybrid space

MOET

Based on the idea of blurring the line between the archive and the display space, a hybrid space is created by sliding the gallery space down by half of floor level.

The movement articulates with the site condition. Through the intersection moments, communications arise between different spaces, achieving a hybrid space.

16

As the center of the museum, the seed bank connects all the laboratories and galleries. By this mean, the seed bank will also be treated a central art piece for visitor to appreciate.

MOET 17

Floor plan

1

2

3

5

6

4

7 8

MOET

0

18

2

G/F Plan

5

10

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Entry lobby Packaging lab Cafe Seed bank Storage Male WC Female WC Outdoor gallery

2

1

3

5 4 6

7 8

0

2

5

10

MOET

2/F | M2/F Plan

1. Drying room 2. Roof garden 3. Touch gallery 4. Seed bank 5. Audio gallery 6. Atrium (open to below) 7. Digital lab 8. Roof garden

19

Solidity vs. Transparency

MOET

To further realize the hybrid space, different facade treatment is applied to laboratories and galleries. As laboratories themselves are regarded as artifacts, being exhibited to visitors, transparency thus is the key feature. All the scientific processes, movements and outcomes will be displayed to public.

20

On the contrast, galleries are solid boxes as temporary archive spaces from the seed bank and laboratories.

Curated openings will happen at some points, as portals, leading to different views.

MOET

Around the central seed bank, the main circulation spiral staircases are also differentiated by the solidity and transparency. The solid stair is for public visitors.

On one side, they can look into the seed bank through curated sneak peek windows. On the opposite wall, extinct species will be displayed in niches. The transparent stair is for scientists. They can be seen while they are moving inside.

21

22

MOET

MOET

SCENARIO

23

MOET 24

Starring: Vivian & Simon

14/02/2020, AFTERNOON, SUNNY Scene 1 - Lakeside Character: Simon (scientist) & Vivian (visitor) Lines: Vivian - Oh, what is that building over there? I have never seen it before.

Simon - That is the newly open museum - Museum of Extinction/Tomorrow, you can call it MOET. Vivian - A museum? Do you know what kind of exhibitions do they have?

Simon - Well, I am working there. Why don’t you come with me and check it out?

MOET

Vivian - Sounds good! Let’s go!

25

Scene 2 - Entry of MOET Character: Simon (scientist) & Vivian (visitor) Lines: Simon - Here it is. There are several galleries inside, hope you will enjoy!

Vivian - Thank you!

Simon - I will be working in laboratories. I bet you will see me working when you move around.

Vivian - Really? That’s cool. OK, I will wave to you when I find you.

MOET

Simon - Sure. See you later.

26

Scene 3 - Atrium Character: Simon (scientist) & Vivian (visitor) Lines: Vivian - Hi, Simon. I DO see you again so soon. What are you doing?

Simon - Hi Vivian. I told you that. I am going to the seed bank to store some seeds.

Vivian - Where is the seed bank?

Simon - It’s right behind me. If you go up to the galleries through the spiral staircase, you will have a sneak peek of what is inside.

MOET

Vivian - Great! I can’t wait to see.

27

Scene 4 - Digital Lab Character: Simon (scientist) & Vivian (visitor) Lines: Vivian - Hey Simon, see you again! What are you doing this time?

Simon - I am recording seeds by digital scanning. The images will be displayed in the Vision Gallery.

Vivian - Oh, I just saw those images, they are beautiful. It is interesting that the artworks come from the laboratories directly.

MOET

Simon - Yes, that’s what we do in MOET. We are scientists and artists at the same time.

28

Vivian - Awesome. What you are doing is also an art piece!

SImon - Science is art!

Scene 5 - Touch Gallery Character: Simon (scientist) & Vivian (visitor) Lines: Simon - Hi Vivian, I am up here.

Vivian - Oh hi Simon, what a surprise. You are in the laboratories, right?

Simon - Yes, I am. Do you enjoy the galleries so far?

Vivian - They are wonderful! I have learnt a lot about the seed bank and the science you use for research.

The associated artworks are also amazing.

Vivian - I will definitely visit MOET again!

MOET

Simon - So good to hear that. Thank you for coming.

29

MOET 30

Simon and Vivian fall in love and live happily ever after...

THE END.

MOET

PROCESS & PREVIOUS TASKS

31

The chapel is built to celebrate the artist Mark Rothko and his abstract paintings. The artist emphasized the importance of the dialogue between artworks and audience. It is a simple 1 storey building with no windows, housing 14 site specific paintings. The natural sunlight comes from the skylight at top.

The simplicity of the chapel comes from the emptiness of rothko’s paintings.

MOET

In the outside, there is a small plaza and a reflective pool with a sculpture broken obelisk.

32

Task 1 - Re-inventing the museum Rothko Chapel

The chapel blur the line between architecture and art. It is also a civic center for the community.

Different activities can take place in the inside and outside of the chapel.

Exterior activities

Interior activities

MOET 33

Before

After

MOET

Re-inventing

34

What i want to do is to break the line between inside and outside. To achieve that, an underground multipurpose room will be built. By introducing another skylight in entry foyer, a monumental space will be created since it is both the entrance for chapel and the underground space. The light comes down, indicating there is something happening downstairs so that people will naturally come downstairs. Then they will pass through a long and narrow corridor where some other paintings from Mark rothko will be displayed. They will enter this big multipurpose room. This room is built underneath the pool and the bottom of the pool will be transformed into glass. During the day, the sunlight will come through and the water will generate some pretty shadows inside. At night, the interior light will come out, making the pool look like glowing. People can use it as a library, a meditation area and so on. There is a new exit at the end, people will have a new experience entering the chapel.

Task 2 - From micro to macro Micro - Specimen

Rhizanthella Gardneri

MOET

Known as Western Underground Orchid, it was discovered in the wheatbelt of Western Australia. Rhizanthella gardneri ranked as Critically Endangered. The main threats are little remaining habitat due to clearance for agriculture, gradual loss of remaining habitat (due to the decline of the associated broom bush species), poor recruitment, human impacts, drought and weeds.

Unlike any other orchid in Australia, the Western Australian underground orchid remains completely underground for its whole life. Not being able to obtain the sun’s energy, it instead feeds on the broom bush shrubs. The underground orchid is fully dependent on a symbiotic fungus for its nutrition. This fungus is also thought to provide plants with essential nutrients. This highly specific 3-way relationship (broom bush - fungus - orchid) explains why the underground orchid only occurs under broom bush and cannot be cultivated like other terrestrial orchids.

35

Task 2 - From micro to macro Middle - Garden

Serpentine Garden As the name indicates, Serpentine Style is used to draw attention to the use of free-flowing curves. This is the style of what is sometimes known as the ‘Brownian’ style, developed by Lancelot Capability Brown, who is regarded as the England’s greatest gardener. He was nicknamed “Capability” because he would tell his clients that their property had “capability” for improvement.

There are several classic features of this style: a lawn sweeping to the house front, circular tree clumps, a serpentine lake, an enclosing tree belt and a perimeter pavement. It made less use of garden buildings and more use of serpentine lines in the layout of woods and water.

MOET

In the mid of 18th century, landowners started to look back, beyond the baroque, beyond the renaissance, to the classical origins of nature. They wanted gardens which recalled the landscape of antiquity and could be used as places of reflection: on literature, history, natural science and the affairs of the day. Discussions with a few friends might take place while strolling through the grounds or sipping tea on a well placed seat.

36

It marks the jump of transforming from geometrical symmetry and regularity to asymmetry and the use of serpentine curves. Sectionally, it also brings curvature to landscape rather than a flat garden. It aims to make artificial landscape more natural. It has a huge influence on the later garden design methodologies.

MOET

37

Task 2 - From micro to macro Macro - Garden as Museum Australian ecosystems – Wetland : is a zone of flat lands that has groundwater of shallow depth and that ascend to the surface in determined periods, forming lagoons and marshes, until where they come to live hundreds of species.

There are five classes of wetlands: marine, estuarine, lake, riparian and marshy.

– Tropical forests : usually have extremely dense ecosystems because there are so many different types of animals and they all live in a very small area. They have a high biodiversity in plants and animals; Is also one of the oldest ecosystems of the planet and they are below the 1200 meters of height; The temperature and light remain constant throughout the year.

– Temperate forest : Those who have a good number of trees like mosses and ferns are for them. Temperate forests exist in regions where the climate changes significantly from summer to winter. Summers and winters are clearly defined and trees lose their leaves during the winter months.

– Desert : found in regions that receive annual rainfall of less than 25%. They occupy about 17% of all the land on our planet. Due to the high temperatures, low availability of water and intense sunlight, the fauna and flora are scarce and underdeveloped.

MOET

– Grassland : The temperate of grassland are completely devoid of large shrubs and trees. Grasslands could be categorized as mixed grass, tall grass and grassy meadows.

38

Biomes

Tropical forest Wetland

Grassland Sub-tropical forest

Temperate forest

Desert

MOET 39

MOET 40

Recreation

Observation

A continuous pathway as boundaries between biomes and a recreational public space.

Internal gravel paths for visitors to observe and experience the atmosphere of different biomes.

In progress sketches

MOET 41

MOET 42

THANK YOU.