3 PAN TAN M.Arch I Portfolio | 2020-2022 Southern California Institute of Architecture
4 Statement
5 Table Contentsof DESIGN STUDIO 2GA DS 1120 Integrated Comprehensive Studio 2GB DS 1121 IArchitecture as Urban Design Studio 1GB DS 1101 Fundamental Design Studio 2 1GA DS 1100 Fundamental Design Studio 1 134122630724692961141061421462GA VS4120 Visual Stuidies III Seminar 2GB VS2708 Visual Stuidies Elective 1GA VS4100: Strategies of Representation I 1GB VS4101: Visual Studies 2 Kitchen Experiments 1GA HT2100: INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY 1GBARCHITECTUREHT2120:HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM II 2GB AS3122: Design Development 1GA AS3100: Materials and Tectonics Uncommon Grounds Containter of Bigness Housing On Pico Jigs and Lines Oblique LegoDesignKitchenTheInstructionalWorldsConstructLineExperimentsSticknessinArchitectureIntenseLegibilityDevelopmentPavilion VISUAL APPLIEDWRITINGSTUDIESSTUDIES
6 Statement
I have an undergraduate background in physics and studio art. Attending SCI-Arc allows my artistic skills to meet real-world constraints and produce something with a bigger impact. I’m exposed to a great variety of thoughts at SCI-Arc. And it has been conducive to me exploring different ways of working. I’m passionate about communicating ideas through images and text to start conversations with people as I recognize that besides the power of architecture not only shows in its materiality and appearance but also lies in its discourse. Therefore, I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned during tutoring experiences, while also taking the opportunity to internalize and translate knowledge into my own language. And it's for the same reason that I enjoy working in collaboration.To me, architecture promises a unique way to interface with the world and people around.
7 ContentsofTable DESIGN STUDIO 2GA DS 1120 Integrated Comprehensive Studio 2GB DS 1121 IArchitecture as Urban Design Studio 1GB DS 1101 Fundamental Design Studio 2 1GA DS 1100 Fundamental Design Studio 1 724692961141061421463061221342GA VS4120 Visual Stuidies III Seminar 2GB VS2708 Visual Stuidies Elective 1GA VS4100: Strategies of Representation I 1GB VS4101: Visual Studies 2 Kitchen 1GAExperimentsHT2100:INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE1GBHT2120:HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM II 2GB AS3122: Design Development 1GA AS3100: Materials and Tectonics Uncommon Grounds Containter of Bigness Housing On Pico Jigs and Lines Oblique IntenseSticknessKitchenTheInstructionalWorldsConstructLineExperimentsinArchitectureLegibilityDesignDevelopmentLegoPavilion VISUAL WRITINGSTUDIESAPPLIEDSTUDIES
This urban campus examines the possibilities of architecture interfacing with the dynamics of a city. After studying the existing context and qualities of the program, a street is drawn up and weaved into the circulation of the university. The architecture thus speaks back to the city with a welcoming response.
Course: DS1121: Architecture as Urban Design Studio Instructor: Gordon Kipping Semester: Spring 2022, 2GB Participant: Pan Tan Software: Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop
Containers of Bigness A Vertical Campus in Mexico City
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10 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Site Analysis Site interfaces a variety of zoming types
11 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Program Requirements
12 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan 2D Program Adjacency
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14 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan 3D Program Adjacency
15 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Structure Diagram
16 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Program Distribution
17 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
18 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Plans
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20 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Section AA
21 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Section BB
22 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Bird's Eye
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24 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Street View from NW
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26 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Street View from SW
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28 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan View from Theater
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30 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan View from Dormitory
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2GA semester focuses on engaging the ground through a variety of conceptual and pragmatic considerations, meanwhile working with the mat typology. This project elevates a celluar mat building on top of individual cores over a terraced site at 160 S Burlington Ave. It creates a meandering circulation among the cellular programs and establishes a formal dialogue between large public volumes and cellular private spaces.
Course: DS1120: Integrated Comprehensive Studio Instructor: Devyn Weiser, Marcelo Spina, Russell Thomsen, Peter Trummer Semester: Fall 2021, 2GA Participant: Pan Tan Software: Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop
Uncommon Grounds New Learning Environments for a Shifting World
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AXON 34 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan 90° Sheared Axon
The site of this performance arts highschool project is divided into three stages.
The first stage draws on the idea of a mat building as a cellular aggregation, meanwhile updates the mat typeology by raising the clustered classrooms on top of cantilevered platforms Joined in the middle is a sports field that becomes the courtyard of the entire campus, with some classrooms creating an edge on the other side. On the other end of the site, large public volumes such as gym, cafeteria, and theater are grouped together, holding NE.the
B A A B 10 30 60 100 FT PLAN_ +3'-0 B A A B 100 FT 60 30 10 PLAN_ +14'-0 B A A 10 30 60 100 FT PLAN_ +19'-0 35 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Plan Open+3'-0common Space on the ground level. Large volumes embeded in ground Plan Classrooms+13'-0 and offices aggrigate into clusters, spilling diagonally across the site Plan Public+19'-0programs placed near parking
36 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Site Plan The mixture cellular classrooms and larger public volumes deliberately resembles the project's context
60 100 FT30 10 SITE PLAN 1:1000 37 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
38 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Close-up View of the Academic Zone
39 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
10 30 60 100 FT CIRCULATION DIAGRAM 1:500 40 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Circulation Diagram Program Diagram
CLASSROOM CHUNK CLASSROOMSECTIONCHUNK 41 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Classroom Chunk (Cutaway) Classroom Chunk
100 FT 60 30 10 SECTION_TRANSVERSE 42 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Longitudinal Section(AA) Transverse Section(BB)
SECTION_LONGITUDINAL 100 FT30 10 60 43 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
44 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Model Photograph
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46 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan Model Photograph
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In this mixed use housing project on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, I experimented with the material layering and articulation. Meanwhile through case studies I explored the possibilities and conventions to representing materials and tectonic details in drawings. Then, the techniques were applied as tectonic systems. A commercial gallery component is inserted at the center of the project.
Housing Paired with an Exploration of Systems
Material
Course: DS1101: Foundational Design Studio II Instructor: Natou Fall Semester: Spring 2021, 1GB Participant: Pan Tan Software: Rhinoceros, CLO 3D, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop Housing on Pico
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Starting with an analog process (layering various types of paper), develop a set of material swatches. The swatch on the left shows diversity in texture and tucking of soft materials. The swatch on the right examines graphics, colors, and transparency. These discoveries are then expressed through drawing the swatches in elevationsection.and
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51 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan PHOTOGRAPH of material ELEVATIONswatches of material SECTIONswatches of material swatches
scale 1/2” = 1’-0” Wall SECTION StoppingJoistBeam PVC(Transparent)CableGrommet(Small)Grommet(Large)ScrewFabric(Opaque) Cable Stopper Velcro 52 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan DETAIL DRAWINGS of the tectonic system developed from the material swatch The swatches are then turned into a tectonic system. The continuous single gesture of the soft sheet material is maintained. Two thin metal columns puncture through vertically. The columns provide structure and retain each layer of draping at certain heights. Velcro fasteners are used on the back side so the draping follows upward directionality. The system can be applied as facades or operable partitions. When it extends over edges and corners, it tends to soften the rectilinear form underneath, and produce an illusion of thicknessvolume.and
Panel(Rigid,Column PVC(Transparent)Grommet(Large)Fabric(Opaque)Opaque)StoppingScrewClamp WALL SECTION 1 DRAWING scale 1/2” = 1’-0” 53 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
Typical Panel Detail 54 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan COMPONENT DIAGRAM of the tectonic system DETAIL DRAWINGS operable and non partitionsoperable
55 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan WORM'S EYE two of the operable panels flod up
56 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan PLAN (1st floor) apply the tectonic system to the case study chunk PLAN (2nd floor) apply the tectonic system to the case study chunk SECTION (2nd floor) apply the tectonic system to the case study chunk
57 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan WORM'S EYE all operable panels closed
Assembly Diagram scale 1/4” = 1’-0” Scale01 (Enclosure) 58 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan assemblyDIAGRAMprocess of the tectonic catalogDIAGRAMsystemofprofiles at 3 different scales
Scale02 (Discrete Facade) Scale03 (Furniture) 59 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
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The program of this project is a 7-unit social housing with a public space that functions as a gallery and stage set. The material system is applied at 3 scales: multi-story scale enclosure; discrete façade; domestic scale (furniture). On one hand, the hidden circulation and monotonous façade make the first-time accessing experience perplexing, giving the public venue secrecy. On the other hand, all the facades are customizable through change graphics, transparency, and textures of the soft sheet material. The materials drape from ceilings in various heights, altering the space underneath while defining
axonometricboundaries.softRENDERviewoftheprojectwithincontext
PICO BL ARLINGTONAV ARLINGTONAV 61 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan SITE PLAN the project occupies a nerrow corner lot at the intersection of Pico and Arlington
scalePlan-11/4”= 1’-0”scalePlan-11/4”= 1’-0” Section-11/4’’ 1’-0”=1/4”scale 62 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan PLANS juxtaposed with sections; programs are organized into 3 independent buildings while the space inbetweencourtyardsbecomes
scalePlan-21/4”= 1’-0” scalePlan-41/4”=1’-0” 63 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
64 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan SECTION (east-west)
Section-2 scale 1/4” = 1’-0” 65 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
66 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan ELEVATION (Arlington)
1/4’’ East Elevation scale 1/2” = 1’-0” 1/4’’ North Elevation scale 1/2” = 1’-0” 67 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan ELEVATION (Pico)
Worm’s Eye scale 1/2” = 1’-0” 68 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan WORM'S EYE
DesignYourOwnFacadeDesignYourOwnFacadeDesignDesignYourOwnFacadeDesignYourOwnFacadeDesignDesignYourOwnFacadeDesignYourOwnFacadeDesignDesignYourOwnFacadeDesignYourOwnFacadeDesign 69 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan FLYER designed for the project's opening event
70 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan RENDER view from the parking lot
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72 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan RENDER view inside the gallery space
73 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan detailRENDERview showing how the walls meet the ground
The following 3 exercises each deals with problems of volume, figure-ground relationships, and massing. The exercises provides intensive training of fundamental techniques. Meanwhile drawing with various media produces both representation and jigs for generating ideas.
Course: DS1100: Foundational Design Studio I Instructor: Matthew Au, Kristy Balliet, Jennifer Chen, David Eskenazi Semester: Fall 2020, 1GA Participant: Pan Tan Software: Rhinoceros, V-Ray, Illustrator Jigs and Lines Community Center in Venice, LA
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76 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING paths created by unfolding a tetrahedron in space LINE DRAWING select and trim the curves to produce a clear figure
Shape is intrinsic while forms are extrinsic since they must be defined using an external frame of reference. The project begins with unfolding and folding a tetrahedron in space recording the arc swept by its vertices in space. Then the arcs are trimmed and swept by a series of self-similar (concave/convex rectilinear) profiles, resulting in a selfintersecting volume. Simpler chunks are isolated out and their interior articulated. After this, a jig purposed for producing a small chunk of the volume on a bandsaw is designed. (In this step the simplest chunk is chosen since the bandsaw’s limitation.)
Finally, the positive shapes of the peg holes and rails on the jig becomes figures and the bandsaw table becomes a field. The figures move on the field (pushing salts around), producing new forms while leaving traces.
77 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO the figure modeled with various lineweights
080706050403 78 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING profiles used to sweepcurvethe
79 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING the volumn resulted from sweeping and trimming; drawn in three orientations
80 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING section #1 of the volumn LINE DRAWING section #2 of the volumn
81 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING split two smaller chunks from the complex volumn and draw in more details chunk #1 (left) chunk #2 (right)
h9e h1 h3 h3 h2 h4 h5 h6s h6e h7 h8 h11h10sh12h13h14 h15h16 h17 h18 h20h19 h21 Position2Position1 Jig Wedge1 Wedge2 Wedge3 Peg MaterialBlock Outcome Funtion De nition: Rotate[Object,Center,Direction] = Rotate Objects about Center in Direction Connect[Hole1,Hole2] = Connect Hole1 and Hole2 with a Peg Slide = Slide from Position1 to Position2 Peg[Hole] = Insert a Peg in the Hole Rotate[(JigConnect[ha,h8]Cut03Rotate[(JigConnect[h8,h6]Connect[hA,h5]Cut02SlideConnect[hc,h7]Connect[hA,h5]Cut01Instructions:==+MaterialBlock),h5,Clockwise]=+MaterialBlock),h8,Clockwise] Cut04 hASlideConnect[h21,h4]Connect[h19,h3]Cut6SlideConnect[hC,h16]Connect[hA,h15]Connect[h17,h2]Connect[h18,h1]Cut05Rotate[(Jig+MaterialBlock+Wedge1),N/A,Clockwise]Connect[hA,h12]Connect[hC,h11]Connect[h14,h9s]Connect[h13,h10s]===h9sh10ehBhC 82 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan DIAGRAM a jig for producing the simple chunk on band saw
83 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO 3D print model of the simpleVIDEOchunk STILLS x 5 simple chunk gestures on its jig together with inverted peg holes and rails; a layer of fine sea salt registers their trace
The initial massing idea comes from the laying 3 of the courtyard-like chunks (pg33 right) in different orientations.
foreground to convey their meanings. Although the stickiness of an object does not make its production easier to trace, 84
DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan PLAN 1st floor (left) 2nd floor (right)
While the main entrance is facing the parking lot, the interior courtyard and shaded community gardens show hospitality to the surrounding site. The 2-story massing is unified under a single freestanding roof.
85 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan planDIAGRAMSITEsouthRENDERINGelevationPLANgenerated through offsets and boolean opeartions
Figure5: Stairs becomes a sticking point
DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan SECTION section aa
The objects that we call Watts Towers are the result of Simon Rodia’s Labor and various forces that attempt to preserve or alter their appearance. (Figure6, and Figure7). The cement surface, the found objects and their arrangement work together to direct viewers’ attention to the traces of history that are stuck on their surfaces. And thus they “stick” in the foreground to convey their meanings. Although the stickiness of an object does not make its production easier to trace, foregrounding the clue is one technique architecture can learn from the Watts Towers. Similar to the idea of eliminating the trace of production (“artists hand”) as a way to convey certain intention, revealing and foregrounding the stickiness can (through first showing the object’s own production) serve as an instrument that brings attention to the political and cultural histories of a larger community.
Figure7: a device installed to monitor fracture development 86 (upper) section bb (lower)
quality that is intrinsic to all the thresholds. After all, a stair may become a sticky threshold if we discard the assumption of a universal athletic body. (Figure5)
Figure6: cracks formed by wind, seismic activities and temperature change
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88 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO south MODELelevationPHOTO detailed look at the courtyard entrance and communitygarden
89 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
VIDEO assemblySTILLSofthe model; core spaces are treated as figures and the trace of their gestures become the condition of the ground; these figures are then place back into the jig from which they are produced
90 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO cutaways in the roof produces various thresholds andconditionslighting
91 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
92 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO translucent shroud covers the diagramatic roof
93 DESIGN STUDIO | Pan Tan
Course: VS2708: Instructional Construct Instructor: Jenny Wu Semester: Spring 2022, 2GB Participant: Pan Tan Software: Rhinoceros, Blender, Illustrator, Photoshop Instructional Construct A Close Look at Detail and Instruction Manuals The attempt to combine two iconic pieces of furniture, i.e. the Noguchi Table and the Dimond Chair, results in a brand new functional chair emerges with new formal qualities and joints to resolve.
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96 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Model Pictures Instruction Manual(Right)
97 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan
This project projects a series of architectural plan and section on to an oblique cube. The resulting object’s identity gets further modified in render space. The project explores the formal capacity of projection as well as the visual capacity of drawing Oblique Worlds Projection and Distortion in Architecture Course: VS4120 Visual Stuidies III Seminar Instructor: Marcelo Spina, Jeffrey Halstead Semester: Fall 2021, 2GA Team: Zhifeng Wu, Pan Tan Software: ZBrush, Rhinoceros, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop
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100 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Object Elevation 01
101 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Object Elevation 02
102 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Object Elevation 03
103 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Object Elevation 04
104 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Detail 01
105 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Detail 02
106 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Axon 01
107 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Axon 02
Course: VS4100: Strategies of Representation I Instructor: Matthew Au, Kristy Balliet Semester: Fall 2020, 1GA Software: Rhinoceros, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop
The
Line Strategies of Representation I
This focuses on the techniques and conceptualization of abstraction, modeling and representation. The project begins with drawing 3 interlaced cubes in space with AR cellphone application and remodeling the same geometry with surfaces. Then, a few joints are split from the larger model, and one of them is chosen to be the subject of various modes of representation.
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110 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO 3D print model of the selectedchunk
111 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING 3 interlaced cubes; joints enriched by variety in lineweights
112 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan LINE DRAWING 4 joints split from the larger model; one selected for 3D printing and modeling.
113 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan MODEL PHOTO painted 3D print model in front and back view MODEL PHOTO the volumn under water is ditorted by both color and refraction.
114 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan RENDERINGcloseup
115 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan zoomedRENDERINGout
Recipe
Zeina Koreitem Semester: Fall 2020, 1GB Software
This semester’s Visual Studies explores the possibility of using computational im age-making as means of exploration and experimentation. This exercise begins with manually and digitally tracing the photographs of a cuneiform tablet from the Met collection. Profile lines are extracted from the tracing for constructing physical and digital 3D replicas. The physical replicas are digitized through photogrammetry and output as mesh. Two of the mesh models are blended into one with Grasshopper code. The new mesh’s surface texture and color are ma nipulated with the aid of the digital replica constructed in surfaces. The inputs and results of the manipulation are documented as image sequences and made into animations. Use the image sequence generated in the first iteration (iter ation 00) as the map for both texture and color manipulation. Iterate 5 more times and observe how the model changes. In this way, the process folds into itself and iteration produces registration. : Matthew Au, : Experiments and Computational Image Making
Course: VS4101: Visual Studies 2 Kitchen Experiments Instructor
Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Illustrator Photoshop Kitchen
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118 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan PHOTOGRAPH of the cuneiform tablet from the collectionMet Use Gaussian Blur to extract information of height for constructing 3D replica DRAWING of the manualdocumentprofilesextracted(Right)DRAWINGthetabletbytracingwithlinesegmentsandarcs
119 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan RENDER of the digital replica
120 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan VIDEO STILLS make 3 physical replicas of the cuneiform tablet using butter, ready-made pound cake and chocolate; use a cutting stencil and a wirecutter to PHOTOGRAPHSthereproduceprofilesofthephysicalreplicas
121 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Render of remapped meshRender of point cloud3D Scan
122 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Value Path Color Path Iteration 00 Iteration STILLS FRAMES of animations 0 (frame 000/622) 25% (frame 156/622) 50% (frame 311/622) 75% (frame 466/622) 100% (frame 622/622)
123 VISUAL STUDIES | Pan Tan Iteration 01 Iteration 02 Iteration 03 Iteration 04 Iteration 05
structure, program, mechani cal systems, energy efficiency construction,
materi als of the barrel vaults
developing the details
fabrication.
The atrium. of and with the consideration of and
I'm in charge
Course: AS3122: Design Development Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner, Scott Uriu, Matthew Melnyk, Jamey Lyzun Semester: Spring 2022, 2GB Participant: Pan Tan, Casper Clausen, Kai-Yen Chen, Lieven Baert, Mackenzie Champlin, Meli Vasquez, Morgan Knowles Software: Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop Design Development
consecutive barrel vault structure houses a series of performance arts class rooms with a central
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1 CLASSROOMS CHUNKSPRUNGFLOOR DOUBLE-GLAZED SKYLIGHT UNIT 130 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Pan Tan
FOAMGYPSUMSTEELHSS2-1/2X2-1/2X.250DECKINGBOARDSTEELVERTICALSUPPORTHINGEDGFRCSCREENRIGIDINSULATIONGFRCRAINSCREENWATERPROFFING3/4’’PLYWOODPANELCONCRETEWALKWAY 131 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Pan Tan
3 FLOOR PLATE TO WALL INTERFACE 1 WALL TO VAULT CONNECTION 132 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Pan Tan
2 ROOF ASSEMBLY 4 TRUSS I BEAM INTERFACE C-SECTION, HAT CHANNEL C-SECTION, HAT CHANNEL DOUBLE GLAZED SKYLIGHT UNIT HSS406.4X406.4X15.9 BOX BEAM STEEL DECKING STEEL DECKING 1/2’’ STEEL HSS4X4X.375PLATETRUSSHSS4X4X.375TRUSSRAINSCREENSTAND OFF RUBBER BOOT FOAM RIGID INSULATION FOAM RIGID GFRCGFRCWATERPROOFINGINSULATIONMEMBRANERAINSCREENRAINSCREEN 133 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Pan Tan
1 ROOF ASSEMBLY 3 TRUSS I BEAM INTERFACE GFRC1/2’’HATC-SECTIONHANGINGSTANDOFF,HSS2-1/2X2-1/2X.2503/4’’WATERPROOFINGPLYWOODPANELRUBBERBOOTRODCHANNELGYPSUMBOARDSTEELVERTICALSUPPORTDOUBLE-GLAZEDCURTAINWALLUNITHINGEDGFRCSCREENRAINSCREEN1/2’’GYPSUMBOARDW6X20I-SECTIONW12X65I-SECTIONEXTERIORPAVINGCLOSUREPLATEWATERPROOFINGMEMBRANEWOOD FLOOR 2 X 4 FOAMCASTSTRINGERCONCRETEINSULATION DECKING CONCRETE FOUNDATION FOAM PAD 134 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Pan Tan
2 KNIFE EDGE ASSEMBLY 4 FLOOR AND GLAZING ASSEMBLY 1/4’’ SHEET CURTAIN1/2’’HSS2-1/2X2-1/2X.250METALGYPSUMBOARDWALLMULLIONCURTAINWALLMULLIONWOODFLOOR2X4STRINGER1/2’’GYPSUMBOARDCASTCONCRETEW6X20I-SECTIONW12X65I-SECTIONFOAMPADSTEELVERTICALSUPPORTHINGEDGFRCSCREENHINGEDGFRCSCREENFOAMRIGIDINSULATIONGFRCRAINSCREENWATERPROOFINGMEMBRANE 135 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT | Pan Tan
This project explores how a tectonic system (corbel) produces form. The exercise askes for a pavilion on a 10 M x 10 M site. Our group develops a wooden corbel system that has a 15-degree rotational offset. Each component interlocks with its neighbors, producing a clockwise/counterclockwise ascending path. The system is stabilized laterally by a thin steel column running through the central axis, while it supports its own weight through stacking. The offset between two consecutive steps and the need for longer beams largely dictate the plan. After getting the initial form, we operate on it two more times to generate two new configurations.
Course: AS3100: Materials and Tectonics Instructor: Pavel Getov Semester: Fall 2020, 1GA Participant: Mange Zou, Sijie Lin, Yuyan Chen, Pan Tan Software: Rhinoceros, V-Ray, Illustrator, Photoshop Lego Pavilion Strategies of Representation I
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75° 15° 15° 15° 15° 15° 2’ 6’’ 138 APPLIED STUDIES | Pan Tan DIAGRAMS of the requiredDIAGRAMSsystemtectonic(left)oftheplanbythetectonicsystem(right)
139 APPLIED STUDIES | Pan Tan 3D-PRINT MODEL visualizing the tectonic system
140 APPLIED STUDIES | Pan Tan (from left to Configurationright)1: original form informed by the tectonic Configurationsystem2: trim configuration 1 with shuffleConfigurationcubea3:configuration2
141 APPLIED STUDIES | Pan Tan ELEVATION PLAN
142 APPLIED STUDIES | Pan Tan
143 APPLIED STUDIES | Pan Tan RedELEVATIONRENDERINGOBLIQUE:counterclockwise up Blue : clockwise up Black : laterial support
Figure2:
Course: HT2100: INTRODUCTION TO CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE
Figure1: imprints
In the first chapter of Queer Phenomenology, Sara Ahmed used the analogy of a “sticky object” to illustrate that an object “is shaped by the conditions of its arrival”1. In this research I would like to expand the idea of “stickiness” and show how it could inform a way of designing architecture. By allowing its surface to show stickiness, a project draws viewers’ attention to the conditions where it emerges. I would like to first analyze the Watts Towers’ surface to illustrate the notion of stickiness and its ability to be effective on multiple levels. Then towards the end, I would like to propose the idea of a “sticky threshold” where I take “stickiness” in a more literal direction.
Semester: Fall 2020, 1GA
Stickiness In Architecture
In Queer Phenomenology, Sara Ahmed reminds us that “If phenomenologists were simply to ‘look at’ the objects that they face, then they would be erasing the ‘signs’ of history. They would apprehend the object as simply there as given its sensuous certainty, rather than as ‘having got here,’ an arrival that is at once the way in which objects are biding and how they assume a social form.”2 Therefore, before examining the Watts Towers as objects it is important to discuss the condition of its arrival.
Keywords: Watts Towers, stickiness, labor, traces, tools
Instructor: John Cooper
1 Sara Ahmed, Queer Phenomenology: Orientations, Objects, Others (Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006), 40. 2 Ahmed 41 3 Victor J. Jones, (IN)FORMAL L.A. The Space of Politics. (New York, EVolo, 2014), 82 4 A few source pro jects that are not referred to directly in this essay informed me on the context where Simon Rodia lived and constructed the Watts Towers. From them also learned important facts on the method and instruments that Simon Rodia used. For example, where the found objects come from, how he manually bent and installed the steel girders, and more stunningly, the fact that he completed the project on his own without the aid of power tools or scaffolding. The titles of the works are: -Thomas Harrison, Without Precedent: The Watts Towers (Berkley, CA: UC Berkley, 2010) -Richard Cándida Smith, LEARNING FROM WATTS TOWERS: ASSEMBLAGE AND COMMUNITY-BASED ART IN CALIFORNIA. Oral History, AUTUMN 2009, Vol. 37, No. 2, Oral History Society 2009 -Sarah Shrank, PUBLIC ART AT THE GLOBAL CROSSROADS: THE POLITICS OF PLACE IN 1930S LOS ANGELES. Journal of Social History, winter 2010, Vol. 44, No. 2, THE ARTS IN PLACE (winter 2010),2010 I would also like to acknowledge a documentary film and an interview that provided more insights on Simon Rodia’s life and the current preservation of the Watts Towers. These projects are: -Saving the Watts Towers by Simon Rodia in Los Angeles. December 08, 2020. YouTube video, 23:23. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DWMjVoVl7U8&feature=youtu.be
Victor Jones outlines that “…Infamously dark tales of corruption, dubious business deals, discriminatory policies, and corrosive public services have transformed the once placid 200-acres of alfalfa fields and livestock farms from a thriving multiethnic, working-class community into one of the earliest examples of a twentieth-century American ghetto.”3 These facts depict a difficult condition that many works of art created in Watts have to overcome in their emergence. In Simon Rodia’s own words: “I wanted to make something big, and I just did it.” Perhaps the lack of resources is one of the reasons why he chooses to mix his own mortar, bend steel girders with railroad track and decorate the surface with tile scraps. However, it is precisely the fact that Simon Rodia did not finish the surface as if it is never touched that makes it uniquely telling. The surface is allowed to show its “stickiness”, and hence its history. Cement mortar covers the Watts Towers’ surface throughout. It can be considered the first layer where stickiness is exhibited. The cement surface is sticky in the sense that it is especially capable of registering how it is treated during production. Cement achieves its stickiness through being plastic at first when objects and debris can easily leave a mark or literally stick to the surface. Events (say, of tools left by Simon Rodia5 Shells on the Watts Towers8
HISTORY AND THEORY | Pan Tan
-The
11 Ahmed
Los Angeles: Watts Towers: det.: wall. Los Angeles (Calif.). ARTstor Slide Gallery. https://library-artstor-org.sciarc.idm.oclc. org/#/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000215325 29 12 Ahmed, 37
https://library-artstor-org.sciarc.
Figre4: Wall that uses a complex composition and mixes various found objects and imprints10 Towers (1957) | Building The Watts Towers. December 08, 2020. YouTube video, 11:55. https://www.youtube.com/
8765watch?v=kOPS5IWFQz0&feature=youtu.beTheWattsTowers,photograph.http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/goya/hd_goya.htm.Ahmed,31Ahmed,40Rodia,SimonLosAngeles:WattsTowers:det.:baseoftower,Photograph,ARTstorSlidGallery.
idm.oclc.org/#/asset/ARTSTOR_103_41822000215283 9
The Watts Towers, photograph. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/goya/hd_goya.htm.
145 the cement being unevenly applied or stepped upon before dry) can also register on cement’s surface in the form of bumps or imprints. Then when the cement hardens it holds these marks in place. When Simon Rodia left imprints with his tools, this ability of cement is shown explicitly. Meanwhile, a direct connection to Simon Rodia’s labor is drawn (Figure1). Looking at these imprints one may contemplate the type of technology and labor that conditioned the towers’ Howconstruction.4exactlyis Watts Tower foregrounding the object’s arrival? It may be helpful to first look at how we orient our attention by pushing things into the “background”. Sara Ahmed Points out that when we perceive an object, “some things are relegated to the background in order to sustain a certain direction; in other words, in order to keep attention on what is faced.”6 A smooth surface reduces the influence of texture and allows viewers to extract its shape quickly. In such cases, the texture is made less prominent in perception so that attention is directed to the surface’s other qualities. Notice that when Sara Ahmed makes the analogy of “sticky objects”7 she addresses objects in general. Therefore, a smooth surface is still sticky, but its stickiness is hidden. By contrast, a surface that showcases its texture can slow down one’s attention moving toward other qualities. If the surface’s texture is the result of its “stickiness” then the history that is stuck on the object can have more chance of catching the viewers’ attention.
Watts Towers possess a second layer of stickiness because the found objects are distinct enough to appear as objects on their own. If we isolate out the found objects, they each have their own history of production stuck on them. The shells we found on watts towers’ surface are produced by the sea creature that once inhabited it and then the weathering on the beach, later being collected and sorted by Simon Rodia and so on. (Figure2) A similar example would be the glass bottles that retain the trade label and marks of factory manufacture. (Figure3) These objects bring the viewers’ attention back to the question of how (and when) these objects emerge and how they end up here like this? These questions are a nice segue to the idea of more literal stickiness I would like to propose. If the word “stick” as a verb means to cling or to cause to adhere, then “sticky surface” would be a surface that causes to adhere. The surface of the Watts Towers is sticky in this definition because it is visually confusing and disorienting. The complex composition, the large variety of surface types and objects, as well as the overwhelming amount of information that each layer of the surface brings (the history that is Figure3: Glass bottles on the Watts Towers9
10
146 HISTORY AND THEORY | Pan Tan Figure7: a device installed to monitor fracture development15 Figure6: cracks formed by wind, seismic activities and temperatureFigure5:change14Stairs become a sticking point13 13 Gutmann, John. Children Exploring the Watts Towers, Los Angeles. Gelatin silver print, 1960. https://library-artstor-org.sciarc. idm.oclc.org/#/asset/AWSS35953_35953_38021987;prevRouteTS=1607577649727 14 Saving the Watts Towers by Simon Rodia in Los Angeles. December 08, 2020. YouTube video, 23:23. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=DWMjVoVl7U8&feature=youtu.be 15 Saving the Watts Towers by Simon Rodia in Los Angeles. stuck to the objects), all resist being understood in a single look. The surface requires navigating among objects, within the composition and zooming in and out for a more complete impression. In being arranged in such a unique way, the elements on the surface work collectively to attract attention. I would also like to propose that the form of the Watts Towers creates sticking points, too. As a widely used concept, a threshold is commonly talked about as an implied boundary defining architectural spaces. It is usually mentioned for describing the spaces that it separates as if the threshold has no thickness and it is always meant to be penetrated easily. In Ahmed’s phenomenology, a threshold might belong to the category of objects that are normally “ever co-perceived”11 or pushed “to the ‘fringes’ of vison”12. We perceive them but at the same time, we ignore them in orienting ourselves to space. If we choose to talk about Watts Towers as creating a series of thresholds, then it reveals the possibility of a threshold becoming a sticking point in space. The openings between the girders are sized so that they suggest a possible passage and hence confuse the circulation. They, therefore, serve to stick the viewers in hesitation and disorientation (one might even be actually stuck when choose to pass through some of the openings). In this way, the threshold becomes the foreground of experience. Maybe this is a quality that is intrinsic to all the thresholds. After all, a stair may become a sticky threshold if we discard the assumption of a universal athletic body. (Figure5) The objects that we call Watts Towers are the result of Simon Rodia’s Labor and various forces that attempt to preserve or alter their appearance. (Figure6, and Figure7). The cement surface, the found objects and their arrangement work together to direct viewers’ attention to the traces of history that are stuck on their surfaces. And thus they “stick” in the foreground to convey their meanings. Although the stickiness of an object does not make its production easier to trace, foregrounding the clue is one technique architecture can learn from the Watts Towers. Similar to the idea of eliminating the trace of production (“artists hand”) as a way to convey certain intention, revealing and foregrounding the stickiness can (through first showing the object’s own production) serve as an instrument that brings attention to the political and cultural histories of a larger community.
147 HISTORY AND THEORY | Pan Tan Bibliography Ahmed, Sara, Queer Phenomenology, ORIENTATIONS, OBJECTS, OTHERS. Durham and London: Duke University Press, 2006 Harrison, Thomas, Without Precedent: The Watts Towers. Berkley, CA: UC Berkley, Smith,2010 Richard Cándida, LEARNING FROM WATTS TOWERS: ASSEMBLAGE AND COMMUNITY-BASED ART IN CALIFORNIA. Oral History, AUTUMN 2009, Vol. 37, No. 2, Oral History Society 2009 Schrank, Sarah, PUBLIC ART AT THE GLOBAL CROSSROADS: THE POLITICS OF PLACE IN 1930S LOS ANGELES. Journal of Social History, winter 2010, Vol. 44, No. 2, THE ARTS IN PLACE (winter 2010),2010 J. Jones,Victor, (IN)FORMAL L.A. The Space of Politics. (New York, EVolo, 2014)
Complementing this self-evident reading, it is also possible to read the Bath House as an independent structure that bears a great amount of complexity. Far from depending on other structures to make sense, the Bath House expresses a series of formal and organizational intents in its spatial organization, articulation, and material choices. These intents are hierarchy, symmetry, and repetition.
Intense Legibility: Hierarchy, Symmetry, and Repetition in Louis Kahn and Anne Tyng's Trenton Bath House
Susan G. Solomon’s analysis makes it clear that, programmatically, the bathhouse is a transitional experience leading to the pool, rather than a destination by itself1. However, transformation 1 Susan G. Solomon, Louis I. Kahn’s Trenton Jewish Community Center (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), P77 2 Susan G. Solomon, Louis I. Kahn’s Trenton Jewish Community Center (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), P82 to a distinct gate starts to happen in the centrally aligned square scheme2 And the pool was already decided to be elevated higher than the bathhouse in even earlier schemes, making the bathhouse and the pool clearly separate. The eventually realized cruciform figure works well in the round and may even have the potential to reverse the progress towards the pool.
The bathhouse is designed as the changing and shower facility for the community pool.
Course: HT2120: HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM II Instructor: Marrikka Trotter Semester: Fall 2021, 2GA Keywords: Trenton Bathhose, legibility, articulation, ruin
Passing through the Bath House, progress to the pool breaks into two mirroring paths at the entrance. Entering from each entrance, the two paths meet briefly at the basket counter, before splitting again at the central gravel pit, then each swirl into one of the baths, get out, and finally confluent again at the snack bar before dissipating at the exit that is open on three sides. The Bath House clearly organizes the flow of circulation on its own. In fact, its circulation illustrates the first two intents: linear hierarchy and symmetry. Meanwhile, these intents also function as design devices that affect other decisions in the Bath House.
The Trenton Bath House stands quietly in New Jersey Suburb. It appears deceivingly plain and insignificant in its both materiality and scale. Originally conceived as part of a much larger but never built program dedicated to the local Jewish community, the Bath House now stands alone in the open. Its relationship with the adjacent swimming pool seems out of context, perpetually anticipating missing ends in a lost conversation.
The plan of this building is regulated by five nesting squares arranged
The middle wall sections read as infills between adjacent vertical supports of the roof. Seen in combination with the flat bottom of the pyramidal roof units which sit on the columns only at their corners, the bathhouse appears as a group of simple trabeated systems—stout columns supporting
149 HISTORY AND THEORY | Pan Tan Figre1: plan of Trenton Bathhouse 1_ plan of Trenton Bathhouse Source: Louis I. Kahn’s Trenton Bath House Authenticity and an Original Designer, a Lecture by Anne E. Weber, htmlhttps://www.nj.com/mercer/2010/07/ewing_mayors_meeting_tonight_i.Source:hollowFigre2:Weber_Anne_Trenton_Bath_House_Slides.pdfhttps://www.aicomos.com/wp-content/uploads/2009_UnlovedModern_FAIAInteriorviewofthebathhouse.NoticehowtheroofconnectstothecolumnJacobsIII/TimesFilePhoto in a cross shape. Each of the four peripheral squares overlaps with the center square by 1/5 the length of its side. The small compartments located at the corners of larger squares share an identical size. Their repetition in plan diagrams out the regulating grid in space. The two single-gendered baths mirroring each other across the courtyard also assume a square shape but larger in scale, with the small compartments nesting at their corners symmetrically. The plan clearly manifests the intention of symmetry mentioned previously. It also translates the linear hierarchy in circulation into a two-dimensional hierarchy of service spaces at the periphery of each main program. This two-dimensional hierarchy extends seamlessly to the bathhouse’s articulation. Looking closely at the exterior elevation, the ends of walls differ from their middle sections by rising slightly taller. Besides, there is usually a clear separation in the form of a seam or a large recess. Therefore, wherever the walls turn 90 degrees, they mutate into a rectilinear column. The roof sits on top of the wall in a peculiar way. The slit between the roof and the wall reiterates that the roof and the wall are discrete, each somewhat uniform. Viewing from afar in strong sunlight, the narrow slit conceals the interior shape of the roof in a thin strip of shadow, allowing the reading of the roofs as floating solid pyramids with cropped tops. The lowest members are their flat bases.
4 David B. Brownlee, David G. De Long, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1991), 56 a series of monolithic roofs.
As already revealed in the plan, these stout columns are hollow and contain service spaces. And it is very key for these service spaces to appear as columns. As De Long already discovered, within each larger square module, there is servant space and main space. This hierarchy between the two types of spaces is not only visually marked through articulation but also corresponds to the appeared structural function of components3
The most obvious repetition is found in the bathhouse’s material treatment. As every minute shadow gets crisply illuminated in sunlight, one sees two different patterns. The brick pattern formed by the CMU blocks below is relatively sparse and given a coarse quality where excess mortar is flattened away. Moving up to the roofs, the pattern still consists of interlocking rectangles but is scaled down and compressed horizontally. The roof shingles stack neatly into almost a set of dense contour lines of the roof. In between these two patterns, the ends of rafters beneath the roof repeat horizontally with a uniform rhythm. The tessellation on surfaces expresses repetition with high intensity.
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The hollow columns structurally support the weight of the roof, and meanwhile contain support spaces such as entrance circulation, toilet, and storage. They are supportive in a doubled sense. In turn, this is a strong conceptual reason for the gap between roofs and walls. Detaching walls from the roof ensures the hollow columns as the only vertical supports of the roof, making clear their doubled identity.
In addition, the plan clearly shows REPETITION as a third organizing intent. David De Long summarizes that in a highly self-similar parti, the entire plan can be simplified to 5 same-sized squares arranged in a cruciform shape. They coincide with the division of programs. In this sense, the bathhouse is a set of generic and almost identical volumes4. Perhaps this similarity makes the subtle difference of each space highly legible. The absence of a wall, rotation of a hollow column’s opening, or the mirroring of space become immediately visible since everything else remain almost identical. Like the other two formal intents, repetition is found beyond the plan and applies also to the interior and exterior elevations. Since the column compartments open mostly to the interior, each of them maintains a similar look when encountered from the exterior. As mentioned before, the spacing between these columns is completely identical. In other words, they intensely repeat in elevation. The pyramidal roofs also repeat in the view from the exterior. Since each pyramid clearly marks out the volume underneath in elevational view through their singular shape, they also extend the repetition in the bathhouse’s plan into a legible image in its elevation.
3 David B. Brownlee, David G. De Long, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1991), 58.
In fact, it is well known that Kahn took inspiration by observing bricks in Roman ruins forming a larger form in a cellular but unified way. He also interprets the volume underneath the ruins as purely geometrical with his keen interest in geometry in general. Even the mural is directly inspired by the floor mosaic in Bath of Caracalla5.
Briefly returning to circulation, it is easy to notice that entrances to each space are placed at corners, which favors an oblique view much like ancient Greek temples. This didn’t disrupt the symmetry in plan because the entrances are mirrored on both sides of the building. But from a single user’s experience, the oblique view is clearly encouraged. In ground articulation, the gravel pits in the plan manipulate circulation further in oblique directions. The two gravel pits at each entrance block the orthogonal paths that are parallel along the walls while aligning the circulation to an acute angle. Visitors are almost forced to experience the bathhouse from oblique shortly before they enter. Once they enter, a giant portion of the interior courtyard is occupied by a huge gravel pit that forces circulation around it. A drain is placed at the very center of the courtyard and the two baths respectively. Drains can be considered a hollow in the ground that alerts those who step on them. Therefore, the center of each space is always occupied. The gravel pits and the drains together push visitors away from the center points of each square room and discourage viewing the four sides orthogonally at once. At this point, it is evident that many aspects of the bathhouse resemble ancient Greek and Roman architecture through its masonry construction, trabeated systems, oculus, protruding rafters that are almost like cornices, favor of oblique views… and more so in its systematic deployment of hierarchy, symmetry, and repetition.
It is important to note that when Kahn studied Roman architecture, the still existing buildings had already been ruinated for thousands of years. Perhaps the fact that only monolithic components remain in the ruins explains the heaviness in the Figre3: Interior view of the bath house showing how the roof connects to the hollow column Source: http://architectuul.com/architecture/trenton-bath-house
5 David B. Brownlee, David G. De Long, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1991), 50-51.
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6 Katie Gerfen, “Trenton Bath House and Day Camp Restoration,” in Architect, (no.12 (Dec 2010), 61-69, https://www.architectmagazine.
Source: Reconfigured-Architectural-Imaginationhttps://cargocollective.com/pickupsticks/filter/Space/
7com/design/buildings/trenton-bath-house-and-day-camp-restoration_oKatieGerfen,“TrentonBathHouseandDayCampRestoration,”inArchitect, (no.12 (Dec 2010), 61-69, https://www.architectmagazine. com/design/buildings/trenton-bath-house-and-day-camp-restoration_o
Kahn’s intention of water running on masonry surface in New Jersey’s cold weather eventually leads to serious water damage over time. And this is the environmental effect of literally reproducing aspects of Greek and Roman ruins whose maintenance and use had already been discontinued for thousands of years. And continuously, when the bathhouse itself finally becomes a sort of ruin, it poses the question of how it should be repaired with new materials. A few years ago, the architects in charge of the restoration meticulously match materials, colors, and textures, even concerning if the speed of aging of the substitute CMU blocks would match the originals7. The chosen restoration seems like the only proper solution, but meanwhile, it could also be a missed opportunity for the bathhouse since it continues to mimic a ruin.
152 HISTORY AND THEORY | Pan Tan bathhouse’s exterior. It is also understandable that the intense, bearbone, undistracted expression of these formal intents has a stunning effect, making them almost impossible to see at a first glance, but rather requires a sort of discovery like in an excavation.
While the stout size and proportion of the hollow columns continue to imply the weight of the roof, the interior of the building subverts such a heaviness in a split second. As mentioned before, all the “stout columns” are in fact hollow, containing service programs. And from the courtyard photograph, the roof is betrayed when we finally see how it stands on top of a stout freestanding column box with a single toe. Each of the four pyramidal roofs still read as a connected whole only now with its hollow underside completely revealed. The wood members are tightly bonded by the uniform layer of shingles, yet they maintain their singularities as if they are ribs on the palate in a mouth. Now the roof is thoroughly destabilized, ballet dancing on top of hollow masonry, ready to take off in a gust of wind. at the entrance. Notice that the brick lines are left blank
Figure 4: Mural
At the entrance, where the stoically heavy exterior and the incredibly light interior meet, a mural silently attracts attention. It’s interesting that before Solomon explains that the mural depicts abstract figures of fish, fish, or even water had never made their way into my own reading. After Solomon presents the geometric painting by Adolph Gottlieb and ancient mosaic at Bath of Caracalla, I see the aquatic reference of the mural more easily8. Today, the strong regularity of concrete block pattern and flatness of the painting require a particular type of sensibility to convey the intended meanings. But what still can be read from the mural itself today?
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The mural seems to illustrate the three intents all at once. The two vertical margins in the mural differentiate from the rest of the composition with a square red “X”. This move eliminates all half brakes, so all modules’ sizes are unified. It again creates a clear hierarchy between the main composition and its margins. This treatment to margins resembles allocating the 8-foot margin in plan to support spaces. And evidently also, the modules form an intense repetition. Three types of geometric patterns are contained in the uniform grid marked by brick seams. Similarly, in plan, four different programs are also contained
8 Susan G. Solomon, Louis I. Kahn’s Trenton Jewish Community Center (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000), P95-97
The mural contains lines and figures in black or red color on a white field. Its distinctly saturated colors dramatically mark out the entrance from the rest of the building. Yet it fits perfectly within the size of one column box, sharing top alignment with the infilling brick wall. Each discrete graphic element in this composition operates within the boundary of a full or half brick underneath. The brick seams show clearly through the paint as indentations, provide a visible regulating grid, and thus should be viewed as an integral part of the mural. In fact, the horizontal seams are carefully avoided by black and red paints. Each brick is 2:1 in its width-to-height ratio. This unit proportion repeats across the entire mural. Geometric elements appearing in this mural consist exclusively of semicircles with a radius equal to one or half brick width. Straight lines are oriented either diagonally, connecting opposite corners, or horizontally, connecting opposite midpoints of a full or halfbrick. Arcs always concave up or down but never sideways. With this geometric pattern as an underline, graphics are generated by filling in positive or negative shapes or simply by variation in line weight. Black infills can be found only in triangular shapes that spread from the middle towards the bottom. And Red infill is only found in arcuated shapes that mostly concentrate on top. And the third type of pattern, the unfilled lines are mostly found on the lower half of the composition.
154 HISTORY AND THEORY | Pan Tan in the same 24’ by 24’ squares, with the regulating grid diagramed by 8-foot-wide support spaces. And just like how distinct programs are marked in elevation by their pyramidal roofs with the support spaces marked as columns, different types of geometric patterns are diagramed by their color and line weight. Lastly, within each grid unit, a geometric shape is either symmetrical on its own or mirrored somewhere else in the composition. If comparing the mural and the building even more carefully, the composing geometry used in the mural is literally found in the rest of the bathhouse: 45-degree angles are found under each roof where wood beams intersect; the longer diagonal lines are parallel to the slope of the roofs. And the arcs allude to the circular gravel pits in plan. The mural is perhaps the most intense and comprehensive expression of hierarchy, symmetry, and repetition in the project, therefore a diagram of the entire bathhouse.
David B. Brownlee, David G. De Long, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1991)
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Bibliography Susan G. Solomon, Louis I. Kahn’s Trenton Jewish Community Center (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2000)
David B. Brownlee, David G. De Long, Louis I. Kahn: In the Realm of Architecture (New York: Rizzoli, 1991)
Katie Gerfen, “Trenton Bath House and Day Camp Restoration,” in Architect, (no.12 (Dec 2010), 61-69, house-and-day-camp-restoration_ohttps://www.architectmagazine.com/design/buildings/trenton-bath-