ELDGOS - The Terraforming Earth

TOOLS & PROJECTIONS

ELDGOS THE TERRA-FORMING EARTH HEKLA , ICELAND

ARCHITECTURE THESIS FALL 2018 - SPRING 2019

SANGHA JUNG YOUNGJOON YUN

TED BROWN + DANIELE PROFETA + JULIA CZERNIAK

“How can architecture intervene with the natural processes of the Earth?�

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CONTENTS 2018 - 2019

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ASPIRATION VOLCANISM

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TOOLS CORE DRILL + FURNACE INITIAL EXPERIMENTS

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INSPIRATION PRECEDENTS

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SITE - ICELAND WHY ICELAND? HEKLA

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REALFLOW DIGITAL SIMULATION

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DESIGN

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INTENTION

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MOVING FORWARD

DRAWINGS + MODELS

CONCLUSION

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BIBLIOGRAPHY WORK CITED 3

ASPIRATION Junya Ishigami once said, “Architecture can be formed naturally, like a stone built over time, through sedimentation and erosion.�

SYRACUSE

ARCHITECTURE

We believe that this idea of architecture as natural processes can be applied to volcanism, where architecture and landscapes are formed naturally through eruption and flow of molten ground. As we intervene with this natural process to create our own space and environment, we harness humankind as a geological force.

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INTENTION

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ASPIRATION

VOLCANISM “How can architecture participate in the geographic formations of the Earth?�

SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

As our thesis strives to find an answer to this question, we were naturally compelled by volcanoes, the source and the origin of ground-making, so called terra-forming of the Earth.

Through the lens of a greater geological scale, the continued, yet variable rates of interaction between the tectonic plates forces results in diversity of landscape evolution. Volcanoes are agents of destruction but also beneficial contributor to the rebirth of ground. Volcanic activity continuously decompose and construct landmasses with lava flows, lahars, and ashes. When the volcano erupts, the reservoir of melted ground magma actives as it decommissions the present infrastructure. The magma then deactivates the flowing stream the solidi-fied magma retroactive the records as it layered upon another, thus creating new ground with inhabitable and resilient qualities. Volcano represents tangible history of the Earth, not merely in stratigraphic terms, but also in terms of geographic formations and propagation of new materials.

6 TERRA-FORMING

STRATIGRAPHIC STUDY - SECTION

7 PROCESS - SECTION

TOOLS “ The tools are used to not so much imitate the forms of nature, but rather to imitate the process of form-making within nature.”

SYRACUSE

ARCHITECTURE

- Stan Allen -

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“The combined process of the furnace and the drill re-enact and imitate the process of terraforming of the Earth.�

PROJECTIONS

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TOOLS + PROJECTIONS

“The tools (technology) are used to not so much imitate the forms of nature, but rather to imitate the process of form making within nature.�

SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

-Stan Allen-

Core drilling has been the most efficient and significant man-made tool for ground exploration since the invention of core drills by the ancient Egyptians in 3000 BC. Through evolution and technological advances, drills can dig down to 12,000 meters below the surface. The land formed by volcanic activities over time are likely to have complex stratigraphic successions and the core drill enables us to physically study and experience these stratifications in various scales.

As the drill collects artifacts and resources for speculation, the tilt furnace allows us to design and recreate, using the collected resources from the drill. Imagining the quarry as a physical result of drilling in its largest scale, the artifacts collected from the quarry are analyzed and melted through the furnace to create new materials and ground, hence a new opportunity for architecture. The combined process of the furnace and the drill re-enact and imitate the process of ground and material making within volcanism.

In this initial experiment, we poured molten basalt into a steel mold with wooden objects, to seek possibilities of creating voids and test how lava reacts to different materials.

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figure 1.0

figure 1.1

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TOOLS + PROJECTIONS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

LAVA OVER WOOD STRUCTURE

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After basaltic lava is heated up to 1,200 C (2,200 F) in the floor furnace, it is poured over carved wooden structures that represent the interior space. These wooden structures are cut in section and drilled to perpendicular steel plates in order to get sectional models as the result.

When the lava flows over the wood, the surface layer of the wood will burn, causing a chemical reaction that leaves scorching patterns inside while maintaining its form. metal re-bars are placed as structures within the lava to prevent cracking as it solidifies.

LAVA OVER WOOD STRUCTURE

As the lava fills the steel mold and flows over to the sand, it reacts to the structures immediately by ignition.

The lava then solidifies over 40 hours as it slowly yet gradually burns the structure. The steel plates and the burnt remnants of the wood are removed once the cooling process is over, leaving behind sections of hollowed blackened cavities and charred walls of basaltic lava.

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14 SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

TOOLS + PROJECTIONS

PREPAR

SECTIONA

RATION

AL MODEL

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INSPIRATION “ Architecture can be formed naturally, like a stone built over time, through sedimentation and erotion.�

- Junya Ishigami -

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“ My desire is to set up a situation to which I take you and let you see. It becomes your experience.”

- James Turrell -

PRECEDENTS

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PRECEDENTS

bruder klaus field chapel

“In order to design buildings with a sensuous connection to life, one must think in a way that goes far beyond form and construction.�

SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

-Peter Zumthor-

Arguably the most interesting aspects of the church are found in the methods of construction, beginning with a wigwam made of 112 tree trunks. Upon completion of the frame, layers of concrete were poured and rammed atop the existing surface, each around 50cm thick. When the concrete of all 24 layers had set, the wooden frame was set on fire, leaving behind a hollowed blackened cavity and charred walls.

Similarly, lava will naturally flow over our structures and slowly burn them away as it solidifies, leaving behind voids with charred layers of volcanic basalt.

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figure 2.0

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PRECEDENTS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

LANGUAGE OF THE GROUND

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The record of the ground tells billion years of history.

Through the study of soil crust and the layer of ground, Roden Crater recognizes the ground as not only a data storage, but also as an living organism in which encompasses the energies circulating the Earth. This geological data denotes the continuous, sustainable, and tangible history that speaks of the diverse language of the ground. Thus, he reclaimed ground as the narrative history of the media. Similiarily, the thesis views volcanism as interrelationship of systems that consists of dynamic patterns that represents the entire system of geology.

figure 3.0

RECLAMATION OF GEOLOGICAL SCARS

Through the Binghan Copper Mining and Spiral Getty project, Robert Smithson intended to recover the spaces already damaged and contaminated by human activities such as commercial mining and other destructive industrial processes. These large scale earth projects aim to transform the devastated industrial sites into new forms of public art. More than just turning them into art, we can consider how the same logic could apply within the boundaries of architecture and landscape.

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PRECEDENTS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

HUMANKIND AS A GEOLOGICAL FORCE

Like the Hoover Dam, our thesis involves mega structures that control the force of nature towards our own advantage.

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figure 7.1

figure 7.2

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SITE

SYRACUSE

ARCHITECTURE

“These volcanoes act as terraforming engines that slowly evolve the island with layers of basaltic rocks, offering possibilities for architecture as natural processes.�

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ICELAND

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ICELAND ARCHITECTURE SYRACUSE

figure 10.0

WHY ICELAND? Iceland presents itself as the optimal site of choice for our thesis because of its unique geological and geo-graphical characteristics.

Located on the Atlantic ridge of two colliding tectonic plates, Iceland is home to continuous ground making cycle of 30 active volcanoes. These volcanoes act as terraforming engines that slowly evolve the island with layers of basaltic rocks, offering possibilities for architecture as natural processes.

This unique geological condition of Iceland create environments that resemble mars in many ways, considering 95% of mars is also made of volcanic basalt. This attracts many geologists and space exploration researchers around the world to study volcanism as well as the origin of life and habitation on mars.

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GEOMORPHOGRAPHIC MAP OF ICELAND figure 10.1

DORMANT

figure 10.2

ACTIVE

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POST ERUPTION

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SYRACUSE

ARCHITECTURE

ICELAND

ERUPTION

Hekla is the most active one out of the 30 volcanoes and dangerous for this project. By studying the scale and lava and the directionality of 28

TIMELINE

s in Iceland besides Katla, whose eruptions are too explosive direction of past eruptions, we can predict the amount of the flow of future eruptions.

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HEKLA ARCHITECTURE SYRACUSE

HEKLA These drawings show the evolution of terraforming of Hekla Volcano since 1947. Hekla erupts roughly every 10-15 years, producing a significant amount of lava every time it erupts. Since 1947, it has produced 1.5 cubic KM of lava over 122 square KM or land.

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EVOLUTION OF HEKLA | 1947 - PRESENT figure 11.1

figure 11.2

figure 11.3

YEAR 2000 31

REALFLOW ARCHITECTURE SYRACUSE

REAL FLOW SIMULATION

With our initial research and application of the tools, our goal was to imitate the process of form making within nature, rather than to simply imitate its natural form. While this combined physical process of drilling, melting, and pouring re-enact the terra-forming process at a human scale, the Realflow technology digitally simulates the future lava flows.

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DESIGN

SYRACUSE

ARCHITECTURE

“Our intention is to influence the terraforming force of volcanism with structures that guide and trap lava to create artificially terra-formed environments. As we create a series of spaces within this new ground, we create architecture and landscape that reconciles the geological and the biological, thus merging the natural and the artificial.�

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ELDGOS

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ELDGOS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

SATELITE VIEW

SITE PLAN

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2045

2070

INTENTION

By harnessing humankinds as a geological force, humans are able to artificially control and influence the natural terraforming force of volcanism towards our own advantage. We have the ability to control lava flows of active volcanoes with structures that guide and trap lava to create artificially terra-formed architecture and landscape.

As the layers of Earth formed the landscape of hekla today, we control the subsequent layers to create an artificial landscape with spaces within it.

When Hekla erupts, our retaining walls will work like a dam to block and change the direction of lava to the Southwest region of the Volcano. Majority of the recorded lava flows in the past has flown either south or west and the existing landscape is perfect to create an artificial lava field as the ground plateaus into a relatively flat landscape. We used realflow technology to digitally simulate various eruption scenarios and to visualize the future evolution of landscape.

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ELDGOS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

These layers of earth, flowing against the retaining walls, gradually become a part of the wall as it creates two sides with contrasting typologies. While one side, the outside of the wall, remains lava-free in the past, the other side will continue to evolve to create new volcanic landscapes.

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The retaining walls also serve as hiking paths at the top where one can hike on the edge of the past and the present. This path will continue up the mountain and around the crater, reaching higher than the peak and becoming the new mountaintop.

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ELDGOS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE 40

TWO SIDES OF THE WALL

BIRD EYE VIEW

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ELDGOS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE

This trapped lava creates spatial moments within the lands tures. Once the new ground has solidified over time, these s the raw materiality. In this new space and ground, hum terrafo 42

scape, where it flows around and over lava resistant strucstructures are removed to reveal the new stratifications and mans are able to experience and occupy the evolution of orming.

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ELDGOS SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE 44

STEEL + LAVA SECTIONAL MODEL - SPACE 1

STEEL + LAVA SITE MODEL

STEEL + LAVA SECTIONAL MODEL - SPACE 2

STEEL + LAVA SITE MODEL

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MOVING FORWARD “HOW CAN WE INTERVENE WITH THE NATURAL PROCESSES OF THE EARTH?”

Our answer for this greater question for humanity is a geological statement that addresses deeper philosophical concerns of how we intervene with nature as a species.

It is timeless architecture, located in various points in time from human to cosmic scales, that encompasses evolving forms and purposes.

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Like Nature, Architecture can be always changing, always affecting, & always adapting.

CONCLUSION

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BIBLIOGRAPHY SYRACUSE ARCHITECTURE 48

bibliography Figure 1.0

Robert Wysocki. “Cooking with Lava.” Syracuse, USA, June 2014, http://bompasandparr.com/projects/view/cooking-with-lava

Figure 1.1

Novopashin Andrey. “Process of drilling on CNC machines.” Video screenshot Shutterstock, D.C. USA 2015, https://www.shutterstock.com/th/video/clip-17587780-process-drilling-on-cnc-machines-system-supply

Figure 2.0

Peter Zumthor. “Bruder Klaus Field chapel,” Mechernich, Germany, 2007. https://www.archdaily.com/106352/bruder-klaus-field-chapel-peter-zumthor

Figure 3.0

James Turrell. “Roden Crater” Arizona, US, 2015. http://rodencrater.com/

Figure 4.0

Ishigami, Junya. “Nature amplified...8 Villas in Dali”, The Guardian, Wainright, Oliver. 2018. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/apr/03/junya-ishigami-japanese-architect

Figure 5.0

Smithson, Robert. “Bingham Copper Mining Pit – Utah Reclamation Project”, Notation : Contemporary Drawing as Idea and Process, 1973, Wax pencil and tape on plastic overlay on photograph, Estate of Robert Smithson/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY

Figure 6.0

Smithson, Robert. “Spiral Jetty”, Smart history, 1970, Spiral of basalt, sand, and soil, Rosel Point, Great Salt Lake, Utah,US, https://smarthistory.org/robert-smithson-spiral-jetty/

Figure 7.0

Adriatica di Elettricità. “Vajont dam,” Venice, Italy, 1956. https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/environment/birds-eye-view-of-vajont-dam-54-years-after-the-disaster.html

Figure 7.1 Figure 7.2

ibid.

Charles Ross. “Star Axis: the naked eye observatory,” New Mexico, US, 1976. https://www.designboom.com/architecture/charles-ross-star-axis-2-9-2015/

Figure 7.3

Adriatica di Elettricità. “Vajont dam,” Venice, Italy, 1956. https://www.planetmountain.com/en/news/environment/birds-eye-view-of-vajont-dam-54-years-after-the-disaster.html

Figure 8.0

Michele Miller, “AD Classics: Cenotaph for Newton,” AD Classics section, September 10, 2014. https://www.archdaily.com/544946/ad-classics-cenotaph-for-newton-etienne-louis-boullee?ad_medium=gallery

Figure 9.0

Le Corbusier “Basilica La Sainte Baume” France, 1948. Foundation of Lecorbusier. http://www.fondationlecorbusier.fr/corbuweb/morpheus.aspx?sysId=13&IrisObjectId=5615& sysLanguage=en-en&itemPos=17&itemSort=en-en_sort_string1%20&itemCount=215&sysParentName

Figure 10.1

Sigurjon Sindarson “Volcano Eruption in Iceland .” Compiled by Guðrún Sverrisdóttir, 13.12. 2011. https://earthice.hi.is/hekla_volcano

Figure 10.2

ibid.

Figure 10.3

ibid.

Figure 11.1

Gísli Óskarsson, “Hekla Eruption 2000,” Februrary 26, 2000. http://earthice.hi.is/hekla_eruption_2000

Figure 11.2

ibid.

Figure 11.3

ibid.

work cited 1. Jussi Parikka, A Geology of Media. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2015. 224 pages.

2. Stan Allen, Landform Building: Architecture’s New Terrain. Editors Lars Muller Publishers, 2011. 480 pages.

3. Christopher Michael Meyer, Buoyant Clarity. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2018, 23 pages.

4. Andrew, J.L. Harris, Bulletin Of Volcanology. IAVCEI: International Association of Volcanology and Chemistry of The Earth’s Interior press, 1926-present. 57 pages

5. Rachel Taylor, Blur: A Landscape Architecture Thesis. Blurb Press, 2014, 118 pages.

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ARCHITECTURE