SCI-Arc First

SOLAR LABRIE

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE M.ARCH2 YEAR 2012-2013

PARTITION PATTERN PARTITION PATTERNONE ONE

PARTITION PATTERN TWO PARTITION PATTERN TWO

BECOMING ARCHITECTURE

DIGITAL MODEL

ANALOG MODEL

NICOLE, SOLAR, VEST, ZIYE

ADVANCED STRUCTURES 02.05.2013

RIGID

FABRIC RIGIDITY

FABRIC TENSION

TENSION

DESIGN SPECS

NICOLE HARTER + SOLAR LABRIE + ZIYE LIU + VESTALIS PIZARRO

Description

Depicted is the selected portion of our building that we chose to run various material tests in order to caluculate changes of the interio spaces

OPTIMIZED ITERATION 1- through material change

Description These studies show double-glazed timber framed windows, rammed earth, timber on ground with plaster ceiling. Our main two variables were between the windows and walls. We chose materials that we hypothesized would show higher contrasting results.

Labrie - Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013

OPTIMIZED ITERATION 2- through material change

OPTIMIZED ITERATION 1- Light Shelves

Labrie - Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013

Labrie - Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013

In this iteration, as with the previous one, we created windows in a consecutive strip on three sides of the zone, allowing in a greater amount of light. In this analysis, we rotated all the windows open.The glazing differences were inconsequential

In this slide and the next, we changed the windows and wall placement to affect the amount of daylight entering the space, and the reflection and absorption of light and heat. In this iteration, we brought in the walls below the windows, creating a light shelf.

n

n or s.

Description We ran comparisons between two different material applications of the same zone. These studies show single-glazed aluminum framed windows, framed plaster board, timber on ground and plaster ceiling.

OPTIMIZED ITERATION 1- Swiveling Windows

Labrie - Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013

Description Air Handling Unit total rm dims: 114x45.5x6.5

Chiller Plant total rm dims: 64x62x13

Cooling Tower total rm dims: 18x9x18

Boiler Plant total rm dims: 30x20x13

Main Supply Ducts [green] dims: Air Handling Unit total rm dims: 1- 48” diameter 114x45.5x6.5 1- 24” diameter

Chiller Plant total rm dims: 64x62x13

Cooling Tower Boiler Plant total rm dims: This total rm dims: project 18x9x18 30x20x13

Main Supply Ducts

[green] dims: in the Allan Feller Theater situated in Los Angeles, deals wiith mechanical systems 1- 48” diameter California. Through a series of calculations we learned how to find accurate measurements of 1- 24” diameter ducts and mechanical equipment necessary in a building. The way in which this project was Exhaust Air Ducts dims: done allowed us to grasp the concept[red] a lot better since we got to apply it to a scenario that is 2- 12” diameter useful for studio.

Exhaust Air Ducts [red] dims: 2- 12” diameter

ALLAN FELLER THEATER

Solar Labrie - Ana Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013 Ducts pass under the seats and end in a diffuser. See detail in next two pages.

The main ducts are the only illustrated here as there are 315 diffusers.

Ducts pass under the seats and end in a diffuser. See detail in next two pages.

The main ducts are the only illustrated here as there are 315 diffusers.

BUILDING MECHANICAL AXON

Solar Labrie - Ana Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013

Solar Labrie - Ana Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013 Air Handling Unit total rm dims: 114x45.5x6.5

Chiller Plant total rm dims: 64x62x13

Cooling Tower total rm dims: 18x9x18

Boiler Plant total rm dims: 30x20x13

Main Supply Ducts [green] dims: 1- 48” diameter 1- 24” diameter Exhaust Air Ducts [red] dims: 2- 12” diameter

SECTION

PLAN 1

THEATER SECTION Solar Labrie - Ana Munoz / Landreth - Mazzoleni / ABS / Spring 2013

Samantha Labrie CS Spring Labrie 2013 Samantha Todd Gannon CS Spring 2013 04.09.2013 Todd Gannon 04.09.2013

“But the most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly and with unflagging confine itself a few pointsprinciple and repeat “But the most brilliant propagandist technique attention. will yieldItnomust success unless onetofundamental is

them and constantly over. Here,and as so often in this world, persistence the first andto most important requirement borneover in mind with unflagging attention.

It must is confine itself a few points and repeat 1 -Adolf Hilteras so often in this world, persistence is the first and most important requirement for success.” them over and over. Here,

for success.”1 -Adolf Hilter

Oscillating between autonomy and heteronomy, architecture dances, sometimes

between and heteronomy, architecture sometimes swayingOscillating closer to one, otherautonomy times suspended between the two. This dances, is a dance that seems

swaying closerSchumacher. to one, other Going times suspended between the two.a rich, This is a dance lineage that seems to taunt Patrik to great pains to elaborate historical and to taunt Patrik Schumacher.

Going great painsmoment to elaborate a rich,one. historical lineage narrative, Schumacher’s arrival intotothe present is a grand Attempting to and

narrative, Schumacher’s arrivalconfidently into the present moment is a agrand one. Attempting to In axiomatize architecture, Patrik sets out to create benchmark in its history.

2 sets out to create a benchmark in its history. In axiomatize architecture, confidently his book, The AutopoesisPatrik of Architecture , in addition to breaking down architecture into

2 book, The Autopoesis Architecture , inaaddition breaking down architecture into ahisfully exposed system of of parts, he analyzes series oftoexternal influences and adjacent

a fully exposed system of parts, analyzes a series oftoexternal and adjacent systems that must be reduced in he order for architecture becomeinfluences pure. Decontaminate,

systems risk that and mustbecome be reduced in order forself-referential, architecture toautonomous. become pure.His Decontaminate, remove predominantly investigation is remove risk and become predominantly self-referential, Histhe investigation is its own oscillation, each time acknowledging the dance, autonomous. yet insisting on resolution of

own oscillation, each time acknowledging theand dance, yet regulation. insisting onOpenness the resolution of aitsmiddle ground through boundary maintenance border through a middlehe ground boundary maintenance andnets. border regulation. Openness through closure, lands through on the stage, surrounded by safety closure,Nicolas he landsdeonMonchaux the stage, does surrounded byresolve safety nets. not try to the dance, instead he curates it. In 3 Nicolas de Monchaux does not try to resolve dance, his book, Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo , each of the the book’s 21 instead chaptersheiscurates placingit.a In

3 his book,narrative Spacesuit: of the chapters is placing a In broader intoFashioning place. The Apollo broader, each narrative is book’s not the 21 history of the spacesuit.

broader narrative into place.unfolds The broader narrative is not thesame history of the spacesuit. In each chapter, de Monchaux a series of events in the way; a grandiose

each chapter, de Monchaux a series of events the same way; a grandiosefails. It approach is taken to developunfolds each phase of the suit, yetininevitably, the grandiosity approach is taken each phase ofathe suit, yet inevitably, the grandiosity is in the fallout of to thedevelop apparent failure that by-product emerges, resulting in an fails. It is in the fallout of thea apparent that aThe by-product in ingredients an unexpected success, victoriousfailure underdog. broader emerges, narrative resulting reveals the unexpected success, victorious underdog.

The broader narrative revealshappens. the ingredients for innovation.

It is ina the accidental and random where true innovation for innovation. It is in the accidental and random where true innovation happens.

Schumacher’s tone may be way more definitive than de Monchaux, but de Monchaux thematic consistency has just as much conviction.

For Schumacher, all the threads of the history of architecture have (conveniently) crystallized into the present moment. The appointed crystallization allows (the selfappointed) Schumacher to declare a landmark, carve out a new starting point. And only by following his specific prescriptions from this new beginning will architecture become unified and idealized. Each chapter, each thesis, form fits its way into an overarching theme. Schumacher is open to a kind of randomness as long as it remains within the discipline. With properly maintained boundaries, less outside agitation will occur. So it is not so much the randomness he rejects, as it is the potential contaminants that exist within an unregulated space. In the realm of impurity, he sees too much risk being taken. He may accept that this space of randomness is an existing evil, but it should be confined to the playground of the avant-garde. For Schumacher’s reality, in order for innovation to be achieved, representation must be present and then abstracted with new forms of parametricism. Parametricism contains the complexity and organization needed to increase the possibility of the emergence of new ideas.

"Failure to self-organize effective responses leads to irrelevance and spells extinction…This is why Eisenman's Formalist insistence upon architecture's absolute autonomy can only be a subsidiary moment within the overall constitution of the discipline.” 4

Schumacher is advocating a middle way between the extreme autonomy of the formalist project versus the practical aspect of building architecture. Again, his position is hovering between acknowledging the impossibility of a discipline which is absolutely impervious to external referents while minimizing the flux of what is imported from outside (what he calls' irritations'). What's relevant is what he puts in place to 'filter'' exterior influences and the process of translation into disciplinary convention (or its friction with existing conventions). He uses tremendous effort to 'resolve' this tension between the untamed and the 'domesticated' (i.e. contaminated vs. autonomous) and he assumes he can resolve it through his complex yet quite absurd apparatus of 'purification.’

The Kaohliung Marine Gateway Terminal Design by Asymptote in 2012, is an example of a project that uses parametric design to organize complex subsystems within one cohesive system. In an operational way, it meets Schumacher’s criteria for good architecture. As detailed on Asymptote’s site5, it is a “transportation interchange, an urban destination with both terminal and public facilities including exhibition and event spaces…The project transforms the site from its industrial roots into a dynamic urban hub and a global gateway that bring a powerful and electric experience to the city 24 hours a day.”6 Most of the architects teaching at SCI-Arc seem to be out of alignment with Schumacher’s criteria for “real” architecture. Real for him is mainstream, built architecture and he believes this common idea, a global architecture, now exists. His rigorous use of the newer technologies is a commonality yet the tectonic application is where the similarities at SCI-Arc end. In the “gravity-free” zone that is SCI-Arc, where groundbreaking innovation is the motivation, ad hoc, randomness and system integration reigns.

For myself and for many of the architects at SCI-Arc, the most interesting work is where this tension I referred to earlier remains to an extent unresolved and 'impure'. The space of tension that Schumacher is trying to resolve is exactly the space architects Andrew Atwood and Anna Neimark are trying to amplify. Atwood and Neimark seem to thrive in the discomfort of this milieu. Schumacher acknowledges it, but more as a means

to an end, a problem to overcome. For Atwood and Neimark, it is essentially an operational medium. The idea of engagement as a result of contrast is something that appears in several of their projects. The projects become translations of convention through abstraction.

“Peak on Peak” is Atwood and Neimark’s design submission in a competition created by Zaha Hadid. They begin the project with a declaration supporting representation. “We don’t care about the program description. We care about Zaha’s representation of the program.”7 They took Zaha’s representation of the mountain as their starting point. Beginning with Malevich’s White on White, they rotated, divided and abstracted until the new geometry became a pyramid, subdivided and reconstructed, on an off-square base. The transformations produce new boundaries and the projected elevations produce a new peak. The gaps become the division between the real and the abstract.

Atwood and Neimark are using the abstraction of representation in other projects as well. In a project called Zoopol, they begin with animal prints as the basic pattern to map out urban space. Using a series of extrusions, varying heights and distribution of positive and negative space. As they state, Zoopol is an urban abstraction intended to engage its inhabitants with a critical relationship. In both of these projects, Atwood and Neimark are intending for the abstractions to create problems, raise new questions. In the gaps between the conventional and the abstracted, there is a tension that invites continuous exploration with no one goal in mind but the possibility of discovery of new ways of seeing.

Andrew Atwood and Anna Niemark, http://www.firstoff.net/projects/peak-on-peak/ Asymptote Architecture, Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture, http://www.asymptote.net/buildings/kaohsiung-marine-gateway/ Birkbeck, Sharon Persaud, “Closed in an Open Sort of Way,” Luhmann's Autopoesis & The Border Control of Law, The Westminster International Law & Theory Centre Online Working Papers 2009 Hitler, Adolf, Mein Kampf ("My Struggle"), Jackie (1925–1926), Publisher: Mariner Books, Language: English Nietzsche, Friedrich, Beyond Good and Evil . 1886. Trans. Helen Zimmern. 1909-1913.

Schumacher, Patrik, The Autopoiesis of Architecture, John Wiley & Sons Ltd., London 2010

Schumacher’s solution of parametricism encompasses a complexity that is part of a unified system. He sees a comfort in unity. But his comfort is explained through hypocrisy. In a world that is so fragmented and subdivided, he feels that architecture can provide confidence through its continuation of this unity. Yet he spends the majority of his efforts subdividing the world in which he then offers solace.

“Not only can parameters be shifted out of natural ranges but wholly new artificial forces and their defining laws and logics might be defined. Any parameter of any object might be associated with any parameter of any other object. An artificial, second nature can be conjured via scripted, quasi-natural laws, rich in internal resonances, as well as inter-articulations with external contexts.”8

I introduced this paper with Hitler’s quote from Mein Kampf, and however frequently Schumacher implies his goals are more aligned with a non-hierarchical, socialist utopia, he persists on the idea of architecture as a ‘master race’ without the contamination of other disciplines. Friedrich Nietzsche’s “ubermensch” describes the individual who transcends the smallness of humanity into something more god-like and grand, meant to rule over those beneath him. Schumacher is not unique in taking on this ambition of godliness. Even for Nicholas de Monchaux’ subjects, the pursuit is one of a superhero. The major difference is that Schumacher is speaking to an idyllic future, devising a recipe of absurdity, yet nestled in the sheltered safety of an already established social systems theory, providing only prescription and speculation without the actuality of prophesized outcomes. With the spacesuit, it was through multiple stages of contamination and acceptance that a successful project came to life. Ironically, the technology intended to create literal, airtight boundaries was arrived at as a result of conceptual and ideological porosity and flexibility. Something Schumacher might want to consider.