YES2020 MArch Foundation Studio 4/4 (Parker)

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Insert Your Project Name Here

W20

ARCHITECTURE AFTER COMFORT EVDA 582 / ARST 444 Studio II in Architectrure Winter 2020 Instructor - Matthew Parker

Students 01 Mackenzie Garvin 02 Ashley Hu 03 Esther Ephraim-Osunde 04 Faith Lynch 05 Inioluwa Adedapo 06 Maria Grygoryeva 07 Daniel Howard 08 Rhea Jenkins 09 Matthew A. McArthur 10 Ioana Palade

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Introduction

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Introduction

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

ARCHITECTURE AFTER COMFORT EVDA 582 / ARST 444 - Studio II Instructor | Matthew Parker Architecture must treat comfort as a finite resource, not because the world is running out of it, but because our pursuit of it and privileging of it has contributed to the global climate crisis. In the face of heightened environmental consciousness, it is crucial to rethink our material way of life and our relationship to architecture and the city with respect to comfort. Current architectural models of construction, demolition, spatial waste, climate-controlled interiors, new builds, transparency, etc. position comfort as an infinte commodity – something you can attain, keep and show off - once you have comfort why would you ever give it up? A scarcity of comfort will be something that architects have to produce, it will involve a conscious redesign of the built environment, a re-conceptualization of building and construction, and a collective reframing of cultural values. Architecture is the medium to reconsider and renegotiate the terms of comfort, who gets it and what it means to be comfortable.

innovation, and speculates what discomfort might look like, what form it might take, what feelings it can produce and how it might result in new cultural regimes. By pushing the limits of livability, this studio will produce work that asks does it feel better to be uncomfortable.

This studio argues that discomfort is not a bad thing if it is designed, managed and made desirable. By embracing discomfort as an opportunity to address climate change, the studio seeks to reframe livability, lifestyle and the urban condition. Understanding architectural qualities as a commodity within this cultural milieu, the studio asks how discomfort can become a catalyst for Mackenzie Garvin: Massing Study

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Insert Your Project Name Here

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Insert Your Project Name Here

THE OPPOSITE OF COMFORT IS DISCOMFORT. THE FIRST WE SEEK, THE SECOND WE TRY TO AVOID. COMFORT IS VALUED BECAUSE IT PROMISES CONSISTENCY, NORMALCY, AND PREDICTABILITY, WHICH ALLOW FOR INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY OR A GOOD NIGHT’S SLEEP. OUR COLLECTIVE ALLEGIANCE OF COMFORT IS A FORM OF SELF-ASSURANCE – THAT WE ARE NOT THREATENED AND TOMORROW WILL BE LIKE TODAY. COMFORT INDICATES THAT ONE HAS RISEN ABOVE THE INCONSISTENCIES OF THE NATURAL WORLD AND TRIUMPHED, NOT ONLY OVER NATURE AND THE WEATHER BUT OVER CHANCE ITSELF. WE CAN RELY ON COMFORT. IT WILL BE THERE WHEN WE GET BACK.

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DANIEL A. BARBER

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Energy Use and Interior Comfort

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Energy Use and Interior Comfort

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

ENERGY USE AND INTERIOR COMFORT Re imagining Environmental Control Mackenzie Garvin Throughout this semester I have been challenging notions of comfort as they pertain to our interior environment. We are comfortable in the fact that we have effortless and complete control of the temperature in our spaces. High levels of control cause unseen damage to our world, all in an attempt to keep the interior temperature of an inefficient box within an arbitrary temperature range. During this semester I explored how architecture can allow for us to relinquish control of our spaces in order to reduce energy demands.

The semester began with formal explorations as a tool for discussing problems architecturally, before moving on to a small house and finally, a mixed-use residential development. By designing a small house that confronted inhabitants with the direct consequences of what it takes to maintain interior comfort, I strived to reframe the relationship we have to energy and our environment. The inhabitants of my small house were required to physically interact with a conglomeration of household appliances, forming the new hearth of the home. Once turned on, any and all pollutants created by those appliances would fill the double skinned glass facade of the structure overtime, completely encasing the building in pollution. The strong visuals of being buried in your own pollution, whilst effective at getting to the root of what I was trying to

achieve, fell short of encouraging people to forgo comfort.

My Mixed-Use Development sought to further challenge our notions of interior comfort, this time by adding efficiencies and incentives, encouraging inhabitants to relinquish control of their interior environment. Many spaces require a large amount of energy to operate and maintain, this inefficient design results in a large amount of wasted heat. This waste heat is usually lost into the atmosphere; however, it could be utilized in other spaces.

My Mixed-use development proposes placing a series of apartments encased in large amounts of thermal mass above a thermal bath. This will allow the waste heat of the baths to be stored by the thermal mass, heating the apartments above. By doing this the energy requirements of the whole building are reduced, while at the same time retaining the interior comfort desired by inhabitants.

Apartments encased in thermal mass

Relinquishing control of our interior environment is a difficult proposition for many people, but by allowing for heat to be shared amongst uses, and adding in a desirable amenity space, inhabitants could be persuaded to reduce their individual energy requirements and forgo complete control of their interior environment.

Enrannce to the mixed use development

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Energy Use and Interior Comfort

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Energy Use and Interior Comfort

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Massing study front view

Isometric of the small dwelling

Pollution filling the walls

Massing study rear view

The new Hearth

Massing study side view

Massing study top view Pollution generating appliances

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Apartments arrayed above the thermal baths

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Energy Use and Interior Comfort

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Energy Use and Interior Comfort

Circulation through the thermal mass.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Trust in the Process

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Trust in the Process

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

TRUST IN THE PROCESS Changing Perspectives + New Approaches Ashley Hu Studio II had two overarching themes: architectural qualities and discomfort. The first phase focused on architectural qualities and required the creation of a physical model that explores two dichotomies.

“Droops” expresses heaviness and lightness through the way the imaginary material falls under its weight. This exercise exemplified why architecture should be described in terms of spatial qualities as opposed to subjective metaphors. Several materials and processes were considered for its fabrication.

Ultimately, expanded polystyrene was used and finished with layers of carpenter glue and acrylic white paint. This experience encouraged experimentation with various modeling techniques and materials. Lastly, this autonomous form allowed evaluation based purely on its aesthetic qualities. This is a reminder that architectural qualities deserve focused attention as it produces impactful results.

The last three phases focused on the idea of discomfort. This studio questioned how discomfort could be designed to be desirable.

My projects focused on discomforts related to multigenerational living. It is common in western society for our seniors to be neglected. Despite all the social benefits of multigenerational living, many discomforts deter people from choosing this lifestyle.

This includes the need to move houses to accommodate changing family sizes and the

lack of privacy. In my single-detached home, “Growing in Place,” a movable wall system was introduced to adapt to the changing spatial needs of a family. For additional privacy, numerous vegetated and secluded spaces were provided for respite. The next phase was a site analysis through the lens of the discomforts of multigenerational living.

This focus helped extract information beyond the typical conditions of a site. The resulting information ended up strengthening the discomfort concept. A unique form was then designed in response to each specific site feature discovered. Being able to prioritize one factor improves the legibility of the concept in a project. In the final phase with the multi-unit building, the flexibility of combining and separating units was incorporated, which accommodates the changing sizes of families and provides privacy control. Social opportunities of a multigenerational community were also optimized, which included a senior-run daycare and community spaces focused on active living. This experience highlighted the opportunities offered by working at different scales in building and occupant group sizes.

Droops: Aperature Hinting at Forms Within

This studio taught me to trust new processes and to experiment freely. This yielded unexpected yet productive results. It gave me the confidence to experiment and remain open to new perspectives, despite the possible challenges the process may bring.

Droops: Imaginary material droops from heaviness.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Trust in the Process

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Trust in the Process

Growing in Place: Movable Wall Detail

Growing in Place: (Top Left) Family Cycle of Privacy Desired and Mutual Support (Top Right) Wall Moving to Enlargen Livingroom for a Gathering (Bottom Right) Connection to Nature to Provide Areas of Respite

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Growing in Place: Movable Wall Configurations to Accomodate a Family’s Spatial Needs

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Form from Site: (Top) A Diverse Local Community Evident Through the Varied Residential Architecture (Bottom) Formal Response to the Diverse Local Community’s Needs and Preferences

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Trust in the Process

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Trust in the Process

Famville: Introducing Privacy by Separating a Combined Unit

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Exploring Mass and Space

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Exploring Mass and Space

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EXPLORING MASS AND SPACE Heaviness and Lightness + Quality and the Outdoors Esther Ephraim-Osunde Exploring the qualities of heaviness and lightness were the key objectives of the monolithic objects. Inspiration was drawn from menhirs and rock formations which are heavy and appear heavy on sight. They are also naturally occuring and organic in form.

The monolithic object showcased the contrast of heaviness from the solid mass of the object with the lightness from the apertures. The quality of lightness was fluid, and it seemed to float around in a circular shape without a start or end point. The apertures helped to portray the seamless quality of lightness, with the presence and absence of light in the openings appearing to enhance the characteristics of the identified dichotomies of heaviness and lightness.

This site determined various responses. As such, analysis was done to give insight and inform the choice to combine space and share space. In doing this, the decision to make living an experience in the form of the publicly shared spaces. The use of outdoor amenities and spaces further pushed this narrative as it seemed a method of reducing the isolation of users to their rooms and brought them into these curated spaces that they would want to remain in.

Curating experiences while creating interaction was the take away from these collectively.

light openings and heavy mass

Informing the next phases of design, the idea of apertures contrasting solid monolithic forms was carried on into the architecture of discomfort.

Excess space as a comfort was explored, and the possibility of limiting space while creating areas of quality was investigated. What would make people willingly give up all the excess space and choose to live in smaller areas or fewer spaces? The target evolved and became a case of exploring architecture’s relationship to excess through the production and maximization of shared spaces.

monolith

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

interior

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Exploring Mass and Space

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Exploring Mass and Space

exploring space

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Exploring Mass and Space

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Exploring Mass and Space

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

creating an experience

the kitchen experience

section

east elevation

an exterior

south elevation

creating an experience outdoor plaza

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Gradients of Interiority

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Gradients of Interiority

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

GRADIENTS OF INTERIORITY Awareness, Transition, Removal Faith Lynch Vital to the final outcome of this studio was a process of exploring architectural dichotomies that inspired and drove form and ideologies used in the creation of experience.

Solids and voids as the main driver became a device that influenced how security, safety, and detachment from the community could be achieved through thickness and gradients of space in both single family and multi-unit residential buildings. This all came to fruition in the final project, using the experience of this solid and void to bring light to new techniques for establishing these experiences.

architecture as a device to create experience that puts the mind elsewhere. Recognizing the impact of this distorted reality in the projects’ own site context, it became imperative that the architecture be used to ward away these perceptions and create an interior that presents a contrasting experience. By contemporizing classical ideas of symmetry, proportion, and beauty, the project used spatial gradients of ceiling heights, narrowing corridor widths, and open space to produce an awareness of the architecture through a tactile and personal experience.

After exploring the influence of the news and media on the ways in which we choose to live our lives, an issue that resounds on a global scale, it became apparent that the human race is threatened by situations and problems that we ourselves have never experienced. We live out these threats through the experiences of others portrayed by social media and new-sharing platforms, even when we haven’t experienced them ourselves. As a result, our perception of the world becomes distorted beyond truth, which in turn effects how we treat our homes and inhabitations, used mostly as a vessel to lock ourselves away from this skewed reality.

Though in a single family residential setting this idea gave birth to a form of security from the outside world, the final project looked to create an escape and a distraction from the site, even just for a moment, using

As the pinnacle of this disconnection from the site, the interior presents a dome that runs through the entire building and emits light that penetrates and washes the entire space in jarring color that cannot be ignored. In creating a gradient of experience, the dome above as the source of light provides the greatest light intensity, which diffuses into a more subtle experience as it moves down into the depths of the space. As circulation is pushed to the exterior of the building, the dome itself dominates and becomes the gravitational force of the space. As a way to distract from the city, formal explorations brought to light the importance of removing views to the exterior through a lack of windows facing the site, looking into the dome instead. The space becomes a canvas for this light, where the interior suites are washed with the purple emission of the dome.

Investigations of site through news and media snippets.

Light gradates down towards the user, diffusing as it reaches the lowest point of the space.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Explorations of single-family dwelling, a disconnect from the world occurring as one meanders down into different layers of space.

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Gradients of Interiority

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Gradients of Interiority

Dichotomy exploration of architectural form helped to inspire use of solid and void in creating experience.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Gradients of Interiority

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Gradients of Interiority

Light gradients diffuse as they travel down the dome into the community space

Solid, symmetrical exterior in relation to the site

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The dome overlooks the space and becomes a gravitational force that all other areas revolve around

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Open Points of View

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Open Points of View

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

OPEN POINTS OF VIEW Privacy + Exposure + Connection + Voids Inioluwa Adedapo The explorations of the semester began with investigating architectural qualities and realizing from the explorations that one architectural quality can exhibit more architectural features than what the sole intention was. Dichotomies to be worked on were chosen and in this case, solids and voids were explored. The form chosen was generated from a series of subtractions and modification operations to a primitive. From this exercise, it was brought to light that simple operations can create sophisticated geometries which exhibit more qualities than originally intended.

other side benefits that would begin to tackle loneliness within the unit will be achieved.

The next phase explored discomforts in architecture and pondered on how an architecture can challenge certain comforts for a greater benefit. Privacy was the discomfort/comfort chosen to work with. One of the critical questions answered was how can aspects of users privacy be challenged to ensure increased levels of connection and interaction between them and their environment? The single-unit dwelling explored transparency and exposure within the unit such that no internal walls were used in the project for any of the spaces in the unit. The delineations of privacy were marked with changes in levels with the washroom being the lowest level in the apartment as it was the most private. This was done to foster an interaction amongst users of the units. Furthermore, it was done in hopes that

The multi-unit apartments also focused on privacy, exposure and connection. However, unlike the single-unit apartment where almost everything was on display, the multi-unit apartments was more about selecting the moments that would be displayed. Selective exposure of the users of other units as well as glimpses of the surrounding site was the focus here. In all, the project was centered around the curation of moments of exposure not just to the site but between the units. It was interesting to see that there was a nexus between all the phases of the project which was openness and viewing.

Following this a thorough site analysis was done with a focus on aspects that were critical to the narrative. To this, diagrams were produced and models were created that helped to understand the site better and reinforce aspects of the narrative. The views on the site was a crucial aspect to the privacy narrative and the secondary explorations focused on that. These excercises, coupled with a series of diagramatic explorations led to the multi-unit apartments.

Multi-Unit apartment in context

Multi-Unit apartment elevation

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Open Points of View

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Open Points of View

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Single unit dwelling, exterior render

Architectural qualities, solids and voids

Picture of “monolith” physical model Single-Unit dwelling, floor plan

Solid and void features

Single-Unit dwelling, interior render

Single-Unit dwelling, 3D section

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Open Points of View

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Open Points of View

Diagram on exposure

Multi-Unit apartment, floor plan

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Multi-Unit apartment, tectonic section

Next Page: Multi-Unit apartment, exterior render

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Coexistence in the Grey Area

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Coexistence in the Grey Area

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

COEXISTENCE IN THE GREY AREA Compression and Expansion + The Divide Maria Grygoryeva By challenging our relationship to loneliness the following projects address how architecture can respond to individual needs of inhabitants. This concept was explored in single-family and multi-residential architecture.

A single-family home was designed to be inhabited by a divorced couple and their adult son. The idea of loneliness became a conceptual driver for the project and further investigations led to the question of whether it is worse to live alone or to live in a potentially hostile environment. If these three, unlikely inhabitants were to live in one building, there needed to be a balance between spaces of isolation and spaces that forced interaction. A previous exercise exploring architectural dichotomies informed the decision to create an architecture that compressed and expanded, bringing the inhabitants together and apart. In addition to creating spaces that physically forced interactions, a ‘slicing’ technique introduced glazing elements that curated certain views through the house. Inhabitants would be able to see glimpses of the activity occurring within the house, providing a visual connection where a physical boundary still exists. Outward views are limited, forcing inhabitants to face their living situation.

The multi-residential project that followed also responds to tensions between unlikely

inhabitants sharing a living space. This project explored the polarity between introverts and extroverts. This idea was inspired by the contrasting responses of different individuals experiencing an isolation/ sensory deprivation chamber. While some find this experience therapeutic, others are extremely uncomfortable and are unwilling to be confined. This informed the decision to divide units in half, creating physical and implied boundaries. Each side contains half of the bedroom, half of the bathroom, and half of the kitchen. Each side also has its own dedicated entryway. The introvert enters into the bedroom and has access to the shower, the sink, and the dishwasher. The extrovert enters into the kitchen/living room and has access to the stove, fridge, and powder room.

Additionally, this side is placed on the exterior of the building and has access to daylight. The idea of the divide is also evident in the dark, monolithic massing which is split down the center. This split creates a powerful expression to the city and becomes the main entry into the building, further reinforcing the idea of division and choice.

Exploring dichotomies - soft and rigid

Exploring how architecture can challenge our relationship to loneliness has brought new insights and further questions. Our perceptions of loneliness are subjective and may need to be somehow quantified in future investigations.

Exterior view showing formal compression and expansion

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Coexistence in the Grey Area

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Coexistence in the Grey Area

Forced interactions conceptual diagram

Top: rendered sectional drawings showing glazing elements Bottom: ground floor and second floor plans

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Interior view showing compression and exterior glazing

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Coexistence in the Grey Area

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Coexistence in the Grey Area

Existing site topology creating division

Top: exploded isometric showing ‘split’ in each unit, interior view of unit division Bottom: exterior view of entry condition

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Exterior view of the project’s expression to the city (facing downtown core)

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Searching for Interactivity

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Searching for Interactivity

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

SEARCHING FOR INTERACTIVITY After an Architecture of Interaction Daniel Howard In Studio II, broad ideas were focused into coherent and pointed interventions predicated on the notion of comfort.

Using comfort as a point of inspiration was an interesting exercise as it revealed a lot about what is considered valuable, or comfortable, in the context of architecture.

Moving forward, architects must consider the nature of comfort in their designs because our planet cannot sustain what we are accustomed to.

My explorations into comfort this semester began by identifying internet access as the critical lens through which I would be designing over the term. When thinking about internet access in the context of architecture, and vice versa, two ideas dominated my thinking: interactivity, and visual consumption.

The design of my single-family dwelling explored the idea of the consumption of images in the context of voyeurism and exhibitionism. Much of the time spent accessing the internet is on social media, and social media is focused on the consumption and proliferation of the individual. Using this idea, I designed a home which facilitated both the voyeur and exhibitor by providing apertures into, and out of, the home at specific locations. These views would show a slice of interior life, or a picture of those outside the structure.

As my ideas surrounding the comfort of internet access developed, so did my approach for the multi-family housing project.

I had learned from the single-family dwelling my approach lacked clarity and direction and, to gain more clarity, I narrowed my focus to interactivity. Gaining clear direction enabled me to produce a provocative architecture which attempts to answer the question: what could an architecture of analogue interactivity look like, and what could it do to engage its users? The building acts as a street art gallery, as well as providing an adaptive interior environment. Both methods attempt to get the architecture back in the hands of the user.

Project 3 - Site Analysis: Massing Model

The explorations I took part in this term were extremely valuable. Framing an architectural project in the context of comfort forced me to consider what comfort is, as well as what comfort could be. The future of architecture is going to require a similar shift in perspective as the changing nature of our living environment will necessitate a change in convention. Not only did this term teach the value of being able to change your perspective, but also illustrated how many perspectives there are.

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: Unit Floor Plans

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Searching for Interactivity

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Main Floor 1m

3m

5m

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Searching for Interactivity

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Project 2 - Single-Family Dwelling Isometric

Longitudinal Section 1m

Project 2 - Single-Family Dwelling Drawings (top left) Through View Diagram (top right) Main Floor Plan (bottom) Longitudinal Section

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3m

5m

Project 2 - Single-Family Dwelling: Interior Render

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Searching for Interactivity

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Searching for Interactivity

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Project 4 - Multi-Family Building: Tectonic Section

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: Isometric

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: Top Elevation

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: East Elevation

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: Exterior Courtyard

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: North/ South Section

Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: Interactive Partition Diagram Project 4 - Multi-Unit Building: TwoStorey Unit Plans

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Disease: Spread and Mitigation in Architecture

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Disease: Spread and Mitigation in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

DISEASE: SPREAD AND MITIGATION IN ARCHITECTURE Exposure + Infection + Awareness Rhea Jenkins The notion of disease at various scales and levels of implications on both society and architecture was explored throughout the semester. The investigations produced three prominent themes: exposure, infection, and awareness. These themes manifest themselves in the semester’s work and raised questions in which the architecture addresses and examines. The concept of exposure acts as a variable to control the level of risk of infection. Infection is analyzed in two ways; architecture as a parasite to the environment – contributing to global warming, and the spread of disease in human populations.

Lastly, raising awareness is essential to these projects as they intend to enlighten the adverse effects of our society. The awareness was taken in two approaches; communicating the damages of contemporary building construction on the environment, and how proximity and societal norms affect the spread of disease in modern populations.

The semester examined the concept of disease and the supplementary themes in two primary directions. The conceptual statement of architecture as a parasite is as follows: Western cultural standards of architectural comfort are acting as a parasite to our planet, depleting all resources; this architecture intends to bring awareness provoking a cultural shift to negate further damages to sustain life. The production of this project intended to question our current production

of space and how as a society we function within them. The parasitic form sucks the nutrients and resources from the surrounding plot drawing parallels between architecture and biological parasites, thus, highlighting our impacts on the environment.

Secondarily, the investigation diverted to align with my interest in hospital design, seeking to discover architecture’s role as a strategy of containment for the spread of disease. I desired to investigate the spread of human disease and the influences architecture can have on societal norms to encourage or negate the spread of infection. The pandemic COVID 19 shortly followed my fascination with these concepts creating a timely project with an abundance of resources. The project captures these ideologies through the following conceptual statement: Densification of the urban environment has led to an increase in the transference of disease. To offset these effects, the project examines the concept of proximity to challenge the notion of well-being; physically, mentally, and socially.

Expression of disease through architectural form. Exploring architecture as parasite to the natural environment, depleting all resources.

These investigations sought to raise awareness to allow our society to question current measures of a successful civilization.

The presence of a sinister perspective encourages the ideas to be at the forefront of the viewer’s mind.

Examination of architectural qualities and their production through dichotomies.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Disease: Spread and Mitigation in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Disease: Spread and Mitigation in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Density + Disease: The depiction of the correlation between disease and the densification of populations.

In areas that are more densely populated the chance of exposure and infection increase exponentially. Resulting in potentially lower degrees of well-being for the individual.

This represents the relationship that exists between population density and the ability to control the spread of sickness and disease.

Environment: This diagram is indicative of the spread of disease and environmental factors - in relation to the site it exploits the spread of disease through flooding.

The textural qualities of the mass are intended to manifest and exhibit characteristics of disease.

Circulation: The sites progression of disease through circulation paths.

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Proximity Effects on Well-being: The examination of various factors of well-being; social, mental, and physical, relative to population sizes. Different population densities directly impact the well-being of individuals to function at optimum levels.

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In areas that are less densely populated the risk of infection and exposure to sickness and diseases decreases.

Resulting in a potentially higher level of well-being for the individual.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Disease: Spread and Mitigation in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Disease: Spread and Mitigation in Architecture

A Daycare resides in the ground level of the mixed-use complex, contrasting the isolated residential units above. The peripheral circulation encourages social distancing strategies.

LOBBY

OFFICE

ACTIVITY AREA

OPEN COMMUNITY SPACE LOBBY

OFFICE

ACTIVITY AREA

ACTIVITY AREA NAP ROOM WC

GARBAGE/RECYLING

OPEN COMMUNITY SPACE

WC

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Level 1

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Level 2

Daycare + Ammenity Spaces

ACTIVITY AREA NAP ROOM GARBAGE/RECYLING

WC WC

N

Level 1

Daycare + Ammenity Spaces

The organic form allows for open and engaged interaction for public activities, including a daycare, reflecting the transference of disease in large populations.

The use of technology in units to prevent isolation and increase tenants mental health during periods of pandemic invasion.

STUDIO

STUDIO

STUDIO

STUDIO

1 BED ROOM

1 BED ROOM

2 BED ROOM

2 BED ROOM

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STUDIO

STUDIO

STUDIO

STUDIO

1 BED ROOM

1 BED ROOM

2 BED ROOM

2 BED ROOM

Level 2

Suite TYP.

The residential units incorporate methods of containment and sanitation to reduce the spread of disease. The units focus on decontamination and accountability of tenants to ensure a healthy and responsible population. Despite isolation, notions of loneliness are mitigated through social strategies to create a sense of community.

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Suite TYP.

The distinction of space is utilized to raise awareness on the implications of our society on the spread of infectious disease. By exhibiting contrasting variables the building provides a paradox of sterility and exposure.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

The Ability of Architecture

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

The Ability of Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

THE ABILITY of ARCHITECTURE Public, Cooperative Living Matthew A. McArthur These projects explore the ability of architecture to create enticing visual effect and societal change, enticing humanity to give up in favour of a new way of life.

This studio began with an investigation into the characteristics of architectural dichotomies. Light and shadow, thick and thin, solid and void, hard and soft, etc. The dichotomies are prevalent throughout the built environment and their existence sparks emotion and intrigue when interpreting a space. The monolith was an exhibition of solid and void and how their relationship is what creates the outlines of space. Those definitions create the voids we occupy and the solids we use for living. Intriguing, how opposites must and always coexist and how at the seam where these opposites meet is the definition of space itself that we perceive.

That seem seam creates the pattern of our skylines, of our communities, of our homes.

It’s this deep and rigorous exploration into architecture that makes good architecture.

These emotions that can be created through architecture is what architecture thrives on.

a parking stall? How can architecture create housing that actually needs community to function? How can architecture do any of this if the world we live in is so engulfed with the ideals of ownership? These explorations attempt to answer these questions by creating compelling and intriguing spaces within the public realm for all aspects of living, while simultaneously taking away private aspects of the home. It asks you to rethink what we, as a society, actually need to claim ownership of and what, instead, we can share. Giving up these notions, giving up this space, giving up excess, can all be beneficial for you and for society.

The Hill, and its connection to the street.

However, all of this is subjective. And perhaps it’s that subjectivity that gives architecture its ability to create change. To be adaptable.

Therefore, architecture has the ability to divert housing from a profit model into an affordable, community-centred, and sustainable mode of living.

With this in mind, I began to ask the questions: How can architecture dissolve notions of ownership and entice people to give up in favour of cooperative and community-oriented living? How can you entice people to give up their suburban home, and high-rise condo, with a yard and The Hill Co-op Housing

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

The Ability of Architecture

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

The Ability of Architecture

Monolith, exploring architectural dichotomies, understanding their relationships, and using them to exhibit effects.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

The Ability of Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

The Ability of Architecture

South Elevation

Public House, opening an architecture up to create rooms for living at different scales: the home; the community; and the city.

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A variety of space: rooms to entertain, cook, sleep, work, and to live.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Curating Form Through Discomfort

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Curating Form Through Discomfort

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

CURATING FORM THROUGH DISCOMFORT SUBstance, a subterranean single family home, and Removed, a 30-unit dwelling, challenge inhabitants’ urban connection.

Ioana Palade Utilizing this studio as a vessel for formal exploration, the two works of architecture produced aim to develop in their inhabitants a stronger inward relationship. Using procession, compression and expansion, as well as proportional manipulation and exaggeration, the architectures effectively create intense rituals of removal from the urban realm, offering instead a refocusing on internal life.

Evolving simultaneously with analysis of Robert Venturi’s Complexity and Contradiction, early physical model building focused on producing impactful, elegant forms from few, simple moves. Finding the resulting piece, CubiCurv, quite successful in its aim, its features ultimately became the backbone of the single family residence, SUBstance. With further manipulation and the subsequent development of interiority, circulation, and site context, the architecture produced compelling effects, offering dramatic curvature and fluidity throughout.

Expanding on the fluidity established in these first works, curation of a formcreation procedure became of interest. In an effort to apply the same formal language throughout the architecture’s plan, section, and elevations, this ‘formula’ became an effective basis for any scale, and aided in application of everything from materiality to

circulation. Ultimately, Removed materialized into an edited exploration of a focused question based in this studio on discomfort.

Embodying the harmonious balance between simplicity, elegance, and form curation, the techniques employed to garner the effects it creates remain intriguing well beyond the context of these works and studio.

Both final works exemplify an exaggeration of private space, where banalities such as windows allowing outwards gaze and the concept of the “front entry” are blurred. They effectively use form to play on and push the limits of typical architecture, stretching the notion of ‘comfort vs discomfort’, to ‘comfort and discomfort.’

CubiCurv; exploring formal qualities through physical modeling and light curation

The opportunities offered throughout this studio opened the door for explorations that surpass the resulting works’ direct contexts. Each project developed from well considered questions surrounding current issues and perceptions, ultimately evolving into architectural strategies, curation, and deepening understandings of interests within the architectural realm. Each work unveiled new approaches and perspectives, creating engaging and efficacious structures. From the first endeavors into ideas of comfort (for whom?), to the final architectural manifestation, the process remained well rounded and multifaceted.

SUBstance; a morning experience within the subterranean single family dwelling explores an internally-based lifestyle

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Sectional qualities explored (nts); above, Removed; arrangement of units as block-like puzzle exemplifies notion of together and separate, while amenity floors produce spaces that further catalyze the program goals. below, SUBstance; living spaces catered to internal lifestyle exemplified through blending form with program

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Curating Form Through Discomfort

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Curating Form Through Discomfort

SUBstance; showcasing internal development and family-based lifestyle s through exploration of an afternoon experience in this bright, subterranean residence.

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Curating Form Through Discomfort

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Curating Form Through Discomfort

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

Removed; ground floorplan showcasing extensive individualistic circulation while remaining clean and elegant.

CubiCurv; maximizing contrast between dichotomies while creating harmony between them-- solidifying the notion of “‘and’ instead of ‘or’” (curved and straight,; soft and hard)

Removed; external concept playing on the formal language previously established

Removed; interior qualities through materiality and lighting ensure warmth in expansive spaces

early speculative diagramming of site context as it relates to human relationship to urbanism

Removed; exteriority maintains monolithic proportions and tone while exercising consistent formal language

Removed; upper flex amenity space accessed privately through each unit via spiral stair-- expanding procession through every space.

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SUBstance; exploring effect through nighttime experience of the alien, subterranean architecture within its typical neighborhood context

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 | Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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EVDA 582/ARST 444 – Studio II in Architecture

Architecture After Comfort Instructor | Matthew Parker

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