ARCHITECTURE DESIGN STUDIO: EARTH STUDENT SUBJECT BOOK, SM1, 2017 Yifei Qiu, 825853 STUDIO 12: Hella Wigge
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1.0 The Three Relationships 1.1 Point/Line and plane 1.2 Mass 1.3 Frame and Infill
2.0 Herring Island
2.1 Site Analysis 2.2 Conceptacle 2.3 Design Development
3.0 Final Design 4.0 Reflection 5.0 Appendix
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1.0 The Three Relationships Point/Line and Plane, Mass and Frame and Infill The three tectonics has been a very important factor throughout the course. By exploring these three design concepts; it helped us better understand how complex designs can be break down into single elements. Also, these concepts introduced us to a more efficient way of converting ideas into actual designs by either applying or combining these three concepts.
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1.1
Point/Line and Plane The relationship between point, line and planes. Understanding the relationship as well as their individual identities is very crucial in this section. Similarly to the mathematical term; points form line, lines form plane; and furthermore, planes form object. Points, lines and planes are the basic elements that forms our 3-Dimentional world. Also, in architectural term; point,line and plane can also be a play of perspectives. For example if you see a straight line from its on end, you will see only a point. This play of perspective can allow a design to contain several different concept in it as seeing it from different angles.
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Shen Zhen Bao'An International Airport Designer: Massimiliano Fuksas Location: Bao'an District, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
The interior roof lining of the Shen Zhen Bao'an International airport has been a controversial topic ever since it was opened in 2011. The 'dotted' ceiling of the terminal building has been causing discomforts to some people. The ceiling is distributed with holes all over the whole building; at day time it almost seems like the ceiling is made of stars. The dots forms lines; the lines are joint together and formed the ceiling of the airport.
Precedent Photo taken at Evergreen Apartment 1 Westley Avenue, Ivanhoe, VIC, 3079 (Near the front entry of the apartment)
This is the apartment where I am living in currently and I really thought that this apartment building is a well-designed structure. The external wall of the building is covered by a series of steel strips that are painted in timber color. These steel strips are assembled together with different heights and spacings so that they can form different planes just as the image is showing. The entire building is covered by the steel strips that the actual structural elements has been hidden inside so that the buildings looks very light-weighted as if it is hanging above the ground.
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Model The model is examining how an object can be read differently in various perspectives. The aim of the project was to create a area for sitting, standing and lying as well as addressing the point/ line and plane tectonic. The maximum height of the design was around 70 centimeters high in real life thus it is a relevantly flat structure. The model is made of timber sticks cut into different length and assembled together. The play of perspective in this design is that; at modeling scale, people can look at the model from bird-eye-view; thus the design can be read as a uneven surface that looks like a flying ‘tissue‘ sitting on the ground. But in reality, as a 70 centimeters-high structure, it is hardly possible for people to get a full top view of the structure; and most of the times, people see the ends of the sticks which can be read as points. Also, the structure itself is constructed by lines jointing together forming the sitting and lying surface. Ending points of the sticks form the curves on the sides of the structure; and these ending points are also extended into the other direction which are the sticks themselves. Finally, the sticks which can be read as lines form the uneven plane.
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Different perspective of looking at the model gives different image of the design. The top view on the left-bottom shows the ‘planar‘ perspect of the model as it almost looks flat. And the two image on the right shows the point and curve elemnets in the mdoel. and also indicates what the design looks like in its actual scale.
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1.2
Mass The mass composition focus on the play of heaviness, stability and contrast. The contrast between light and dark, bold and smooth are often used in mass architecture to give the structure heavy and monumental qualities. Heavy materials such as masonry and concrete are constantly used is mass architecture and thus they give a sense of tenseness and sometimes violent.
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Precedent
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Pixel House Architects: Mass Studies and Slade architecture Location: Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
When we look at this building, it just looks like a pile of rocks stacking together and formed a little 'hill'; and also that's why this building is called the Pixel House. In my opinion, mass is about the feeling of solid, heaviness, sanctification and the emphasize of the gravity. When I look at this building; it gives me a sense of calm and quiet; just like a wise old man sitting in his garden; contemplating, calm and satisfy.
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Santa Maria Church de Canaveses Architects: Alvaro Siza Location: Marco de Canaveses, Portugal
This church was built in 1996 designed by Alvaro Siza. The outlook of this church overturned the traditional impression of a church in my mind. Very less decorations, just plain concrete surfaces. The building is really neat and clean on its surface, and it seems like you can't really separate any part of the building away from it. The whole building just looks like a huge and well-carved rock.
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Drawings
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Light & Dark
The four drawings are representing two spaces; a dark space and a light space. These drawings aims to experiment different spacial qualities with different textures and feelings. The dark space is very rigid and isolated; while the light space is relevantly regular. Also, the role of light is very important in these drawings as well; they can be indicating directions; as the second drawing did; or suggesting shapes and forms; as the last two drawing showed. In different circumstances, light can give very different effects either ‘adding up’ to the space or ‘taking away’ from the space.
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1.3
Frame and Infill The combination of two systems; frames and infill; each has it own identity but relying on each other as well at the same time. This tectonic could be addressed structurally; like the steel frame and glass infill from the international Style; or, functional; or even conceptional that two concepts works together with each other.
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Precedent
"Austria. Naturally Yours" Competition Entry Design: PENDA Design Group
This design was a restaurant in 2015 Expo to show the organic food of Austria. The entire building again delivers the idea of letting the structure itself identify the spaces. The entire building can be reed as a huge frame work standing on earth. Also at the night time the light is on and it gives a mystery sense to the building that light is blocking the views inside the building. Also from the outside the buildings looks like a huge light box and that is holding a light bubs inside.
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Image 3
National Swimming Centre (The Water Cube) Design: PTW Architects, CSCEC, CCDI, and Arup Location: Beijing, China
In my opinion, the National Swimming Centre in Beijing shows another form of understanding of the frame and infill tectonic. The frame of the outer wall of this building chose to use hexagonal and bubble-like shapes instead of the regular shapes such as squares and triangles; which are often used in frame structures. The spaces between are filled with hollowed ETFE bubbles that enclose the structure. What I also found interesting is that at night time; different colors of light shines from the inside of the bubbles; and due to transparency of the material, it makes it looks like that light is occupying the spaces.
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Model
The aim of this model is to parts of the design. The b each other. Then, the he structural elements are m infill are the cardboard p ly to restrict peoples’ view that lead the way for pe particular direction in ea
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o let people experience differently when they are occupying different basic form of the model is based on four square cubes interacting with eight, length and width are adjusted to give some variety. The major made of timber sticks which forms the frames part of the model; and the panels. These white cardboards are placed in a particular way purposew out of the structure. There is a circular path way inside of the structure eople and with the help of the infill panels, people are forced to look at ach section of the path way.
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2.0 Herring Island The Herring Island is an small artificial island formed in 1928 sitting in the middle of the Yarra river. The island locates in Richmond which is a quite busy suburb in Melbourne; but compare to all the nosies and crowd around, the island is able to maintain its quiet and mysterious environment. The island now working as a sculptural park which contains many fabulous art works.
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2.1
Site Analysis The Island has a well-designed landscape and plantation distribution in order to block all the noises away from the interior of the island. These landscape and plantations also gives the island many different spacial qualities as people move around the island.
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Art Works
Stone House
Scaled Stem
Steerage Cairn
Ramp
Tanderrum
Falling Fence
A Hill a River, Two Rocks and a Presence.
Audience
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Analysis Diagrams
The herring island has very special spacial qualities due to its incorporation of vegetations and pathways. There are no roads or streets on herring island; only narrow dirt pathways; and there are only few of them which leads to the art works on the island. The only open ground without plantation cover is lactated at the bottom of the island; there are barbecue area and sitting areas on the lawn. The plantation is much more denser on the west side of the island compared to the east side; these plants gives the island a natural barrier from the noisy city and also give the island a sense of mystery. Furthermore, the island is sitting right next to the M1 high way, thus the noise on the north-west side is much loader; although the landscape and the trees are supposed to block all the noises but they are still able to penetrate into the island.
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From Left to Right 1. Path Ways 2. Public Area 3. Vegetation 4. Noises
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Potential Site
At this stage of design and concept, the site that was chosen was on the south-west bank of the island. When we were driving toward Herring island to do a site visit, the first thing I noticed was the trees on the south bank, and it was the first sight of the island. These trees covered entirely what within the island and seems to be hiding something; thus I chose the site there in order to make my design noticeable from the very first glance of the island, and to be luring people to explore it.
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The site is a part of the south-west bank of the island and it has a very stiff slope near the river side. The other side of the site is higher and has a flatter surface; and thus there are trees covering the flatter part of the site.
Plan
Section A-A’ A
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2.2
Conceptacle A conceptacle model is a combination of all three previous tectonic practices and the experiment of your own understanding of a secret. The combination also involves technique that were learn before such as smoothing or disjunction.
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Conceptacle Model
The conceptacle model is a combination of all three previous projects; and also their tectonics. The timber stick part was taken from the first point/line and plane model; from the top view these sticks can be read as points but in reality they are indicating lines. Also, these lines are implying walls as well, although there are spacings between, the way they are arranged still makes them imply-able. The two white cardboard are the frame for the timber sticks; but on the other hand; structurally, it is the sticks that are holding the cardboard above the ground; the timber sticks and the cardboards are frame and infill to each other at the same time. In terms of mass, the whole structure can be read as a play of mass and anti-gravity. The thick sticks seems to be floating above the ground and held up by a very thin plane. The model experimented two different spaces with different spacial quality; A lighter space and a darker space; which are the second level and the third level of the model. Both of the spaces are surrounded by large columns which can block people’s view into the space and to make people curious about what is inside the structure and explore it.
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2.2
Design Development The development process of the final design where concepts and ideas start to come together.
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Precedent
The development of the final project is partly influenced by the Chikatsu Asuka Historical Museum (1994) in Osaka, Japan by Tadao Ando. The bold concrete structure with very less opening really generates a strong sense of mystery to me; whether it is solid? What sort of space is inside of it? The use of concrete also provides a definite sense of in-penetrable and solid. Also as the first image shows, I really liked the narrow entrance with those high-raise walls on the sides. The materiality of concrete gives the walls a very heavy sense; and when people is inside of the entrance, the high walls are restricting people’s view that they can only look forward or backward or upward. The sense of pressure and mystery in this structure really attracted me.
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Notion of Secret
For my notion of a secrete; first of all, in my understanding a secret shouldn’t be completely hidden or unnoticeable. A secret can not be called a secret if nobody knows it. If no one has ever get a single clue or had a single glance of something ; then, the ‘thing’ could be considered non-existent. The society is not formed only by one person and people can not live only on their own. If something is hidden in someone’s heart all the time; in the flow of time, after the person has died; the secret will no longer exist and has never existed subjectively. On the other hand, I also think that a secret will no longer be a secret once it is revealed. Thus, I argue that secret should be all about the process of seeking or searching for something. I wanted to emphasize the experience of looking for something throughout my design. Furthermore, I didn’t want my secret to be any physical items; referring back to the idea that once a secret has been revealed it is no longer a secrete; I imagine my secret for the design should be a spacial experience or simply void. The idea was partly involved by the movie ‘The Maze Runner’ that in the movie, there are nothing in the middle of the gigantic stone maze, only a empty space; and those huge stone blocks really give a sense of mystery.
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Getting influence from the history museum in Japan by Tadao Ando and the Stone maze in the movie ‘The Maze runner’, I generated a prototype in Rhino. Using a maze as the basic idea; I placed several square-base columns with different spacing between each other around a center point; also adjusting there width in a range of two meters to four meters. Although the spacing between was random at this stage but the result was quite affective that looking from the outside the prototype gives the boldness and mysterious I aimed for.
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Precedent
The second precedent I looked at was the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway. The seed vault is a huge underground structure that aim to preserve seed fro the future. The structure only have a small opening exposed on the ground. The image on the left is showing the entrance to the seed bank, the entrance looks like a concrete block that is extended out of the ground; the way that the structure is penetrating through the landscape; no matter it actually has a underground section or not; is implying that there may be something below the landscape and it can evoke people’s curiosity and giving a sense of secrecy.
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There is a long history of people urging to build secret structures below ground. And nowadays, we are able to travel at 10000 meters above the ground or even reach other planet; but we still haven’t reach deep enough below us. Influenced by the seed vault; I realized that structure that can incorporate with the landscape around can be more attractive and mysterious; as the ground itself contains a sense of secret. I modeled the herring island in Rhino and tried to fit the prototype within the landscape that they could be penetrating through the land.
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Every single column is cutting through the original landscape of the site creating spaces below; and an underground room is also created within these columns. The underground room has a relevantly tall height of 5 meters; the room extend to the slope near the river side and creates some opening on that side of the site. There is a skylight window in the underground room to provide light source, and also this window is at the center of the concrete column complex acting as a floor plate of the ground level at the same time.
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The size of the total design is reduced and thus the number of columns are reduced as well. The spacings between the columns are specified to 20 to 120 centimeters. To generate sense of secrete doesn’t necessary need that much columns, and more column may become supplementary.
Before
After
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3.0 Final Design The final design focused on the experience of people who are approaching to the design; searching for the deign and engaging with the design. The design contains a toilet; a store room; a room for family; a recording room and a canopy. Referring back to the site analysis and notion of secret; due to the height of the design which is 10 meter above ground and the site chosen; the model would be very noticeable when people are driving along the Alexandra Avenue (Which is the road along the south part of the Island). And ideally due to the boldness and the scale of these concrete boxes, it can evoke people’s curiosity that as if something is hiding behind; and attract people to come and explore it. The glass boxes can also blur people’s impression of the complex. Referring to the secret notion again; this is when you first get a glance of the secret and decide to explore it.
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Some of the columns are selected to become light boxes and some are selected to become functional rooms with glass ceiling. The position of the light boxes are well-considered that they will not allow people to see through them and expose the interior of the complex. The glass boxes can also blur the visitors view from distance that they are a little bit reflective.
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Solid concrete boxes to provide the scene of mystery.
Stairs are also contained in the boxes.
Boxes with glass ceiling; provide functional interior space.
Glass light boxes for some penetration and lightings.
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Plan
1. Family Room 2. Stair case 3. Toilet 4. Recording Room 5. Storage Room
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A’ The gray section indicates concrete solid columns and the rest boxes indicates glass panels.
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Section A-A’
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Final Model
The model is constructed with MDF broad (Landscape), box broad (Concrete Boxes) and clear perspex (Light Boxes). All the material of the model was modified in Rhino first and then cut by laser cutter.
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The si with a ca cre this str betw to cho go. W co both th glas
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ite chosen for the design is covered h some plantations and no close to any of the walk path on the island. It an be a precess of seeking for a seet. There are no pacific entrance to ructure because of all the spacings ween the columns, and people get oose which ever way they wants to When people is inside of these huge olumns; their view is tightly restricted h horizontally and vertically, the only hing they can see are concrete and ss; which can push them to keep on exploring.
Once you’ve get to the center space of the structure, you will finally realize that there is nothing hiding inside; its just maze again. But, the journey doesn’t stop here. When people is in the structure; they will either get to the above ground central area first or the under ground room first; and the glass panel allow them to see through what’s above/ below and it can still lure people to keep seeking; only when people have experienced both the above ground and the below ground area, they can finally understand the whole complex.
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4.0 Reflection Studio Earth has been a extremely helpful subject throughout the semester, and it helped me improved my design skill massively in just a short period of time. The way that all the techniques and the concepts gradually come together really helped me developing my design thinking; I used to panic a lot when I try to start developing a project but this subject had taught me where to start; what to do step by step and finally how they can be combined together. The three tectonics Point/Line and Plane; Mass and Frame and Infill was really helpful in case of understanding the basic elements in architectural designs. Compare to Designing Environment, these three tectonics are more realistic and they are more easy to find in the daily life. And I am able to put these elements into my own design by looking at precedent examples. Through the course, I felt like I an starting to design something more realistic than just ideas and concepts. By using laser cut and producing larger and larger models; I started to realize the restrictions and start to think the feasibility of my design. Furthermore, by doing this subject, I realized that my Photoshop skill need to be improved. More realistic plans and section are really helpful in terms of expressing ideas and concepts. And the they can represent spacial quality really well. Never the less; the tutorial set up has been a huge factor throughout the study. I can exchange ideas and suggestion with my peers and as well as our tutors and it has been very helpful for me to improve my designs. Also, they way that we get to present in front of the class for many times contributed a lot to my final design that I can learn how other are proceeding their projects and what ideas they have. It is also a good practice ; being able to present is also a crucial part for an architect to present the ideas.
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5.0 Appendix
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References: Image 1: Megan Sveiven, AD Classics: Santa Maria Church de Canaveses / Álvaro Siza Vieira, 01:00 - 16 February, 2011, http://www.archdaily.com/112535/ad-classics-santa-maria-church-de-canaveses-alvaro-siza Image 2: Pixel House / Mass Studies and Slade Architecture, 00:00 - 22 November, 2010, http://www.archdaily.com/90028/pixel-house-mass-studies-and-slade-architecture Image 3: Barbara Porada, “Austria. Naturally Yours” Competition Entry / penda, 01:00 - 18 October, 2013, http://www.archdaily.com/439568/austria-naturally-yours-penda Image 4: National Swimming Centre(‘The Water Cube’) Beijing, http://www.visitourchina.com/beijing/attraction/national-swimming-centre-the-water-cube-beijing.html Image 5: Lin Yeh (pintrest), Chikatsu Asuka Historical Museum. 1994. Osaka, Japan. Tadao Ando The prisoners go in, but they never get out, https://au.pinterest.com/ pin/468374429974239190/ Image 6: azul 816, https://www.flickr.com/photos/azul816/8544387878/lightbox/ Image 7: Julio Vallejo Heran, CRÍTICAS: EL CORREDOR DEL LABERINTO, http://cinemaadhoc.info/2014/09/criticas-el-corredor-del-laberinto/ Image 8: https://es.pinterest.com/pin/545146729878393883/ Image 9: Corp Trust, SVALBARD GLOBAL SEED VAULT, 2016, https://www.croptrust.org/our-work/svalbard-global-seed-vault/
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