Museum of Contemporary Art Athens by Youseok Cho, 2016

M O C A A

M U S E U M O F C O N T E M P O R A R Y A R T AT H E N S

YO U S E O K C H O

2015-2016

1

This monograph presents a record of an architectural design project of Museum of Contemporar y Ar ts Athens (M.O.C.A.A) by Youseok Cho as his M.Arch II design studio AR40107 project.

M.O.C.A.A is located in area of Metaxourgeio in Athens, the hear t of Greece . M.O.C.A.A is the core of the seventh green link of the ‘Planting The Seed for Future Athens’ Masterplan, which connects the city centre and the Plato’s Academy.

M.O.C.A.A will significantly enhance the existing ar tistic characteristics of Metaxourgeio by promoting contemporar y ar t as one of the city landmark. The museum celebrates rich of historical characteristics of the area in form of contemporar y architectural language. The aim of the museum is to inspire visitors’ through works of ar t and the building it self. The later is delivered through series of crafted spaces located inside and outside of the museum with coherent agenda.

Acknowledgment My deepest thanks to ever yone involved in the MArch program for their guidance and exper tise throughout the year. Par ticular gratitude to Jayne Barlow and Alex Wright for their invaluable contribution, suppor t and motivation throughout the course of this project, as well as James Rowe for his exper tise on structural issues and Andy Jar vis for his exper tise on environmental issues. 그 누구보다 부모님께 감사드립니다

Youseok Cho Museum of Contemporar y Ar t, Athens Individual design project MArch Design Studio 6.2 2015-2016 University of Bath To be read in conjunction with Athens Research, Process and Proposal group repor ts for the Planting The Seed For Future Athens project.

prologue

7

narrative

21

brief

41

masterplan

69

proposal

79

public realm

131

tectonic

143

environment

171

regulations

189

process

199

city masterplan site client

Place, composition Prologue

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8

prologue

Place

Greece is located in South East of Europe on the crossroads between Europe, Asia and Africa. Because of this strategic position Greece acts as a midway point on many shipping journeys between the three continents, with its Por t of Piraeus the largest in Europe. This position has also caused Greece to have a rich mix of cultures. With its southerly location the climate of Greece is predominantly Mediterranean. Greece consists of two mainlands and over 1000 islands, of which only 227 are inhabited.

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece, containing over a quar ter of its population. It is located towards the South of the mainland of Greece, and is the most southerly capital on the European mainland, causing its climate to be warmer and drier than the majority of the countr y. This location also gives a proximity to many of the islands, making Athens a key stop on many tourists journeys to the Greek islands. The urban area of Athens is located in the Attica basin, covering 412km 2 .

Athens has the rich heritage of the ancient times. With the Acropolis as the core, the marks of the ancient civilisation spreads around the city beneath current ground level. It has been revealed in some areas, however there still are a lot yet to be revealed.

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The shadows of Athens are abandoned, derelict buildings, homeless people and pollution. Due to the urban sprawl, 10 percent of the buildings within the city centre can be classified as derelict and in urgent need of repair or demolition, and 30 percent are vacant. Also within Athens there are 110,000 homeless people, including refuges.

Mainly due to outdated heating systems of poorly insulated housings and a huge number of cars within the city centre, as result in 2013, the pollution level reached its extremity which is 15 times the recommended EU levels. This causes in over 1000 deaths per year and an estimated â‚Ź3.9 billion in environmental and health damages.

Economy is one of the biggest contemporar y issues of Greece and the effect is critically evident in Athens. Over 85 percent of the GDP is from ser vice, which is not an expor table commodity.

This has led to a negative trade balance. The main expor table sector is tourism, contributing 16 percent. Although tourism contributes a decent amount to the GDP, it is a sector which can be developed much more to help improve the economy, and this is our main question of the masterplan.

How Athens can recover from its contemporar y issues and develop beyond to reclaim its glor y of the past.

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prologue

11

12

where it is

i vii

ii vi

v iii

iv

composition

The plan is to ‘Plant the seed for future Athens’. Setting Monastiraki Square as the new city centre, 7 green links spreading out to 7 nodes and 7 green spaces beyond.

The linear park, a former six lane ring road, connects the 7 nodes to allow people to pleasantly and safely travel between them. Out of the 7 nodes, 5 already exist, such as the Acropolis and the Parliament. Only two nodes are new proposals and one of them is the M.O.C.A.A. The nodes sets the tone of the activities dotted along the green links, and acts as the core of the link.

M.O.C.A.A is the seventh node of the masterplan.

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metaxourgeio

site

Psiri

monastiraki square

acropolis

M.O.C.A.A is located by the borderline of Metaxourgeio by Psiri. Both Metaxourgeio and Psiri have been well known since past decade as creative and an ar tistic neighborhoods of Athens with its rising number of quality street ar ts and opening of small private contemporar y ar t galleries. However unlike Psiri, a large percentage of the buildings in Metaxourgeio are derelict and vacant, including the existing buildings on the site. Also the area lacks of a core tourist attraction that can showcase the identity of the area.

Therefore the museum intends to become a key modern tourist attraction of the Athens that acts as the core of the ar tistic activities of Metaxourgeio by enhancing Metaxourgeio’s ar tistic branding by promoting contemporar y ar t.

Exposure of contemporar y ar t to both locals and tourists through exhibitions and supporing young local ar tists.

Within the context of the masterplan, the green link goes through the proposed site. The idea was that the museum will enhance the connection between the two squares; Avidi square and Koumoundourou square on the nor th and south side of the site. These two squares are historically and physically connected however currently the connection is ver y super ficial, and in result both of them are left in the lurch.

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The site consists of two blocks of buildings and both are plan to be demolished to provide site for the museum. One is an abandoned thirteen story concrete structured building. The organisation who was in charge of the development of the building has stopped the construction due to economic recession of Greece.

Therefore the Municipality of Athens has purchased this structure and has a plan to demolish to redevelop the area.

The other is a block formed with eight buildings. Three buildings are derelict and one building is vacant, others are three are residential buildings and one office building. Residents in these buildings will be transfered to one of the new built blocks in northern Metaxourgeio.

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prologue

After the demolition, hidden subterranean spaces are revealed. One of the building regulation of Athens require every buildings to dig down to minimum of 4m beneath the ground level to inspect whether there are any ancient ruins or relic to be discovered prior to any new build projects. Therefore every building in Athens have at least one basement floor.

The big concrete building had three basements and the block of buildings had one or two stories of basement which leads to a large area of dug out space with 12m of depth and several spaces with 4m and 8m of depth.

In the museum, all the galleries are located on the ‘found spaces’ beneath the ground level just like ruins of the ancient Greece.

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from the top right, clockwise Couple Under An Umbrella, Ron Mueck, 2013 Maman, Louise Bourgeois, 1999 Pumpkin, Yayoi Kusama, 2014 Untitled, Jannis Kounellis, 1994

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prologue

There are two client parties of M.O.C.A.A; D.D Collection and N.E.O.N Foundation, both found by a Greek entrepreneur Dimitris Daskalopoulos, who is CEO of Vivartia, the largest food conglomerate in Greece. On be half of the D.D Collection, Daskalopoulos has a large number of collections. He has a special interests in large sculptures, however he yet owns a gallery to store and exhibit his collections, therefore most of the art works are on loan to leading museums around the world such as Bilbao Guggenheim museum and White Chapel gallery. A large part of the museum is dedicated to exhibit his permanent art collections.

N.E.O.N is a non-profit organisation, which works to bring contemporary art culture closer to everyone in Greece. The organisation is committed to broadening the appreciation, understanding and creation of contemporary art in Greece in the firm belief that this is a key tool for growth and development.

On be half of the client parties, M.O.C.A.A will provide free exhibitions, educational programs especially for children and support 6 artists per year by providing them studio spaces and promote their work through exhibitions.

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inspirations concepts

20

Abstract, parti Narrative

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abstract

The ideology that has driven the project consists series of thoughts. These thoughts are inspired from distinctive sources that can be catagorised into; contextual informations and personal hypothesis. These have produced several architectural concepts for this project, which will be covered later in ‘par ti’.

dialogue between confronting matters

contextual: client

Dimitris Dask alopoulos’s c o l l e c t i n g p r i n c i p l e focuses on a very pure strand of artistic exploration, using humanit y to express tension between matters in dialo gue; life and death, futility and fruitfulness, mortality and immortality and optimism and nihilism.

The

museum

is

a

collection

of

diverse

spaces to exhibit. Contrasts created by

variables such as spatial density, light, natural elements and human dynamics.

Maybe the atmosphere of each space is a metaphor of a part of humanity or life, as the contrast will allow one to experience betrayal of expectations which life is full of.

complexity created by the dynamics of unstable variables, hidden in series of simple amaranthine boxes.

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narrative

contrast in volume and light fleeting presence of light and people

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Silk

contextual : history

i) The area of the site is called Metaxourgeio, meaning silk mill. The silk industry had its glor y days until the 20th centur y, when it was abandoned during the urban sprawl.

Later young and creative people occupied the abandoned spaces and filled with ar t and expression of freedom in creative ways such as graffiti. ii) Due to high number of immigrants, there are invisible barriers between them and the locals, which disconnec ts Metaxourgeio and Athens.

reinterpret unique historical characteristics t o e n h a n c e t h e a r e a’s r e p u t a t i o n a n d u s e that as a tool to reconnec t and to invite.

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narrative

silk weavers ruin beneath the new acropolis museum

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Arachne

contextual : myth

Arachane was a weaver who challenged Athena, goddess of wisdom and craft into a weaving contest. She produced a work that i s f a r m o r e b e a u t i f u l t h a n A t h e n a’s . A l s o she expressed depicted ways that the gods had misled. Raged Athena turns Arachane into a spider.

I believe Arachne is a primitive example of a contemporary artist. In current days gods can be referred as the society or the system such as capitalism. The moral of the myth is not to be arrogant but her braveness should not be dismissed and it is a righteous attitude for a contemporary a r t i s t a n d D a s k a l o p o u l o s ’s p r i n c i p l e i n a r t .

“A n a r t i s t c a n s h o w t h i n g s t h a t o t h e r p e o p l e a r e t e r r i f i e d o f e x p r e s s i n g .”

- Louise Bourgeois

maybe a museum should be a shelter of expressions and i n c u b a t o r of liber ty.

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narrative

athena and arachne, 1606 antonio tempesta

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Gathering place contextual : space

In the ancient times, the most significant gathering space was the Agora; A large public space surrounded by civic buildings.

The height of the buildings, nor the compactness of the trees in Agora were enough to shade its large open area.

Therefore the open space was only occupied for special occasions and social gatherings took place underneath colonnades of stoa.

Columns allow people to circulate between them, provide shadows and allow people to rest on them. Also they give impression of being protected. Their over scaled thickness and height make a person to look really small, by this columns unite individuals into a category and introduce a different matter that is not mundane, maybe even surreal.

oversized objects providing protection from nature elements such as the sun and rain which then allow people to gather.

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narrative

the stoa of attalos, athens expo’98 por tuguese national pavilion, alvaro siza

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moirai, the three goddess and thread of fate Clotho (spinner), Lachesis (alloter) and Atropos (unturnable)

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narrative

Guided discovery and engagement personal

A museum should be a place where one can fulfill his educational urge and be inspired. i) The Moirai were the three goddesses of fate who personified the inescapable destiny of man. At the birth of a man, the Moirai spun out the thread of his future life, followed his steps and directed the consequences of his actions. The fate is not inflexible. ii) According to Alison L.Grinder Guided discover y is a guide method used by docents that the aim is to allow visitors to direct and interpret exhibitions by themselves. Here, the task of docents is to advise visitors to perceive the exhibition from diverse perspectives and to use their imaginations by just evoking v i s i t o r ’s curiosity.

can the museum it self be a silent docent?

Fa te a s a m e t a p h o r o f t h e j o u r n e y w i t h i n t h e museum, could it be flexible and experience of each visitors can vary depending on the decisions they make? Could this bring them a step closer to a true achievement.

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chichu ar t museum, tadao ando, japan labyrinthine path and direct path, path and focus

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narrative

Path

personal

i) According to a psychologist Esther Sternberg, a labyrinth can be used as method of meditation. Unlike a maze, a labyrinth has one entrance, one path and one destination. Therefore it allows one to concentrate on his path while breath in same rhythm as his steps, which slows his heart rate down. ii) After experiencing series of labyrinth like circulation spaces, one will unconsciously assume or learn that the fore coming galleries will be a labyrinth too, consist of an entrance, a path and art works.

if information of the art works are given at the entrance but the condition, space and the atmosphere that the work is exhibited is kept hidden, on the path one could imagine about the works. Also the physical engagement that one has devoted to reach the works will allow one to gain more meaningful achievement.

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par ti

The following are series of abstract ideas or photographs that have been derived from the ideology. Most of them will reappear on fore coming chapters and explained how these images have influenced the design.

evoking curiosity (top) approach to an entrance with hidden path (bottom) looking up through layers, big air pack age by chirsto and jeanne claude, berlin (right)

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narrative

35

framed sky (top) modern ruin, contemporar y ar t on the original level of athens (across)

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narrative

37

reminiscence, memor y of the existing (top) decisions, making own (bottom)

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narrative

shelter of expressions (top) simple box and clear navigation (middle) making own labyrinth (bottom)

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programme permanent collection schedule of accommodation funding

The Collection Brief

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same floor same colour The M.O.C.A.A has four floors, two below ground and two above.

Each floor is given one group of programmes. Ground level is a public floor with museum lobby, cafe, shop, and workshop. Fist floor is a private floor with residential ar tists’ studio and administration office. All the galleries are placed on the b1 floor and at the roof top.

Plant and ar t storages are located on the b2 level.

As the programmes within a floor are in same categor y, it is easier and efficiently to control the circulation, system and security.

types of galleries There are five types of galleries in M.O.C.A.A; nature, multi purpose, temporar y, permanent and in house.

Nature galleries are open air galleries that exhibits coexistence of ar t and nature. The biggest space in the museum, the Creation hall is a 1,250m 2 and 16m high empty space. The concept of the space is that the space come before ar t. The hall has its unique materiality, structure, lighting and atmosphere it is ar tists’ job to use their creativity to fill this space. A similar example is the Turbine Hall of Tate Modern. Temporar y galleries are located close to the ar t storage. They are black box galleries with no natural light, therefore these galleries can accommodate any type of ar t. The galler y at the rooftop showcases works of residential ar tists. Most impor tantly, the permanent galler y is segmented into 6 galler y spaces that exhibits permanent collections of the client D.D Collection on be half of Dimitris Dask alopoulos. This will be explained fur ther in following pages.

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brief

in house private public

nature

multi purpose

temporary

permanent

plant

marsyas, anish k apoor, tate modern, london (left) the weather project, olafur eliasson, tate modern, london (right)

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Human

ancient

Greek sculpture from 800 to 300 BC took early inspiration from Egyptian and Near Eastern monumental art, and over centuries evolved into a uniquely Greek vision of the art form. Greek artists would reach a peak of artistic excellence which captured the human form in a way never before seen. Greek sculptors were particularly concerned with proportion, poise, and the idealised per fection of the human body, h u m a n body was the main source of creativity, and their figures in stone and bronze have become some of the most recognisable pieces of art ever produced by any civilisation.

For them ar t was a big par t of their life. Ar t was involved in everything from a pottery to a temple. Greek sculptors have used combination of art and human figure to record their stories.

I t could be about mundane life, love stor y, adventure, war or even myth. Art was almost like a projection of themselves, someone to carry on living and speak of their messages.

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brief

Human

contemporary

Dimitris Daskalopoulos uses the etymological r o o t o f t h e G r e e k w o r d ‘c o l l e c t ’ m e a n i n g “ s a y i n g something with” to explain his collection principles. He only collects works of art that he feels that it has a message.

Like the ancient Greeks, D a s k a l o p o u l o s’s collections revolves around human. He believes that human and human condition is the most elemental topic of art. Setting human as the core subject of his collection he is trying to identify depictions of this reality of our world. By putting different works of art in dialogue, he is trying to create an imagery that expresses this constant tension between matters in dialogue, such as life and death, between futility and fruitfulness, and between mor tality and immor tality. In overall an image of the human struggle and its propensity towards optimism and endeavour instead of nihilism and abandon.

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Human

the four states of humanity

T h e c l i e n t ’s , D i m i t r i s D a s k a l o p o u l o s’s c o l l e c t i n g principle seems like he has inherited from his ancient ancestors. Therefore by following these, the permanent gallery will be divided into 4 galleries that each speaks about different states of humanity. The works to be exhibited will be a c o m p o s i t e o f e x i s t i n g c o l l e c t i o n o f t h e c l i e n t ’s and imagined his future collection within respect of his collection principles.

The four galleries are, Contained, Expressed, A b a n d o n e d , and L u m i n o u s . Two pair of conditions confronting each other. For these works, gallery spaces will be specifically designed to fit these works, therefore each rooms may be different.

Through contemporary art, I want people to reflect themselves, share emotions, look back on their past, get inspired and gain energy for the future or to survive. I am hoping the museum could encourage connection between local Greeks and immigrants, and between tourists and locals, by sharing common experience, redemption and hope.

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brief

47

janus fleuri 1968 bronze,gold patina 26x32x21cm

human : contained

by Louise Bourgeois 8 suspensions, 1 cell, 1 sculpture

Louise Bourgeois was a French, surrealism and feminist ar tists.

She is best known for her large scale sculptures and expressing her own experience and trauma in form of ar t. She explored a variety of themes over the course of her long career including domesticity and the family, sexuality and the body, as well as death and the unconscious.

The works to be exhibited in this galler y has been carefully selected under common themes of expression of contained

emotions

and

struggles

in life.

louise bourgeois 1991-2010 Paris, France Surrealism, Feminist art 150cm

maman 1999 steel and marble 927x892x1024cm

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brief

femme 1993 bronze 28x15x11cm

hanging janus with jacket 1968 bronze 29x52x16cm

fillette 1992 latex over plaster 60x27x20cm

arch of hysteria 1993 polished bronze 84x102x59cm fee couturiere 1963 bronze, painted 100x57x57cm

the couple 2009 cast,aluminum 155x76x66cm legs 2001 fabric 193x86x57cm

single 1 1996 fabric 213x132x41cm

cell xxvi 2003 steel,fabric, aluminum, stainless steel and wood 253x434x305cm

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maman, guggenheim museum, bilbao, spain

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brief

51

human : expressed

by Ron Mueck 10 sculptures

Ron Mueck is an Australian hyperrealist sculptor, he is renown for making hyper-realistic sculptures that looked per fect from all angles. As well as never making a real sized model in some works he uses his own hair, such as the Dead Dad,1997. I though this kind of attitude is in line with the self projections of Greek sculptors. His works have represented humans physical condition so realistically, that the hidden emotions of the ar tists intended or the models had, has been expressed subtly, yet leave a deep impression.

The works to be exhibited in this galler y has been carefully selected so that the 10 pieces can be divided into 5 pairs in dialogue , expressing the opposite emotions, worries or conditions that could trigger people’s imaginations and allow them to share emotions with works. The works are in var ying scales and age of the models, these represent that ever yone’s emotion, worries and struggles hidden inside , cannot be judged by their physical conditions.

ron mueck 1958 Melbourne, Australia Hyperrealist 180cm

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brief

a girl 2006 mixed media 111x135x501cm

big man 2000 mixed media 206x117x208 cm

in bed 2005 mixed media 162x395x650cm

spooning couple 2005 mixed media 69x62x83 cm

dead dad 1997 mixed media 20x38x102 cm

mask i 1997 mixed media 158x153x124 cm

mask ii 2002 mixed media 77x85x118 cm

old woman in bed 2000 mixed media 24x56x95 cm

boy 1997 mixed media 490x240x490 cm

couple under an umbrella 2013 mixed media 300x400x500 cm

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couple under an umbrella, moma, rio, brazil

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where it is

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human : abandoned

by Jannis Kounellis 5 sculptures

Jannis Kounellis is one of the most renown contemporar y Greek ar tists. His work was characterised by the juxtaposition of objects, materials and actions that were both physically and culturally antithetical to one another. Through his works he tr y to speak of mass urban and industrial civilisation, while stressing the fragmentation of modern society.

The works to be exhibited in this galler y are the Por talakis series, where same dimension of steel plates are juxtaposed with other materials, and addition of a 36m long installation. These works resembles of the long abandonment Metaxourgeio had caused by urban sprawl and the mass left behind. However they display optimism by showing how these individual industrial mass could form something when they work together as a piece.

untitled 1994 steel, jute sacks and coal 280x380x380cm jannis kounellis 1936Piraeus, Greece Arte Povera 165cm

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brief

untitled 2013 steel and coal 200x180x107cm

untitled 2013 steel and coal 200x180x107cm

untitled 2013 steel and coal 200x180x107cm

all or nothing at all 2013 steel, coal, stones, and sewing machines 200x540x200cm

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58

where it is

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human : luminous by various ar tists 1 installation, 5 sculptures

These works already have been exhibited as a collection ‘ The Luminous Inter vals’ in the New York Guggenheim museum,2011.

The works to be exhibited in this galler y are 6 works of ar t carefully chosen from the previous collection that represents luminous future by reusing and reinterpreting e veryday

objects

into a piece of ar t.

tomato head paul mccarthy 1994 mixed media 213x140x112cm

dimitris daskalopoulos 1957Athens, Greece Businessman, art collector 180cm

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brief

palms john bock 2007 video,car, mixed media 150x1000x1000cm

fountain marcel duchamp 1997 mixed media 94x64x92cm

pumpkin yayoi kusama 2014 bronze 187x182x182cm

pauline bunny sarah lucas 1997 mixed media 94x64x92cm

michael jackson paul mccarthy 2001 silicon 231x245x132cm

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tomato head, guggenheim museum, bilbao, spain pumpkin, naoshima, japan

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brief

63

schedule of accommodation

programme

area (m2)

No.

total area (m2) storage / art delivery

subterranean galleries human : contained human : expressed human : abandoned human : luminous preview gallery void gallery temporary gallery creation hall nature gallery control room cloak room toilet

170 590 256 280 135 220 190 1250 95 15 40 60

1 1 1 1 1 1 2 1 2 1 1 n/a

170 590 256 280 135 220 380 1250 190 15 40 60 3,586

administration office (14 seats) director’s office meeting room staff room kitchen staff toilet (d) storage

100 12 25 30 5 5 15

1 4 1 1 1 4 1

80 48 25 30 5 20 15 223

30 90 30 5 5 7 50 18

2 1 1 1 1 2 1 n/a

60 90 30 5 5 14 50 18 272

5 1 n/a 1

150 6 14 20 190

100 120 77 50 90 90

1 3 1 2 1 1

100 360 77 100 90 90 817

250 80 140 55 260 20 30

1 1 1 1 1 2 n/a

250 80 140 55 260 40 30 855

200 20 13 7

1 1 2 2

200 20 26 14 260

450 400 1500

2 n/a 1

900 400 1500 2,800

welcome centre entrance hall museum shop museum cafe cafe’s kitchen display nave public toilet toilet

roof top gallery bar toilet storage

workshop enclosed workshop open workshop walk-in storage small storage reception triple sink area storage toilet

temporary storage permanent storage craft storage permanent gallery’s registration area holding area

residential artist studio private studio (various sizes) large sink area toilet common room

30 6 14 20

others thermal labyrinth plant rooms circulation (20%)

total floor area

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brief

7,503m2

cost According to the Ar t Council England’s ‘Ar ts, Museums and New Development ’s Standard Charge Approach Guide’ estimated construction cost can be differentiated into three types.

Type I : Galleries, £3,400 per sqm Type II : Multi use venues or theaters, £3,700 per sqm Type III : education space, £2,280 The welcome centre will require high level of costing, which can be estimated at £3,500.

High standard office fit out estimated costs at £1,800 per sqm will be used for administration space .

The creation hall, plant rooms and storages will be ver y basic therefore estimated costing is £1000 per sqm

method : {area x1.2(circulation)} x cost per sqm galleries : (2536 x 1.2) x 3400 = £10.3m workshop,studios : (462 x 1.2) x 2280 = £1.3m welcome centre : (855 x 1.2) x 3500 = £3.6m admin : (223 x 1.2) x 1800 = £0.5m creation hall, plant,storage = (3367 x 1.2) x 1000 = £4m Total construction cost : £19.7m

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funding and clients

site and metaxourgeio

building the museum

- Site purchase - Demolition - Landscaping of Koumoundourou sq and Avdi sq

- Construction cost - The Museum landscaping

The site is partly owned by the Municipality of Athens (13 story concrete structure building) and also by private owners. The proposal foresees the Municipality of Athens acquiring ownership of the whole site and then establishing a joint agreement with the D.D Collection and NEON in the hope that it will generate activity related to culture and art, and revenue for Metaxourgeio. The Municipality of Athens has a vision that the project will become a significant tourist destination and a landmark to reinforce modern tourism industry.

Also there is a Municipality Art Gallery in Avdi square, which is owned by the Municipality of Athens.

The average land price per sqm of areas around the site is £613, therefore the estimated site price is £3.6m.

Estimated demolition cost per sqm is £70 (LMI Group), and estimated existing building’s total floor area is 26,200m2, therefore the demolition cost will be £1.8m.

The construction cost (£19.7m) and site landscaping cost (£3m) will be provided by the D.D Collection (70%) and the NEON (30%).

The D.D Collection will provide more investment as larger area of the museum is to store art collection of D.D Collection.

NEON is a non profit organisation and they will receive investment from the European Council. In August of 2015, the European Commission signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Greece following approval by the ESM Board of Governors for further stability support accompanied by a third economic adjustment programme. Investment of €86 billion will be financial assisted to Greece over three years (20152018)

D.D COLLEC TION : £15.9m NEON : £6.8m

Estimated landscaping cost for the two squares are £8.4m.

M U N I C I PA L I T Y O F AT H E N S : £ 1 3 . 8 m

D.D Collection £25.1m

filling the museum - Art collecting Currently D.D Collection has posses of all the art works that will be displayed in the Human : Luminous gallery, such as the Tomato Head,1994

by Paul McCarthy. From the other galleries D.D Collection has Fillette,1992

by Louise Bourgeois and all the sculptures in Human : Abandoned gallery

by Jannis Kounellis.

D.D Collection is planning to vastly increase their collection specifically with the works related to human and human struggle in their life. Therefore they are planning to increase their collection of Louise Bourgeois and purchase large collections of work of Ron Mueck.

Municipality of Athens £13.8m

The Greek Ministry of Tourism will purchase the Maman,1999 by Louise Bourgeois as they strongly believe that this piece of work it self can be a huge tourist attraction. Also Maman, the spider really suit well the with the Greek myth of Arachane and Athena.

Estimated purchase value of the art works are as follow.

Louise Bourgeois : 8 suspensions (average £30,000 each), 1 cell (£100,000) , and Maman,1999 (£10m).

Total : £3.3m

M i n i s t r y o f To u r i s m £10m

Ron Mueck : 10 sculptures (average £800,000 each) Total : £8m MINISTRY OF TOURISM : £10m D.D COLLEC TION : £9.2m NEON £6.8m

66

brief

the team Due to the juxtaposing nature of the brief a wide range of consultants will be required. Besides the normal consultants such as architect, structural, CDM, building services, planning, quantity surveyor, an environmental and landscape consultant will aid with the brief specific aspiration for the masterplan’s green link and redevelopment of the two squares. Also due to contextual regulation of Athens, an archaeological surveyor and excavation consultants will be added to the team.

Dealing with the specific topic of contemporary art, museum and gallery consultants, and contemporary art exhibition coordinator will form part of the team. Also considering the galleries’ lighting is very important, therefore a lighting consultant will also be added as the part of the team.

Architect Structural Consultant CDM Building Services Planning Quantity Surveyor Environmental Ecology Landscape Archaeological Surveyor Excavation Consultants Museum & Gallery Consultants Contemporary Art Coordinator Lighting Consultants

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introduction layout future plan zoning

Thread of art and nature Mocca masterplan

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70

where it is

over view The master plan, ‘ Thread of Ar t and Nature’ is a small scale masterplan that is developed as par t of the M.O.C.A.A project. In context with the ‘Planting the Seed for Future Athens’ masterplan, ‘ Thread of Ar t and Nature’ masterplan is par t of the seventh green link which is 500m long. M.O.C.A.A as the core the two squares, Avdi square (top) and Koumoundourou square(bottom) are linked through ar t and nature.

new municipal ar t gallery

avdi square

These two squares have an interesting relationship. Athens Municipal Ar t galler y was originally in the neoclassical building in Koumoundourou square, however in 2013 as the galler y has expand its collection they moved to the silk mill that was built in 1834 located in the Avdi square. Therefore currently except the church (bottom right) in Koumoundourou square, other buildings are vacant.

site nature

old municipal ar t gallery art

koumoundourou square

nature

art

nature

71

B

A

72

A

m.o.c.a.a masterplan

B

N

site plan

1:2000

layout new cinema

por trait gallery and ar t square

Regarding to uses and status of existing buildings and buildings currently under construction, the Avdi square is proposed to be developed into a cultural square with enter tainment and leisure facilities such as the new cinema, the Athens Municipal galler y which has a rich collection of por trait paintings and newly developed galler y garden. On the South side of the Avdi square, the exiting restaurant will provide more pleasant dinning experience with orange groves planted in front of the restaurant and trendy bars and other cultural restaurants around the groves.

The Koumoundourou square will be divided into two zones, nor th and south. On the Nor th, the old municipal ar t galler y in Koumoundourou square will be conver ted into a photography galler y with a cafe with sculpture park. The south sides will be used as front garden of the Islamic ar t Museum with newly decorated Islamic floor patterns and plantings.

restaurants and orange groves

linear park

photography gallery

islamic ar t museum

buildings involved in the mini masterplan new trees to be planted

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for other buildings The existing buildings on the site blocked daylight and views of buildings around, especially the buildings behind (on the nor th side). This unfor tunate should not be repeated. This is one of the reason why majority of M.O.C.A.A is buried below the ground level.

Through the redevelopment of the two squares it is not only the ground floor of neighbour buildings that benefit. The higher floors will get a pleasant views of trees, public spaces and the sculpture park. Also some buildings will even get view of the Acropolis.

What this means is that with the success of the masterplan, value of the surrounding buildings could increase significantly like the High line project in New York. This could lead to successfully obtaining investments to refurbishiment or new build projects to replace existing derelict buildings. In future Metaxourgeio could become a micro scale version of the Central Park, New York.

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m.o.c.a.a masterplan

new hotels

redevelop the china town into a residential area

refurbish existing hotel

site section A

1:2000

the high line, new york (left) the central park, new york (right)

size of ‘thread of ar t and nature’ masterplan

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islamic ar t museum

-islamic floor tiles -fig trees and fruit trees to densify existing tall trees -revitalise dried out water channel and seatings around them

koumoundourou square sculpture park mocaa from pireus road linear park

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m.o.c.a.a masterplan

photography gallery sculpture park

-a very large elm tree just like the tree in the omonia square proposal

and

- linear park with tipuana tipu and ceratonia siliqua trees with recreational activities

M.O.C.A.A

- por trait gallery and cinema

- Jacaranda trees and bougainvillea vines - active frontage on the ground floor such as cafe

- existing three stories as the core, more themed restaurants and bars developed with existing derelict buildings.

- orange groves

- gallery garden and enter tainment square between the gallery and the cinema - a large elm tree

site section B

1:2000

flavoured zones : flow of ar t and trees Like the OMA’s Park de la Viette concept image (right) the master plan is a series of zones with different activities and landscape. The coherent theme of these zones are; enhancement of the existing, planting more tree and most impor tantly flow of ar t. The flow of ar t star ting from the Islamic ar t museum to photography galler y, M.O.C.A.A and the Municipal ar t galler y. It is recommended as a day long leisure and cultural activity. Tourist can exhibit all sor t of different ar t in different spaces and pleasantly travel between under trees while enjoying local food and drinks.

view of mocaa from the cafe street oma’s park de la viette concept image

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overall proposal through floors, ground floor subterranean floor first floor second floor rooftop floor

M.O.C.A.A Proposal

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80

where it is the void gallery and maman

“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers t o b e s h a c k l e s l i m i t i n g o u r v i s i o n .�

- Salvador Dali

metaxi plateia the creation hall

the museum building

the journey through proposal The proposal will be presented by floors, in the order of how a visitor will travel through the museum. The order of the journey is, Metaxi Plateia to entrance floor then down to subterranean galler y level. From there then rise up to first floor and then up to the rooftop where the journey ends.

83

N 0

84

proposal

4

20

metaxi plateia In Athens there are a lot of large public squares, however due to the heat from the sun of Mediterranean climate, lack of shading provided in these spaces has been lead to lack of people and activities. Instead of squares people have occupied narrow streets which are fully shaded.

M.O.C.A.A’s two buildings; the Creation hall and the Museum building are connected with the Silk roof, a large thin catenar y concrete roof. The space underneath the roof is the Metaxi Plateia, meaning Silk Square in Greek. The form of the roof and the name has been derived from the area’s silk industr y in the past and the name of the area(Metaxourgeio means silk mill in Greek).

Metaxi Plateia is well protected from the sun by the silk roof, therefore it is a pleasant gathering place with exposure of contemporar y ar t. The square will also be used as a waiting are for the museum and ar t flea market. Flea markets are one of impor tant Athenian culture and especially loved by tourist.

view of the museum square on art flea market day from the linear park

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entrance floor plan

+0m

1:300

E

19

F

spaces 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

security line entrance lobby reception shop cafe kitchen light well workshop assembly area mu l t i p u r p o s e wo rk s h o p (open) e n c l o s e d w o r k s h o p (flexible size) storage plant room mu s e u m to i l e t (m) mu s e u m to i l e t (f ) p u b l i c to i l e t (m) p u b l i c to i l e t (f ) p ri va te to i l e t (d) quick access sinks holding area a

accesses A. B. C. D. E. F.

main entrance subterranean gallery entrance admin entrance artist entrance art entrance creation hall fire exit

landscape i. ii. iii. i v.

metaxi garden garden gabion

ii p l a t e i a (art flea market) o f c re a t i o n (tipuana tipu o f l i g h t (ceratonia siliqua wa l l (benches)

trees) trees)

F

86

proposal

20

6

C

11

7

7

5

4

12

13

14

B

15

3

b

A

7

1

2

16

B iii

11

18

c

12 8

9

i 7 10

7 10 iv

17

11

18 D

N 0

2

4

10

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a) entrance of the museum

89

A

B

A

museum building west and east elevations, 1:300 (left) concept sketches of shelter and curiosity (top right) c channel glass (bottom right) 90

proposal

B

the box of curiosity Elevations of the museum are kept ver y simple and plain for several reasons. i) Respecting the client ’s collecting principle of ‘pure strand’, the museum expresses same ideas in terms of architecture. The decorational elements are kept to minimum to allow focus to be on ar t works and spatial contrasts. ii) Entrance of a museum should be ver y obvious. Due to this reason on the front facades of the museum (facades facing Metaxi plateia) there is only one opening, which is the entrance. iii) Evoking curiosity and expressing image of a shelter (of expressions) were concepts that has been place in this project right from the star t. Out of eight facades of the museum, three are C-channel glass facade and five are plain concrete facade. The opaque C-channel glass facade will give silhouette of the interior. Especially I imagine at the Creation hall, where it will mostly hosting extremely large installations, the facade will give silhouette of the work inside that will look like a monster or a giant.

The plain external concrete facades will either have just one opening or none. This simplicity is continued through out the whole building. This is different way of evoking curiosity from the C-channel glass facades. With singular opening, it is clear where one should direct themselves, on the way to the opening one will perceive sound and smell coming beyond the wall, and temperature when one touches the wall. The walk to the opening could be shor t, maybe a minute or even ten seconds long. However I believe it is long enough for one to imagine what is beyond the wall and get exited.

91

b) entrance of the museum (left) the curiosity concept is inspired from shoji screens (right) 92

proposal

93

The two main public spaces of the ground floor, cafe and ar t workshop are kept open plan to give much freedom as possible. At the workshop dividing of spaces are controlled with white silk cur tains. The translucent characteristic of the cur tain plays the same role of evoking curiosity that C-Channel glass facade does.

c) view down the south nave of the museum building that displays residential ar tists’ or students’ works (right) 94

proposal

95

subterranean gallery plan

-8m

1:300

spaces

10 18

1.

2.

3.

4.

creation hall void gallery

5.

human : contained gallery

-maman

19

human : luminous gallery

7.

human : lost gallery

20

(various artists)

(jannis kounellis) - untitled 1994 all or nothing at all untitled 2013 untitled 2013

human : expressed

9.

human : expressed

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

registration area multipurpose storage s t o r a g e I (temporary) s to ra g e I I (permanent) cloak room storage control room p l a n t ro o m (ventilation) p l a n t ro o m (labyrinth) staff room to i l e t (p) to i l e t (d) to i l e t (m) to i l e t (f )

1

B

- tomato head michael jackson pauline bunny palms

8.

(louise bourgeois)

- legs arch of hysteria feme fillette hanging janus with jacket single I the couple fee couturiere cell xxvi

6.

i

- untitled fountain janus fleuri spooning couple

11

temporary gallery p r o p y l a e a (preview gallery)

1

(ron mueck) - a girl couple under an umbrella mask I dead dad old woman in bed (ron mueck)

- mask II boy in bed big man

(mainly creation hall)

21 B

21

18 C 22

ii

23

accesses A. B. C. D.

permanent gallery entrance fire exit access to thermal labyrinth pivoting emergency stairs

landscape i.

nature gallery

(wind)

ii. nature gallery iii. trench gallery

(earth)

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proposal

- pumpkin

(light)

18

12

13 6

7

8 D

14 17 16

A

21

4

B

21

21

5

2

15

17

B

iii D

8 3

9

3

N 0

2

4

10

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modern ruin Following the initial concept of the modern ruin, all the ar t works are place on the subterranean level (-8m) which is the level of the found spaces after demolition and excavation of the existing buildings. There are numerous ruins spread across the city, however due to preser vation and safety issues, a lot of them are inaccessible. Therefore unlike these ruins, what the subterranean galleries offer are dynamic of descending to underground to experience ar t works and spaces through touching and feeling as well as visually.

98

proposal

photo of 1:500 model showing subterranean galleries (top) ruin of the new acropolis museum (bottom) 99

reminiscence It should not just be the glorified things that should be remembered. Whether it was a mistake or the end result was not successful it is still par t of the histor y. Even though existing buildings are demolished, they are wor thy to be remembered. This one of the concept that has been kept from the star t of the project. I cannot give clear explanation, but I just felt like it has to.

The memor y is expressed through the galler y spaces. The galler y spaces are divided into three big par ts following the existing massing. The creation hall on the left follows the existing big concrete building, segmented permanent galleries on the right, and temporar y galleries in between as I understand temporar y exhibitions as ‘passing exhibitions’ or ‘fleeting exhibitions’ and the space above the temporar y galler y space before and after the development M.O.C.A.A is a passage.

100

proposal

creation hall, temporar y galler y, permanent galler y (from left)

101

a

creation hall

direct access crate storage

to

fire exit

c

wind gallery

natural light

b

fire exit

the creation hall

light gallery

The Creation hall is a big empty space that follows the idea of ‘space before ar t ’. It is a space that allows ar tists’ to express their imagination and creativity to inspire others.

The hall is ver y well-lit with natural light. Natural light enters from the west, east side and at the roof light box at the top covered with opaque c-channel glass except the top of the light box where clear glass is used. Unlike other galler y spaces the use of clear glass at the ver y top is to allow permitted light to cast shadows when they are filtered by 49 thin concrete brise soleil running in same rhythm with the 9 concrete ribs. The constantly moving shadows will introduce fleeting presence to ar t works, which do not move (unless kinetic ar t) and allow ar t works to be perceived in multiple light conditions.

nature galleries The sequence of ar t-nature -ar t of the ‘ Tread of Ar t and Nature’ masterplan flows in the museum too. These two nature galleries are external cour tyard respecting two different natural elements; lights and wind. Light is revealed through trees, and wind is revealed through pool of water. These spaces tr y to sharpen and free visitors’ ability to perceive by telling them to seek for the presence of light and wind which are formless. This is like a training exercise to help visitors to understand the hidden meanings of the ar t works better.

As well as ar tistic purpose these two spaces have functional uses of fire exit and direct access to the plant floor below.

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104

where it is

a) creation hall (left) b) looking down at the light galler y (top right) c) wind galler y and pumpkin(bottom right)

105

106

proposal

labyrinth beyond the wall The idea of labyrinth like circulation and how they are hidden at the entrance has been developed through galler y spaces too. At the entrance, information of the exhibition is given, then it is one’s decision to decide whether to go in or not. This is a frequent pattern repeated in tales of the Greek myth. Characters in myths were told about their future but those fates can be changed by one’s action. It could be a really shor t period of time, but the split second of emotion that one could unconsciously feel, such as curious, fear, ner vous when they see the dark spiting path behind the entrance and the decision they have to make to whether to turn right or left is the key experience of these galler y spaces.

The star t of these spaces could bring uncomfor tableness or even stress as the circulation could be read as a maze than a labyrinth. However after experiencing couple of these spaces, visitors will learn that what ever decisions they make the walls will lead them to a right direction and the goal. This is when these spaces become labyrinth and gain trust of the visitors. I think these kind of spaces are interesting and exiting.

Not ever yone is interested to ar t, therefore to promote ar t to ever yone, museum should attract people and allow them to be engaged despite their interest or knowledge in ar t.

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temporar y galler y The two twin temporar y galleries are the only galleries with no natural light. They are black box galleries to provide flexible condition to host any types of ar t. As well as lighting, spatial arrangements are flexible too. Four large white panels are hung from the rails attached to the coffered ceiling.

According to the ‘Manual of Museum Exhibitions’ by Barr y Lord, ideally galler y spaces should not be located by exterior walls, ‘a wall within a wall’ system of building secondar y wall is recommended.

In M.O.C.A.A ser vice walls provided in all the galler y spaces per form as secondar y walls.

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proposal

109

the void galler y, maman The Void galler y is the most iconic space of the M.O.C.A.A. It is a open air cylindrical concrete space with a shallow reflective pool at the centre. The opening of galler y is the big hole at the Metaxi Plateia. The dimension of the galler y (inner circle) is the same dimension as the hole of the Silk roof.

Light will penetrate through layers of circular holes and finally reflected off the pool underneath the Maman, the big spider. Following the idea of ‘perceiving work of ar t from multiple perspectives and conditions’ the pool reveals the underside of the spider and also brighten up the areas where the lights from the top would not be able to brighten up.

It does not rain often in Athens, however when I was there I have experience couple of quick showers. The quick showers were pleasant as they provided coolth. Especially the rain falling from clear sky was dramatic. I want to provide an enhanced version of this experience to visitors. A ver y sensual and contrasting experience that natural elements can give.

Rain falling from framed sky, var ying sound that rain drops make when they hit different par t and different medium of materials within the galler y, the smell of steel and concrete that rain drops bring, and the coolth they give.

110

proposal

111

propylaea galler y, preview Propylaea is a gateway building in Greek architecture. It is most well known for the gateway building of the Acropolis (plan on the right). Due to the high position the building is placed, the Acropolis beyond the gateway building is hidden while climbing up the stairs of the Propylaea. The exit of the building is placed where ever y single building of the Acropolis can be seen.

Like the Propylaea of Acropolis, the Propylaea of the permanent galler y has one entrance where journey ahead is hidden behind a wall. Beyond the wall in the galler y there are four sculpture. Each ar t works are from different group of permanent collection galleries. These works are placed on respective direction of where the galleries that these ar t works represent are located. Therefore one could look at these works and head out to the exit that attracts more.

Human : contained galler y, Louise Bourgeois This galler y is dedicated to hanging sculptures of the ar tist Louise Bourgeois and her installation work, Cell XXVI. The hanging works var y in size, but they are ver y small to compared to works in neighbour galleries. Therefore it is impor tant to look at them from a closer distance. The Cell XXVI, is a composition of a hanging work and a mirror in a steel cage with timber floor. I thought ar tist ’s intention was too allow viewers to look at themselves and think when they look into the mirror to see the work.

For the two reasons above, the galler y ’s path is narrow so viewers are forced to look at the ar t works from a close distance, and the room where the Cell XXVI is located does not have any other light source except the day light falling directly above the mirror from the light well.

112

proposal

1

2

113

iconic work

Human : expressed / luminous galler y Due to the symmetrical plan of the permanent galleries, the Human: expressed galler y is identical to the Human: Luminous galler y.

These two galleries have the key/iconic work of each of the galler y at the centre, below the roof light.

114

proposal

preview space

trench gallery

movable wall

main space

Human : expressed / abandoned These two galleries are the most naturally well-lit permanent galleries. Each has a light box on top of them and also has a large glazed facade where diffused light and reflected light off the white gabion floor of the trench galler y enters.

The entrance of these galleries face straight to a preview space where a work of each galler y is placed on a narrow corridor. So the visitors know which galler y it is before they enter. Also the chosen preview works are large, and they are placed in front of the doors of the ser vice walls to hide them.

Pass the entrance, each galler y has a movable wall where information of the ar tist is written on.

These wall can be moved when larger entrance is required to transfer big ar t works.

115

116

where it is

117

private floor plan

+4m

1:300

C

spaces 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

pause space office reception o f f i ce (14p) d i re c to r ’s o f f i ce meeting room staff room storage private toilet (d) re s i d e n t i a l a r t i s t ’s s t u d i o

accesses A. B. C. D.

office entrance studio entrance access to the roof private access / fire exit

landscape i.

118

proposal

the silk roof

8 D

5

4

4

4

4 3

2 7 A

6

1

C

8 C

6

1

B

9

9

9

9

9

9 D

i

N 0

2

4

10

119

shelter of expressions At nor th and south ends of the museum building there is triple floor high light wells. This wells provide daylight and fresh air. These light wells allow to maintain plain external facade minimal with no openings except the main entrance. There could be issue with privacy, however the environment I imagined is a shelter of expressions. They are all sheltered from the external environment, therefore within the building they share their ideas, communicated and inspire each other to achieve same goal; expressing their thoughts in the medium of contemporar y ar t and promoting it.

120

proposal

121

pausing space The first floor is a private floor where administration office and residential ar tist ’s studios are located. They each have a private entrance and a public entrance that is located by the public stairs that connects ground floor to the rooftop. To control and avoid confusion with private and public spaces, a pausing space is a buffer zone is placed in front of the entrance.

The focus of this space is the C-Channel glass facade. The facade transmits daylight and silhouette of the trees outside. In this space I wanted to express the thickness of the column to use it as a datum to remind people where they are. To express this effect the floor slabs stops before touching the column. I thought placing a handrail here could kill the beauty of the space, so instead a glass floor is place beyond the slab but 100mm stepped down than the floor level, so it is not visible but provides safety.

Ar tists can use this space as a open studio space where they can draw on walls, make or display their works freely. Visitors cannot access to ar tists’ private studios but through this space they can get similar experience of going into one before they go up to the rooftop galler y where ar tists’ works are exhibited. This allow visitors to experience the process and final product of ar t works.

122

proposal

glass floor

pausing space

123

rooftop floor plan

+8m

1:300

spaces 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

residential artists’ showroom bar storage to i l e t (f ) to i l e t (m)

accesses A.

maintenance access to the roof

landscape i. ii. iii. i v.

green roof garden white gabion garden concrete anchorage shrubs border with concrete seatings i

124

proposal

3

A

3 5

3

4

2

ii

iii

iv

a

1

3

b

N 0

2

4

10

125

a) view of the silk roof and the creation hall from the rooftop galler y

127

b) view of the acropolis from rooftop garden

concrete roof overhangs (1.5m) to protect galler y spaces from solar gain during summer time but allows daylight in during winter time.

acropolis, mt lycabettus

border of shrubs place to soften harsh visual boundar y created by concrete by allowing people’s perspective to move softly from the white gravel, shrubs, trees and finally to the Acropolis.

end of the journey. way finding There are two main landmarks in Athens; the Acropolis and the Mount Lycabettus (above). These both can be seen from most of places in Athens, this is because the city is very flat except the hills and mountains. Also due to earthquake and the age of buildings, the city skyline is relatively constant. The locals and tourists orientate themselves and get sense of direction by using these landmarks.

Compared to relatively enclosed spaces of M.O.C.A.A, rooftop spaces are very open and provided with fantastic views. The rooftop is the final destination of the journey and a place where people orientate themselves with context of the city through the reconnection with the two landmarks. It is a place where visitors can reminisce their journey and plan their journey ahead.

129

landscape metaxi plateia the two gardens

Place for people Public realm

131

landscape design

promoting contemporar y ar t The landscape echoes agenda of the building. The key ideas that the landscape follows are the modern ruin, reinvention of historical characteristics and the way of promoting contemporar y ar t.

M.O.C.A.A promotes contemporar y ar t in two stages, attracting and engagement. Attracting people initially by showing par ts or preview of ar t works to evoke their curiosity. Hopefully this would lead them to be engaged to explore fur ther.

Key aspects of designing public realms in this project are how they provide shading, how they attract people and how they are used. The public realms are divided into three types, gathering place, passing place and resting place.

The paving developed for the masterplan is coherently used in all the public realm spaces except the Metaxi Plateia where concrete floor with expansion joint place ever y 5m is placed.

ar t deliver y route

cafe street shading : jacaranda trees and bougainvillea vines attraction : cafes, shops, seasonal attraction

tipuana tipu trees ceratonia siliqua trees jacaranda trees bougainvillea vines existing trees

b

a

garden of light shading : ceratonia siliqua trees attraction : seatings, light boxes, trench galler y

garden of creation shading : tipuana tipu trees attraction : sculptures, creation hall metaxi plateia shading : silk roof attraction : silk roof, the void, flea market

linear park shading : tipuana tipu trees, ceratonia siliqua trees attraction : seatings, recreational activities

132

public realm

sculpture park shading : various types of trees including elm trees attraction : photography galler y, cafe, tourist information centre, sculptures

tipuana tipu trees, ceratonia siliqua trees, jacaranda trees, bougainvillea vines and paving developed for the masterplan

133

a) view of m.o.c.a.a from the cafe street, jacaranda trees and bougainvillea vines (top) b) view of m.o.c.a.a from the piraeus road linear park, tipuana tipu trees, ceratonia siliqua trees (right)

134

public realm

135

metaxi plateia

public realm, gathering place Metaxi Plateia a large public gathering place between the two buildings of the M.O.C.A.A. It is ver y well shaded by the Silk roof. The main attractions of the square are the axis mundi that connects the sky and the underground galler y through the voids and the giant spider sculpture with its top protruding of the void, Maman.

As the intention was to keep the square as a ver y flexible open square, placing furnitures are avoided. Instead of typical benches, the three steps around the void function like amphitheater seatings which is what many of ancient Greek public spaces had. Another main reason for such descend is to hide the balustrade as much as possible to keep the simple and dramatic appearance of the void. The steps descend down 600mm (its the maximum descend allowed without any handrails) therefore only 500mm of the 1,100mm glass balustrade are above the ground level.

looking down the creation hall

the void / maman

events posters

c b

a

metaxi plateia at 2:00pm

passing looking / resting gathering / visiting vendor

136

public realm

an ancient greek amphitheater with its main focus at the centre of the circle, this is the same at the metaxi plateia. The focus is the void. theatre of dionysus by the acropolis

a) sketch of metaxi plateia on a flea market day (top) b) elevation of the museum entrance facade (mid) c) view of the void and museum entrance (bot)

137

the two gardens : creation and light public realm, passing and resting place

One of the most unique thing about Athens is the constant exposure of ruins. It is all over the city and because of this, looking down for something special almost become a collective subconscious habit of the people in the city. This is where the concept ‘Modern Ruin’ has been derived from.

The two gardens of the museum, Garden of Creation and Garden of Light is the best example representing this concept. These gardens are located by branches of the linear park, therefore these spaces are passing and resting places than a gathering place. Both gardens offers view of subterranean galleries. The Garden of Creation offers open view of the nature galleries and the Garden of light provides view of the trench galler y.

The Garden of Creation(below) provides shading with tipuana tipu trees and presents students’ (In most of cases it will be works of local children) works from the museum workshop at the ground level and view of natural galleries with residential ar tists’ works.

nature galler y (wind)

students’ works from museum workshop

looking down exercise a ruin by adrianou street

nature galler y (light)

passing looking / resting gathering / visiting vendor 138

public realm

139

The Garden of Light provides shading under ceratonia siliqua trees and exhibits selected local street ar tists’ work on the wall of the light boxes (the works will be changed ever y two months), as street ar t is what made Metaxourgeio famous in the recent days. The garden also provides gabion wall seatings. Here people can look down at the trench galler y, but unlike the garden of creation, main aim of this garden is to rest. A place where people could quickly grab a cup of iced mocha from the cafes nearby and take a seat. If Metaxi Plateia encouraged gathering of larger groups, this place is more for individuals or for couples.

gabion wall (seating)

light box (ar t wall)

trench galler y

lgiht well (seating)

light box (art wall)

ruin used as a meeting point/ wayfinding than an attraction

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structural strategy construction sequence materiality details

Making Te c t o n i c

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over view Although the M.O.C.A.A is a building with complex programmes and spatial arrangement, the primar y structure strategy for the building is relatively straightfor ward, due to its simple and symmetrical layout. The M.O.C.A.A’s two buildings, the Creation hall and the Museum building are both structured with 9 concrete ribs that holds up the building and the Silk roof.

To create contrast in concrete structures and also to avoid having columns in galler y spaces, two types of coffered slabs are used. 1000mm deep coffered slabs for galleries’ ceiling and holedeck floor slabs for other spaces.

The museum is designed from 3000 x 3000mm grid to tr y to spread 150mm thick concrete load bearing walls evenly as possible.

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tectonic

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steel reinforcement bars, d=25mm

precast rc ring beam with steel frame, t=100mm

vsl anchor joint

steel cable, d=50mm

rc slabs, t=280mm

concrete ribs, t=600mm

shear wall, t=600mm

the silk roof, t=200mm

the silk roof The primar y structure of the museum is symmetrical. There are 18 concrete ribs and they are holding up the catenar y roof and the museum. The ribs follow the cur ve of the roof. The 280mm thick reinforced concrete slabs provides connections between the ribs and to the shear walls.

Ribs hold up the ver tical load of the roof and the shear walls provides force against the turning moment created by the roof to stop the ribs collapsing towards it.

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construction sequence over view i) Demolition of the existing buildings ii) Build concrete retaining walls (Reuse existing retaining wall where ever possible) followed by tanking. iii) Reinforced concrete raft foundations placed, followed by erection of the thermal labyrinth and poured in situ concrete floor. iii) Precast reinforced concrete coffered slabs placed and walls on the Museum building. iv) Erection of the in situ reinforced concrete ribs (creation hall first). During this process precisely cast steel framed concrete ring for the Silk roof in a controlled environment (precast). v) Hung steel cables to concrete ribs on each side. Steel cables are anchored with VSL joints at the top of each ribs. During this process erect scaffolding for the Silk roof. vi) Place reinforcement steel bars in the direction of the roof, perpendicularly and diagonally. Then weld the precast steel framed concrete ring to the cable with the central cable (the 5th cable). vii) Spay cast concrete roof while progressing with external wall constructions and fitting of the C-Channel glass facades. viii) Glazing, building ser vices and internal fit out followed by planting tress on the two gardens on west and east side of the building. ix) Hard and soft landscaping followed by assembly of the ar t works in permanent galleries.

seal with concrete after tensioning

v) VSL anchor joint 1:20 vii) concrete sprayed on precast concrete ring 1:20

precast reinforced concrete ring with steel frame welded on site

spray concrete, t=200mm 5th cable, d=50mm steel spacer + reinforcement smooth sur face form-work glued to the steel beam, t=20mm

steel beam with precise cur ve at the top

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primar y materials : c-channel glass, concrete The principle of materiality of the building is based on keeping a limited palette to give the building a clear identity, minimal and monochrome look to create greater contrast with ar t works.

The intention is to make the building to look like a plain canvas.

The primar y materials are Low Iron C-Channel glass (made with raw materials containing a low iron composition and cavity filled with aerogel for increased thermal per formance resulting opaque, almost colorless, displaying a slight greenish cast, used in the Nelson Atkins Museum by Steven Holl) and in situ Por tland cement concrete with smooth finish for walls, floors and ceilings. Concrete is one of the hardest-wearing floor sur face, which is ver y suitable for galler y spaces with sculptures.

There are two colours of cement used, ordinar y grey cement and whiter cement with white pigments added. The white cement concrete is used in galler y walls to provide more canvas like background for ar t works to stand out.

Concrete look finish are used on all the ser vice doors too. This is to provide coherent and minimal look.

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tectonic

apar tment building on forsterstrasse by christian kerez, zurich nelson atkins museum by steven holl, missouri a door with concrete look finish and hidden frame

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decorative materials : gabion, silk, black frame There are no decorations in the M.O.C.A.A, the building is ver y plain, however different materials are used to create contrast or highlight some spaces. Recycled concrete caged gabion walls are on the trench galler y, leaning against the existing retaining wall. The 500 x 500mm cages will allow visitors to estimate how low they are below the ground level.

White gabion are used for the flooring of the rooftop garden and the trench galler y to brighten up the internal space with reflected light and to create a clean canvas for external sculptures.

White silk cur tains are used on the workshops and residential ar tist studios to control privacies.

The silk chosen due to its relativeness to the histor y of the area. White silk cur tains could evoke curiosity in the same way as the C- Channel glass facades.

Black gabion is used instead of white gabion for the reflective pool in the Void galler y. This is to give dark and deep appearance.

Ever y single frames of window, door and reflective pool have matt black finish to give a coherent look.

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tectonic

leeum museum by jean nouvel, seoul water galler y by itami jun, jeju r yoan-ji, kyoto apar tment building on forsterstrasse by christian kerez, zurich 155

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bendheim clarissimo c-channel glass, t=7mm benheim low iron c- channel glass, t=7mm compacted soil for intensive planting, t=150mm d ra i n a g e l a y e r, t = 4 0 m m waterproofing with root protection, t=18mm rigid thermal insulation, t=100mm vapour barrier re i n fo rce d co n c re te s l a b, t = 2 8 0 m m drainage pipe, d=90mm gravel, t=200mm cement stucco finish, t=5mm aluminum sheet, t=4 thermal insulation, t=50mm reinforced concrete downstand beam, t=150mm steel stand, t=20mm sand blasted glass, t=6mm bendheim low iron c- channel glass, t=7mm

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void galler y roof detail, 1:20 1.

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cement stucco finish, t=20mm w a t e r p ro o f i n g l a y e r, t = 5 m m rigid thermal insulation, minimum t=120mm vapour barrier seamless glass balustrade with 30x80mm black metal handrail concrete wall, t=150mm vapour barrier light pendant cable, 4690mm long suspended ceiling, t=20mm

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cement stucco finish, t=20mm thermal insulation, t=50mm concrete wall, t=150mm d o u b l e g l a ze d w i n d o w, 3 / 1 2 / 3 d o u b l e g l a ze d to p s w i n g w i n d o w, 3 / 1 2 / 3 , 4 5 o h o l e d e c k s l a b, t = 2 0 0 m m , 6 5 0 m m rc t a n k i n g b e a m keller doulbe glazed minimal windows 4 + (sliding door), 6/18/6 8. drainage, 100x170mm 9. polished concrete floor finish, t=40mm 10. rigid insulation, t=120mm 1 1 . rc co f fe re d s l a b, t = 1 0 0

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white gravel, t=25-45mm waterproofing, t=10mm thermal insulation, t=100-145mm vapour barrier drainage concrete seating

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compacted soil for intensive planting, minimum t=200mm d ra i n a g e l a y e r, t = 4 0 m m concrete wall, t=150mm cement stucco finish, t=20mm thermal insulation, t=175mm reinforced concrete slab (for ribs), t=280mm benheim low iron c- channel glass, t=7mm

view without columns

load bearing structures rc tanking beam

At the rooftop galler y the views are celebrated. Therefore keeping the view undisturbed was essential. The roof of this space is suppor ted by load bearing walls on the nor th and south side. The span between the load-bearing walls is 17m. To suppor t this, west and east side of the roof has concrete down stands (reinforced concrete tanking beam).

Also on the east side (right), 100x100mm rectangular concrete columns are place in the same rhythm as the concrete ribs. As well as providing suppor t, there are two other intentions. One is to create slight unbalanced of view from inside the galler y to suggest that the main view is the view of the Silk roof on the west side (above).

The other intention is to express constant power of ver tical structure (columns of concrete ribs and the column of the rooftop galler y) which is visible from the Garden of light (below).

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reinforced concrete coffered ceiling, t=300mm steel metal rail white steel framed spot light fluorescent light (used when not enough natural light is provided, automatic) light spreader

velux ridgelight 5 o with sandblasted glass

gallery skylight box

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human : contained galler y roof detail, 1:20 1.

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tectonic

compacted soil for intensive planting (trees), t=1500mm d ra i n a g e l a y e r, t = 4 0 m m waterproofing with root protection, t=18mm rigid thermal insulation, t=100mm vapour barrier re i n fo rce d co n c re te co f fe re d s l a b, t = 2 0 0 m m

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strategy over view ventilation strategy lighting strategy acoustics strategy

Environment Strategy

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environment and sustainability over view As the M.O.C.A.A is a landmark of the city and a key tourist distriction, as well as providing exhibition spaces with good environment, providing a good public space, a gathering space for both locals and tourists has been considered from the beginning of the project. Therefore the museum provides Metaxi plateia, which is a 1700sqm of shaded public space exposed to contemporar y ar t.

The project begins with reusing spaces of the exiting buildings that are abandoned and derelict, by occupying their underground spaces. More than half of the museum is placed below the ground level where it is protected from the hot Mediterranean climate while benefiting coolth from the ground during summer and warmth during winter.

The permanent galleries and the Creation hall are flooded with diffused daylight. As the permanent contemporar y sculptures displayed in the museum do not require protection from daylight.

A thermal labyrinth is constructed on the lowest floor of the museum on the -12m level. The labyrinth will provide cool air to all the galleries and the Creation hall.

The museum is basically two concrete boxes with ver y limited opening. Therefore the internal space is ver y well sheltered from the external environment and benefits from heat exchange as concrete has ver y high thermal mass.

The concerete used in this project is ‘Hanson EcoPlus Concrete’, which 70% of Por tland Cement in the concrete mix is replaced with GGBS (Ground Granulated Blast Furnace Slag) which has a much lower level of embodied CO2. Also along with other environmental benefits, the eco friendly concrete has improved durability and aesthetically lighter in colour.

the museum is lot lower than the existing buildings, therefore the neighbour buildings get natural light during day time and also get pleasant view of the museum roof and the sculpture park beyond.

eco friendly concrete

metaxi plateia is a large shaded public gathering place

subterranean galleries well protected from the hot climate

large south facing plain concrete walls protects interior environment from daylight to prevent overheating

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strategy

series or carefully placed aper ture for the spaces that would benefit from daylight

green roof of the creation hall provides number of environmental benefits, -reduces the amount of solar energy absorbed by the concrete slab -improved thermal per formance -improves air quality - storm water amelioration

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ventilation strategy over view

Ventilation and cooling system of the museum is divided in several zones. Galler y floors are divided into three zones and they are ser ved from two extract plant connected to the thermal labyrinth.

plant floor

gallery floor level -8m

level -12m

zone 1

zone 1 thermal labyrinth controlled zoning system thermal mass subterranean

zone 1,2

zone 2

hot air

warm air

shaded fresh air

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where it is

shaded area

zone 2

The Museum building(above ground) have their own plants, one on the nor th side and south side.

The cooled fresh air from Metaxi plateia is infused to the ventilation plants through pipe above public toilets. Infusion of cold air is ser viced through Holedeck slabs. Extraction of the warm air occurs naturally through openings on the light well.

zone 1

public floor

private floor

rooftop floor

level 0m

level +3.6m

level +7.3m

mechanical cooling stack ventilation holedeck slab system

Holedeck system has been used in ever y space in the museum except galler y spaces. Compared to conventional bidirectional slabs, Holedeck system require a lot less concrete and steel reinforcement. Also this system is spatially efficient and easier to maintain.

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ventilation strategy thermal labyrinth

Temperature and humidity controls are essential environmental factors to provide comfor table exhibition environment. Due to Athens’s Mediterranean climate and high number of visitors, cooling and ventilation is constantly required.

The thermal labyrinth system is symmetrical like the rest of the building. The cool air from the labyrinth are supplied to the creation hall and other galler y spaces.

i) fresh air infused from nature galleries

ii) cool air from thermal labyrinth supplied to galler y spaces through ser vice walls

iii) warm air extracted back to the ser vice walls

iv) collected warm air gets blown back into the labyrinth or released through nature galleries

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strategy

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ventilation strategy ser vice walls

Ventilation and other ser vices such as electricity and lighting controls are hidden inside the ser vice walls in galleries. Ser vices running through floor or ceiling are avoided in galleries due to two main reasons. i) The M.O.C.A.A mainly exhibits contemporar y sculptures, which some of them could be ver y heavy. Britain’s building code requires galler y floor loading needs to be only 4kN/m 2 , however as the museum is dealing with large sculptures made with various medium, therefore 7.5-10 kN/m 2 is more reasonable. Therefore solid concrete floor is more suitable than a suspended floor. ii) Due to aesthetic reasons and to span long distance without columns, reinforced concrete coffered ceiling is used in galler y spaces instead of Holedeck slabs.

Therefore ser vices cannot run though the ceiling.

These ser vice walls can be easily accessed for maintenance or to control, as they have at least one access points in each galler y spaces Both cold air and warm air are provided and extracted at the top of the ser vice walls. The walls divided into zones following the rhythm of coffered ceiling like the diagram below. As ventilation grills are place on top of the ser vice walls which are 6.7m high, the process is hid from the visitors and will not disturb exhibitions.

ser vice in holedeck

supply air

-fitted with sound attenuator

return air

-fitted with sound attenuator

holedeck system

supply plenum

ser vice wall

thermal insulation between existing retaining wall and new concrete wall

access door

gnilooc lacinahcem noitalitnev kcats metsys bals kcedeloh

extract plenum

section through temporar y galler y (left) temporar y galler y ventilation strategy diagram (above) ser vice wall detail, 1:20 (right)

light control

roofl potfoor

roofl etavirp

m3.7+ level

m6.3+ level

ventilation strategy

stack ventilation through galleries Natural stack ventilation occurs in two places in subterranean galleries, the Creation hall and the Void galler y.

brise soleil

air plenum

Cooled air from thermal labyrinth is stored in a 1m high air plenum below the Creation hall. The cooled air is released through grills on the each side of the hall and supply points. Warmed air rise and gets trapped in spaces between concrete brise soleil before released through automatic sensor openings on the light box.

air lobby

Entrances of the Void galler y are kept open when the museum is operating. Compared to the air coming into the museum through openings of the galler y, the air coming out from the museum has much higher pressure. Therefore the interior space is protected from the humidity and heat from external environment, while releasing heat built up inside. Also the Void galler y ’s radial corridor acts as an air lobby, like a buffer zone between external and internal environment.

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lighting strategy

daylight in galleries, why and how Befitting from the minimalistic architectural language of the museum, its extremely limited openings and transparent facades, well protects the museum from the hot external environment, especially from the daylight. Galleries are even placed underground, therefore protection from the daylight is assured. Therefore in designing galler y spaces, the question was ‘how to bring natural light into the galler y spaces’.

The galler y spaces follows coherent design guides suggested in the book ‘Manual of Museum Exhibitions’ by Barr y Lord and Maria Piacente. i) Avoiding side lighting to avoid glare and reflection. ii) The obser ved phenomenon of human eyes are attracted to the brightest object in the field of the view, therefore do not allow windows to compete against ar t works. iii) All roof lights should be minimum double glazed or triple glazed, with 13mm air space between glass panels. Some sor t of medium to diffuse light or external glass to be fritted to lower visible light level is highly recommended. iv) Sky-lighting and clerestor y windows can be highly effective visually, but require some means of light control. Design galleries with both passive and mechanised light control systems. v) Mix sky, sun, nor th light well to create interesting and well balanced lit environment. Balance between cold and warm light.

natural light

diffused light, soft lighting The four big permanent galleries are lit with diffused light. They all have skylight with coffered ceiling. When the light intensity drops below the set level, mechanical lights hidden behind the diffuse layer operates. Skylights are filtered through double layers of sand blasted glass,1m deep concrete coffers and linen diffuse layer.

Long rectangular galleries have large glazing facade facing the trench galler y. Strong day light is diffused through narrow and tall (2.2 x 9m) trench galler y before providing ver y soft back-lighting to the galler y spaces. This light will lit backside of the sculptures to enhance details of the ar t works, especially Ron Mueck ’s hyperrealism works.

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natural light adds complexity and fleeting presence of animates. When sculptures interact with natural elements such as natural light, they are constantly changing and become uncontrollable. It may not be the most desired condition in a museum, however I believe this is a contextual attitude of perceiving.

natural light

direct light: contained emotions revealed through light Louise Bourgeois’s works are dived into two galleries, the Void galler y and a galler y located with other permanent collection galleries. Theme of her presented works are human : contained, visitors to wonder what is the emotion or humanity contained in the ar t works. Here natural light plays the role of revealing that emotion by brightening works from constantly changing direction to allow visitors to perceive works from multiple perspectives.

The displayed works are divided into two types, installation and hanging pieces, and focused works are the two installations, Maman and Cell XXVI. These two works are displayed in a separate chamber located at the respective centre of each galler y inside a labyrinth like circulation. These two works are exposed to non filtered skylight directly above them.

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strategy

the void galler (above) human : contained galler y (right)

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acoustics and sound control strategy general approach and details

Layout The museum’s only private spaces are administration office and residential ar tists’ studios. Compared to other areas in the museum, these areas require more controlled level of noise. Therefore these two areas are located on the first floor by them selves.

The public programmes could be divided into two groups, social space and exhibition space.

These two group require different level of noise control and have different level of noise produced.

Therefore these two groups are separated from each other. The social gathering space; museum cafe, shop and children’s workshop are placed on ground floor where exhibition spaces are located on the b1 level and at the rooftop.

The highest level of noise is produced from the main plant rooms in b2 level. There are sound attenuators in between this floor and the floor above where galleries are. Also permanent galleries are placed on the opposite side of the building.

Acoustics approach in galleries In general galleries do not want level of acoustic insulation to be high nor super ficial. In general, noise levels should be neither so low that visitors feel inhibited nor so high as to be disturbing (Manual of Museum Exhibitions by Barr y Lord) . Therefore the acoustic strategy of galler y spaces in the M.O.C.A.A is to contain noise. As explained on previous chapters, each galler y contains unique atmosphere. This is created by use of different lighting or spatial arrangement. The acoustic strategy follows this concept by having its own contained noise.

The galler y ’s structure, materials, and finishes are the three factors that can be control noise levels resulting from visitor load and building mechanicals. All the galler y spaces except the Creation hall and the nature galleries have same structure, materials, finishes and even similar volume. Also they have same ventilation and mechanical system that are equally acoustically insulated. Therefore the only variable is the visitor load, people. I believe that atmosphere of the galler y space and works displayed can affect behaviour of the visitors such as their walking pace and tone of their voice.

Visitors will be restricted by the staffs in each galleries if they make exceptional level of noise but if not the noise they make should be par t of the exhibition and atmosphere.

In terms of acoustics the labyrinth like entrance circulation in galleries does two things. i) It acts as a acoustic buffer zone that prevents noise from outside galler y to intrude nor noise to escape from the galler y. ii) While visitors walk through the entrance circulation they can think how they will behave in the galler y space.

Acoustics details Each galler y has mechanical ser vices stored in the ser vice walls. These walls have two acoustic treatment to reduce level of the noise produced. i) interior side of these walls are finished with acoustic sprays to absorb noise. ii) The air supply grill and extractor grills have sound attenuator fitted.

The linen light diffuse layer fitted at the coffered ceiling absorbs sound. The sur face of the concrete coffer above the diffuse layer have acoustic spray finish which also absorbs sound.

Sound attenuators provided at lift cores and plant rooms.

dead dad

tomato head

would visitors behave the same in front of these two works?

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strategy

sound is contained in each galleries

in house private public

nature

multi purpose

temporary

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permanent

plant

sound attenuator fitted

galler y coffered ceiling detail

acoustic spray finish linen light diffuser acoustic attenuator

galler y ser vice wall detail

187

fire strategy access strategy ar t route cdm

Compliance, system, construction Strategy

189

fire strategy

approved document par t b The proposed project falls into group 5, ‘Assembly and recreation’ as set out in Approved Document B, Table D1 of the Building Regulations. All fire safety measures have been designed in accordance with AD Par t B and BS 9999 for a building in this purpose group.

B1, means of warning and escape Automatic heat and smoke detection with alarm system fitted in accordance with BS5839-1 for all areas of the building. Visual alarms in the form of warning lights are fitted in addition to audible alarms.

Enhanced fire suppression system installed.

Horizontal escape distances to a final exit or protected stair are less than 45m in two directions or 18m in one direction in above ground spaces. Underground galleries are ver y spacious and hasver y hight floor to ceiling height (7.3m), and also have enhance fired detection and suppression system installed to comprise this.

All escape doors are a minimum 1100mm across the scheme. Where necessar y corridors and lobbies are fire protected to meet escape requirements outlined in AD B. The escape stair has been sized to accommodate the number of people who may potentially be using them in an emergency.

Two main stairs to the subterranean galleries (<370 people, ser ves 2 floors) are 1700mm wide.

Two stairs up to the rooftop (<230, ser ves 3 floors) are 1100mm wide.

Two private stairs are (<50, ser ves 2 floors) are 1100mm wide.

These are based on AD B, table 6/7 and AD M. A disabled refuge is provided within the protected stair lobby on each floor designed in accordance with AD B, Diagram 21.

B2/3, internal fire spread

(lining and structure)

All interior finishes and fixtures are fire retardant. Concrete is used in ever y where in the museum except openings, and it is inherently fire resistant. The 9 steel cables of the Silk roof are to be treated with a fire resistant coating. The C-Channel glass used in the museum is fire resistant glazing.

2 hour fire -resistance to both protected cores.

Sprinkler system installed. There are hand held fire extinguishers distributed throughout the building especially in galleries, kitchen and plant rooms.

Cafe’s kitchen has a 60 minute treatment of the internal cladding and automated shutters on ser ving openings.

B4, external fire spread Installed sprinkler system will reduce the extent and intensity of fire.

Concrete floor/ceiling prevent fire spread through roofs.

B5, access and facilities for the fire ser vice The museum is lower than 18m high, however more than 10m deep at the plant floor (12m).

Therefore a separate and direct access is provided through the nature galleries (external cour tyard) and fire fighting shaft is provided by the holding area.

The museum fits into the 2000-8000m 2 total floor area of the building (the museum is 7,503m 2 ) of AD B table 19. Also the top stor y ’s ground floor is below 11m (the rooftop galler y ’s floor level is 8m) therefore museum needs to provide vehicle access to minimum of 15% of the perimeter, with water supply located close by. The museum comfor tably complies this, and also if required fire fighting trucks can access to Metaxi Plateia (lowest point of the roof is 4.7m).

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protected enclosures including areas set out for refuges

maximum distance

main circulation stairs

exit to outside

firefighting lift

assembly area

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access strategy

approved document par t m The brief of the museum centres around providing a public gathering place to all people, regardless of age, gender, race or disability. One of the key premises, therefore was to create a building with minimal or no barriers to access, and be as inviting as possible. The overall massing and its relation with the context echoes this goal.

M1/2, external access Masterplan gesture to create civic square with no drastic level changes provides a flat plane.

The transpor t hub, Omonia square (bus, coach, tram and metro) located in close proximity (5 minute walk) to nor th east.

The museum is connected to the masterplanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s linear park. Also the museum is connected to the key tourist destinations (7 nodes) and to the city centre by the green link and linear park which all contains pleasant pedestrian route.

Main vehicular routes to nor th and east of the museum, south side is fully pedestrianised. Therefore back of house entrance (lorr y access) is located on the nor th side.

Covered bike storage area is located in the sculpture park, by the photography galler y. Bike racks are provided in the linear park by the museum.

Ver y iconic massing (especially the roof ) and the public square in front of the museum clearly identifies building from outside. Also the bold signage by the entrance clearly identifies the museum.

By public the museum is accessed from the Metaxi Plateia that can be approached from nor th and south side of the site.

Tourist information centre is located right in front of the museum, on the ground floor of the photography galler y.

Two sets of double doors access provided at the main entrance to the museum lobby. Double door private entrance provided each for administration office and residential ar tistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; studios.

M1/2, circulation and navigation The aim of the internal design was to reduce the necessity for sign led movement; however wherever it is found necessar y a simple system will be introduced.

The circulation routes within the building are +1200mm wide to allow wheel chair usage.

All the stairs comply to par t M and are easily identifiable.

The building is ver y symmetrical therefore it is ver y easy to understand the layout and to navigate.

Lift access is provided to ever y floor.

Clear establishment between public spaces and private spaces.

M3, Sanitar y Based on the estimated number of people in the building (360) and total floor area of 7,503m 2 , the requirements of 50m 2 of non disabled toilet and 60m 2 disabled toilet have been complied.

Ever y programmes within the building are provided with at least one disabled WC. Most of semi public and private programmes are provided with unisex disabled toilet.

Two public toilets with disabled cubicle in each are provided by the entrance of the museum for both museum visitors and for the general public.

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strategy

public gathering place

metaxi plateia toilet

public entrance

controlled public space

disabled toilet

private entrance

main reception, lobby area

main circulation

access to galleries

security control line

public lift

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ar t route

deliver y to storage In this section deals with the ar t route and museum security strategy. Most of informations were gained from two books ‘Designing Galleries : the complete guide to developing and designing spaces and ser vices for exhibitions’ by Mike Sixsmith and ‘Manual of Museum Exhibition’ by Barr y Lord and Maria Piacente.

The M.O.C.A.A’s ar t route is separated from the public access and any other forms of ser vice access.

It is located at the nor th side of the creation hall building. The ar t route is divided into, loading bay (holding area), registration area, multipurpose storage and ar t storages.

entrance of the loading bay

Loading bay, holding area The Holding area is a 19m long, 5m wide and 7m high space with a large 3.7x6.5m cargo entrance and a normal access. It provides a fully enclosed area for the loading process. It is capable of accommodating all size of lorries including 44 tones LHV which has overall length of 16.5m. The enclosed holding area provide protection and security from the external environment such as weather or theft, and allow the process to take place safely with care in a controlled environment .

The large 3.7m square platform lift in the holding area is connected to all the storage and galler y floors. The platform lift could be raised up to lorries’ bed level for a smooth and safer unloading/ loading process.

Registration, crate, storage On the B1 level there are registration area, multipurpose storage and temporar y ar t storage and permanent ar t storage. On the B2 level there are two more permanent ar t storages. Delivered crates get unpacked and registered in the registration area, and then distributed to the according storages. All the storages in B1 level are double height spaces with 7.3m floor to ceiling height where double floor storage racks are used in some par ts.

Multi purpose storage (80m 2 ) is mainly dedicated to the installations taking place at the Creation hall. Preparation or pre build up of the installation take place here as there is a direct access to the creation hall. Staff room where handers or staff can rest or use sanitar y facilities are accessible from the storage.

Temporar y storage (90m 2 ) is dedicated to temporar y exhibitions with its own access to the galler y foyer.

There are three permanent storages as the client Dimitris Dask alopoulos has large collection of ar t. The semi permanent collections (ones that could be on loan or displayed in near future) are stored in the main permanent storage (210m 2 ) that has direct access to multipurpose storage and a permanent galler y. When change of programme of permanent galler y takes place, this galler y can be closed while other galleries still operate.

The other two permanent storages (100m 2 , 80m 2 )are located in b2 level, unlike all the other storages these are single stor y high spaces. Long term stored works and smaller scale works are stored here.

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strategy

ar t entrance

west elevation of the museum 1:500

lorr y (12m) turning route

3.7x3.7m platform lift

mulit purpose

registration area

g (+0m)

temporar y storage

permanent storage

the creation hall

permanent gallery

b1 (-8m)

gallery foyer permanent storage

b2 (-12m)

permanent storage

1:500

0

2

4

10

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construction design management

health & safety considerations, construction A CDM Consultant would be appointed as par t of the design team at an early stage of the project to ensure compliance with the regulations (CDM 2015) throughout the construction process. Their role would be to brief all members of the design and construction teams regarding their respective roles and responsibilities, and the relevant health and safety concerns specific to the site.

Risk management (demolition) Demolition is the most high risk activity in the construction sector. The essence of safe demolition lies in efficient risk control, environmental management and careful planning.

Clients and their professional advisors play a vital role in safe demolition and must:

Allow sufficient time for planning the works.

Procure an appropriate contractor (carr y out safety and environmental audits).

Provide sufficient information to a good standard.

The level and detail of pre -demolition information and sur veys required are propor tionate to the project such as Asbestos demolition sur vey (to HSG264 standard), structural hazard and risks, hazardous material information and health hazards etc.

Use site waste management plans to ensure safe removal of hazardous waste,rubbish and optimum recycling chains.

Risk management (construction) Construction team must have appropriate training and briefing, and wear personal protective equipment (PPE) at all times.

Suitable scaffolding and fencing to be installed in accordance with EU standards.

Work under taken at height must be indicated with nets below.

The specification of a prefabricated system reduces construction time and the risk to workers. Some of these elements are transpor ted by road such as the concrete Brise Soleil of the Creation hall.

Maintenance of site during construction must be regularly carried out.

Site mobilisation and construction sequence over view i) Erection of site boarding, establishment of site office, welfare facilities including toilets, showers, canteen or food preparation area, meeting room and sick bay at the west building in the Koumoundourou sculpture park. ii) Thorough sur vey of the existing buildings and arrangement according to site waste management. iii) Demolition of the existing buildings tanking of the site. Reuse existing retaining wall where ever possible. iv) Reinforced concrete raft foundations poured, followed by erection of the thermal labyrinth and poured in situ concrete floor. v) Primar y structure : Erection of the in situ reinforced concrete ribs (creation hall first), and galler y walls. vi) Precast reinforced concrete coffered slabs placed followed by erection of concrete ribs of the museum building. vii) In situ casting of the silk concrete roof while progressing with external wall constructions and fitting of c-channel glass facade. viii) Hanging the Silk roof with post tensioning. Cables are anchored with VSL joints at each ribs. ix) Glazing, building ser vices and internal fit out. x) Hard and soft landscaping.

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strategy

site boundar y, including landscaping works major work boundar y site office, assembly, deliver y vehicle site access

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design process & development final review critical evaluation

D evelopment of M.O.C.A.A Appendix

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Overall development

Development of the museum went through numerous and vigorous design changes. As my understanding of the site, ar t works, exhibitions and various systems related to museums got deeper as I have kept questioning myself throughout the project.

The developments could be segregated into massing, interpretation of the ar t works, spatial and details.

Despite all the design adjustments, there are several principles that have been routed at the star t of the project and stood strong till the final proposal. gathering place central public route exposure of contemporar y ar t modern ruin modesty

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ar t deliver y vehicle access

active frontage

green link

exposure of ar t

massing option study

in greek mythology, tar tarus is place in under world where giants carr y receive their punishments. this inspired me of the idea of underground galler y spaces displaying large permanent collections.

exposure of contemporar y ar t to public, something that make people to think and question about it when they look. le sommeil, salvador dali, 1937

sisyphys (1548-49), titian

Museum as a passage

The proposal for a contemporar y ar t museum arose from the need to create a cultural and ar tistic core on the 7th green link of the masterplan.

In the masterplan, we proposed that the green route will detour around the museum. However I felt that the purity of the straight route should kept.

The client instead on exposing and promoting contemporar y ar t to public.

Something that should be easily accessible and obvious.

These thoughts lead museum to be like a passage. A big shaded public circulation space where people are exposed to contemporar y ar t. People can make decision whether to explore fur ther inside the museum or to walk pass. I thought it is enough even they just walk pass, if they had a look at the exposed ar t works and think about it even for a second.

shaded ar t passage, installation on the left side and permanent galleries on the right inclining ar t journey from right to left,

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permanent museum entrance steps downs to the large open public space used as public seating

the journey ends in a sculpture garden

circulation core, star t of the journey

The museum was laid out on the exact footprint and depth of the existing buildingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; basements. Therefore the left side of the museum was rigid and perpendicular to the siteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s axis, where right side had irregular shapes.

maman

the palm

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where it is

use of cor ten steel to dramatise experience of descending underground. rusty, vibration, sound, temperature......

building height set to match neighbour buildingsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; ground floor â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s floor to ceiling height.

Modern ruin

Compared to other initial ideas, concept of modern ruin and modest appearance were fur ther developed during this scheme. Museum was divided into two par ts with temporar y exhibitions and permanent exhibitions as the core of each. Following the modern ruin concept, all the ar t works are placed below the ground level, therefore the museum had only one floor above ground level to form par t of the sculpture park to provide a pleasant scener y to the neighbours.

The space between the two buildings in temporar y side is a large open public space for installation ar t, this was the first version of the creation hall.

Study of natural lighting in underground galler y spaces star ted with this scheme. The idea was to avoid side lighting and just use sky lighting where each galler y gives different order to the natural light to create different atmosphere. The atmosphere of the galler y should reflect the expression of the exhibited ar t works.

The scheme was proposed on the fist interim crit and the key advice was to provide shading for the large open public space.

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the aper ture needs to be more generous, too dark

deeper cur ve required, it is almost flat at the moment

a large public gathering place, ar t flea market

triple height permanent galler y chambers

entrance lobby is too small

concrete ribs 206

where it is

concept image of the creation hall, surreal atmosphere created by light coming in from translucent facade and oversized space

surreal underground garden

Silk roof

I was inspired by the Metaxourgeioâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s silk industr y. A roof that is symbol of silk and held up by two buildings facing each other. I thought it has to be more grand than a roof between two small buildings. Also the stairs descending all the way down to -8m level was consuming too much space.

The massing has vigorously changed but still kept the same approach and ideas. The roof provides shading for the large museum square between the Creation hall, a sheltered version of the previous large open installation space, and the Museum building where permanent ar t collections are placed.

The Creation hall held up it self and the roof with series of concrete ribs spaces ever y 6m. However the Museum building held up it self and the roof with load-bearing concrete chambers.

An underground garden was placed underneath the hole. The idea was to give sense of surreal environment before people begin their journey through the museum.

The biggest changes made from this scheme to the final proposal were, purifying of the primar y structure, deeper cur ve for the roof followed by addition of an overground floor to allow the adjustment and arrangement of the galler y spaces and its lighting strategy.

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1:100 concrete ribs study model

gap between wall and columns of the ribs to cast shadows expressing depth and celebrate fleeting presence of natural light.

the colonnade is one of the main characteristics of greek architecture. from ancient to contemporar y, par thenon, national archaeological museum, polyk atoikia (most common building style)

purification of the structure

i) Initially the roof was held up by ribs on one side and concrete slab and walls on the other side. It was structurally possible but it was complex and contradicted the simple and symmetrical layout of the museum. ii) Symmetrical ribs with 600x600mm concrete thumb on top of each ribs where cables are anchored. The thumb was developed to avoid thermal bridge. However it was practical but killed original purpose of the ribs.

The cur ve of the ribs follow the cur ve of the roof as the cables are inser ted through the ribs and then anchored. iii) Back to original idea of inser ting cables through the ribs. However as the cur vature of the roof got deeper, cables could not travel all the way through the ribs. Therefore the anchor position is 4.5m away from the inser tion point.

3m

4m

8m 5m

8m 4.5m

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final review

The scheme was ver y well-received and the clarity of the main perspective sections and perspective images of the key galler y spaces allowed me to explain ver y convincingly. As the result, the feed back was ver y positive.

There was only one suggestion that was raised at the end, which was to research whether pile foundation was required in Athens.

After the review, I have researched about the ground buildup of the site and found out that it was Athenian schist, which has sufficient bearing capacity to allow reinforced concrete pad foundation.

If I were to take this project fur ther, there would be another level of consideration to the detailing of smaller par ts such as handrails, furnitures, concrete finishes, etc.

critical evaluation This project has been truly enjoyable. Even though there were several hard times as the project has gone through several vigorous design changes. It was hard but the process was fun and was a valuable learning experience.

The experience of working on couple of museum projects in last placement at Shigeru Ban Architects helped to approach the project while keeping balance between big ideas, spatial layout and structure.

I am pleased with the overall resolution, depth of the project while reflecting personal attitude towards architecture. The experience of designing a large and complex building as a thesis project will no doubt help me in the future.

Overall this period of working on the M.O.C.A.A project was the most enjoyable time of my six years of university life.

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appendix

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M U S E U M O F C O N T E M P O R A R Y A R T AT H E N S

YO U S E O K C H O 214

where it is