[08]

Urban fabric growth.


City is a living organism, it constantly evolves, transforms and outgrows its original boundaries. To cope with the demands of an increasing urban population, cities are in constant flux. They grow denser and spread; they require re-structuring and transformation on almost every level. 
What I would like to investigate this year is how a new structures could grow into and existing urban landscape. How the city could grow into the city instead of swallowing itself, and by this I mean demolishing decaying structures and replacing them with new ones. What I will be looking at are the voids in an urban fabric.

Pedra Liquida, Casa do Conto Hotel, Porto, Portugal.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g189180-d2207751-Reviews-Casa_do_Conto_arts_residence-Porto_Northern_Portugal.html

Herzog & deMeuron, CaixaForum Muzeum, Madrid, Spain.
http://archidialog.com/tag/caixa-forum/

Coop Himmelblau, Law Office Rooftop, Vienna, Austria.
http://vizarch.blogspot.com/

[07] Wyly Theatre by REX/OMA

An ultimate theatre machine.

What I'm really interested is the notion to introduce new technologies when designing buildings. As in the case of Wyly Theatre in Dallas, new technologies that allow for a performing space to trans-form and reconfigure in accordance with the vision of an art director or requirements of the variety of performances that would be held there. The space that is not restrain to the architecture of the building. The ultimate theatre machine where all the elements of the stage and auditorium are literally flowing from the ceiling or are hidden in the walls using mechanizations that till now was used in the an opera houses design. 

This was my main inspiration to create a multi form space which can go over a series of configurations in short amount of time. Where both the auditorium and galleries can be deployed to host a different performance each time and the layout is not dictated by the architecture. The directors and scenic designers are empowered to experiment with configurations that fulfils their artistic desires. Thanks to its multi layout and multi procession the theatre grants its artistic directors freedom to determine the entire theater experience. The auditorium has the ability to go back ,in a short time, to a flat floor organisation - in order to be rented out and generate an extra income. 

http://www.sundancechannel.com/sunfiltered/2010/07/rem-koolhaas-sweeps-the-biennale/

http://www.rex-ny.com/work/wyly-theatre/

http://www.rex-ny.com/work/wyly-theatre/


J.P-R gives a talk about the Wyly Theatre on TED.
Joshua Prince-Ramus: Building a theater that remakes itself | Video on TED.com

[06] Context and Condition.

Seattle Central Library by OMA


The design process for the structure began with analysing the context and condition of the functions and the program of the library. I was design  thinking of the volumes of the spaces for the classified activities and wrapping the skin of the building around of those activities but also distributing them in a logical sequence. The philosophy was to let the building required functions dictate what it should look like rather than imposing a stiff structure and making the functions conform to that.


Starting from the core of the building outwards.


Braking with the concept people might have of (in this case) libraries as a stuffy and dusty places for gigs but making it an inviting and fun place to be.

http://greg.org/archive/2004/05/15/muschampkoolhaas_piss_me_off_again.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Seattle_library_main_branch_overhead.jpg

http://blog.vividotonline.com/2011/04/seattle-public-library-friendshop.html

http://vacantplots.wordpress.com/page/7/

[05] Product/Furniture. Studio Makkink & Bey; Roos Kuipers.

Critical pieces.

An EarChair is a piece from an office furniture range designed by Makkink & Bey studio. It was developed in order to solve a problem of lack of privacy in crowded, public spaces. By rethinking the accepted concept of a chair, the designers come up with a solution that allows its users to experience absolute privacy within a bussy communal or work place environment.

Prooff, Studio Makkink & Bey, EarChair 2008. Available at: <http://www.prooff.com/designers/studio-makkink-bey> [Accessed on 17 Oct]


Mark the last veil by Roos Kuipers. Critical Design is sometimes referred to as 'more human design'. This piece is a perfect example of this emerging turn in art, architecture and product design. It provokes the funeral industry by challenging and questioning the standardised box-coffin.  It is more lyrical and sensitive response to grieving and mourning process. 

Roos Kuipers, Mark the Last Veil 2009. Available at: <http://www.dezeen.com/2009/10/29/mark-the-last-veil-by-roos-kuipers/> [Accessed on 17 Oct]

[04] Architecture/Interior. Herzog & deMeuron, CaixaForum.

Mixing old and new. 


City is a living organism, it constantly evolves, transforms and outgrows its original boundaries. What fascinates me in this project is that old (power station) meets new (art gallery) and blends so well together in an amazing mixture of different textures and materials. The upper steel addition, for example, was intentionally aged to match the classified brick shell. I also like the idea of separating over and underground levels by literary removing the base of the old building which made it look as it was floating above the ground but it also facilitates the access to the building, as it is approachable form every direction. 

Herzog & deMeuron, CaixaForum, Madrid 2008. Photographed by Duccio Malagamba. Available at <http://www.dezeen.com/2008/05/22/caixaforum-madrid-by-herzog-de-meuron/> [Accessed on 17 Oct]


The one forth of the structure is submerged underground.

Herzog & deMeuron, CaixaForum, Madrid 2008. Available at <http://www.arcspace.com/architects/herzog_meuron/caixa/caixa.html> [Accessed on 17 Oct]

[03] Art. Julie Mehretu.

City as a fluid and unstable organism. 


'Julie Mehretu's work is a hybrid art form that combines aspects of cartography, architectural drawing, urban planning, and abstract painting. The artist creates energetic compositions via a system of draw lines intersecting and superimposed over coloured planes, diagonals, parallelograms, archways, rendering of staircases, and dashes and circles that marked out unknown topographies. Mahretu's animated urbanscapes are reminiscent of Dutch architect Constant's drawings of Situationist cities, in which structures float above the landscape, leaving two spatial zones in which to conduct life. Mehretu similarly scrutinizes organizing models of urban planning, rejecting the notion that it is possible to impose a rigid structure on something as fluid and unstable as a city and its inhabitants. Understanding cities as more than just collections of buildings and people, she approaches them as psychogeographies that must allow for spontaneous activity and encounters outside the presumed patterns of movement and interaction'
Schwabsky, B., 2004. Vitamin P: New Perspectives in Painting. London, Phaidon Press Limited.

Julie Mehretu. Available at: <http://www.fotopedia.com/albums/oyBD73eDaNk/entries/_QZ2-xjlMTo> [Accessed on 25 Oct]

Bayreuth, Julie Mehretu, 2010. Available at: <http://www.mariangoodman.com/artists/julie-mehretu/#/images/1/> [Accessed on 25 Oct]

[02] Film. Melancholia by Lars von Trier.

The most beautifully rendered end of the world?

Never mind the plot. The visuals were just hypnotic to watch. The images of both Moon and Melancholia illuminating the palatial garden are mesmerising. There is also an amazing visual atmospheric metamorphose as the telluric planet approaches the earth. The colours of scenes are changing to more desaturated and almost frosted turquoise, which in combination with the setting of the palace creates the atmosfere of a fairy tale - apocalypse.

Melancholia, Lars von Trier, 2011. Available at: <http://www.screened.com/melancholia/16-199001/all-images/132-1991884/melancholia_3/131-563834/> [Accessed on 17 Oct]

[01] Literature. 'Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and Senses.'

The Significance of Shadows


'The imagination and day dreaming are stimulated by dim light and shadow. In order to think clearly, the sharpness of vision has to be suppressed, for thoughts travel with an absent-minded and unfocused gaze. Homogenous bright light paralyses the imagination in the same way that homogenisation of space weakens the experience of being, and wipes away the sense of place. The human eye is most perfectly tuned for twilight rater than bright daylight.'
Juhani Pallasmaa, (2005) The Eyes of the Skin: Architecture and Senses. Chichester, John Wiley & Sons. 

Caravaggio, The Incredulity of Saint Thomas, 1601-2 Italy. Available at: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Caravaggio_-_The_Incredulity_of_Saint_Thomas.jpg> [Accessed 17 Oct]

It all began with this statement.