Pause

PA b Afnan

PA

SE by Afnan Obadi

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A thesis book for Final Architectural Project Submitted to the Department of Architecture, School of Architecture, Art, and Design, American University in Dubai In partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Degree of Bachelor of Architecture Fall 2017

Copyright Š 2017 by Afnan Obadi All rights reserved

Approval of the Thesis Book for Final Architectural Project Department of Architecture, School of Architecture, Art, and Design, American University in Dubai Student Name : Afnan Obadi Thesis Book Title : Pause Thesis Abstract: Remember a life without technology and social media? I don’t think so.

Technology has affected our lifestyle, communication, and thinking. With the speed of its advancements we began to chase a faster pace of life. With social media we no longer communicate one-on-one. Because of the options social media applications keep adding we are blasted with large amounts of information daily in the form of messages and images.

But there is one thing that it has affected the most without us being aware of it: our attention span. Recent experiments found that within 5 years our attention has gone down by 4 seconds, which makes you wonder how technology managed to do this so cleverly.

I have a theory that it may be because of social media applications. These applications impose limitations on us, so we grew accustomed to short and brief text to read, smaller images, and analyzing the contents of images within seconds.

So why not pause and take a small step away from technology? How can we reverse the shortening of the human attention span?

Student Signature: ______________________

Date: ______________

Pofessor name: Takeshi Maruyama

Professor Signature: _____________________

Date: ______________

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To my grandparents who couldn’t make it this far, and my parents who have been a constant support and a source of inspiration.

- Afnan Obadi

P A || S E by Afnan Obadi

1 2 3 4

Introduction 6.1 Introduction 6.2 Technology as a Pandemic 6.3 Proposal

Social Media 2.1 What is Social Media 2.2 Evolution of Social Media Apps 2.2.1 Media Limitations 2.3 Sensory Overload 2.4 Senses Control the Flow of Info.

Attention Span 3.1 Human Attention Span 3.2 Human Reaction Time 3.3 Focal Senses to Elongate Attention

Space Phenomenology 4.1 Primitive Senses 4.1.1 Light and Shadow 4.1.2 Sound 4.2 ‘Inside Out’ 4.3 Immaterial Definition of Space

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Table of contents Data Collection and Observation 5.1 Contextual Analysis of Selected Case Studies 5.1.1 New York Times Square 5.1.2 Teshima Museum 5.1.3 National Museum of World Writing 5.1.4 Brazil Pavilion 5.1.5 Museum of The Human Body Site Selection 6.1 Judgement Criteria 6.2 Comparison Analysis 6.3 Program Development 6.4 Space and Site Correlations

Concept Design Process 7.1 Concept Development

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Introduction

1

.1Introduction

The human lifestyle has drastically evolved over time alongside the development of technology.

Technology has become a host in our daily lives, nevertheless, it is the speed at which technology is evolving that is directly affecting it. ‘Technology has put an end to [the] balance of nature. It has exchanged understanding and mutual benefit for power and dominance’ (Harvey, 129).

The world before technology thrived on mutualism, where we benefit from its resources and it flourishes on what we give back to it. The coexistence of both humans and the earth created a balanced equation, an equilibrium.

Once technology is added to this equation the need for the earth’s resources decreases with our reliance of technology.

Technology has invaded our neurological senses and affected our concentration, occupying our mind and creating a war of thoughts. We now find difficulties in concentrating on a particular topic for a prolonged period of time, instead tending to divert our attention rapidly from one topic to another.

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Many industries have carried studies on this matter to further develop tools to sell their products. By understanding that we have grown to develop a short attention span, they continuously enhance their advertisements and applications to draw our attention and hold it for a specific time frame. They have successfully achieved this through the stimulation of our senses, and responding directly to the rapid shortening of our attention span.

Applications have directly responded to this notion by gradually setting limitations to the media viewed. The beginning of this conception was first seen in the development of the Twitter application in 2006. It was the first application to set a limit to the number of characters a user may use to create a message to broadcast to other users. More advanced forms of this application, such as Snapchat, Instagram, etc., quickly raced to stand in the spotlight not far after Twitter’s release.

Companies made adjustments in their applications to create limitations in media broadcasting, shorting the size and period in which media can be viewed. Users saw these limitations as challenges to their traditional ways of communication and strived to conquer them.

People found clever manners to express their thoughts and opinions within the boundaries of these limitations, in turn increasing the speed at which our minds absorb the information.

As we grew to register the flow of information in short spans of time, other forms of advertising and entertainment became somewhat ‘slow’ and quickly lost our attention.

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The succession of events in movies and advertisements have a different pace to what we grew accustomed to, therefore losing their hype in comparison to the advanced applications. Hence, it is questionable whether technology, specifically social media applications, is putting future generations at risk of an even further reduction in their attention span with the limitations they are setting.

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.2 Technology as a Pendemic

What is a pandemic?

A pandemic is ‘a disease prevalent over a whole country or the world’. So, if we look at technology

and how it has become a host in the body of our lives, would it too be considered a pandemic?

Our reliance on technology to lead our lives, at first, seemed like the perfect idea to ease communication and encourage the development of our identity. But what we fail or choose not to acknowledge is how it has molded our lives to follow its every step. ‘Technology was originally developed to make life easier, to lift people out of a life of poverty and drudgery, but the benign servant has grown into a ruthless master’ (Harvey, 128).

It is questionable whether the fine line between servant and the served has dissolved in terms of an application and its user. Perhaps our enchantment with how much ease technology brings to our lives has blurred our vision and we can no longer define whether we are the ones using it, or whether we are enslaved to it.

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We have unconsciously adapted ourselves, racing to keep up with technology’s pace. Technology has affected our lifestyle, communication, and thinking. With the speed of its advancements we began to chase a faster pace of life.

With social media we no longer communicate one-on-one.

Because of the options social media applications keep adding we are blasted with large amounts of information daily in the form of messages and images.

With these changes to our lives we begin thinking that something positive cannot possibly be harmless.

But we may have fallen under a spell: ‘the paradox of addiction’(Brown); technology is helpful but once lured by it, is our dependence on it harmful?

There is one thing that technology has affected the most without us being aware of it: our attention span.

Scientists have recently run an experiment to calculate how long it would take a person to concentrate on a specific task without being distracted. They found that in the year 2000, our attention span lasted 12 seconds.

In 2015, in comparison to a goldfish with an attention span of 9 seconds, we have an attention span that lasts 8 seconds (Watson). So, within 5 years our attention has gone down by 4 seconds, which makes you wonder how technology managed to do this so cleverly.

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Life and Speed Society has grown around the fast-paced evolution of technology, easily molding itself around the advancements and adapting to a continuously changing environment.

According to ‘Architecture from the Inside Out’, ‘The danger with advanced, sophisticated technology is made worse by the type of society which has developed it, and by which, in turn, society is inevitably shaped’ (Harvey, 128). In other words, the technology shapes the society, and now society is directly responding to the speed of technological development.

This is evident in the growth of the city of Dubai in a short span of time. Dubai has experienced a drastic change in popularity, drawing the attention of the media and the remainder of the world. This popularity was triggered through social media, which has created a platform of worldwide communication. Although it may seem that social media has had a positive impact on the city, it has also lead to a, in my opinion, negative response.

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Obscure Negative Response Social media has helped Dubai reach its current level of fame, bringing increasingly large amounts of people to the city. Nevertheless, the faster the population increases the greater the demand to meet its every need. The city felt the urge accommodate those needs by building faster, making people work faster, and, basically, living faster.

At some point ‘the exhausting fast pace of life promotes over-stimulation’ (Brown), which in turn affects the way we think, communicate, and behave.

Although the most obvious change we see in the city is physical, it is the change that is under the radar that I wish to address. Social media is developed to allow for creative thinking, but ‘the mass of incoming information has actually eroded our attention and our creativity’(Brown).

The amount of information we are bombarded with on social media on a daily basis is massive. Come to think of the number of applications we have installed in our mobile phones in addition to the amount of time we spend on each application, the accumulated amount of media we view is huge. Although applications began to set limitations to reduce this large flow of information, there is still too much for us to fully absorb and digest.

Social media applications have advanced to limit the size, quantity, and time in which we view the media we share. Social media applications tried to control the flow of information in order to allow its users to absorb information at their own pace. But the opposite of this desired effect has occurred amongst application users.

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People adapted to the limitations and adopted an ability to grasp information in fragments at a high speed. Instead of slowing down, we tend to switch between applications and media to lodge as much information as possible in our minds. This ‘stimulates internal chaos and fragmented attention’ (Brown).

Hence, the obscure symptom of the technology pandemic is a shortening attention span.

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.3 Proposal

As a response to the arising issue of the shortening human attention span, I am proposing a dual space that will combine two extremely different environments.

The first environment will portray the fast-paced life we are all consumed in, and reflect the fragmented way of thinking. According to ‘Architecture from the Inside Out’, ‘For some time now in architecture the outside perspective has taken precedence, giving far more importance to form, idea, and appearance than to ways of living, to occupants’ needs, and embodied experience’ (Franck, 21).

This is very evident in the city of Dubai, in the way in which a lot of thought is given to the outside appearance of buildings rather than the interior spatial experience.

Therefore, I will use the glamour of the first environment and its outside appearance to lure people into the opposite space which will lie directly beneath it.

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This way I can take advantage of the current way people think, and lead them into a space that will, to an extent, stimulate their senses at a speed that is contrary to that of which they are accustomed to.

So if technology causes us stress we tend to build up negative energy and this energy needs a place to be discharged. The earth’s energy is ‘ mainly positive’ (Rye) which makes it a perfect medium to discharge negative energy. When our bodies directly connect to the earth beneath our feet we experience a sense of relief. Whether this is done through a walk barefoot on a beach, connecting with the ground for prayers, or performing yoga exercises negative energy is absorbed by the earth and replaced with positive energy.

Another reason behind deciding to build the retreat underground is due to the earth’s properties. The earth is a porous material that can easily absorb water and can maintain the temperature of a space within it. Due to the connection I would like to achieve by creating a transitional space from one environment to the other, there will be openings to allow for that connection between both environments.

Besides, Dubai has a hot and humid climate for most of the year, but the underground walk will naturally retain a cool and breezy atmosphere that will allow people to have a pleasant experience within the space.

Earth Energy Transfer

Earth

Earth Properties

Porous

Passive Cooling

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Moreover, we, as inhabitants of this earth have a deep connection with the soil we live and breathe on. ‘We come to this earth with a body that we leave to the earth when we depart’ (Franck, 31). In other words, from the day we are born we grow on this earth and build it up with us, and even when we pass away we are still growing this earth by becoming a part of it biologically. We are one with the earth. It has nurtured us like a mother and her child, and this connection is something I wish to highlight.

According to ‘Architecture from the Inside Out’, ‘We all began inside. In the womb, intimately embraced and nurtured by warm flesh, we were contained and held.

We could hear, touch, and feel, but we could see only light and shadow’ (Franck, 18). In other words, the underground space can give the impression of being embraced and held what with the way the earth surrounds it. I have decided to create this underground space not to isolate people but to show them what they are missing by diffusing themselves in a life infected by technology.

Furthermore, I wish to strip the underground walk from any technology and cell service to allow for maximum engagement of visual and auditory senses, as well as increase physical interaction with the space and people within it. By removing cell service I aim to reduce or deduct the negative energy that radio waves bring to us so that people can gain positive energy and relieve their bodies from stress.

This will give people a glimpse of a primitive life our ancestors used to lead before technology entered our lives, and create a ‘Primitive Future’. It will allow people to appreciate our senses, the primitive way of living, and help elongate their attention span.

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Sou Fujimoto’s phrase, ‘Primitive Future’, revolves around the reconstruction of architecture from its fundamental state as a response to the understanding of human behavior, the development of fundamental relationships between the human body and space, then creating a new form of architecture. In other words, using the primitive human needs and behavior to shape architecture.

The two spaces will be connected at two main points to create a smooth transition from one space to the next.

Those two nodes will help raise awareness of the issue with the sudden change in atmosphere. The surprises you feel when transitioning from a vibrant environment to a muted space, and then from the quiet space back into the environment we live in will help people understand how technology has fragmented our attention. It will give people a glimpse of the calm that could be if we take a small step away from technology.

‘One cannot have order without disorder for they are paired couples. They mutually define each other’ (Harvey, 39). Hence, what I am trying to accomplish is to use the disorder that technology has created to create a space of order. By creating two extremely different areas that directly oppose one another people will be able to see two worlds, the one they live in and a glimpse of what may be.

Throughout the coming chapters, I will be highlighting topics that will regulate the articulation of space and the expected reaction of its inhabitants. These topics are mainly related to social media and the limitations they have set on their users, and the levels of sensory stimuli we are overloaded with through these applications.

Social Media

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.1 What is Social Media?

Social media is a term we, as modern-day users, throw around in conversations on a regular basis.

Let us break down the term and look at each word individually.

Social: ‘refers to interacting with other people by sharing information with them and receiving information from them’ (Nations).

Media: ‘refers to an instrument of communication’ (Nations).

Therefore, we can define social media as a ‘webbased communication tool that enables people to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming information’ (Nations).

Social media has become an essential element in our lives, creating a platform for communication and the sharing of ideas. It is a medium for freedom of expression over a worldwide level.

We tend to look at social media as a positive addition to our rather mundane lives, adding noise and light to, what may seem as, an otherwise dull and blank screen. But have we overlooked its side effects simply because the bright lights and loud noises enchant us?

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2

.2 Evolution of Social Media

According to the article ‘What Exactly Is Social Media?’, the ‘evolution [of social media] has

been in the works since the late 70s’ (Nations).

Nevertheless, it is with the birth of the Internet in the year 2000 that our means of communication undertook the biggest change. More than ‘100 million people’ (Hale) have been able to socialize Online since. Applications are constantly evolving, even as we breath, to change the way in which we communicate with one another.

Applications seek to outshine one another in the form of interaction they offer their users. If we look at most applications we currently use, each has its own unique quality. Nevertheless, it is the restrictions they force upon us that are most intriguing and what distinguishes one from the other. Although they are limitations, we see them as challenges to our creative abilities.

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Therefore, we mold our creativity around those limitations and develop an advanced and optimized form of communication. However, although those limitations fuel our creativity they are also subjecting our attention span to grow shorter with time. So, let us take a closer look at several applications and draw a comparison of the evolution of their limitations.

Type of Limitation

Application

Application Limitations

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2

.2.1 Media Options

#2witter ||

Let me take you back to a time when Twitter was the hype.

8:52 PM - 11 Oct 2017

Based on the trend at the time, texting, Twitter was developed as an ‘SMS based platform’ (MacArthur).

9:01 PM - 11 Oct 2017

With the idea of SMS messages being short and brief as the basis for the design of the application, that resulted in the application’s individuality.

9:13 PM - 11 Oct 2017

It was the first application to set a limitation to the number of characters you can use to broadcast a message. 140 characters, that’s all you had.

9:13 PM - 11 Oct 2017

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This developed ‘new jargon’ (MacArthur) amongst its users, where people developed a creative method to tweet messages within the boundaries of this limitation.

10:00 PM - 11 Oct 2017

For example, users would add the ‘@’ symbol before usernames to symbolize replying to specific users 10:02 PM - 11 Oct 2017

users would use hashtags to highlight trending topics they are interested in or are worth mentioning to others 10:05 PM - 11 Oct 2017

or users would start a message with ‘RT’ to symbolize broadcasting a message that has already been posted by another user.

10:05 PM - 11 Oct 2017

Messages grew shorter with time that if we look at text now that is composed of dense paragraphs we tend to look the other way.

10:05 PM - 11 Oct 2017

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@2witter_2006 Tell me about it

10:13 PM - 11 Oct 2017

Even if we do put some effort into reading said paragraphs we would skim through the material.

10:13 PM - 28 Oct 2017

We absorb selective words that we find intriguing and are familiar with.

12:00 AM - 28 Oct 2017

Hence, we can no longer focus our attention long enough on tasks at hand.

12:12 AM - 28 Oct 2017

I think that’s enough about Twitter. #Moveon 10:13 PM - 28 Oct 2017

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#1nsta

386 likes

Not far after the launch of Twitter, Instagram was released to serve as a ‘mobile photo-sharing social media platform’ (Howe). The application developed a new form of communication in the social media network, allowing people to use only visual information to convey a message or idea.

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225 likes

Photo filters integrated into the application allowed users to accentuate their photographs. But it changed the way we share photos with the restriction it has on the frame of an image. A square, you had to fit a photo which is traditionally longitudinal whether it is in landscape or portrait orientation within a square frame.

The cropped frame in which photos must fit in in Instagram may have taken away an essential element of the photo desired to be shared. Hence, developing a distinct form of visual communication that solely ties with this application. By creating a restriction to the shape of a photo we are accustomed to, we are now forced to absorb visual data in a smaller size. ...more #Photography #Photo #InstaDaily #Filter #Art #Mermories #Photooftheday #artistic #trends #photographyart #photographyislife #memories #socialmedia

Instagram allows users to explore images posted by other users through the Explore tab. Here we find a grid of images related to ones we Like and that match our areas of interest.

Alongside the limited size of images, we have grown accustomed to scanning through visual data quite quickly.

With the latest modification of uploading videos, we are also distracted by the movement of previews of posted media. On the Explore tab, we now find a preview of videos that play on a loop on the top right corner.

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These videos take up a larger space on the grid of posted media, therefore drawing our attention on a constant basis.

We are bombarded with a large selection of images with contrasting colors as visual stimuli. We are distracted by the many images that our attention is fragmented and our eyes float through the images rapidly instead of studying a photograph and the components it captures.

#Snap

Snapchat has undergone so much modification since its launch in 2011. The application started out as a photo-sharing based form of communication, much like Instagram. But it is the ‘temporary nature of Snapchat’s content’ (Martin) that sets it apart from other similar applications. Capitalizing on the new currency of attention, Snapchat allows its users to share images with a time limitation in which images can be viewed.

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You had one chance to see images for only a few seconds before they disappeared. Snapchat captures our attention for multiple seconds forcing us to drink in the images we see quickly before they disappear.

Not only did Snapchat limit the time but the ability to view images again. At the beginning, users were not allowed to replay images if they wished to see them again. Hence overloading our senses to push our brains into capturing as much information as possible in a mere few seconds.

The next year, Snapchat added a short video feature that allowed people to share short recordings.

However, the time limitation was not removed hence causing people to speed up the way they speak to cram as much information into said short clip.

As a user of the application, I have noticed that I have developed the ability to speak quickly to deliver an entire story within a few seconds. I have also noticed this occurring amongst younger family members, and it has caused a difficulty in communication between people of different age groups and different levels of exposure to such an application.

To summarize, the limitations set by the developed social media applications have implicated our thinking and in turn our attention span. Due to our tendency to adapt our behavior to accommodate changes in technology, as size and time limitations decrease in size out attention span follows along. ‘With Pandora’s box now open, how do we control what has escaped? A change of attitude and a change of direction are what are surely needed’ (Harvey, 129).

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In other words, now that we have designed and released such a monster to live amongst us, we need to find a way to retrace the steps of its creation to eliminate its dangerous effects.

Okay enough about Snap already.

Those were probably the longest paragraphs you’ve ever seen in a chat.

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.3 Sensory Overload

The applications I have discussed previously are only three of many we come across every

day. But they all share one thing in common, the senses they engage. By developing applications that mainly allow for communication through images, text, and videos, it is safe to assume that the two main senses that are engaged are the visual and auditory senses.

Perhaps they have been subjected to over-stimulation due the quantity of images and videos we encounter in mere seconds through a feed.

Through the continuous development of applications, we are exposed to a lot of information in our hands and our heads. It seems the flow of information is not likely to slow down but increase in pace.

With so much information and the fast-paced life we are leading, it is uncertain whether at some point this will exhaust our minds and cause us to shut down completely. To mute the environment, we live in and step back to take a breath.

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What is sensory overload?

It occurs when one or more of our senses are over-stimulated by a specific environment. This phenomenon correlates with social media applications that have feeds of images and videos that are continuously uploaded by users worldwide.

From experience, the Explore tab in Instagram serves as a good example of sensory overload. Images are organized in a grid to allow users to take in images and scroll down to find even more images. Soon the information becomes too much for your brain to register that you start to shut down and scroll through images without absorbing any information at all.

‘The problem we face is that much of this information grabs our attention and seems very interesting at first glance. At the same time, much of the information is also unimportant, disposable and it distracts us from more meaningful pursuit. To make matters worse, when we spend a lot of time consuming information from our social media streams, we have tendency to forget what we have consumed anyway’ (Pearce). This tendency is referred to as the ‘Google Effect’ as, much like on Google, we skim through a large quantity of images before we settle on taking a closer look at one that draws our attention.

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Think about it in terms of audio for a change. When we listen to music, the melodies created by the many instruments blend into one another that we often hear one distinct sound. We filter out all the noise to focus on a single instrument that strums a melody that can hold our attention. ‘Time and attention are needed to notice [the] desirable of undesirable conditions and circumstances’ (Franck, 41). In other words, to distinguish sounds or unique elements in our environment, we need both time and attention. Both items, time and attention, are decreasing and decorated with too much light and noise that they lose their essence. We lose track of how much time we spend on social media applications, and our attention becomes shorter as we sift through media in a matter of seconds.

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.4 Senses Control Flow of Information

As a response to the limitations set by social

media applications, I am aiming to create a

space that blends with the sensory stimuli in its

environment. The first environment will reflect the fast-pace we currently sift through visual stimuli, with the many distractions to portray the effect of sensory overload in social media applications. I will allow people to experience the effect of sensory overload first-hand to lure them into the underground space where their senses can return to a balanced state.

The context of the site will help in customizing the architectural behavior of the first environment since it is somewhat an extension of the environment we live in. The difference between this environment and the one we live in will be the way in which visual and auditory stimuli will be heightened to exaggerate the effects of social media on our attention.

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The combination of noise from circulation, movement of people, and the lights from buildings, cars, and street lights in addition to the fragmented architecture will meld together. It will encourage people to behave in a certain way, to move faster through the space and absorb visual information in small portions as they divide their attention on an overload of intricate details.

Whereas the underground environment’s behavior will feed off of the first environment to create a direct and extreme contrast. The underground space will have bigger spans of visual stimuli in its composition that will give people more to look at for a prolonged period of time.

As opposed to boundaries created through physical and static walls in the first environment, the atmosphere of the underground space will feel more open due to the immateriality of the boundaries within it.

There will be less control in the underground space in terms where its occupants can go, how they behave in the space, and what they can do within it. The sound of human activity will travel throughout the underground space giving hints of the whereabouts of other occupants and the size of the space they will encounter as they continue their journey.

Hence, I aim to use the properties of one environment to determine those of the other so that although they are opposites, there will still be a harmony between both extremes.

Thinking is Greater when Speed of Incoming Information is Low

Attention is Shorter when Media is Smaller

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3

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Attention Span

3

.1 Human Attention Span

According to recent research, scientist have concluded that the human attention has receded

from ‘12 seconds in [the year] 2000 […] to eight seconds’ (Watson).

According to the article “Humans Have Shorter Attention Span than Goldfish, Thanks to Smartphones”, ‘Researchers surveyed 2,000 participants in Canada and studied the brain activity of 112 others using electroencephalograms[...] research follows a study by the National Centre for Biotechnology Information and the National Library of Medicine in the US that found 79 per cent of respondents regularly “dual screen” by using portable devices while watching TV’ (Watson).

In other words, we tend to fragment our attention and distribute it on multiple tasks because we quickly lose interest after a short period of time.

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9 Seconds

2000

8 Seconds

2015

2015

Human Attention Span (Seconds)

Human Attention Span

12 8 4 0

X

2000 2015 2030 Time (Years) Actual regression Projected regression (At same rate)

Human Attention Span

‘Dual Screening’ Scenario

21 %

79 %

Dual Screen Single Screen Percentage of Users Who ‘Dual Screen’ (Study on 2,000 Canadian participants - (Watson))

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Movies are capable of recounting long stories that span over weeks and perhaps years in a maximum of two to three hours. This may be considered as the largest size of media we view that can hold our attention for hours. Nevertheless, today’s movies have the tendency of speeding-up the succession of events rather than delivering them at a constant pace. This is to meet with the currency of the shortening attention span.

In comparison to the brief videos we record and share on social media applications, the transition between events is considered much slower in movies than what we have grown familiar to. That is why we keep our mobile devices nearby to offer ourselves a reprieve from the slow motion we have outgrown.

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.2 Human Reaction Time

The reaction time is ‘a measure of the quickness an organism responds to some sort of stimulus’ (Backyard Brains). This notion is often used in

physics to measure the reaction time a human being before committing an accident. But in the context of social media and the attention span, for the sake of discussion, consider the attention span as the accident that is a response to over-stimulation of our senses.

Let’s take a classroom scenario for example, where we usually try our level best to pay attention to the lecturer. Suddenly our attention quickly turns to a person who walks into class late.

First, we hear the door click to open since it is the first change in the environment we are in.

Our brain registers the direction from which the sound is coming from and then we turn to look in that direction.

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According to ‘Backyard Brains’, ‘The average reaction time for humans is 0.25 seconds to a visual stimulus, 0.17 for an audio stimulus, and 0.15 seconds for a touch stimulus’ (Backyard Brains).

Hence, we can deduct that the sequence in which our brain registers information starts with the tactile sense, followed by audio and visual senses. Since I am focusing on audio and visual stimuli, depending on the previous information it seems we absorb media differently to what we assume.

We assume that due to the quantity of visual stimuli we are exposed to, our visual sense would act faster than audio but it appears to be the contrary. I wish to take advantage of this information by using the audio sense to stimulate the visual sense and enable people to perceive a space differently to what they are accustomed to.

Human Reaction Time (Seconds)

0.30 0.25 0.20 0.15 0.10 0.05 Visual

Auditory

Tactile

Sense

Human Reaction Time

Sequence of Information Registration

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3

.3 Focal Senses to Elongate Attention

Music is composed of multiple layers of melodies

created by different instruments, and these melodies often loop to create a mesmerizing composition. Although the melodies loop, it is the way they fade in and out that causes a change in tempo in the composition. This change is what draws our attention for a span of time longer than that of visual material.

When we listen to music there is more focus on sound than other elements in our environment.

We tend to close our eyes to fully absorb the sounds we hear, and that helps us exercise our visual sense as it is stimulated to create visual response in our brains. We begin to picture images that relate to the sounds we hear instead of associating sounds to images we see.

So, what if sound and subtle changes within it

can help in sustaining our attention long enough to elongate it in the long term?

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As a response to the short attention span and the human reaction time, I wish to create a space defined by two senses: visual and audio. I aim to articulate the space using muted audio and visual stimuli to allow one-on-one physical interaction between its visitors. I aim to use the senses that we are most engaged with through social media to create a space stripped of technology.

By isolating visual and auditory senses so that one can stimulate the other, I will allow people to perceive the space in a different way. Besides affecting their perception of space, my mission is to create a balance in stimuli and, hopefully, help elongate the human attention span.

Space Phenomenology

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.1 Primitive Senses

‘The world is given to us, through perception, as

a multitude of visibly and tactilely separate items.

Their physical boundaries, apparent to sight and touch, delimit them from each other. To survive and to thrive in the world, humans depend upon physical, perceptual distinctions’ (Franck, 163).

In other words, without our senses we would not be able to perceive the world around us. Our senses are essential to our survival and if we continue to push them into a constant war with social media, we may end up pacifying them and risk becoming a numb walking body hosting a trapped lively soul within it.

Our ancestors relied on their senses for survival so why did we move so far away from feeling to relying on technology to secure our survival?

‘Technology determines the type of society. They feed on each other’ (Harvey, 128), but we do not let technology feed off us but rather consume us and our lives. Besides, it is by the work of our hands that this has become of us, therefore it is our duty to take a pause and break it down to retrieve our true selves.

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4

.1.1 Light and Shadow

‘Light from above lifts our minds and souls. While lifting our souls up, the light comes down, making

a space in the shadow’ (Franck, 95). I am aiming to use the abundance of light in our country to form a system of communication and circulation.

The light that penetrates the underground space will seem ethereal as it falls down into the space and will draw people’s attention to the sky.

By luring them to look up I will show them the life they are leading with all the loud noise, fast movement, and bright lights above them, and give them a glimpse of what could become of them if they step away from it.‘As far as sight is concerned all objects are the result of the light that hits them to the extent that if there is no light, there is no object’ (Franck, 94).

I aim to play with light and darkness to create the illusion of space with the immateriality of light itself. We are often drawn to the light when we are placed in a rather dark environment. I will use this idea to control the circulation within the underground space, so where there is light people will follow.

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Forest of Light Sou Fujimoto described this project as ’a forest which consists of countless light cones made from spotlights above. These lights pulsate and constantly undergo transience of state and flow. People meander through this forest, as if lured by the charm of the light. Light and people interact with one another, its existence defining the transition of the other’ (Gintoff). The cones of light created by the spotlights on the ceiling create an immaterial space that people then occupy.

The way the cones are organized creates a lit path that people can follow, therefore controlling circulation within the space. Visually we can see the boundaries of these cones of light and they define a space, within the cone of light, but light’s physical property is not static or solid.

In other words, there is a limitation to the size of space but there are no physical boundaries. There is a level of control that is dissolved which is created by the light cones and the ability of a person to decide to cross its boundaries. Although there are two controlling elements they can coexist harmoniously.

Sou Fujimoto explained ‘The reason why we finally didn’t use any physical things – only light – is kind of a representation of a really short moment. It happens there, and then it’s gone without anything left’ (Morby).

This is linked to the effect of time limitation and immaterial boundaries social media applications, specifically SnapChat, set upon their users. Fujimoto ‘aimed to blur the parameters of space with edges dissolving into their surrounding environment’ (Morby).

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‘[F]og and mirrored walls were also added to create the illusion of an infinite and immersive landscape’ (Morby).

For a light beam to be seen, light must scatter through a medium composed of particles that are more condensed than air particles. Therefore, artificial fog was used in this project to somehow solidify the light beam from the spotlights.

With Dubai’s natural humid and dusty climate this light scattering phenomena can naturally occur. We can control openings to highlight specific areas,and allow dust or water particles in the air to scatter light and create a visible light beam. We would unconsciously follow the path of the light beam with our vision and follow its direction.

Therefore creating an immaterial controlling element that triggers an unconscious reaction.

Moreover, using natural light to create an immaterial space that can be occupied we can feel the warmth from the sunlight that formulates the space created by its light beam. Therefore you can feel the boundaries of the light beam, the immaterial boundary, as you stand beneath it in comparison to the cold and unlit areas around it.

This is contrary to the behavior people showcase when traveling around Dubai though. Due to the excruciating heat brought on by the sun, people often run to darker and shaded areas. I will do the opposite in my project, so instead of people rushing away from light I will use it to lure them in. I will create a vibrant space on-ground that will attract people, and a shadowy environment that will encourage them to chase for light and appreciate it in the underground walk.

Immaterial Boundaries

Transition between Immaterial Boundaries

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‘Shadow is not the absence of light but the result of beams of light encountering an obstacle. It is the softer and cooler side of light’ (Franck, 94). In other words, it is also light that creates the dark. Darkness often gives people a cold feeling which is something we crave in a hot and humid environment such as the one we live in.

So by creating a shaded space I am feeding people’s hunger for a cooler environment.

The fragmented behavior of the first space people will encounter will help create those shadows and lure people towards it during the day. If the heat of the exterior environment becomes unbearable, the underground space becomes their getaway. So the opposing environments will feed off each other and keep people intrigued in the space for a longer span of time.

‘The sources and kinds of light and atmosphere they make help tell people how to behave, how loudly to speak, how gently to move, how much intimacy is invited’ (Franck, 96). In other words, the exposure to light affects the way we behave in a space, so by providing a naturally changing exposure of light I can control people’s behavior at a slow pace that matches the slow changes in the natural environment.

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4

.1.2 Sound

Besides being able to see our surroundings, our

ancestors used their hearing sense to help them hunt during the day and protect themselves at night. The sounds we hear every day differ from one place to another. Sound travels in different wavelengths and has different amplitudes that travel through a space and, much like light, can bounce off surfaces.

Moreover, in a space without an interior wall, like a cave, sound does not have many surfaces to bounce off of therefore we hear echoes.

In dwellings we live in today, we have so many items and walls that sound waves are absorbed, and we hear short and direct sounds that make spaces feel cluttered and small. I aim to use the way sound travels through a space to help people to understand its size. I will articulate space to allow for differences in texture so that people can hear their movement through the space, and the sound they hear will stimulate their visual sense and will allow them to experience the space differently.

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4

.2 ‘Inside Out’

‘From birth onwards, even though we are forever inside some spaces and outside others, the

primary experience remains one of being inside’ (Franck, 18). In other words, there is a sense of safety we experience within a space like it is embracing us and protecting us from the dangers on the outside. We have always been nurtured by spaces in some sense whether it is inside or outside.

‘Inside we can smell, feel, hear as well as see the space for inhabitation, outside we can see the exterior surface of its shell and perhaps we can see into it […] Inside our movements are restrained by the limits of the space, we are subject to the forces within the space. Outside we are not subject by those limits.’ (Franck, 19).

To some extent, the underground space may be considered a restriction as it is not widespread and is enclosed by firm borders, the earth around it. However, once inside a space we don’t think of the exterior walls as the limitations but the interior walls within the space.

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A space that is not divided by static walls has a different effect on the overall space as there are no boundaries you cannot cross, and that is what I wish to achieve. I wish to create the illusion of boundaries that are immaterial to represent the limitations enforced upon us on social media applications, only they would not restrict people but help them realize that they can be crossed.

‘The inside, the space felt but not seen, can be given significance only when it becomes an outside – the solid, the form, the visible object’ (Franck, 20). By creating a smooth transition between the two opposing environments, the boundary between inside and outside can be dissolved making both spaces seem as one large space.

By incorporating features of the outside environment into the inside environment we can feel the space rather than only see it.

The Snow Tokojin Yoshioka’s installment, ‘The Snow’, embodies the idea of bringing the outside environment inside. The installation is composed of a 15 meter long tank filled with light feathers that are blown within the container to simulate the feeling of floating snow. Snow is a natural element we associate with an outside environment but the way he contained the light feathers in a transparent glass tank plays on the idea of having an immaterial boundary within a closed space.

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Although contained, the environment inside the tank is exposed with the transparency of glass. This is an art installation that captures ‘the essence that human beings would sense. It is neither arranging nor minimizing the forms, but integrating the phenomena [...] of the nature into the design, [to] see how it would affect and inspire ourselves’ (Etherington).

The space around the installation is quite dark so that the installation itself can stand out in the natural light beaming into the room. As the feathers float within the container they block some of that light with their movement. You can still see through the gaps but the feathers create a boundary to the light you seek in a rather dark space.

Feathers are light and can easily be pushed aside with a swipe of your hand. So if we consider the floating feathers as a wall that you can pass through then you have physically crossed a boundary as you move through them.

The installation stimulates our senses which in turn triggers memories. Although we are aware that the container holds feathers we choose to perceive the floating elements as snow. Here we see the power of senses on our perception of the world.

Besides, although the space is seen and at first thought may be thought of as a visual stimulus, it is felt more than seen.

‘The Snow’ Installation by Tokojin Yoshioka

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4

.3 Immaterial Definition of Space

‘The built environment influences people both physically and emotionally’ (Franck, 5). In other

words, the spaces we create through enclosures

have always influenced the way we behave, and so do the spaces we do not enclose.

A space does not necessarily have to have solid walls in order to label it as a space. If we take a park as an example, it is an open space without boundaries as far as the eye can see but we still call it a ‘space’. It is a matter of control we exert on a space that makes one area different from another.

Let us continue with a park example. When we create pathways we control circulation through the park, those are the boundaries that direct us to travel to specific areas. However, if we eliminate those solid pathways and allow grass and plantation to freely spread throughout, then we begin to create our own boundaries within a space.

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A cluster of trees would act as a barrier indirectly telling us not to cross an area, but we can still choose to cross through the space between those trees. Here the boundaries become a choice rather than a rule enforced upon us.

I am aiming to achieve this effect with walls I use to create the underground space. Seeing as I wish to stimulate the audio and visual senses to elongate the attention span, I am planning on using two elements that are natural to produce immaterial boundaries. I will use sunlight and its changing exposure throughout the day to create ‘light spaces’ that will continuously change with the sun orientation.

The slow change in the space created by the penetrating sun beams will portray a slow pace of change, and stimulate the visual sense at a slower pace than we have become accustomed to through social media applications. Hence, the same spot will not look the same once revisited so visitors will always be intrigued by the change of space. This is similar to the effect New York Times Square’s many screens and continuously changing advertisements have on the people visiting the area. Although the screens do not move, it is the change in visual stimuli that keeps people rooted in the same spot for a long time.

Moreover, I will use water and its ability to create sound through movement to stimulate the auditory sense and create ‘water walls’ that we can easily pass through.

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Picture a wall created by water droplets falling from the ceiling at a slow rhythm, the sound the droplets make as they hit the floor is different per drop. Hence, the audio and visual senses are stimulated simultaneously.

We can also see through those droplets and even cross underneath them; therefore the ‘wall’ these droplets create becomes immaterial. By playing with the speed in which the droplets fall and the amount of droplets, we can control the sound and make some walls seem more immaterial than others due to the intensity of the falling water.

‘People who simply pass by may remember what was there before, welcome or reject a new presence, and develop new associations’ (Franck, 166). Using these two natural elements I will create a continuously changing space that will keep its visitors interested throughout the year. They will develop new associations with the morphing space with the change of time throughout the year. Not one area will look and sound the same, creating new memories and different interactions. These changes, although subtle and slow, will help elongate the attention span.

THE HUMAN

WORLD...

What a mess.

- The Little Mermaid

Data Collection and Observation

5

.1 Contextual Analysis of Selected Case Studies

5.1.1 New York Times Square

5.1.2 Teshima Museum

5.1.3 National Museum of Writing

5.1.4 Brazil Pavilion

5.1.5 Museum of the Human Body

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5

.1.1 New York Times Square

Location: Times Square, Manhattan, NY 10036, USA Architect: Snøhetta Completion Year: 2017 BUA: 9290.304 Sqm ‘Snøhetta’s design re-imagined the stretch of Broadway from 42nd to 47th streets, replacing the existing streets with a continuous hardscape connecting building front to building front. New seating options [...] allow pedestrians to occupy the space at a relaxed pace, as opposed to the aneurysm-inducing shuffle that visitors were subjected to for decades’ (Lynch).

Dubai is a city filled with people from all around the globe visiting as tourists or working as residents.

The city of New York quite similar as it is very

dense and busy 24/7 with people going to work and tourists flying in to visit points of attraction.

New York’s Times Square may be considered the epitome of a space that reflects the sensory overload.

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250 550 Scale in m

Project Limits

7th Street

Broadway

Location: Times Square, Manhattan, NY 10036, USA

250 Scale in m

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Before Reconstruction

After Reconstruction

Before Reconstruction

After Reconstruction

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Pedestrian Vehicle Circulation Before

Pedestrian Vehicle Circulation in 2017

4m

12m

8.5m

13m

3m

13m

3m

Approx. 40.5m Existing

Existing

Footpath Circulation Before

4m

12m

Road

8.5m Approx. 40.5m

Existing

Existing

Road Reclaimed

Footpath

Road

as Public Space

Circulation in 2017

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The combination of the amount of people that visit it daily, the noise of traffic and people moving within it, and the tens of screens with continuously changing bright lights and images give an optimum example of sensory overload.

I wish to look at how media has been used to draw people to a space. There is so much happening around you that your attention quickly switches from side to side to absorb the information, but with the media continuously changing you cannot lose interest. You become enchanted by the bright lights, the loud noise, and constant change that you either mute out everything to focus on one element or force your attention to switch between spaces. That is why, perhaps, people spend a lot of their time in the square.

By highlighting the elements that act as visual stimuli we can begin to understand how much of it fills the space we occupy. We can then deduct that they consume most of the visual frame which we may not notice since they blend with the architecture and the environment.

I will use this to develop an architectural behavior that would act as the visually stimulating element in a controlled environment. In other words, I will invert the behavior of New York Times Square so that the screens become the architectural elements that keep people intrigued in a space.

Highlight Visual Stimulus

Highlight Visual Stimulus

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Billboards on 7th Avenue Height Under 65ft Marquee

Area (Sq ft) 108 7000

Under 65ft

900

Above 65ft

640

Above 65ft

1536

Above 65ft

300

Under 65ft

256

Under 65ft

1600

Under 65ft

720

Under 65ft

720

Above 65ft

1500

Under 65ft

750

Under 65ft

300

Above 65ft

1200

Under 65ft

1152

Under65ft

320

Above 65ft

600

Under 65ft

800

Total SF Average SF

20402 1133

33.30 %

61.10 %

5.60 %

Under 65 ft

Marquee

Above 65 ft

Billboard Heights on 7th Avenue

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|124

Billboards on Times Square Height

Area (Sq ft)

Height

Area (Sq ft)

Under 65ft

40 Marquee

4130

Above 65 ft

234 Marquee

936

Above 65 ft

2703 Under 65ft

4000

Above 65 ft

2120 Above 65 ft

5200

Above 65 ft

1400 Under 65ft

640

Under 65ft

16000 Marquee

864

Above 65 ft

925 Above 65 ft

720

Above 65 ft

2665 Above 65 ft

528

Above 65 ft

2860 Above 65 ft

704

Under 65ft

432 Above 65 ft

1440

Marquee

1968 Under 65ft

2400

Above 65 ft

7674 Under 65ft

4200

Under 65ft

1400

Under 65ft

1000 Total SF

Marquee

10080 Average SF

Under 65ft

3456

Under 65ft

896

Under 65ft

3840

Under 65ft

960

Under 65ft

2475

Under 65ft

648

Under 65ft

1620

Under 65ft

810

Under 65ft

2200

Under 65ft

1280

Under 65ft

1152

Under 65ft

1008

Under 65ft

2100

Above 65 ft

1575

101283 2470

12.20 %

34.10 %

Under 65 ft

53.70 %

Marquee

Above 65 ft

Billboard Heights on Times Square

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Billboards on Broadway Height

Area (Sq ft)

under 65ft

3150 above 65ft

2720

under 65ft

646 under 65ft

2000

under 65ft

3684 above 65ft

504

marquee

245 under 65ft

240

marquee

2160 under 65ft

360

under 65ft

925 under 65ft

1140

marquee

304 above 65ft

480

under 65ft

552 above 65ft

1980

under 65ft

2800 above 65ft

700

under 65ft

391 under 65ft

1800

under 65ft

2250 above 65ft

1352

under 65ft

2204 above 65ft

728

marquee

560 under 65ft

450

above 65ft

4200 above 65ft

270

above 65ft

15000 above 65ft

1456

under 65ft

1600 above 65ft

3200

above 65ft

5000 above 65ft

3135

marquee

450 above 65ft

2340

under 65ft

2040 above 65ft

7752

above 65ft

768 above 65ft

7752

under 65ft

702 above 65ft

9288

under 65ft

900 above 65ft

15040

under 65ft

4950 under 65ft

392

under 65ft

1296 under 65ft

1120

marquee

456 above 65ft

780

under 65ft

462 under 65ft

364

under 65ft

455 under 65ft

504

under 65ft

560 above 65ft

2000

under 65ft

300 under 65ft

900

under 65ft

600

above 65ft

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Height

Area (Sq ft)

above 65ft above 65ft

1250 Total SF 480 Average SF 2052

134139 2129.19

40.30 %

50.00 %

9.70 %

Under 65 ft

Marquee

Above 65 ft

Billboard Heights on Broadway

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|128

2470

Average Billboard Size (Sq Ft)

2500

2242

2000 1500 1133 1000 500 0

7th Ave

Broadway

Times Square

Average Billboard Size

65 ft

65 ft

Under 65 ft

Marquee

Above 65 ft

Average Billboard Height Vs Human Scale

5

.1.2 Teshima Museum

Location: Takamatsu, Kagawa Prefecture, Japan Architect: Ryue Nishizawa Completion Year: 2010 BUA: 2400 Sqm The Teshima museum was a proposal made in

2010 by architect Ryue Nishizawa for the Setouchi International Art Festival. The museum is located on a small hill along the shore of Teshima, on a small island near the city of Takamatsu (Kim).

The concept is derived from a giant drop of water falling on a topographical location. The structure is ‘pierced at two points to establish a visual relationship between the undulating controlled inner and outer space’ (Kim).

‘There, the sound of the waves and the wind in the trees from the nearby coast reverberates in the smooth interior surfaces, while the changing position of the sun and clouds gradually transforms the atmosphere’ (Kim). One material forms walls, ceilings, and floors, which creates a dynamic resembling the arrangement and geometry of the surface tension of liquid (Kim).

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The space is clear with no obstructions within it, allowing people’s attention to freely roam around the space and up through the elliptical penetrations on the roof. The art installation in the museum is hidden or invisible to the eye as it is situated below the ground. The installation is composed of a series of pipes that release droplets of water from below the ground and upwards to the surface we stand on.

According to ‘Teshima Art Museum | Art’ article, ‘water trickles out from the ground, here and there, throughout the day’. Since the space is empty, the main elements that would draw people’s attention are the water droplets and glimpses of the changing environment outside of the space through the roof penetrations. The water droplets rise from the ground at a very slow pace and accumulate in puddle over the span of the day. We are unaware of their apprearance until they start to move down the natural slopes of the hill. Our attention is then immediately drawn to the moving element within the static and unmoving space.

We are often attracted to physical elements that we can engage with immediately through our visual and tactile senses. We seek lively elements that we can interact with and when we find none we walk away. This project shows an opposite effect, where we seek life and movement in the static space for a period of time and just when we think there is none, we find movement in the moving water droplets. ‘People who simply pass by may remember what was there before, welcome or reject a new presence, and develop new associations’ (Franck, 166). Although minute, the subtle changes within the space are the thread to keeping us intrigued in the space.

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300 900 Scale in m

Location: 761-4662 Kagawa Prefecture, Shozu District, Teshimakarato, 607, Japan

Project Limits

10 Scale in m

Water Drop Earth Concept Diagram

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Shape Finding using Liquid Strain Energy Analysis

Pedestrian Vehicle Circulation

Art Space Ticket Center CafĂŠ and Shop Restroom Lockers Project Program

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A

A

B

B

C

C

D

D

E

E

Obstacle-Free Space - Plan

SECTION A-A

SECTION B-B

SECTION C-C

SECTION D-D

SECTION E-E Obstacle-Free Space - Section

Obstacle-Free Space

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|140

Attention-Seeking Element

2

1

Control Attention

1 2 3

Control Attention

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|142

5

.1.3 National Museum of Writing

Location: Songdo, South Korea

Architects: Jia Min Nancy Hou and Josh De Sousa

Completion Year: Competition Proposal BUA: 21367.7 sqm The museum explores a universal form of human communication: the written form. ‘Rather than employing stereotypical historic architectural forms, the designers look for places where the fundamentals of writing and architecture overlap – solid to void relationships, the trace of gesture on surface, the meaning in the depth of a mark, penetration, or extrusion’ (Chaya).

I am interested in the way the architects developed the overall form of the building from prototypical three dimensional forms. ‘Rather than a singular building, the museum reads as a below-grade, unearthed village’ (Chaya). The effect of clustering prototypical modules together and sinking them underground allowed for dynamic movement on-ground.

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The museum appears as though it is a site of ruins that has survived and still thrives with the modern world. It as though the earth has eroded to reveal what is hidden beneath it.

Composed of modules, ‘the voids of each module serve as light wells, clerestories, and small courtyards while simultaneously providing a means of partitioning spaces’ (Chaya).

By combining the different three dimensional forms the architects have developed from Hungal typography, voids are naturally created once the forms are brought together in one cluster. These voids create a connection between people occupying the space on three different levels: on-ground, underground, and the courtyards in between.

Each level stimulates a different type of behavior and interaction between the occupants and the space.

On-ground, people can experience the movement of the earth beneath them while the space maintains a continuity with its surrounding existing environment.

Underground, people experience the same movement in the ceilings above them and through the partitions the forms naturally create when they are brought together.

The courtyards are the link between the indoor and outdoor spaces. Here people can experience both spacial behaviors in one space, so they can feel the movement in the walls but still maintain the continuity and openness that the on-ground space provides.

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400 Scale in m

Location:Songdo, South Korea

170

Project Limits

Scale in m

Project Limits and Existing Surroundings

Proposal Project Limits

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|150

2 3

1

1 - Bus Drop-Off 2 - Loading Dock 3 - Parking Site Access - Vehicular

Pedestrian Bicycle Vehicle Circulation Diagram

Vowels

Vowels

Vowels

Consonants

Hungal Alphabet Rotation

Extract Hungal Character Geometry

Develop Module Geometry by combining Character Geometries

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|152

3D Module Geometry after Subtraction A

C

B

C

A

B

B

A

D

A

A E

A E

A

A D

C

C

E E

C

D E

E E

C

B

D B

E C

3D Module Geometry Combinations and Types

Cluster Module Types

Site Manipulation

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|154

Public Programs Ticketed Programs

Staff Programs Public Circulation Staff Circulation Basement 1 Program

A

Permanent Exhibition B D

Prep Room

Museum Store

B

D Museum Lobby Restaurant Special Exhibit

C

C Loading Dock A

Basement 1 Floor Plan

Public Programs Ticketed Programs

Staff Programs Public Circulation Staff Circulation Basement 2 Program

A

Office Research

B

B

D

D Restaurant

Auditorium

Café Café Plaza Library

C

C

A

Basement 2 Floor Plan

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|156

Public Programs Ticketed Programs Staff Programs Public Circulation Staff Circulation Basement 3 Program

A

B

Storage Warehouse Computer Room

Mechanical Room

D

B

D Studios Registration

Parking

Preservation C

C

A

Basement 3 Floor Plan

Section A-A

Section A-A

Section B-B

Section B-B

Section C-C

Section C-C

Section D-D

Section D-D

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|158

Function

Approx.

Area (Sqm)

Loading Dock

250.00

Preparation Room

180.55

Lounge

825.00

Permanent Exhibit Restaurant Special Exhibit

2680.00 635.00 1345.00

Lobby

760.00

Museum Store

565.00

Lockers and Auditorium

790.00

Bathroom

220.00

Kitchen

135.00

Employee Café

185.00

Duty Room

110.00

Conference Room

73.50

Office

73.50

Document Storage

24.50

Café

295.00

Library Lecture Seminar

585.00

Research

295.00

Lockers and Dispersary Outdoor Plazas Mechanical Room Registration

49.00 2050.00 875.00 85.00

Computer Room

210.00

Preservation

250.00

Studios

295.00

Storage

270.00

Warehouse

435.00

Parking

1745.00

Total Area

16291.05

Circulation

24 %

Project Program

Public Programs Ticketed Programs Staff Programs

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5

.1.4 Brazil Pavilion

Location: Ingresso EXpo, Via Giorgio Stephenson, 107, 20157 Milano, Italy

Architect: Studio Arthur Casas and Atelier Marko Brajovic Completion Year: 2015 BUA: 3674.0 sqm The pavilion creates a ‘sensorial immersion includ[ing] leisure, high technology information, interaction and learning’ (Brazil Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015).

‘The Brazilian Pavilion proposes a pause, the intention of creating a public square that draws people together and engenders curiosity’ (Lynch).

The pavilion exhibits two contrasting architectural behaviors, one uniform and modular while the other is more fluid and dynamic. These two behaviors coexist in the same environment and allow its visitors two distinct experiences.

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‘Gradual transition between inside and outside erase the boundaries dividing architecture and scenography [...] the net is materialized by a tensile structure that creates unexpected places for leisure and rest’ (Brazil Pavilion – Milan Expo 2015). At first sight, the tensile mesh may be seen as a sculptural portion of the space since its behavior suggests a directly contrasting movement to it surroundings.

As you walk beneath it you can experience this movement in the way it defines the space with the way it dips and rises in different areas. In a way, it creates boundaries for the ground space since you can not cross areas where the mesh dips very low. Although static, the physical property of the mesh allows you to see through it therefore dissolving the disconnection you may otherwise experience with a solid surface.

As you walk on the mesh you experience the movement of the structure as you follow its hills and valleys. The height of the ceiling above is much higher than the space below it therefore allowing for free movement throughout the space. This space becomes less restrictive due to its openness in comparison to the space below it.

I aim to create a space that depicts two extreme behaviors and causes its visitors to change their behavior as they occupy the space. These spaces will define one another to dissolve any disconnection between the spaces.

This will help create a smooth transition between the spaces, and the sudden change in behavior will allow the occupants to experience both a short and longer attention span within one structure.

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2000 Scale in m

Location: Ingresso EXpo, Via Giorgio Stephenson, 107, 20157 Milano, Italy

150

Project Limits

Scale in m

Project Limits

Site Pedestrian Vehicle General Circulation Diagram - Site Plan

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|168

Mass Void

Planar Concept Diagram

Circulation

Outdoor

Sectional Concept Diagram

Indoor

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|170

Planar Circulation Diagram

Bridge Access Sectional Circulation Diagram

Elevator Access

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|172

Ground Floor Plan Legend: 01 –Access 02 –Store 03 –Cashier 04 –Foyer 05 –Multipurpose Room 06 –Restrooms 07 –Storage Area 08 –Events Kitchen 09 –Command Room 10 –Dining Hall 11 –Locker Room 12 –Headgear 13 –Garbage Room

12

6 6 1110 6 7 8 9 5 4

Ground Floor Program

713 3 2 1

First Floor Plan Legend: 01 –Exhibition 02 –Café 03 –Bar 04 –Coffee Kitchen 05 –Auditorium 06 –Restrooms 07 –Storage Area 08 –Mechanical Room 09 –Bridge

4 3 6 766 5 2

5

1 9

First Floor Program

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|174

Second Floor Plan Legend: 01 –Exhibition 02 –Lounge 03 –Restaurant 04 –Restaurant Kitchen 05 –Reception 06 –Restrooms 07 –Storage Area 08 – Mechanical Room 09 – Meeting Room P 10 – Meeting Room G 11 – VIP Room 12 –Office 13 -Pantry 14 - Bridge 66 2

3

4

8 7 12 136 10 10 9 9 5 11 6 2 1

9

Second Floor Program

Site Plan Legend: 01 –Green Cover 02 –Sky Light 03 – Shading 04 – Mechanical Area

2

2

4 4 1

2

3

Roof Program

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Lounge Area Theatre Restaurants Retail Exhibition Promenade Planar Program Diagram

Restaurant EXPO CafĂŠ Foyer

Administration Events Store

Sectional Program Diagram

Organic Behavior

Linear Behavior

Connecting Nodes Architectural Behaviors Define one-another

Pavilion Composition Function

Area (Sqm)

Exhibition Area for General Public Indoor Outdoor

2376.75 906.00 1470.75

Exhibition areas for Guests

1220.03

Commercial Area

744.77

Administration Area

406.72

Mechanical Rooms/Vertical Circulation/Ramps

957.97

Building Projection (Main Gallery) Permeable Structure (Entrance Wing) Total Occupied Area Green and Open Areas

1438.00 956.25 2394.25 Area (Sqm)

Green Cover

1145.00

Open Air Exhibition

1470.75

Total Green Areas

2615.75

Circulation Project Program

35 %

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5

.1.5 Museum of The Human Body

Location: Parc Georges Charpak, Montpellier, France Architect: BIG Architects Completion Year: Proposal BUA: 7800.0 sqm

The museum was conceived to create a continuation or link between Charpak park and the city, creating a blend between nature and the urban life. It is composed of ‘eight undulating forms which “weave together” to create an underlying continuous space’ (Rosenfield).

The idea of unity and connection can be seen in the overall form of the building where it resembles an image of intertwining hands. This helped in developing the multi-leveled platforms that form the terraces. The result achieves urban porosity and encourages interaction between both sides, the city and the park.

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The architects were inspired by the site’s context where a 10th century medical school once existed and ‘the city’s long medical history’ (Rosenfield) . They looked at the human being and its basic components, cells. As cells multiply they create formations when clustered together that compose an element in the human body such as tissue. The fluidity of these formations influenced the sinuous movement of the overall form of the museum.

Cells also define hman identity through the development of unique fingerprints. The human fingerprint is composed of organic forms that create a maze that distinctly identifies with every human being. The architects used this information to develop the louvered facade and give the building its own identity. The louver system minimizes heat gain and maximizes the view making it a sustainable element of the project.

I was intrigued by the way the architects achieve the feeling of being underground without completely submerging parts of the building below the ground. They cleverly articulated the form, played with the heights, and blended the context with the building. This gave the impression of the structure rising from the earth, like an ancient ruin being uncovered for people to see.

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500 Scale in m

Location: Parc Georges Charpak, Montpellier, France

100 Scale in m

Project Limits

Human Body

Human Identity

Human Fingerprint

Human Cell Formation

Intertwining Hands

Concept Diagram

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Site Manipulation - Incision

City

Park

Site Manipulation - Intertwine City and Park

Site Manipulation - Lift

Administration

Restaurant

Banquet Hall

Permanent Exhibition Temporary Exhibition Reception Hall Resources and Animation

Program Development

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Administration

Restaurant Banquet Hall

Permanent Exhibition Temporary Exhibition Reception Hall Resources and Animation

Linear Organization of Program

Permanent Exhibition Restaurant Banquet Hall

Resources and Animation Temporary Exhibition

Administration Reception Hall

Compress Organization

Permanent Exhibition Restaurant Banquet Hall

Resources and Animation Temporary Exhibition

Administration Reception Hall

Morph Compressed to Organic Organization

Project Program

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Link/Common Space Between Program Areas

Urban Porosity and Greenery Distribution

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Site Plan Function

Approx.

Area (Sqm)

Permanent Exhibition

1845.00

Temporary Exhibition

1180.00

Administration

775.00

Restaurant

555.00

Reception Hall

625.00

Banquet Hall

850.00

Resources and Animation

850.00

Circulation

1120.00

Total Area

7800.00

Green and Open Areas Green Roof Circulation Project Program

Area (Sqm) 10745.00 15 %

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NOW It comes down to one simple thing:

KEEP GOING

Site Selection

6

.1 Judgement Criteria

By addressing the short attention span and the

result I aim to achieve to elongate it, this sets slight limitations to the site location. The context of the site must reflect the conditions I wish to

simulate and must exist within the city of Dubai.

A judgement criteria was developed to correspond with the goal of the project. The following judgement criteria will help narrow down potential locations that will correspond with the project’s theme.

The site must adhere to the following points: # Should have multiple access areas # Should be in pedestrian-friendly zone # Near point of attraction/touristic spot # Should have too much light and noise # Should have 24/7 activity # Should have potential for underground construction Potential Sites: Site A - Downtown Dubai Site B - Al Wasl Road Site C - Jumeirah Beach Residence

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6

.2 Comparison Analysis

Based on the Judgement Criteria I have developed, the three potential sites will be analyzed to draw a comparison.

This comparison will allow me to examine details that could potentially help the development of the project or have the contrary effect. It will allow me to find elements that may stand out as beneficial or disadvantageous to the result I wish to achieve through my project.

The details I find will help in the development of multiple areas of the project such as circulation, program distribution and organization, etc.

Potential sites will be scored a ‘0’ if they do not fulfill the criteria, and a ‘1’ for the the contrary.

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Site A Location: Burj Park, Downtown Dubai, U.A.E.

Site B Location: Galleria Mall, Al Wasl Road, Dubai, U.A.E.

Site C Location: Jumeirah Beach Residence Walk, Dubai, U.A.E.

Site A Area: 14750.00 Sqm

Site B Area: 31445.00 Sqm

Site C Area: 5625.00 Sqm

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Pedestrian Vehicle Site A Circulation Diagram

Pedestrian Vehicle Site B Circulation Diagram

Pedestrian Vehicle Site C Circulation Diagram

Dubai Mall Burj Khalifa Opera House Water Fountain Souk Al Bahr Site A Touristic Attraction Diagram

Galleria Mall BoxPark City Walk 1 City Walk 2 Site B Touristic Attraction Diagram

Jumeirah Beach The Beach JBR Walk Dubai Marina Site C Touristic Attraction Diagram

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Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Mid-Day Day Night Peak Timing

Site A Popular Times Diagram

Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Mid-Day Day Night Peak Timing

Site B Popular Times Diagram

Saturday Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Site C Popular Times Diagram

Mid-Day Day Night Peak Timing

Criteria

A

B C

Should have multiple access areas

1

1

1

Should be in pedestrian-friendly zone

1

1

1

Near point of attraction/touristic spot

1

1

1

Should have too much light and noise

1

1

0

Should have 24/7 activity

1

1

1

Should have potential for underground

0

1

0

5

6

4

construction Total Score A - Downtown Dubai B - Al Wasl Road C - Jumeirah Beach Residence Based on the above table, it is clear that site B, on Al Wasl Road, has the most potential to help me fulfill the goal of my project. It adheres to all the requirements I have set up on the judgement criteria.

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6

.3 Program Development

The project program and spaces have been deducted and developed based on the following: # Analysis of selected case studies # Requirement of activities to achieve the goal of my project #Analysis of similar projects neighboring the selected site The spaces were selected based on the project’s

ultimate goal: the elongation of the attention span.

The program will be split into two parts that reflect the contrasting atmospheres I aim to create.

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|212 “The Walk”

Mechanical Room

Public Services Retail/Food and Beverages Offices WC

Private Services

Offices

Transition Node/Space Pantry

Restaurant

Kitchen

Reception/ Information Desk Café

On-Ground Program

WC

Storage

Permanent Exhibition

Lounge

Underground Program

WC

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6

.4 Space and Site Correlations

Having selected a site through the judgement criteria and carrying out contextual analysis corresponding to it, I will delve into deeper analysis

of the surrounding environment of the selected site. This analysis will help in the development of the design so that it intertwines with the existing surroundings, and help create a smooth transition between existing and projected built environments. It will also help in determining a detailed program for my project that corresponds with similar existing developments.

I will analyze neighboring developments that have similar behaviors in functionality to help in the organization and distribution of my program.

Through this I will be able to exaggerate certain parts of the program so they can stand out against other development, and fulfill the ultimate goal I plan to achieve.

The components of the project program are to be distributed based on the concept of noise and silence, and correspond to the contrasting chaotic and controlled environments I aim to create.

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Mass : 43.76 % Void : 56.24 % Neighboring Plaza Mass to Void Ratio (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

Pedestrian Vehicle Neighboring Plaza Circulation (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

Mass : 28.74 % Void : 71.26 % Neighboring Plaza Mass to Void Ratio (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

Pedestrian Vehicle Neighboring Plaza Circulation (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

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Internal Mall Retail/Food and Beverages Residential/Mixed Use Entertainment Public Services Neighboring Plaza Functions (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

A

B

A

B

C Retail/Food and Beverages Neighboring Plaza Functions (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

C

7.90 % 4.10 % 10.90 %

16.30 % 68.80 %

Function Summary (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

100 %

Function Summary (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

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810.00 Sqm

Average Size of Retail/Food and Beverages Building (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

171.54 Sqm

Average Size of Retail/Food and Beverages Shop (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

G G+1 G+2 G+6 Building Heights (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

A

B

C G G+1 Building Heights (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

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Atmosphere - Day and Night (Dubai City Walk - North from selected Site)

Atmosphere - Day and Night (BoxPark - South from selected Site)

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Retail/Food and Beverages Residential/Mixed Use Public Services Area Function Analysis

Public Private Public Vs Private Functions

Sun Orientation Diagram

Dominant Wind Wind Direction Diagram

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Existing Site Condition

Existing Site Condition

Existing Site Condition

Existing Site Condition

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Existing Site Condition

Existing Site Condition

Existing Neighboring Activities (Galleria Mall)

Existing Neighboring Activities (Dubai Police Department)

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Summary and Reflections Selected Site Area

31445.00 Sqm

Average Percentage of Mass in Neighboring Sites

43.76 + 28.74 = 36.25 % 2

Projected Mass Area for Selected Site

31445 Sqm x 0.3625 = 11398.81 Sqm

Average Percentage of Void in Neighboring Sites

56.24 + 71.26 = 63.75 % 2

Projected Void Area for Selected Site

31445 Sqm x 0.6375 = 20046.19 Sqm

Average Percentage of Retail/Food and Beverages in Neighboring Sites

68.80 + 100 = 84.40 % 2

Projected Area of Retail/Food and Beverages for Selected Site

11398.81 Sqm x 0.844 = 9620.60 Sqm

Average Size of Retail/ Food and Beverages Shop

810 + 171.54 = 490.77 Sqm 2

Projected Number of Retail/Food and Beverages Shops

9620.60 Sqm = 19.60 ~ 20 490.77 Sqm

Average Height in Neighboring Sites

G+1

Summary of Findings

36.25 %

63.75 %

Void Mass to Void Ratio

Mass

15.60 %

84.40 %

Retail/Food and Beverages Other Retail/Food and Beverages to Other Ratio

Summary of Findings

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Space

No. of Required/ Spaces Minimum Area (Sqm)

Lounge

Projected Area (Sqm)

Total Area (Sqm)

2 700.00

800.00

1600.00

Café (+ Kitchen)

10 200.00

200.00

2000.00

Restaurant (+ Kitchen)

10 400.00

400.00

4000.00

Kitchen (for Restaurant)

10 27.87 or 40% of restaurant area

198.00

1980.00

Kitchen (for Café)

10 9.29

12.00

120.00

Bathroom (for Public)

10 1.39 or 4 for disabled

16.00

160.00

7.00

7.00

6.00

12.00

Janitor’s Room

6.50

Reception/Information Desk

2 N/A

Loading Dock

3 27.87 83.61

65.00

195.00

Storage

1 270.00

300.00

300.00

Office

2 100.00

100.00

200.00

Bathroom (for Office)

2 1.39 or 4 for disabled

20.00

40.00

Pantry

1 25.00

25.00

25.00

Mechanical Room

3 920.00

330.00

990.00

2479.00W

11629.00

20046.19

20046.19

Total

49 N/A

Circulation

N/A

63.75% of area of plot

Programs Classified as Noise-Generating

Plaza Program

Occupancy Per Room

Total Occupancy

1231.00

2463.00

216.00

2153.00

356.00

3553.00

18.00

180.00

1.00

10.00

-

-

1.00

Total

2.00

4.00

3.00

7.00

11.00

11.00

11.00

22.00

-

-

2.00

2.00

12.00

36.00

1864.00

8441.00

Plaza Estimated Occupancy

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Space

No. of Required/ Spaces Minimum Area (Sqm)

Projected Area (Sqm)

Total Area (Sqm)

Permanent Exhibition

1

1755.00

20046.19

20046.19

Lounge

2

800.00

800.00

1600.00

Storage

2

270.00

300.00

600.00

3106.19

22246.19

Bathroom

1.39 or 4 for disabled

Total

Programs Classified as Non-Noise-Generating

Underground Walk Program

Occupancy Per Room

Total

Total Occupancy

7193.00

7193.00

1231.00

2461.00

11.00

22.00

8435.00

9676.00

Underground Walk Estimated Occupancy

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Congratulations

YOU MADE IT THIS

FAR

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Concept Design Process

7

.1 Concept Development

Drawing inspiration from my thesis topic I have deducted a series of related keywords, phrases,

or topics that would help me in the development of architectural concepts.

Keywords related to the short attention span: # Inversion # Noise Vs Silence # Transition Space # Erosion # Frames Based on those keywords I have experimented with materials to reflect those keywords in physical models.

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Inversion This concept was drawn from the liveliness of New York Times Square with its many screens and billboards.

Screens are large elements that take over a large portion of a building facade, in fact they somehow replace it. I wanted to highlight this effect by inverting the behavior/ relationship between screens and facades.

Since we are so distracted by the screens and forget the building, I decided to subtract the building from the scene. This left me with the screens which I then converted into the building.

Using the same size of the screens I created volumes.

These volumes subtract the Earth to create scattered spaces, and when brought together they form a cluster of multi-sized spaces.

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Screens/Billboards Architecture

Subtract architecture

Convert screens/billboards into architecture On-Ground manipulation

Substract Earth and replace with space Space Earth Underground manipulation

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Noise Vs Silence This concept was derived from the site I had selected.

I used the nodes of the site I had selected to develop a network to determine the area in which most connections are made. Using these nodes I created an ellipse that encompasses those dense nodes, and developed a concentric plan system.

From this concentric plan I scattered planes starting from the center of the system and moving outwards. This also represents the noise condition on the site, where the dense nodes reflect the street, noise, etc. The farther away you go from the street, the less noise there is.

In the space below it, some planes extend from the ground to below. This gives a sense of connection between the two spaces. The idea for these connected walls is that they shift on the Z axis(upwards and downwards) throughout the day. This will create different pathways that people can take and keep them interested in it due its constant change.

Besides the simple connection, the shifting walls will respond to the noise accumulation above to create a quiet space below. This way noise is controlled and the opposing spaces adapt as a response to changes within them.

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Identify main node on selected site

Develop network from intersections and study their density

Develop concentric system based on highest density of nodes

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Transition Space This concept is based on the transition between two extremes. The nodes at which the two opposite spaces connect are very significant because it is at those points that people will notice the huge difference in spatial behaviors. Due to their importance, they need to stand out amongst their surroundings and draw people’s attention. They will act as point attractors to lure from one space to the other.

Therefore using one thread I began to sew through a glass cube in a haphazard manner to reflect the disorientation life and social media cause us in our daily lives. This same thread continues into the lower cube in a more controlled manner.

As our eyes move to follow the haphazard behavior of the threads on the top cube we become lost in the speed of its movement, however the lower cube brings a more relaxed flow that our eyes can follow at our own speed(slowly).

The way in which these threads behave allow people to interact with them, whether it is to pull them away to create a path for themselves or to sit and let them carry away the stresses of the day.

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Interactive nodes

Nodes in transitional spaces

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Erosion This concept is based on the reduction in our attention span due to the excessive use of social media applications.

I used a large unit to represent our attention and scattered multiple smaller units to represent social media applications and their limitations. I wanted to highlight and exaggerate those limitations so instead of subtracting them from the mass, I inverted the subtraction. So that I am left with the smaller units, the limitations.

In the space below I continued with the same concept of subtraction but instead of using cubes I went for a more organic void. Seeing as the top space represents the fragmentation as a result of social media limitations, the facades end abruptly with sharp edges. The lower space offers a more continuous flow of facades, so I am eliminating the disorienting elements and giving people a single attention-grabbing element that steers them to specific spaces.

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Subtraction from mass

Subtraction from mass

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Frames This concept was derived from the concept of media limitations, specifically image size frames.

I developed three prototypical units of cubes that are mostly composed of a void, and the mass is situated at two levels: marque and above. These levels I chose to assign to the mass are a response to the New York Times Square study as the majority of billboards and screens are located on those levels. These cubes represent the medium or platform for the display of media. I decided to use cubes as a response to Instagram’s square frame limitation that people may recognize or draw a mental connection to.

Then I created a frame in which the units can be held in.

These frames represent the limitations of social media applications on the size of images posted. As a larger unit the cubes and frame together are stacked to offer a multi-faced environment that will draw people’s attention.

Amongst these larger units is a large track frame that carries planes. These planes rotate along the rail of this track, closing and opening pathways throughout the day.

These tracks and panels serve as a connection between the on-ground and underground space, and will allow people to experience sensory overload first-hand.

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Combine Frames with units

Integrate tracks for kinetic panels(X,Y, and Z Axes movement)

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BACK TO YOUR

PHONE NOW.

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“Sebastian-Production-Model-the-Little-Mer maid-18762923-700-454.Jpg.”The Disney Wiki, disney. wikia.com/wiki/File:Sebastian-Production-Model-the-lit tle-mermaid-18762923-700-454.jpg “Times Square in Manhattan, New York, EEUU.” Freepik, www. freepik.com/free-icon/times-square-in-manhattan-new-yorkeeuu_702487.htm Pikuechu. “We’re Back!” DeviantArt, ikue.deviantart.com/journal/ We-re-back-492372108 Lynch, Patrick. “Times Square Celebrates Grand Opening of Snøhet ta-Designed Transformation.” ArchDaily, 20 Apr. 2017.

Web. http://www.archdaily.com/869685/times-square-cel ebrates-grand-opening-of-snohetta-designed-transforma tion “Welcome.” Auckland Design Manual, www.aucklanddesignmanual. co.nz/design-thinking/activateAKL/activationguidance/ case-studies/streets_times_square

3D Models Squir. https://squir.com/all-models/34213-new-yorktimes-square-at-day-and-night.html 3D Models Squir. https://squir.com/all-models/34213-new-yorktimes-square-at-day-and-night.html “Teshima Art Museum / Ryue Nishizawa” 19 Jul 2011. ArchDaily.

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“Ryue Nishizawa: Teshima Art Museum.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 17 Dec. 2010, www.designboom. com/architecture/ryue-nishizawa-teshima-art-museum/ “Ryue Nishizawa: Teshima Art Museum.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 17 Dec. 2010, www.designboom. com/architecture/ryue-nishizawa-teshima-art-museum/ “Ryue Nishizawa: Teshima Art Museum.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 17 Dec. 2010, www.designboom. com/architecture/ryue-nishizawa-teshima-art-museum/ “Ryue Nishizawa: Teshima Art Museum.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 17 Dec. 2010, www.designboom. com/architecture/ryue-nishizawa-teshima-art-museum/ “Ryue Nishizawa: Teshima Art Museum.” Designboom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 17 Dec. 2010, www.designboom. com/architecture/ryue-nishizawa-teshima-art-museum/ Chaya, Lynn. “Hou De Sousa + Archotus’ National Museum of World Writing Proposed as Songdo Cultural Landmark.” Design boom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 25 Sept. 2017.

Web. https://www.designboom.com/architecture/ hou-de-sousa-archotus-awarded-national-muse um-world-writing-competition-proposal-09-25-2017/ Chaya, Lynn. “Hou De Sousa + Archotus’ National Museum of World Writing Proposed as Songdo Cultural Landmark.” Design boom | Architecture & Design Magazine, 25 Sept. 2017.

Web. https://www.designboom.com/architecture/ hou-de-sousa-archotus-awarded-national-muse um-world-writing-competition-proposal-09-25-2017/ “Cuneiformed.” Hou De Sousa. Web. 26 Oct. 2017. http://www. houdesousa.com/cuneiformed/

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