52 mm
rown Shield 1.5 in
el Rod
Truck Axel
5 in
1.5 in
5/16” Nut Washer
m Truck Hanger
Bearing
shing Shield
up
1/4” Nuts
Wheel 3/8” Nut
8 Steel Balls Inner Steel Ring Outer Steel Ring
Bushing 1 in
Andrew Han
Truck Base
52 mm
Plastic Crown Rubber Shield
m Truck Base
1.5 in
Steel Axel Rod
Truck Axel
5 in
ngpin 1.5 in
Aluminum Truck Hanger 8.00 in
1/4” Nuts
Steel Bushing Shield
Truck Base Plastic Cup
SCI_Arc Portfolio
Aluminum Truck Base
Steel Kingpin
8.00 in
ple Ply (short grain direction)
ple Ply (long grain direction)
7-Ply Deck
1/20” 1/17” 1/20”
Griptape
1/17” 1/20” 1/17” Maple Ply (short grain direction) 1/20” Maple Ply (long grain direction)
7-Ply Deck 31.825 in
Griptape
31.825 in
1’ Bolts
Andrew Han
SCI_Arc Gateway Portfolio Fall 2014 - Spring 2018
Contents
Drawings
Essays
Design Studio
1A 1B 2A 2B 3A 3B 4A 4B
004 030 060 098 126 154 178 202
Applied Studies
3A 4A 4B
230 242 256
Visual Studies
1B 2A 2B
264 284 292
General Studies
1A
316
Cultural Studies
1B
320
Liberal Arts
3B
324
History Theory
3A 4B
330 336
001
Statement
I am an undergraduate student at the Southern California Institute of Architecture. I am going into my fifth and final year of school here, Looking foreward to finishing, Looking foreword to thesis. Looking back at my past four years here, And it was wonderful. Looking back at my past four years here, And this is my portfolio.
002
Egg Crate Model Detail Photo
003
1A Design Studio: Material Strategies for the Physical World Instructor: Mira Henry Fall 2014
As the first studio, this class serves as the introduction to the fundamentals of architecture. Initially by showing manners of working both spatially and abstractly. The studio introduces new programs that allow us to work digitally, while also allowing us to work physically with model making. The first set of projects dive into studies of Euclidean platonic solids, more specfically in my case, the square cupola. We explored the relationships with form, space, and geometry through digitally and physically producing these shapes. We further explored geometries through transforming these shapes with extrusions, rotations, and symmetries. The last transformation includes an exploration of curved and lofted surfaces. The second project is a crawl space dwelling. We started this project with scale studies of our own body. Through this exercise we were able to design a space according to human scale. This crawl space project is no bigger than an average parking spot. My project started with the concept of an “X” form trying to maximize the program space with having an expressive massing. My space includes programs such as working on a desk, napping, painting, and even skateboarding. The project includes an entry and exit ramp mean’t for a skateboarder, as well as an exterior underpass. This project was thought out to utilize both the outside and inside as programmatic spaces. (Unfortunately, due to computer issues, some work from this project has been lost.)
004
Square Cupola Elevation
Square Cupola Top View
005
Transformed Cupola Elevation
Transformed Cupola Plan
006
A
Transformed Cupola Section B
Transformed Cupola Axonometric
007
A
A
A
Transformed Cupola Section C
B
C
C
B
Transformed Cupola Plan A
008
Transformed Cupola Render 1
009
Transformed Cupola Render 2
010
Lofted Cupola Render 1
011
Lofted Cupola Render 2
012
Square Cupola Stick Model Photos
013
Square Cupola Surface Model Photos
014
Transformed Cupola Stick Model Photos
015
Transformed Cupola Surface Model Photos
016
Lofted Cupola Egg Crate Model Detail Photo
017
Lofted Cupola Egg Crate Model Photo
018
Human Body Elevational Scale Studies
019
020
Elevational Render 1
021
Elevational Render 2
022
Elevational Render 3
023
Photorealistic Perspective Render
024
Massing Model Photos
025
026
Small Section Model Photo
027
Large Section Model Photo
028
Figure Study Axonometric
029
1B Design Studio: Conceptual Strategies for the Physical World Instructor: Anna Neimark Spring 2015
This studio emphasizes analytical and conceptual strategies to develop architectural form and spatial systems. The studio starts with a researched based formal analysis of a significant building. The precedent building in my case is the 21st Century Museum by SAANA. My precedent studies invlove deconstructing the museum’s plan, then reorganizing and reinterpreting formal compositions and spatial figures. Upon our formal analysis of our precedents, we then used similar methods to create three dimensional figure studies. My studies include a figure, solidified from the precedent study’s void and trimmed from the precedent’s mass projections. Through more transformations, my studies include the relationship of the void with the grid and the mass with the surface. My final study consists of four different spatial grids that intersect, creating the sihlouette of my figure. The transition from my formal figure studies into a building include articulating surfaces into spaces from the already existing spatial grid. The final project of the semester is a building called LACA, the Los Angeles Center for Architecture, situated in the urban site of downtown. This includes programs such as galleries, archives, offices, library, bookstore, and cafe. From my grid/surface studies, I was able to make a building with exterior structure and circulation. By articulating surfaces into spaces, I was able to create oblique geometries that serve their own specefic program. The formal aspect of this building serves as a mediation between two-dimensional and three-dimensional perspectival geometries, which then merge together into a cohesive building through the converging grid structure.
030
Precedent Plan Analysis Series
031
032
Mass Grid Study Axonometric
033
Mass Grid Study Top View
034
Figure Study Plan/Elevational Projections
035
Transformed Figure Study Axonometric
036
Void Grid Study Axonometric
037
Mass/Void (Surface/Grid) Study Model Photo
038
Figure Grid Study Top View
039
Figure Grid Study Model Photo
040
Figure Grid Study Axonometric
041
Figure Grid Study Model Photo
042
Figure Grid Study Elevation
043
Figure Grid Study Model Photo
044
Grid/Surface Study Model Photos
045
046
N 1/32” - 1’
LACA Site Plan
047
Storage
W/C
Archive
Exhibition Space
O ce
O ce Café
Lecture Hall Café
Archive
Exhibition Space Book Store
Lecture Hall
Lobby
LACA Figure/Ground Diagram
048
LACA Ground Plan
049
LACA First Floor Plan
050
LACA Second Floor Plan
051
LACA Section 1
052
LACA Section 2
053
LACA Section 3
054
LACA Massing Model Photos
055
056
LACA Section Model Photos
057
058
Egg Crate Model Photo
059
2A Design Studio: Formworks - Sites and Contexts Instructor: Jake Matatyau Fall 2015
In this studio, we are moving away from abstract models and into more architectural studies. From conceptual diagrams to formal compositions, this semester stresses the importance of the plan and section. We develop a building through different scales of program, formal articulation, and spatial organization all fitting tightly in the mass envelope. We start the studio with precedent studies of social housing bar buildings. I worked with my partner Reina Lin on the Robin Hood Gardens designed by Alison and Peter Smithson. From these, we can develop a sense of scale of program and circulation needed for a project this large. The precedent also provides a starting point into massing studies as well as spatial organizations. The final project for this studio is the Desert Institue of the Arts which is a school located in the desert of California. The programs include studios, classrooms, library, dorms, theater, cafeteria, gallery, lobby, and administrative offices. My spatial organization consists of two masses, one as the dorms being more private and the other as classrooms and studios being more public. The two end masses converge in the center creating a space for large programs such as the cafeteria, gallery, theater, and circulation. I also wanted to utilize the voids and concavities that my form had to offer. I placed the main entry way in the cavity as well as the main entry from the parking lot through the massive void. The central circualtion is also situated around the back rectangular indent, creating both outdoor and indoor pathways connecting both sides of the building.
060
Precedent Surface Axonometric (Partner: Reina Lin)
061
Precedent Circulation Diagram (Partner: Reina Lin)
062
Precedent Plan Study (Partner: Reina Lin)
063
Precedent Site Study (Partner: Reina Lin)
064
Precedent Elevational Study (Partner: Reina Lin)
Precedent Sectional Study (Partner: Reina Lin)
065
066
Massing Study Model Photos
067
068
Massing Study Model 2 Photos
069
070
Massing Egg Crate Model Photos
071
072
Massing and Ground Study Model Photos
073
074
Massing and Ground Section Model Photos
075
076
Massing Diagram
077
Spatial Organization Diagram
078
Front Elevation
079
Back Elevation
080
Figure/Ground Section Diagrams
081
082
Site Plan
083
Ground Plan
084
First Floor Plan
085
Second Floor Plan
086
Third Floor Plan
087
Fourth Floor Plan
088
Short Sections
089
090
Long Sections
091
092
Massing Model Photos
093
094
Section Model Photos
095
096
Box Model Corner Detail Photo
097
2B Design Studio: Frameworks - Program Instructor: David Ross Spring 2016
This studio focuses more on architectural detail and material with an emphasis on size, thickness, structure, and finish. The starting idea of for the semester is working inside out, starting with a singular interior and then building out with spatial layers. The first project is a geometric study of the rectangular box. We look at different situations and how they create different material problems for example, different mitered angles and corner thickness problems. The box I created is a subtle asymmetrical box with one oblique wall. I then applied my material studies of marble and wood on specific geometries. My material studies are linear abstractions mean’t to imitate the original materials by bringing out their specific formal qualities. The exterior of the box is then cladded with a structural grid that follows the interior geometry. The final project is a two theater cineplex located in an urban site of Alhambra, California. My project focuses on the box studies and its informal analysis of folding surfaces. Through creating large models of the box, I was able to have photographic studies of them. I then created the two theaters from my enclosed boxes that also include outward folding surfaces that act as exterior circulation space. The final drawings represent the physical model rather than the conceptual building. The physical model is a large study of unfolding planes, having each wall be unfolded to reveal the interior cinemas.
098
Box Study Unroll
099
Transformed Box Unroll
100
FrontNorth/South
Wall Elevation
FloorFloor/Ceiling
Left
Plan
East/West Wall Elevation
101
Back
Ceiling
Right
0.21”
3.23”
0.19”
10.44”
0.21”
4.38”
8.36”
0.19”
0.19”
40˚
4”
0.19”
8”
0.19”
Physical Box Model Unroll
102
Cipollino Marble Material Studies
103
104
Dark Mahogany Wood Studies
105
106
4”
40°
8”
Final Box Model Interior Unroll
107
.125”
.25”
Final Box Model Exterior Unroll
108
Ground Floor Plan
109
Second Floor Plan
110
Short Section
111
Long Section
112
Final Model Interior Unroll
113
Final Model Exterior Unroll
114
Final Box Model Photos
115
116
Final Box Model Photo
117
Final Box Model Detail Photo
118
Large Box Model Photos
119
120
Final Model Theater Detail Photo
121
Final Model Exterior Photo
122
Final Model Partial Unfolded Circulation Photo
123
Final Model Unfolded Photo
124
Precedent Plan Study Diagrams
125
3A Design Studio: AMIGAA Articulation & Tectonics Instructor: Alexis Rochas Fall 2016
In this studio, we were focused on developing a full architectural project considering site stratgies, material tectonics, and facade articulation. This semester started with a precedent study of various well-known skyscrapers. My parter, Randall Zaragoza, and I chose the tower, One Shell Plaza designed by SOM. Our exploratative research included the building’s massing, facade expression, and structural tectonics. The most intersting thing from the precedent was its smart and subtle use of columns, both providing the structure as well as its facade. Through the simple use of thickened panels, the articulated columns of the facade was able to undulate in its form. These undualtions not only provide a nice elevation, but support for wind resistance as well. The final project for this studio is a Hotel/Office skyscraper with its site located in the urban Mexico City. With the studio constrant of having a 5 feet depth limitation of the facade, we created many different patterns of columns derived from our precedent. We ended up with a checkerboard pattern that obliquely and subtlely shifts into flat surfaces. The laterally extruded columns offer multiple opportunites to create private rooms and balconies. The facade expression is similar to our precedent with its structure acting as an exterior facade. But we removed parts of the columns rather than thickening it in order to provide subtle articulated relief. This creates an illusion of the columns not being structually supported.
Group Members:
Andrew Han / Randall Zaragoza 126
Precedent Core Diagram
127
Precedent Axonometric
128
Elevation - E
Elevation - S
Plan - a - level 0
Plan - a - level 0
Precedent Elevation
129
Elevation - W
Plan - a - level 0
Plan - a - level 0
Precedent Section
130
Precedent Worm’s Eye Axonometric
131
Precedent Lower/Upper Level Floor Plans
132
otel
Office
Mechanical
Amenities
Tower Massing Studies
133
Concrete Core
ram
Massing Transformation Studies
Hotel
Office
Mechanical
Amenities
Concrete Core
ram
Massing Transformation Studies
135
Final Tower Axonometric
135
6’x10’ Glass Lightweight Concrete Brise Soleil
2’x2’ Concrete Column
Concrete Shear
Concrete Floor
Floor Slab Steel
Final Tower Chunk Tectonic Diagram
136
Final Tower Ground Plan
137
Final Tower Lower Level Office Floor Plan
138
Final Tower Mid Level Amenities Floor Plan
139
Final Tower Upper Level Hotel Floor Plan
140
Final Tower Elevation
141
Final Tower Section
142
Base for Concrete Columns placemen Floor Slab Teeth Floor Slab I-Beams
Tectonic Assembly Diagram
Elevators & Stairs
Circulation Plan and Axon Diagram
Final Tower Fire Escape Diagrams
143
Base for Concrete Columns placement Floor Slab Teeth Floor Slab I-Beams
Commercial
Hotel
Office
Program Diagram
Elevators & Stairs
Circulation Plan and Axon Diagram
Concrete Core
Mass to Core Diagram
Final Tower Vertical Circulation Diagram
144
Mech
Cover for Column
1� Glass Spandrels
1’ Concrete Columns
ncrete Columns placement
r Slab Teeth
Commercial
Program Diagram
Final Tower Program Diagram
145
Hotel
Office
Mechanical
Amenities
oncrete Columns placement
r Slab Teeth
Commercial
Hotel
Office
Mechanical
Amenities
Program Diagram
Elevators & Stairs
nd Axon Diagram
Concrete Core
Mass to Core Diagram
Massing Transformatio
Final Tower Core Diagram
146
Massing Study Model Photos
147
148
Final Tower Massing Model Photo
149
Final Tower Model Close-Up Photo
150
Final Tower Model Photos
151
152
Urban Strategy
ve tA ran
Du
t rof
nc
Ba
y Wa
CONNECTIVITY Open connection are necessary accross the site so that views and pedestrain connectivity is not interrupted.
ENTRANCE & SITE ACCESS Acces points in to areas of the project from site.
MASSING SITE STRATEGY Constraints placed on form and site stratefgy. Relationships of volumes are organized to articulate interior/exterior.
SITE SHADING Ground shading provided by relationship of volumes and ro face.
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonic
ve tA ran
Du
t rof
nc
Ba
y Wa
CTIVITY nnection are necessary accross the site so that views and n connectivity is not interrupted.
ENTRANCE & SITE ACCESS Acces points in to areas of the project from site.
G SITE STRATEGY nts placed on form and site stratefgy. Relationships of volorganized to articulate interior/exterior.
SITE SHADING Ground shading provided by relationship of volumes and roof surface. 3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
Site Accessibility Diagrams
153
3B Design Studio: AMIGAA Articulation & Tectonics II Instructor: Herwig Baumgartner Spring 2017
This studio semester is much like the last in which we focus on developing a full architectural project. We immediatly recieved the building program, site, and precedents to jump start the project. The final project is an Art Gallery/ Library located in Berkely, California. My partner, Anna Bahudian, and I chose the precedent of the Marl School designed by Hans Scharoun. Through analyzing the plan, we extracted self-similar forms inherent within the drawings in order to produce a family of extruded masses. By careful formal adjacencies and seperations, additions and subtractions, we were able to generate one cohesive massing comprised of many parts. The form cantilevers out, facing northwest leveling towards the downslope. The other cantilevers also provide large scenic outdoor spaces ideal for pedestrians at the university across the street. The facade system was designed as a directional collection of extrusions that occasionally become aperatures. The directionalities expressed by the flurry of facade is meant to sew together the seperate masses more into a cohesive whole. Large panes of glass merge out of the facade blocks facing towards the central voids, creating large scenic light-wells in an unexpected seemingly tight space. The programs were also organized alongside the seperate massings. The large central mass became the main bookstacks and circulation space. The large cantilever became the main gallery and circulation too. The rest of the programs were divided by public and private spaces from bottom to top depending on each cantilever mass. The large canyoning voids also provide scenic exterior circulation paths that relfect the interior programmatic separation. Group Members:
Andrew Han / Anna Bahudian 154
Massing Strategy
Iteration_1:
Iteration_2:
A relationship between primitives was established by relating the common geometry and nesting them within one another.
Using the primitive geometry, the volumes were extended to use the entirety of the site as well as to meet the ground.
Iteration_4:
Iteration_5:
Massing Strategy
The masses are joined together and then broken apart to signify the part to whole relationship in order to make a more coherent massing.
In an attempt to break up the relentless language of the massing, a new massing was introduced to createa new relationship and create new relationships.
Iteration_1:
Iteration_2:
Using the primitive geometry, the volumes were extended to use the entirety of the site as well as to meet the ground.
Iteration_3:
A relationship between primitives was established by relating the common geometry and nesting them within one another.
Iteration_4:
Iteration_5:
Iteration_6:
Iteration_2:
Iteration_3:
The masses are joined together and then broken apart to signify the part to whole relationship in order to make a more coherent massing.
Using the primitive geometry, the volumes were extended to use the entirety of the site as well as to meet the ground.
Massing Studies
155
In an attempt to break up the relentless language of the massing, a new massing was introduced to createa new relationship and create new relationships.
The massing was rearranged so that the middle mass had more volume as well as having the peripheral objects closer to the ground.
The massing was rearranged so that the middle mass had more volume as well as having the peripheral objects closer to the ground.
Relationships to the other massing are resolved and the massing is lifted off the ground to suggest a more indifferent relationship to the site.
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
Iteration_1:
Iteration_2:
A relationship between primitives was established by relating the common geometry and nesting them within one another.
Using the primitive geometry, the volumes were extended to use the entirety of the site as well as to meet the ground.
Iteration_4:
Iteration_5:
Massing Strategy
The masses are joined together and then broken apart to signify the part to whole relationship in order to make a more coherent massing.
In an attempt to break up the relentless language of the massing, a new massing was introduced to createa new relationship and create new relationships.
Iteration_1:
Iteration_2:
Using the primitive geometry, the volumes were extended to use the entirety of the site as well as to meet the ground.
Iteration_3:
A relationship between primitives was established by relating the common geometry and nesting them within one another.
Iteration_4:
Iteration_5:
Iteration_6:
Iteration_2:
Iteration_3:
Iteration_5:
Iteration_6:
The masses are joined together and then broken apart to signify the part to whole relationship in order to make a more coherent massing.
Using the primitive geometry, the volumes were extended to use the entirety of the site as well as to meet the ground.
In an attempt to break up the relentless language of the massing, a new massing was introduced to createa new relationship and create new relationships.
In an attempt to break up the relentless language of the massing, a new massing was introduced to createa new relationship and create new relationships.
The massing was rearranged so that the middle mass had more volume as well as having the peripheral objects closer to the ground.
The massing was rearranged so that the middle mass had more volume as well as having the peripheral objects closer to the ground.
Relationships to the other massing are resolved and the massing is lifted off the ground to suggest a more indifferent relationship to the site.
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
Relationships to the other massing are resolved and the massing is lifted off the ground to suggest a more indifferent relationship to the site.
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
156
there are two main entries into the building. One is through is through the front doors located in the central void caving
uilding’s canyons allowing a dynamic view when circulating.
Circulation
is very open and public, there are two main entries into the building. One is through The other main entrance is through the front doors located in the central void caving
located adjacent to the building’s canyons allowing a dynamic view when circulating.
Level 2
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 3
Level 4
Level 4
Level 5
Level 5
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
Circulation Diagram
157
evering central
Spaces
e. The coming
garden
Programmatic Organization 20
The general massing of the building consists of one central mass with cantalevering pieces surrounding and intersecting the centerpiece. This allows a public central into the Earth creating a very open and public space beneath the cantalevers. Spaces next couple levels of the building come the cantalevers and the centerpiece. The cantalevers becomes spaces that branch out from the central bookstacks, becoming but still accessable to the central bookstacks. The top canatalevers become garden
31.5
Program
6
Book Stacks Reading Rooms Service Offices Exhibition Auditorium Lobby Cafe Garden Core
6
7 3
20
25
31.5
2 6.5
5 14
6
6
Programmatic Organization The general massing of the building consists of one central mass with cantalevering pieces surrounding and intersecting the centerpiece. This allows a public central into the Earth creating a very open and public space beneath the cantalevers. Spaces next couple levels of the building come the cantalevers and the centerpiece. The cantalevers becomes spaces that branch out from the central bookstacks, becoming but still accessable to the central bookstacks. The top canatalevers become garden
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5
Program Book Stacks Reading Rooms Service Offices Exhibition Auditorium Lobby Cafe Garden Core
7 3
20
3B Design Studio/ AMIGAA: Articulation and Tectonics II/Baumgartner, Spina, Thomsen, Wu
25
31.5
2 6.5
5 14
6
6
Program Diagram
158
Ground Floor Plan
Second Floor Plan
Fourth Floor Plan
Fifth Floor Plan
1/32 Scale :
Ground, Second, Fourth, Fifth Floor Plan
159
1” 1/32” = 1’
N
N 1/16 Scale :
1” 1/16” = 1’
Third Floor Plan
Third Floor Plan
160
Building Section
161
+ 76’
+ 63’
+ 50’
+ 36’ - 10”
+19’
0’ - 00”
- 19’ - 00”
162
1’0” Reinforced Concrete Column
14” Steel Beam Joint
Brushed Steel Extruded Apertures
1’0” Steel I-Beam
1” thick Chrome Steel Panel
2” Hanging Gypsum Ceiling 3”-6” Steel Studs
1” Steel Rod Joint
2” Interior Gypsum Wall
1” thick Black Steel Panel Waterproof Membrane
6” GFRC Panel
18” Steel Slab Structure
Tectonic Chunk Diagram
163
6” Rigid Insulation
Elevation Render
164
Axonometric Render
165
166
Section Model Photos
167
168
Section Model Detail Photos
169
170
Section Model Photo
171
172
Section Model Photo
173
174
Section Model Photo
175
176
Thickened Exterior Shell : Axonometric
177
4A Design Studio: AMIGAA Positions Instructor: David Ruy Fall 2017
In this studio, we were asked to develop a duplex residence in the Boyle Heights district of the greater county of Los Angeles. This project explores the issues of the site and context in relation to architecture in theory and practice. Boyle Heights is in a transitional state of gentrification while in tension of resistence by the Boyle Heights locals. My project sits in Mariachi Plaza, a very public area hosting farmer markets as well as anti-gentrification protests. My project approaches this site as an autonomous object, taking neither side of gentrication nor the nostalgic locals. But rather my project introduces a new way to look at architecture from the perspectives of the local public. My project also responds to architectural theory and practice by taking both sides of objective and subjective design. In response to the presence of commercial architecture at the site, my project creates a simple massing to utilize the area given by the site and zoning codes. This massing, made up of white stucco walls and clear glazing, represses articulation to emphasize space and circulation. This massing is then covered by a very pourous thick shell made up of steel. This shell is meant to provide many architectural features such as shade, diffused light, articulated entries, column structures, and spaces for conduits. The shell is treated opposite from its mass, its form generated by pure aesthetic and subjectivity.
178
Exterior Mass
Inbetween Void
Interior Mass
Volumetric Spaces Diagram
179
Volumetric Spaces Diagram
ea
sa
nt
Ave nue
Pl
Av en
Nor
th B
oyle
ue
ay reew I-5 F
Mariachi Plaza Metro Station
South Boyle
Avenue
East 1st Street
Site Plan : Mariachi Plaza, Boyle Heights
180
Ground Floor Plan
181
First Floor Plan
182
Second Floor Plan
183
Long Section
Scale: 1/8” = 1’
Long Section
184
North Elevation Render
185
East Perspective Render
186
Interior Corridor Render
187
Interior Bedroom Render
188
Main Corridor Exit Render
189
Main Corridor Entry Render
190
Building/Context Elevation
191
192
Physical Model Photos
193
194
Physical Model Photos
195
196
Physical Model Photo
197
Physical Model Detail Photo
198
Physical Model Detail Photos
199
200
Renaissance Object 1
201
4B Vertical Design Studio: Learning from Leonardo Instructor: Coy Howard Spring 2018
In this studio, we were asked to create a museum center for Italian and Japanese artifacts. The main objective of this studio was to be able to synthesis two different cultures into one by approriating similar sensibilties with one another. The initial project study was about the synthesis of the two cultures dating back from their Renaissance era. By using images of artifacts, I created five new objects that supposedly hybridizes the two cultures. The main two ideas I utilized were Michelangelo’s Non-Finito and the Japanese Wabi-Sabi and Kintsugi. Then we integrated each object into one cohesive scene or scroll. The scroll shows the radical abstraction away from either cultures, but rather eludes back to them with subtle hints of relevance. The building transitions the sensiblities learned from the scroll into an architecture project. The building is of Place/Form, meaning its form is directly related to its context. The site being on Broadway in Downtown Los Angeles, I wanted to bring primitive nature back into the concrete metropolis of downtown. The street front facade of the building uses similar building tropes from the context inculding the false facade, the tri-partition, and the vertical continuity of both side ends. Spatial Tactility is used in the gallery and library. One being a long horizontal space in opposition with a wide vertical space, seperated by an open air courtyard. The circulation is developed as Episodic Moments. These become spaces that show multiple paths or destinations, allowing the viewer to choose his/her way to go. Finally Material Intimacy is used in the project to invite and invoke action from the viewer. Using natural materials of rough rock and polished stone juxtaposed with yellow concrete and rusted metal reveals a soft resonance of materials. The materials give off a specific atmosphere eluding back to Japanese and Italian culture.
202
Renaissance Object 2
203
Renaissance Object 3
204
Renaissance Object 4
205
Renaissance Object 5
206
Renaissance Scroll
207
208
Ground Level Elevation Perspective
209
210
Sidewalk Perspective
211
Entrance Rocks Perspective
212
Cross Street Perspective
213
Courtyard Perspective
214
Balcony Perspective
215
Circulation Perspective
216
Library Gallery Perspective
217
Courtyard Exit Perspective
218
Gallery Circulation Perspective
219
Library Perspective
220
Entry Circulation Perspective
221
222
Lower Gallery Perspective
223
224
Upper Gallery Perspective
225
226
Second Floor Plan
227
Section
228
Large Chunk Axonometric
229
3A Applied Studies: Tectonics + Materiality Instructors: Ramiro Diaz-Granados / Maxi Spina Fall 2016
This tectnoics class also started with an extensive precedent study. My group and I chose the Netherlands Institute for Sounds and Vision designed by Neutelings Riedijk Architects. The building’s facade consists of two layers of checkerboarded cement and glass, and a double glazed system with moments of screen printed translucent paints. The facade coloring exposes and hides walkways along the exterior, and lightens up along the roof and upper walls creating a colorful light-well. Our final assignment was to provide a new and improved version of our precedent facade system. Since our precedent’s brise soleil was mainly just the painted colors, we decided to add two more systems in place of the color. The first being horizontal light shelves in every other mullion on the south wall as well as vertical light shelves on the west wall. The second addition was a mesh skin of sheet metal to provide an overall brise soleil. This new mesh also aesthetically fits in with the glass system as a more modern style. The following drawings in this portfolio were either of my sole responsibility or partially contributed effort. The completed semester was due to our group’s collective effort.
Group Members:
Andrew Han / Joseph Suh / William Wang / Randall Zaragoza 230
Steel Frame
Precast Concrete
.
Double Glazing
.
Relief Cast Glass which is 10mm printed toughened glass
d Vision, Netherlands
Exploded Axonometric Chunk
231
.
.
Bracing
.
35mm Steel Pivotin Frame
.
10mm Printed Toughened Glass
.
80mm Steel RHS Rail
.
Bracing
.
10mm Printed Toughened Glass
.
ø 24mm Steel Suspension Rod
.
Bolts
.
Nuts
.
160mm Steel RHS Rail
.
Facade: Second Layer
.
Steel Clamps
.
.
150mm Precast Concrete
.
Steel Bracket for Glazed Facade
.
Steel Nuts and Bolts
.
Steel Frame Mullion
.
Double Glazing Glass
Facade: First Layer
Precedent Study: Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision, Netherlands Facade System: Curtain Wall
Exploded Section Chunk
232
Waterproof Layer
.
Vapour Barrier
.
Suspension Bracket for Glazed Facade
.
Aluminum Ventilation Grille
.
250mm Reinforced Concrete
.
I-Beam 140mm Bolted on Floor Slab
.
Double Glazing Glass
.
4mm Linoleum
.
80mm Screen
.
Chilled Beams
. .
90mm Wool/ Vapour Screening Layer
.
Service Space Across Floor
Precast Concrete Axonometric Detail Chunk - Floor150mm to Wall
233
.
15mm Coated Fiber- Cement Sheeting
.
Double Glazing Glass
.
Waterproof Layer
.
Vapour Barrier
.
Suspension Bracket for Glazed Facade
.
Aluminum Ventilation Grille
.
250mm Reinforced Concrete
.
I-Beam 140mm Bolted on Floor Slab
.
Double Glazing Glass
.
4mm Linoleum
.
80mm Screen
.
Chilled Beams
. .
90mm Wool/ Vapour Screening Layer
.
Service Space Across Floor
150mm Precast Concrete
.
15mm Coated Fiber- Cement Sheeting
.
Double Glazing Glass
.
Axonometric Detail Chunk - Curtain Wall
234
Facade: Second Layer
.
Axonometric Assembly Diagram 1
235
Steel Clamps
.
Facade: First Layer
.
150mm Precast Concrete
.
Steel Bracket for Glazed Facade
.
Steel Nuts and Bolts
.
Steel Frame Mullion
.
Double Glazing Glass
.
150mm Precast Concrete
.
Steel Bracket for Glazed Facade
.
.
.
Steel Nuts and Bolts
Steel Frame Mullion
.
150mm Precast Concrete
.
Steel Clamps
.
Steel Nuts bolted onto Clamps
.
Steel Frame
.
Nuts and Bolts
.
Steel Frame Mullion
.
Double Glazing Glass
Double Glazing Glass
er
Axonometric Assembly Diagram 2
236
Summer Solstice
Solar Heat Gain Diagrams
237
Winter Solstice
Summer Solstice
Winter Solstice
238
Transformed Large Chunk Axonometric
239
Sun Section Diagram
240
Client
City of Berkeley
Architect
University of California, Berkeley Campus
Bancroft Way
Lihan Li Donna Jimeno Joseph Suh Andrew Han Derek Yan
Bancroft Way Main Pedestrian Site Entry Consultant
College Avenue
Bowditch Street
BERKELEY PUBLIC LIBRARY
Main Building Entry
Scott Uriu Pavel Getov Matthew Melnyk Jamey Lyzun
Entry/Exit
2626 Bankroft Way Berkeley, California
Above Building Cantilevers
Entry/Exit
Entry/Exit
First Floor Garage Main Car Garage Entry
Content
Siteplan Durant Avenue
Durant Avenue
College Avenue
Bowditch Street
Drawing Revision NO.
Description
Sheet No.
A13
A13 Siteplan with Document Template
241
Date
4A Applied Studies: Design Development Instructors: Scott Uriu / Pavel Getov Fall 2017
In this class, we were asked to further progress a past 3B project into the design development phase. This meaning resolving any structural and performance issues without compromising the design. The project selected was originally designed by fellow students Hannah Lee and Joseph Suh. The main issue in this project was resolving the structure of the entire building. The building also includes a large cantilever in which we had to incorporate steel trusses in that specific area. By adding large steel frame structures with another secondary layer of framing, we were able to stand the building completely wrapped in glazing. With the glazing mass structurally sound, we incorporated attachment pins in order to connect our curtain wall facade back to the structure. The following drawing sheets in this portfolio were of my sole responsibility. The completed work was due to our group’s collective effort, but I was in charge of these specific drawings and finalizing them.
Group Members:
Andrew Han / Joseph Suh / James Li / Donna Jimeno / Derek Yen 242
1
3
2
5
4
10° 20’
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
A14 Fourth Floor Plan
243
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
20’
13
14
80°
1
3
2
5
4
10°
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
20’
13
14
80°
20’
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
LEGEND
K Ceiling Panels
L
Linear Diffuser Linear Light Fixture Square Light Fixture
M
Fire Sprinkler
M3 Reflective Ceiling Plan
244
5
1
3 Floor to Primary Structure 3D Detail
4
1
Floor to Primary Structure 2D Section
245
2
3
6
5
2
7
10
Primary Structure to Mullion 3D Detail
1
7
8
9
10 1
A19 Sheet Details 1: Steel Pipe Structure 2: Steel I-Beam 3: Bolted Unit 4: Thermal Insulation 5: Concrete Floor Slab 6: Floor Finishes 7: Secondary Structure 8: Double Glazed Glass 9: Rubber Seals 10: Steel Bolt Connection
Primary Structure to Mullion 2D Section
246
2 A19
Aluminum Panel
Tinted Glass Panel
Exterior Panel Structure Frame Insulating Glazing Secondary Structure Tube
Primary Structure Tube
HVAC Supply Duct
1 A19
Fire Sprinkler
1 A18
Concrete Floor Slab W 24x162 Flange Beam Distribution Pipe Service Pipe Gypsum Board
Structural Curb Concrete Slab
2’ Square Columns
A17 2D Wall Section
247
1 A4
2 A5
3 A6
248
PV Area 12,988 sq ft
PV Capacity 194,820 W
PV Continuous Film
210
S
kWh/m2 1962.57 <= 1766.31
150
1570.05 1373.80 1177.54 981.28
120
785.03 588.77 392.51 196.26 <= 0.00
E
60 30
Solar Radiation Analysis Solar Radiation Analysis
San Francisco CA USA San Francisco CA USA 1 JAN 1:00 - 31 DEC 24:00 1 JAN 1:00 - 31 DEC 24:00
M2 Enviornmental Systems: Solar
249
Cable Distribution
Thin Film PV Cells
W
1
M2
300
1
M2
330
N
Psychometric Chart Psychometric Chart
San Francisco CA USA
San Francisco CA USA JAN 1:00 31 DEC 11JAN 1:00 - 31-DEC 24:00 24:00
250
Concrete Cores
2’ Steel Tube Frame 1.5’ Steel Tube Truss
Parking Garage
S2 3D Primary Structure
251
Concrete Cores
2’ I-Beam Floor Frame
2’ Square Columns
S3 3D Internal Structure
252
Double Pane Glass
Square Grid Brace Frame
S4 3D Secondary Structure
253
Black Glass Facade
Silver Aluminum Facade
S5 3D Structure Facade
254
Exterior Perspective : Rendered by Joseph Suh
255
4B Applied Studies: Construction Documents Instructors: David Ross / Pavel Getov Spring 2018
In this class, we were asked to create a building that consists of a gallery, an office, and a small home. But the challenging part was building the entire thing in a new program: Autodesk Revit. With the help of this application, we were able to quickly and precisely develop construction documents without the hassle of post-production issues. Much like the past design development class, this class also focuses on the buildings structure and performance. But this class takes it a little further, having to figure out facade system structures as well as details of structure and enclosure. The most important issues our building presented were the facade structure and the glazing enclosure. The wooden beam facade needed a completely different structure from the building, but also needed a way to connect back to the buildings structure. Since most of the work was done collectively in Revit, the drawings were not strictly done by one person. So i do credit these drawings to my entire group. But for these following drawings, I either had most of the input or responsibility.
Group Members:
Andrew Han / Joseph Suh / James Li / Donna Jimeno / Randall Zaragoza 256
9
8
1
7
A4.3
10' - 0"
10' - 0"
5
6
10' - 0"
10' - 0"
4
3
10' - 0"
10' - 0"
1
2
A4.2
10' - 0"
1
10' - 0"
5' - 0"
A
A.1 4
ADA RESTROOM 102 86 SF
WA-2
1 A7.1
WA-4
5' - 0"
A7.1
C
A
3B 2
5D
B
46
54
GALLERY 100 1796 SF
ADA RESTROOM 101 88 SF
10' - 0"
WA-3
32
WA-4
C 43
1 A7.3
10' - 0"
WA-1
UP
WA-4
1 A4.1
D
A7.3 3F
2
ELEVATOR 0 80 SF
52
10' - 0"
4
E
5H
G
38
STAIR 0 222 SF
E UP
5' - 0"
DN
5' - 0"
E.1 200mm Floor Light
F
Ground Floor Plan
257
9
8
1 A4.3
7
6
5
4
3
10'-0"
10'-0"
10'-0"
10'-0"
10'-0"
2
1 A4.2
1
A
6
3'-3"
A7.1
ADA RESTROOM
86 SF
8'-0 3/4"
8'-0 3/4"
B 10'-0"
4
5D
102
A.1
3'-5 3/8"
A7.1
7'-0"
A
C
3B 2
10'-0"
GALLERY 100 1801 SF
ADA RESTROOM 101
8'-0 3/4"
4'-6 1/4"
3'-10"
3'-11 1/2"
0
222 SF
80 SF
5H G
A7.3
2
E
4
8'-0 3/4"
8'-0 3/4"
3'-3"
0
10'-0"
ELEVATOR STAIR
C
8'-0 3/4" 10'-0"
10'-0"
3'-3"
88 SF
9'-11 31/32"
3'-10"
1 A4.1
D
3F
E
E.1
F
Reflective Ceiling Plan
258
WOODEN BEAM STEEL ANGLE JOINT (FACADE) CONCRETE STRUCTURAL CURB
1/2” BOLT
EXTERIOR FLOOR FINISH
CONCRETE SLAB
STEEL I-BEAM 8X20
WATERPROOFING
GROUND FLOOR SECTION 1-1/2” = 1’
WOODEN BEAM
WOODEN BEAM
1/2” BOLTS METAL PLATE
METAL PLATE
WOODEN SHIM
STEEL I-BEAM 8X20 1/2” BOLTS
STEEL ANGLE JOINT
WOODEN SHIM
STEEL I-BEAM 8X20
STEEL ANGLE JOINT
SECTION JOINT 1-1/2” = 1’
Facade Details
259
1
3
TOP SECTION JOINT 1-1/2” = 1’
4
WOODEN BEAM STEEL ANGLE JOINT (FACADE)
STEEL I-BEAM 8X20 STEEL I-BEAM 6X12 STEEL ANGLE JOINT
STEEL ANGLE JOINT STEEL I-BEAM W10X33
WOODEN BEAM 1/4” BOLT
STEEL I-BEAM 8X20
STEEL I-BEAM W10X33
ROOF COLUMN SECTION 1-1/2” = 1’
2
FLOOR FINISH CONCRETE CAST STEEL ANGLE STEEL I-BEAM W12X26 STEEL ANGLE JOINT 1” BOLTS GYPSUM BOARD WATERPROOFING GYPSUM BOARD
FLOOR PLATE SECTION 1-1/2” = 1’
5
260
WOOD BLOCK PRECAST CONCRETE WATERPROOFING FLASHING ADHESIVE WOOD BLOCK 2” RIGID INSULATION 1” THERMAL BARRIER METAL DECKING STEEL ANGLE CAST CONCRETE
ROOF 32' - 4 1/4"
W12X26 I-BEAM FIREPROOFING CONCRETE MASONRY UNIT BATT INSULATION
5/8” GYPSUM WALL FINISH 5/8” CONCRETE FLOOR FINISH
GROUND LEVEL 0' - 0"
1/2” EXPANSION JOINT
4” DRAINAGE PIPE
WATERPROOFING
VAPOR BARRIER
RIGID INSULATION
3’X4’ CONCRETE FOOTING
Wall Section Details
261
2.5”X6” WOODEN BEAM WOODEN SHIM STEEL ANGLE JOINT
8X20 I-BEAM
6X12 I-BEAM
WOOD BLOCK PRECAST CONCRETE FLASHING ADHESIVE WATERPROOFING WOOD BLOCK 2” RIGID INSULATION 1” THERMAL BARRIER METAL DECKING W12X26 I-BEAM
ROOF 32' - 4 1/4"
BATT INSULATION 5/8” GYPSUM BOARD FIREPROOFING
GLAZING MULLION
DOUBLE GLAZING LIFTED EXTERIOR FLOOR FINISH TILTED STEEL FLASHING 5/8” GYPSUM BOARD BATT INSULATION WATERPROOFING
MULLION SEALENT WOOD BLOCKS GLAZING MULLION W12X26 I-BEAM
INTERIOR FLOOR FINISH
7” CONNECTION BOLT RIGID INSULATION WATERPROOFING VAPOR BARRIER CONCRETE FOUNDATION
262
Conic Dumpling Plan
263
1B Visual Studies: Fabrications & Delineations Instructors: Emily White Spring 2015
This class introduces us to the conventions of architectural projection for the description of form and space. The exercises teach us about digital and physical modeling techniques as well as their drawing representations in plan, section, elevation, and axonometric. Our first project was to create a dumpling strictly out of geometric cones. I chose to model a fortune cookie shape. We then created cavities in order to express thickness and voids within plan and section drawings. Our second project was to create the same dumpling, except with only using curved surfaces. This is a more realistic shape of the dumpling, but more challenging to digitally and physically model. The physical modeling process was a fabric cast with a stucco material, creating a very fluid and fragile model. Our last project was to model and transform a traffic cone. With specifically angled cuts and rotated sections, we were able to bend and fold the cone into a new contorted shape. We then had to physically cut and glue a traffic cone in order to create and prove our digital model into real life.
264
Conic Dumpling Section 1
265
Conic Dumpling Section 2
266
Hard Edged to Lofted Dumpling Top View
267
Hard Edged to Lofted Dumpling Axonometric
268
Hard Edged to Lofted Dumpling Front Elevation
269
Hard Edged to Lofted Dumpling Side Elevation
270
Transformed Cone Top View
271
Transformed Cone Front Elevation
272
Transformed Cone Section
273
Transformed Cone Side Elevation
274
Conic Dumpling Photo
275
Conic Dumplling Detail Photo
276
Lofted Dumpling Photo
277
Lofted Dumplling Detail Photo
278
Transformed Cone Photo
279
Transformed Cone Detail Photo
280
Dumplings + Cone Family Photo
281
Dumplings + Cone Family Detail Photo
282
Fabric + Shape Physical Model Photo
283
2A Visual Studies: Technologies of Description 1 Instructors: Mira Henry Fall 2015
In this class, we were asked to focus on creating complex three-dimensionally curved digital surface geometry. Then to represent this geomtry through methods of drawing, rendering, and photography. Our first project started with creating physical models of fabric draped over a geometric solid. With these physical models, we had to digitally reproduce these models as close as we could., using either programs Rhinocerous or Maya. We then had to represent these in four different ways: a photograph of the physical model, a contour drawing, a digital rendering, and a combination of contour drawing overlayed on the rendering. Our second project is essentially the same process as the first, but with a much more complex model and a closer look at detail. My second model included a shape with both a soft and hard edge with a fabric that is taughtly strecthed over it. The fabric contains a flat seam as well as a loose curved billow. The fabric also reveals the subtle sihlouette of the shape from hard edge to soft disappearance.
284
Draped Model Photo
Draped Model Contour Drawing
285
Draped Model Render
Draped Model Hybrid Drawing/Render
286
Streched Fabric Model Photo
287
Stretched Fabric Model Render
288
Stretched Fabric Model Contour Drawing
289
Stretched Fabric Model Hybrid Drawing/Render
290
First Line Drawing Study
291
2B Visual Studies: Technologies of Description 2 Instructors: Jackilin Hah Bloom Spring 2016
This class introduces computation based drawing and modeling techniques, mainly through the program Grasshopper. Through scripting, we are able to expand our possibilties of organizations and form. The first project is creating a series of line drawings with the advantages of scripting. There are no set of rules or guidelines other than keeping it a square drawing. With these sets we explored different relationships between straight/ curved, radial/orthagonal, continuous/fragmented, and thick/ thin lines. Our next step was to add color in place of the black and white. But the challenge was how to utilize the color to emphasize the qualities the original black line drawings provided. The second project was to create an unroll drawing with using the same line technique and color from the first series. We then created a cube with this graphic, exploring the three-dimensional transition from line drawing to physical model. I transformed my graphic cube into three parts, separated by its original line graphics. I then re-scaled each to fit them into one another, giving a perspectival depth. Through the graphic analysis, I was able to create a dynamic form in which the lines and color give clues to what scale and position the cube is in.
292
Black Line Study Drawing 1
293
Color Line Study Drawing 1
294
Black Line Study Drawing 2
295
Color Line Study Drawing 2
296
Black Line Study Drawing 3
297
Color Line Study Drawing 3
298
Black Line Study Drawing 4
299
Color Line Study Drawing 4
300
Color Line Unroll Drawing
301
302
Line Graphic Cube Study Photos
303
304
Line Graphic Cube Study Photos
305
306
Axonometric Color Line Studies
307
308
Final Cube Axonometric Drawings
309
310
Final Cube Axonometric Drawings
311
312
Final Cube Physical Model Photos
313
314
315
1A General Studies: Humanities 1 Instructor: Jill Vesci Spring 2015 Final Paper: Humans Drawing Humans
Throughout the ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece, and Rome, humans have always appeared in their practices of art and drawing. One of the earliest drawings of humans is from 1375 BCE. Within the Book of the Dead is the Egyptian drawing â&#x20AC;&#x153;Judgment by Osiris.â&#x20AC;? It is apparent that this picture is aspective, totally two-dimensional having no depth at all. There also is a hierarchy within Egyptian drawings regulated by scale. These simple flat human depictions develop more as time goes on. The human drawings have spread amongst the world, including Greece. In 600 BCE, Greeks were drawing and sculpting humans just as Egyptians. Their style and technique can be compared to the Egyptians as it seems the Greek have learned directly from them. The Kouros Figure stands similarly to an Egyptian god. The stilllife style and no-back structure seem evident in which the statue represents a human, but a static and life-less one at that. The Kouros Figure is a step above the Egyptians drawings, having a third-dimensional understanding of a human body. The Romans have truly extenuated the human representation through their art and sculpture. The Dying Gaul is a great representation of a human in which emotion and feeling is brought upon the art. The fallen gladiator is shown defeated and depressed, also showing sympathy towards the artist and the Romans. From 220 BCE of the Dying Gaul to 90 CE, there is only so much you can improve. The Young Flavian Woman is a bust sculpture, showing off the popular hairstyle back in the day. But this hairstyle was constructed so delicately, capturing every curl and braid up to the stray hairs on her neck. Only a hundred years later came the sculpture, Emperor Commodus as Hercules. This statue also holds similar delicacy as the Flavian Woman. But Commodus is far more complex. His hair is very detailed and what not, but so is everything else including his face, chest, lion, and especially the base. But the Romans not only sculpted, but also painted as well. A beautiful mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale from 547 CE is Emperor Justinian and his attendants. Surprisingly, the most recent of these six images is ironically not the most realistic nor most detailed. Instead this painting, seems to be very primal and two-dimensional on purpose. By the use of simplifying the mosaic, the artist is able to give clear hierarchy starting from the emperor as the front. And by overlapping people, he can give a clear representation of who is more important. The mosaic is drawn intended to float in space and be weightless, have less dimensionality and no perspective.
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From 1375 BCE to 547 CE, the first and last drawings are the most similar. Well, it is true that over time, human representation in art has developed into a detailed and almost exact replica to the person. But even such skill in replicating humans does not stop artists from depicting them in different ways. Abstracting the human form is a formal choice in which the artist takes a stance and attitude towards. Humans have become so aware of themselves and their image, that it is only natural to abstract the body after being able to perfectly replicate it.
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Young Flavian Woman 90 CE Rome, Italy
Emperor Justinian and his Attendents 547 CE Basilica of San Vitale, Rome, Italy
During the riegn of Flavian emperors, aristocratic Flavian women developed a trend of hairstyle with large ornamented curls and braids.
Within the church’s side walls hold a mosiac of the Emperor Justinian as Jesus and his attendents as his apostles. The emperor stands out with being front-most and by wearing purple. A clear hierarchy is given with the use of overlapping.
Dying Gaul 220 BCE Rome, Italy This Hellenistic sculpture shows the deafeat of the Galatians. Having such emotion within the fallen gladiator, shows Roman sympathy towards the defeated.
Emperor Commodus as Hercules 191-192 CE Rome, Italy Commodus became emperor of Rome in 180 CE, succeeding his father. He is portaryed as Hercules in order to show his strangth and greatness.
Italy
Greece
Kouros Figure 600 BCE Greece - Archaic Period In Greek, “Kouros” means youth, boy, espeacially of noble rank. These statues would typically be in tombs and sanctuaries.
Mediterranean Sea
Judgment by Osiris from the Book of the Dead 1375 BCE Egypt After a death, Egyptians practice “Judgement” in which Osiris, the god of the afterlife, is to determine whether the dead is worthy of “eternal life” or thrown to a “devourer” - a modern equivalent to heaven and hell.
Egypt
Andrew Han
Humanities Assignment 1 / 2015
318
Public/Private
Public Private
319
1B Cultural Studies: History of Architecture 1 Instructor: Michelle Paul Spring 2015 Final Paper: Places of Peace
Athena Nike, the Greek goddess of victory, highly resembles the catholic angel with her wings and majestic presence. Much like them, buildings can also be compared through many aspects. The Temple of Athena Nike is still standing in the Acropolis of Athens since around 420 BC. The Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels was recently completed in the spring of 2002 in the US city, Los Angeles. A temple for Nike and a cathedral for Mother Mary, two very similar buildings, are essentially places of worship. Aesthetically on opposite spectrums, these landmarks contain similarities among programmatic and political stances. Many would say a temple and a cathedral is a very private and personal space to worship and pray. But unlike many churches, these buildings would disagree. The Temple of Athena Nike served as a monument to commemorate and worship Nike through a cult statue. Ironically, this statue did not include her wings making her more human and less angel. But this giant statue sat in the center of the structure, known as the cella, overlooking Athens and all her followers. This structure is also very open, leaving only four columns between Nike and the world. Because of its transparent openness, worshipers may come in and out casually, as a more public space, while some may remain and praise as a private space. Much like the temple, the Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels also provides the same functions. “I wanted both a public space,” said Moneo, “and something else, what it is that people seek when they go to church.” Professor José Rafael Moneo is the Spanish mastermind architect behind the cathedral. He had two main intentions: the Light of God and the sense of journey alone and together. This cathedral being one of LA’s greatest landmarks creates a lot of foot traffic other than churchgoers. Through Moneo’s design of colonnades, plazas, staircases, and an unusual entry, he was able to create a comfortable combination of public and private space. Having such large public landmarks have political and social effects as well. The Temple of Athena Nike holds much symbolism for Athens and its acropolis. The temple’s construction began around 450 BC, but was rudely interrupted by the Peloponnesian War. It was during the Peace of Nicias in which the temple was finally built. Also known as the Fifty-Year Peace, the Peace of Nicias was a treaty between the cities Athens and Sparta. The acropolis was actually built during the same time of its residing shrines, including the temple of Athena Nike. The temple is also a symbol of harmony between the Ionian and Dorian people while they lived in the acropolis under Athenian rule. Not only is this temple an architectural landmark of
320
peace; its statue of Nike literally holds a symbol of peace, a pomegranate tree branch. In her opposite hand holds a symbol of war, a helmet. Nike held the hopes for victory in peace and power. The Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels does believe in peace as well as harmony. The city of Los Angeles, originally founded by the Hispanics, is now a blended mix of ethnicities and cultures. In order to accommodate the social environment, the architect did not want to take on any certain style of past architecture; instead he went on into a more contemporary style in the post-modern field. Through such design and functionality brings people together from passers-by to worshipers. This cathedral came just in time for Los Angeles, as LA recovers from the 90â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s riots. In times of war and riots, two monuments stand together, thousands of years apart, in need of peace. Becoming a symbol of the people and their unity helps society grow for the better. Through the buildings functionality, this coming together of the people can happen. With such great public space, many people are able to access and wander with one another. There are also thousands of people simply viewing these large monuments. The temple being located in the front of the Acropolis and the cathedral being located right next to the Hollywood freeway. From opposite sides of the world, these two buildings are not only a place of worship but a place of peace as well.
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Private
Public/Private
Public
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Film 1: Jacques Tati’s Playtime (1976) Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playtime
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Film 2: Godfrey Reggio’s Koyaanisqatsi (1982)
Source: https://www.amazon.com/Koyaanisqatsi-Life-Balance-Philip-Glass/dp/
3B Liberal Arts: Film II Instructor: Michael Stock Spring 2017 Final Paper: Humans vs. the World
What exactly is the relationship between us humans and the world we live in? During the time of postwar modernism (more specifically 1960’s-70’s), the world started to rebuild itself toward human fashion. By this I mean new cities and infrastructure were built in so many more places than before. Computers, cars, and buildings all have been technologically been advanced to keep up with the modern society. And one of humankind’s greatest achievement of space travel succeeded at the end of the 1950’s. But what does all of this mean? And what effects do these modern inventions have on us as humans? Do they effect the Earth? In 1973, Jaquez Tati made the movie Playtime in response to this modernized technological boom the world was in. The movie showed a more observational aspect of a modern Paris that might have existed. In 1982, Godfrey Reggio made the documentary film Koyaanisqatsi, which directly translates from the Hopi language as “Life out of Balance.” These two films may seem to have very contrasting views of the relationship between humans and our environment, but after watching and analyzing both films I came to a conclusion that they were actually more similar than they are different. They do use very different film techniques in order to portray their movie message through the screen, but the actual content of the scene would start to relay similar themes. Tati’s film is more of an accurate prediction of what the modern world may look like and what effect it has to the human. Reggio’s film is more of a widespread observation of the world’s transformation from nature into modern cities. Surprisingly, Tati’s satirical prediction of the modern world aligns with what it is today, and what is shown in Reggio’s film as well. Tati and Reggio both used visual and audio techniques in order to specifically portray a certain message or feeling. Even though the techniques used were drastically different, the themes and messages coincide with one another. Within Playtime, one of the important aspects of the film is its use of color, or should I say lack of color. Tati wanted to portray a world of color that look black and white. In order to do this, he used only monochromatic colors, mostly using just grey, black, and dark blue. Almost everything in the scene would have this dull color to match the clinical aesthetic of the movie. But they are only a few instances in which the color dramatically changes. Flowers and other living things (other than humans) seem to keep their vibrant color in order to pop out of the scene and over attract attention. This technique shows the overwhelming power of the modern city environment to one’s view. By this I mean the city becomes this massive influence on the city dweller on what he or she sees. The materials used within the film also give to the clinical and mechanical aesthetic
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because of their lack of texture. The grid-like environments also start to resemble machinery and computers, in which the movie is filled with similar gadgets. The buildings workers and visitors also start to resemble computer robots in which their movements become robotic and grid-based, only turning in 90 degree angles and walking in completely straight lines. This blend between environment and inhabitants is apparent in both films. In Playtime, the people surrounding Mr. Hulot in the city become mechanized and robotic in such a way that bureaucracy kind of forces them to be. But Tati also uses a couple key characters to break away from the robotic human. Mr. Hulot, of course, is the innocent human being baffled by all of the technology within this environment. The American female tourist is also another character that strays away from her computerized unit, running on her own to explore this new modern city. She finds happiness and solace when hanging out with Mr. Hulot with all of his innocently comedic antics. She finally understands the complexity within the modern world by looking at it through curious and familiar eyes. This is shown in the final scene of her leaving in the bus, recognizing the flower Mr. Hulot gifted her as a simple streetlight passing by her window. This small and simple gesture shows the relationship between the modern world and the people that live in it. The world shouldn’t be taken so literally all the time because the world is so esoteric and confusing. People will find themselves confounded like Mr. Hulot if you try too hard. So if you can be more like the American woman the city becomes part of the human nature. But within the “Royal Garden” scene, the environment will eventually collapse in such a way people will not notice nor care, but will inevitably be enjoyed. Koyaanisqatsi does portray humankind in few different ways, but some do coincide with Tati’s vision in a much similar way. Reggio’s film does not include any shots of humans until about a third way into the movie. He introduces humans into his film with shots of explosions and blasts and then a series of quick shots of man made achievements such as the airplane and the skyscraper. This juxtaposition of these graphic images emphasizes the detrimental human impact has had to the world. But these images are also not shot as an impending doom, but more monumental. By this I mean the cinematography used for these shots imply more beauty within this destruction. This theme of beauty within the beast is also evident all throughout the whole film. The film continues on observing the American city, more specifically the people of the public within these modern cities. In some scenes, there are fast-forwarded shots of people in masses, walking around either doing work, waiting in lines,
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or just everyday business. These shots specifically showcase humans at a macro scale, comparing people to something more like worker ants. It also starts to showcase humans as mere data or information, as the boundaries of the scene begin to blur, and the human movements simply become moving dots of color. In this way, people become and act more like computers because of their direct movements coordinated with each other’s movements as well. The film then starts to shift scale when the camera zooms in on people much more up close. These long voyeuristic shots showcase these people as individuals, a human life apart from the rest. But they provoke a certain feeling and emotion that strikes the viewer with empathy. This is evident especially in the scenes where the film’s fourth wall is broken with direct stares from strangers. These long close up shots made me realize that all of these people do have a beautiful life, full of past, present, and future, and all of these lives have a right to live the way they do. But inevitably this close up view also blinds us from the disastrous effects of humans have on the Earth like from the earlier shots of explosions. There is a scene of multiple close up shots that also emphasize the human’s ignorance and care for the world. There is a shot of a grandma trying to light a cigarette, then immediately switches to a man getting picked up by a couple paramedics, and then immediately switching to a classy white woman staring out from her car then rolling up her window. This carefully juxtaposed scene reveals how the human can either know or not know the detrimental effects from humans, but either way is still the main antagonist to the Earth. The long shots of people still fetishize the beauty of human life. These shots do not disgust nor deflect the viewer, but rather interest the viewer to actually care for these people as fellow humans. The beauty within the beast is the life that humans live and the care we have for each other’s life, and the humans are of course the beast that erodes away the Earth. Playtime and Koyaanisqatsi are both phenomenal films about the modern world. Both showcase people and their surroundings in an observational and voyeuristic way, creating a sense of distance from the characters that will inevitably leave the viewer wanting to connect closer to the characters. Playtime introduces the people and Mr. Hulot as the main characters in which the environment of Tativille becomes the main antagonist of the whole film. The environment contains boundaries of doors, walls, and elevators that Mr. Hulot is victimized by. Koyaanisqatsi introduces the Earth as the main character, idolizing its inherent beauty within nature. It then shows humans and our inventions as the main antagonist of the film, showing our
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detrimental effects on the Earth’s health. But both the films do not end with the death of the antagonist, but rather a curious compromise. Mr. Hulot and his lady friend became accustomed to the city and overlooked the city’s confusion and eventually enjoyed the little things the city had to offer. In Koyaanisqatsi, the Earth also took a compromise with humans by showing the failure of human work (the rocket ship on fire) along with showing the content and continuous lives of these many people. The film showed me that the Earth is for the people and the people for the Earth, even though it may be a beautiful and destructive relationship. There really isn’t an overarching theme or message that both these films try to get across, but rather a mixed set of feelings and emotion one can feel through watching the film. By revealing a story through feeling and atmosphere, both of these films successfully portrayed their thoughts of the human relationship to the world around us.
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Figure 1: Eisenman’s House III Diagram
Source: http://www.eisenmanarchitects.com/house-iii.html
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Figure 2: Eisenman’s House III Photo
Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/486318459752961727/
3A History Theory: Architecture Theory Instructor: Todd Gannon Fall 2016 Final Paper: Architecture is a Personal Theory
Architecture theory is a set of ways and means which drives one’s thought toward design. Without theory, there will be no change, no abstraction, no adaptation that will inevitably be necessary in design. One may argue that design is never original, never one of a kind, but merely a reproduction of its influences: the simulacrum. But the influence that took part in design becomes manifested into a theory of what it is and what it can be. Design becomes both real and imaginary through the conceptual abstractions taken from reality. Since design is abstracted into thought, the inherent potential within design becomes highly formal as well as political. Architecture then becomes a much more creative practice as it accounts for sensation as well as intellection. But it is that sensation that the designer theorizes from the beginning. Architecture theory is a personal abstraction of reality manifested into form, concept, and sensation. Concepts and ideas drive design, making design specific and non-arbitrary. Many architects seem to approach their designs with a strict set of rules they set themselves that appear apparent within their works. Peter Eisenman sees architecture as both equally extrinsically and intrinsically valued. His analysis of the Maison Domino consists of breaking down its part to whole relationship into a form of function and self-reference. But it is the significance of form overcoming its literal use that differentiates architecture from building (189-196).1 It is evident within his work, such as House III and his House of Cards study, that his theory of form following function and more. He materializes his grids and drawings planes as walls and columns that show their literal definition. But he also uses these grids and planes in order to mark the exterior with hints of its interior. Robert Venturi had a different approach to architecture. Rather than architecture overcoming its literal function, his concept lies on the ambiguity of form and its meaning (22-29).2 In his Venturi House, the traditional implications of a home have a morphed to question its function. The central void, broken arc, and horizontal bar pediment suggest a front door, but rather exposes and angled mass. The left window extrudes down almost touching the ground, thus becoming a door at first glance, but then realized it is only but a large window. This ambiguity that Venturi refers to also follows Eisenman’s theory of architecture overcoming its literal function, but through his own way. It is the personalization of how architecture strays away from building and towards something more. How can design be so personal if all design is a copy or representation of its derivative? Craig Owens states the tracing of genealogy will result to nothing because
1 Eisenman, Peter. “Maison Dom-ino and the Self-Referential Sign.” Aspects of Modernism. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 188-98. Print. 2 Venturi, Robert. Complexity and Contradiction in Architecture. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2011. Print.
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Figure 3: Venturi’s Mother House Photo
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanna_Venturi_House#/media/File:VVenturi_House_Highsmith.jpeg
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Owens, Craig. “Philip Johnson: History, Genealogy, Historicism.” Catalogue 9 (1978): 81-90. Print. 4 Deleuze, Gilles, and Rosalind Krauss. “Plato and the Simulacrum.” October 27 (1983): 45-50. Print. 3
it is a never ending chain of influences (81-88).3 Gilles Deleuze writes about Plato and the Simulacrum as having potential to further itself and/or its discipline (44-49).4 The simulacrum acts as a study or prototype that can always be further developed. One may state that Eisenman derived his House of Cards from Le Corbusier’s Maison Domino, therefore can one say that Eisenman created his own theory of architecture? Yes, Eisenman created an abstraction from the Maison Domino that Le Corbusier may or may not have intended, which did not matter for Eisenman. That simple abstraction takes out the original from all context and creates new ideas from that original. The House of Cards may resemble the Maison Domino, but inherently creates many new architectural qualities that were never in the Maison Domino. Therefore, according to Owens, Eisenman created something new because of its values discerns itself from its derivative. And according to Deleuze, Eisenman’s Maison Domino studies were the simulacrum that gave him the opportunity to create the new, the House of Cards. Formal design decisions not only impact the building itself, but the social and political implications around it. Caroline Levine uses design theory’s idea of affordance to argue for form having potential in materials and design. And using these formal affordances in such a way allow political power to be understood. Levine mentions the panopticon prison having a specific disciplinary hierarchy which affords inequality due to the prison’s latent geometry (1-10).5 The prison works in such an effective way, not because of its absolute hierarchy towards the guards, but because of the theoretical hierarchy that can never be confirmed but only assumed by the prisoners. It is that design decision that transcends the panopticon prison from building to architecture, from literal towards conceptual. Conceptual geometries allow much more opportunities for different relationships between materiality and design. Architecture, once taken out of the context of the physical world, can become self-referential as Eisenman states. Designing through inherent geometries referencing the self can also start to produce different sensations. The self-referring Maison Domino is a modern theory allowing a free plan, but this is a mere theory of intellect and not sensation. For sensation brings upon a new level of complexity within architecture, which transcends its literal and conceptual form towards a form of beauty. Terence Riley talks about the transition of architecture from literal form to sensation through technological advances. Glass has been traditionally overused due to the ideality of the glass pavilion and its wonderful affordance of transparency (9-15).6 With today’s technology, we are able to imply
5 Levine, Caroline. “Introduction.” Forms: Whole, Rhythm, Hierarchy, Network. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2015. 1-23. Print. 6 Riley, Terence. Light Construction. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1995. 9-30. Print.
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Figure 4: Herzog & de Meuron’s Signal Box (Day)
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Source: https://www.archdaily.com/256766/flashback-signal-box-herzog-de-meuron/ herzog_meuron_central_signal_box_basel_sw_191111_021
Figure 5: Herzog & de Meuron’s Signal Box (Night) Source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/495396027746328854/
transparency or translucency through almost any type of material as a perforated skin. Jeffery Kipnis talks about the cunning complexity within postmodern buildings that take advantage of form as well as skin. He mentions the Signal Box by Herzog and De Meuron as a cosmetic design that does not manipulate its form like ornamentation, but rather through the subtle discrepancy of the skin towards its form (429-434).7 The Signal Box has a simple, almost modern shape of a rectangle with a slight shear. This is not because Herzog and De Meuron overlooked the buldings form, but through apparent construction benefits and its relation to its skin. The beauty of this building is not in its literal or conceptual geometries, but rather the transformation of the buildings sensation from day to night. The daylight shows the building as a whole, revealing both implied form of the skin and literal form of the building. The discrepancy between the two blurs the distinction of form and function, creating a strong sensation of wonder and curiosity. At night, the building transforms from an opaque black box into a transparent light box. The materiality of the building start to disappear into the night as the interior lights start to appear most prominent, revealing its interior forms. Through the complex use of form and concept, Herzog and De Meuron were successfully able to produce a transcending sensation. Architecture has many theories, some being trends such as the ideal glass pavilion and others being efficient construction such as the Maison Domino. But through the studies and practices of past architecture can one really start to further push the extents of architecture as a discipline. The simulacrum of architecture is not detrimental, but opportunistic for further development and learning. Through formal affordances, architecture becomes conscious about its surroundings as a social and political figure. However, social and political implications do not make compelling architecture due to their subject to change. But compelling architecture must also include a certain sensation that the designer brings upon the eyes of the beholder. The theory of architecture is for the architect to discover in their own way, and so far this is my theory.
Kipnis, Jeffery. “The Cunning of Cosmetics: A Personal Reflection on the Architecture of Herzog and De Meuron.” El Croquis 84 1997: 429-34. Print. 7
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Figure 1: Malevichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s White on White
Source: https://www.moma.org/collection/works/80385
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Figure 2: Kapoorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Decension
Source: https://www.designboom.com/art/anish-kapoor-descension-public-art-fundbrooklyn-bridge-park-new-york-02-17-2017/
4B History Theory: Shapes Instructor: Marrikka Trotter Spring 2018 Final Paper: Presence/Absence in Architecture
Presence and absence are definitive terms to describe states of being or existence. Both become more complicated terms once broken down in a better way to understand their definitions. Through this redefinition, their opposing definitions will become compromised to which new forms of presence and absence can arise. When absence is defined as the lack of existence or being, the importance and quality of absence is lost. There is a partial mode of being in which presence nor absence defines. The absence of presence seems to make the most sense in defining the quality of absence without losing it. For example, the Kazimir Malevich painting White on White is a white tilted square painted on a white background. The square object in the field becomes repressed through its subjective qualities to blend into the background in so much as to almost disappear. This in-between state of being is what I call the absence of presence where the object is present, but its subjective qualities pull back towards its absence. Another clear example of this absent presence is camouflage. Abbott H. Thayer explains in her journal entry to The Scientific Monthly, called Camouflage, on the advantages and necessities of camouflage and its development from animals to humans.1 The white square on Malevichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s white canvas is neither completely present nor absent, just as a brown snake in brown sand is neither completely present nor absent. Instead of repressing presence, there is also the reciprocal definition. The presence of absence brings foreword not the qualities of absence, but the qualities of presence of the void itself. For example, an empty room embodies the presence of absence because it is exactly the lack of things within the room that voids any perception of a thing, but the room itself then becomes ever more present as space. The room acts just like an empty picture frame, where the frame becomes the physical object which emphasizes the nothingness within it. To relate this concept back to another artwork is Anish Kapoorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Descension whirlpool installation. In this piece, the absence which is the implied endlessness of the hole becomes ever more present with the continuing whirlpool of dark water surrounding it. The water acts like a frame emphasizing the black void as absence. Presence and absence themselves have always been an important part of architectural thought and practice. The most common of them being figure/ground studies. Black and white diagrams representing accessible and non-accessible, public and private spaces show a literal presence of building and space, space being the absence of building. This play on presence and absence also appears in building
Abbot H. Thayer, Camouflage, (New Hampshire, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1918), 482-492.
1
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Figure 3: Miesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Sketch of Seagram Building Source: http://www.eikongraphia.com/?p=111
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typologies. This classification of forms brings together a multitude of possibilities thinking about building as presence and space as absence. And with these different typologies come different possibilities of program whether it be public courtyards, private balconies, or even a grand entrance. But where do the terms “presence of absence” and “absence of presence” fit in architecture? These two new terms of partial being have been utilized in architecture before and even now. Mies Van der Rohe is famously the architect that makes his buildings disappear into nothingness. This way of working with architecture represses the building’s expression to a mere minimum of necessity. But not only did he create this new style of building, but he also kept in mind of the space of non-building. Michael Hays wrote an essay published in Robert Somol’s book “Autonomy and Ideology” about Mies Van der Rohe’s Seagram Building. Hays hypothesized Mies’ abstraction of architecture as a central tension between the desire to de-subjectify the aesthetic phenomena and the commitment to produce aesthetic experience.2 The repression of the architecture’s phenomena is directly why his buildings become silent, almost to nothing. This is how a Mies building is a literal representation of the absence of presence. But Mies also emphasizes the aesthetic experience in architecture, in which I would categorize as a presence of absence. “...the focus of Mies’s attention seems to be - from the start, judging from the documents - the plaza itself, with the building surface understood as a kind of frame or support for that primary clearing in the deadening thickness of the Manhattan grid” (282).3 Hays had clearly described Mies’ thought process of the plaza in terms of its relation to its context. The plaza being a space, an absence, where its becomes ever more present within the city grid by having the building as a monumental presence supporting the plaza to be an open space. Without the building, the plaza would not be defined so boldly and would risk being lost within the city grid. Without the plaza, the building would also suffer because of the loss of spatial differentiation. The plaza pulls the building back from the normalized grid, giving a larger sense of autonomy to the building itself. But the plaza also pulls this architecture back into the social context of the city providing an open public space.
2 3
Michael Hays, Abstraction’s Appearance, (New York, Monacceli Press, 1997), 279. Hays, Abstraction’s Appearance, 282.
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Figure 4: Seagram Building
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Source: https://www.archdaily.com/59412/ad-classics-seagram-building-mies-van-der-rohe/5383460bc07a802121000420-seagram-building-mies-van-der-rohe-photo
“This simultaneous production of difference from and integration with the social city, this impossible third term or “bound duality,” is what the Seagram plaza, as built, tries to effect. It is a cutout in the city, a literal nothing endowed nevertheless with a positive presence through its material and dimensional precision” (283).4 The Seagram building has another “bound duality” in terms of the phrases “presence of absence” being the plaza and “absence of presence” being the building. The plaza is the literal nothing, but its presence is primarily due to the building itself. The attention to material and detail do also push foreword the plazas presence, but secondary to the building. The building itself is the repression of expression, detailed specifically to reveal only the necessary articulation that is the steel and glass grid. The overall black material and monumental form creates this building as a voided presence. Much like Kapoor’s Decension, the building acts like the water, pulling direction and space down to the literal void. “Like equipment in factories, the spatial arrangements of buildings, cities, and regions increase production and reproduce the relations of production... ‘Thus space appears solely In its reduced forms. Volume leaves the field to surface, and any overall view surrenders to visual signals spaced out along fixed trajectories already laid down in the ‘plan.’ An extraordinary – indeed unthinkable, impossible – confusion gradually arises between space and surface, with the latter determining a spatial abstraction which it endows with a half-imaginary, half-real existence” (287).5 The abstraction of building into plans and diagrams is the abstraction of volume into surface. Architectural representation is almost always a two-dimensional form of a three-dimensional mass or space. Mies is simultaneously designing both things in space and space itself. But by reducing the expression of the thing in space he succeeded in the absence of presence. And by emerging the plaza with materials and details, he succeeded in the presence of absence. It is this spatial abstraction that Mies creates through partial being, the building becoming nothing and the plaza becoming something. 4 5
Hays, Abstraction’s Appearance, 283. Hays, Abstraction’s Appearance, 287.
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Figure 5: Trummerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 5th City Diagram Source: http://www.petertrummer.com/blog/
Figure 6: Pile City New York
Source: http://www.petertrummer.com/projects-1/#/the-pile-city/
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Mies had created a new tower typology that emphasizes space and context. Many other typologies have come about since then also thinking about both positive and negative spaces, mass and voids. Peter Trummer is a contemporary architect who deals with the idea of the city as architecture and architecture as a city. His city typology diagram, The 5th City, shows a few but common city organizations, but his main diagram is the city as an aggregated object. Treating the city as an architecture means that the architecture must also include the entire infrastructure to maintain itself. The aggregated object then seems like the ideal diagram as is poses many different spaces, masses, and directions for many different needs. The varying presences and absences creates a more dynamic and exciting relationship on the appearance of the object as well as its performance. Trummer produced two city projects through his research of the city as an aggregated object: Pile City New York and Pile City Vienna. Much like how Mies uses industrial building parts for his building, Trummer uses preexisting city parts to construct a city whole. In the Pile City New York, he uses famous skyscrapers that get transformed into an aggregated whole. The parts become unrecognizable from their original appearance and transformed again when wrapped with a new façade. The appearance of the whole is reinforced by having this continuous grid façade hiding each building part, repressing the expression of the parts in favor of the whole. In Trummer’s photorealistic city render, the aggregated object makes its appearance through its grand scale and its geometrical silhouette. But the object’s appearance is also repressed through its façade articulation, as it tries to blend back into the city with its seemingly normalized grid. This relationship of pattern and silhouette is directly relatable to Thayer’s scientific speculation on camouflage. “This being the case, man has only to cut out a stencil of the soldier, ship, cannon, or whatever figure he wishes to conceal, and look through this stencil from the viewpoint under consideration, to learn just what costume from that viewpoint would most tend to conceal this figure” (494).6
6
Thayer, Camouflage, 492.
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Figure 7: Pile City Vienna
Source: http://www.petertrummer.com/projects-1/#/new-gallery-1/
Figure 8: Zoopol Leopard
Source: http://firstoff.net/projects/Zoopol/
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Trummer also does the same camouflage effect with his Pile City Vienna. Instead of skyscrapers, he uses famous buildings in the area as his constituent parts. He then synthesizes them with formal transformations and an overall continuous façade. But the city object does not blend into its context, but rather pushes its presence instead of repressing it. The façade in both cases of the Pile Cities become the agent for the absence of presence of the constructed parts. The four legs the object stands on acts as a perch on which it hovers over the rest of the city. This perch becomes literal voids in elevation and site plan, giving space for the large metro railway running through the building. The railway activates this voided space creating the presence of absence. The voided space becomes much more prevalent and gives more meaning to its existence. Another study on city typology is the Zoopol project by First Office, run by Anna Neimark and Andrew Atwood. In this project, their aim is to explore the possibilities of the figure/ground drawing in terms of a city to produce new environments and strange familiarities from nature. “Zoopol is an urban abstraction. It formalizes the distance between an object and its representation. The extrusion of the animal print figure/ground unifies an otherwise wildly complex set of parts into a monumental whole that represents urban form through a single architectural convention.”7 Their first project, The City of Leopard, is a tower project. With the density of towers being concentrated near the spine of the leopard, the public space becomes narrow alley ways and streets much like a city grid. But then the towers will gradually dissipate as the city moves away from the leopard’s spine and the public space becomes larger and takes over the space of towers.8 The transition from the black and white diagram to volume and space shows the emergence of presence as well as absence. The leopard spots become towers, equal in height, becoming more of a whole together while its individual expression is repressed. This absence of presence unifies these towers into a whole city that can be read cohesively. The emergence of these towers immediately reveals the negative space, which directly becomes the public space of the city. The presence of absence occurs when the towers start to dissipate and the public space increases in scale and becomes more apparent.
7 8
First Office, Zoopol, Accessed April 21, 2018. http://firstoff.net/projects/Zoopol/ First Office, Zoopol. Accessed April 21, 2018.
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Figure 9: Pinterest HQ Diagrams
Source: http://firstoff.net/projects/Pinterest_HQ/
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First Office also plays with the idea of presence and absence in built projects such as their Pinterest Headquarters. This project is directly related to Malevichâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s White on White painting in which that is how they explore the ambiguities of its figure/ground relationship. The white on white distorts the diagram into a flickering between the figure and the ground. The subtle difference of between the two can be interpreted in many ways and is also what makes it important.9 The diagrams showing the multiple interpretations of figure/ground also show the bounded relationship of presence and absence. The diagrams shows four different possible interpretations of a figure/ground while showing four different figures and their effects. The first row of figures become present as a table and the ground becomes present as a void, or a room with its walls defining the space. This configuration introduces an enclosed private space with a single work table. The second row of layouts shows the ground becoming present as a table, but having the figure become the literal void carving out of table. This configuration introduces an open space with a work table able to accommodate many users on both the outer and inner perimeters. The third row shows the figures becoming rooms with walls, a literal voided space, while the ground is still present as a table. This configuration introduces an enclosed private space within the open space the work table presents. The fourth row shows the figure becoming a table on the ground becoming a table as well, the ground presence becoming the platform for the figure presence. This configuration allows a completely open work space with different levels of use in the vertical axis. This series of diagrams show a clear and concise way of how a play on presence and absence and yield so many different results in terms of program, private/public space, and user experience. Architecture has always been about designing presences and absences, but a closer observation of the two terms shows that many more outcomes and results can be achieved. First Office utilizes the figure/ground ambiguities to generate multiple results of differing uses of space. From open to closed, private to public, they also grasp the opportunities of the in-between spaces of partially open and partially closed with the multiple presences of figure/ground. City typologies have also been rethought in similar terms of figure/ground, revealing different literal voids as opportunities. First office utilized the animal prints as a strange environment creating valleys of public space. Peter Trummer uses the aggregated object to form a city while using the technique absence of presence to refer the object back to its context. Mies Van der Rohe also utilizes the same method of absence of presence throughout his buildings, but is most prevalent in his Seagram building. His Seagram plaza became an important precedent for architectural thought about presence of absence and for programmatic possibilities. A closer and more silent view on presence and absence can reveal much more than just appearances, but their architectural possibilities.
9 First Office, Pinterest HQ, Accessed April 21, 2018. http://firstoff.net/projects/Pinterest_HQ/
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Bibliography
Hays, Michael, and Robert E. Somol. “Abstraction’s Appearance.” Autonomy and Ideology: Positioning an Avant-garde in America, 1997, 284-91. Thayer, Abbott H. “Camouflage.” The Scientific Monthly7, no. 6 (December 1918): 481-94. Trummer, Peter. “Blog.” Peter Trummer. Accessed April 22, 2018. http://www. petertrummer.com/blog/. Trummer, Peter, Sven Winkler, Simeon Brugger, and Florian Smutny. “Projects.” Peter Trummer. Accessed April 22, 2018. http://www.petertrummer.com/projects-1/#/thepile-city/. Trummer, Peter, and Elisabeth Sinnesberger. “Projects.” Peter Trummer. Accessed April 22, 2018. http://www.petertrummer.com/projects-1/#/new-gallery-1/. Neimark, Anna, Andrew Atwood, Tijana Vujosevic, and John May. “First Office.” Firstoffice. Accessed April 22, 2018. http://firstoff.net/projects/Zoopol/. Neimark, Anna, Andrew Atwood, and Janette Kim. “First Office.” First-office. Accessed April 22, 2018. http://firstoff.net/projects/Pinterest_HQ/.
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