Integration of Natural and Artificial Terrain in Architectural Design Atibadi Brugnano - 900929 Politecnico di Milano School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Construction Engineering Bachelor of Science Degree in Architectural Design A. A. 2019-2020 September 2020
Abstract This thematic portfolio explores the idea of designing projects using natural or artificial terrain as a solution for architectural systems. Stan Allen the author of 'Landform Building' explains the concept of the active surface - an idea that treats the ground as a performative element which can be folded, warped, bent or striated depending on the requirements. This stratagem is advantageous in allowing complexes with varying programs to link one another in a smooth manner. Furthermore, it allows for the corridors of information to flow between separated elements. The idea of landform buildings allow for architecture to be biological - an adaptive, lifelike environment that allows humans to walk on, experience and interact with. Stan Allan explains that it is a new design technique that takes the information we've learnt from ecology and other fields - combining them in the architectural practice. This portfolio examines three projects that have exploited and implemented the terrain in three different ways.
Content | Index 1. Foresteria (Design Studio 2)
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Urban Regeneration Project in the Eastern Periphery of Milan with a mixed use function of residence and public functions (Market).
2. Salemi’s Nest (Design Studio 3)
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Set in the historical town on the hill top of Salemi, Sicily, a co-housing project for new retiree. Project deals with unique topography and old abandoned ruins
3. GasPark (Final Design Studio)
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Urban Regeneration project in an ex industrial zone of Bovisa. A mixed program of Sports, Leisure and Culture to enhance the campus life and the urban area of Bovisa
4. Vertical Elements
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Analysis of architectural elements that were present through out the three project. Internal and external connections that allows for architecture to work with the landscape.
5. Conclusion 6. Citations
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FORESTERIA Architectural Design Studio 2 Group-mate: Suna Mertoglu Professors: Giulia Setti, Giovanni Bassi, Ana Veljkovic
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Foresteria is a project developed in the Eastern Peripheries of Milan, with aims to add an important public space that will enhance the local residence of the Lambrate district. The core of the project is a forest situated below ground level, in which the residential building and market centers revolves around. The project is divided into three main components: the residential building, market hall and elevated walkway. The chosen sections help establish the relationship between these parts. The artificial topography of the landscape is a solution that allows for a seamless transition from various programs. Furthermore, the elevated walkways allow the site to still be connected to the urban fabric, without disrupting the circulation. Equally so, the choice for the manipulation of the topography also allows for better visual connections between the new buildings and the existing C Shaped Buildings.
Project Masterplan
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Ground Floor Plan
Underground Plan
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Section A-A’ A’
B
B’
A
Section B-B’
A strong boundary of the site that clearly demarcates the interior park and the outside
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Expanding the Green from an existing park in to the new area
Lower level allows for Visual Dialogue between C-Buildings and the new Complex
Main Axis that passes through the Complex and integral to the circulation
Main Strategies
Architectural element of the raised pathways allow for circulation and access to the market
Extension of the Internal Markets, Flexible promenade that can be used for open markets or events
Axonometric Views
External Facade
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Salemi’s nest Architectural Design Studio 3 Group-mate: Suna Mertoglu, Vilelmini Maria Kestsoglou Professors: Pierre-Alain Croset, Giovanni Comi
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Our co-housing project in Salemi stems from the idea of redesigning typology. After the 1968 earthquake, many parts of salemi were left damaged and in ruins. Subsequently, this condition presented us with an opportunity to improve the urban fabric, and ameliorate the living conditions. These improve conditions will be achieved through the creation of less dense housing, an increase in exposures and better connectivity. To realize these conditions, the projects follows a new vertical urban grid that is superimposed and meshed with the current city. Like that found in flat cities, perpendicular roads will join the three pre-existing ring roads and further improve circulation. The ring roads stays unchanged, while the vertical grid follows a series of ruined staircases. The vertical strips of connections will be filled with urban spaces and allow people to traverse faster through the project area and the surrounding landmarks. Furthermore, the vertical grid creates extra surface areas for the built volumes, and allow us to have windows on more than one side.
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Project Masterplan The architectural part was developed on the west side of the project site. I was tasked to design a small sized kindergarten and co-housing apartments. The project area required creative ways to exploit the naturally slope of the hill. What made this site unique is the fact that it is sloping in two directions, both in the latitude and longitude. Before starting the process of design, I set out the goal of making the area one unique system, focusing on circulation within my individual area, the overall masterplan, and the context of Salemi. From the idea of circulation, I wanted to create a community that would include the retirees and the children’s that would be attending the school. The plan of the buildings follows as close as possible to the old footprint of the collapsed building. The kindergarten nestles at the end of the site, using a unique typology that is specific to the terrain of Salemi. The ramp that surrounds the kindergarten is based on preexisting slopes and old staircase, which is then adapted to create a safe and interesting environment for the kids. The ramp focuses heavily on circulation, as is connects the kindergarten to the surrounding area with one gesture.
Floor plans in Ascending Height (Sea Level (m))
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A’
B
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B’
Section A-A’
Follows the concept of a vertical grid. Horizontal lines follows ring roads, and vertical lines connections are added for better circulation
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Blue Zones are Open Public Spaces and Yellow is Playground. Idea of decreasing density
Section B-B’
Terracing typology allows for panoramic views in all apartments
Blue represents the form of the buildings, it follows a footprint of the destroyed buildings and ruins
Main Strategies
The Yellow Arrow demarcates the entrances of the residential building, and Blue Arrows demarcate the entrances of the common area
The vertical connections are highlighted. We tried to keep old existing stairs, while supplementing new ones along
Axonometric View
Front and Side Elevations of Residential Complex
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Gaspark Final Design Studio Group-mate: Marija Kostadinova, Tomas Kedhi, Polina Zaifarova Professors: Emilio Faroldi, Paolo Scrivano, Maria Pilar Vettori
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The multi-functional complex is located in the ex-industrial site of Bovisa, next to the Politecnico Campus of La Masa. The complex requirement was to hold certain programs related to Leisure, Culture and Sports. Our masterplan follows the rational and orthogonal axes of the existing morphology, with an attempt to weave the new complex into the current campus of Bovisa. The landscape is a series of lowered terrain, that creates platforms for varying programs. This include a platform/field dedicated to sports, and amphitheater for cultural and event purposes. All these artificial landscape helps tie the architecture in to the systems through varying connections. Moreover, a dialogue is established through the usage of the context as a stage scenery for the often-occurring central activity, and more importantly for the natural flow of everyday life. One of the references we used was from Renzo Piano “Auditorium La Casa Della Musica�, the idea of three sectors that joins in a central space. The architectural style of our projects follows many modernist ideas combined with the industrial typology of Bovisa. The distinctive longitudinal plans of the area combine with the transparency and openness of the ground floor plans, allowing for an inviting and inclusive space.
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Ground Floor Plan Project Masterplan
Underground Plan
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Section A-A’
Section B-B’ A
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The axis created from important nodes of the context. It also shows the circulation pattern that the building revolves around.
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The site is divided in to three sections, for the three different programs of leisure, culture and sport.
This diagram is to demarcate the between the pavement and green areas
Creating an amphitheater in the center space allows us to create visual dialogue with the Gasometers at most points
Main Strategies
This terrain diagram shows the demarcation of lower levels and gradients. The field are lowered to create buffer between the auditorium
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A’
Axonometric Views
Typical External Facade
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Foresteria
Vertical Connections In this section, the important vertical connections are expanded and highlighted for each of the projects. They are responsible for connecting the architecture to the landscape (built environment). As a result, these connections allow for single elements to be joined into a system, creating a unique path of circulation and accessibility. Without these elements, information and people would not be able to transfer through out the project and the context. From analyzing my projects, the vertical elements can be boiled down to two different types: stairs and slopes. These two can be furthered classified into internal, external, a mixed of both connections. Besides physical connections, the projects have elements that are visually used to connect the various levels. Internal voids that allows for a visual dialogue between different levels, double heighted rooms to expand vertical views, and loggias that are used for visual communications. These elements are as important as physical connections since they allow for the project to exist with the context harmoniously. They work by using visual connections to help blend the limits of the project site with the existing urban fabric.
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The ground and underground floor was developed to create an organic connection from street level to internal courtyard. The concept is to create an atelier/apartment space, with the upper floor being used to host a storefront, and the lower for living quarters. The internal staircases allow this flow to happen if for those who so desire.
Salemi’s nest
The kindergarten is a complex that is nestled into the terrain, with the entrance being on side of the ramp. On the other part of the ramp is a playroom that opens to the playground. The residential housing has a void that provides light to the common area, and visual connections between the two apartments.
GasPark
The auditorium and fitness building connects to the lower level of the site in a multitude of ways. The auditorium has access through the under pass, from the ground floor and on the side using stairs that can doubles as a lecture area. Similarly, the fitness center allows access from the locker room directly into the sports fields.
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Conclusion In the previous sections of the portfolio, we observed and discussed three different projects that dealt with topography. All three projects used topography to create an architectural system, whether in the manipulation of artificial terrains or usage of natural terrains. In this following part of the portfolio, the discussion of the projects will be set upon architectural theories and readings, which will help justify the design philosophy and architectural systems of the previously shown projects. The approach of that in Project 2 (Salemi’s Nest) is different than the other projects since the operation on the topography differs. This operation can be described by Leon Battista Alberti “Horizontal Leveling”. In Alberti’s first book, ‘On the art of Building’, he describes how earlier city settlements deal with sloping topography by creating various levels of the platform. "If the seat be upon the Summit of a Hill, either it should be raised where it is not even, or else be made level by plaining away the Top" (Alberti). This idea of site transformation is based on creating usable platforms that allow programs or functions to be situated. Similarly, Le Corbusier mentioned in ‘the Poem of Right Angle’ the importance of the ground level in an analogical way. He compares the horizontal surface as in the physical world, whilst the vertical axis is that architectural frame creative forces (Notable in the chapter A.3 Environment). This is further supported in an article from ‘Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering’, by Hayub Song & Eungee Cinn, that suggested how these two theories are key concepts to the contemporary relationship between architecture and topography. With this concept established, the project in Salemi follows this notion of terrain exploitations. The project is created with 4 main platforms in which the building is connected through a series of stairs and ramps. Additionally, these horizontal platforms are created with shapes of the old buildings and ruins; following the circular pattern of the existing urban context. On the vertical axis, the project also follows similar architectural elements to the existing context, by having entrances from both the lower and upper side. Most of the vertical enclosure does not hide in the terrain; this is to follow the typological buildings of the area in which most buildings are multistory housing. However, this differs for the kindergarten, as it follows the concept of having the volume nestled into the terrain to promote a sense of protection in a place that is unsuitable (or less than optimal) for younger children. The projects 1 and 3 are situated in areas where the topographical characteristics are minor compared to the one of Salemi. This feature of a plain site is an opportunity for exploitation and manipulation. From the book, 'Landform Buildings' by Stan Allen, one of the big ideas is to treat the "surface as an active element" that can be manipulated to create a series of connection between the landscape and built forms. One of the similarities between the two projects is
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regarding the relationship between the urban scale and architectural scale. Because both projects were tasked with a multi-functional program, we found that the architecture can leverage the landscape in a way that uses "topographical surfaces to link programs from one to another smoothly" (Stan Allen). Project 1 (Foresteria) can be described by looking at Kenneth Frampton's idea of Mega Form as an Urban Landscape; the idea of the project revolving around the center area of the site. This lushed urban park filled with flora is a landscape that ties in the surrounding residential buildings with the marketplace. Although smaller and less built than other examples of mega forms, it follows the same principle of creating an urban space through Sola Morales’ concept of urban acupuncture. Frampton explains this concept as "a topographic but decidedly limited and hence realizable civic intervention, that is inserted into the urban fabric in such a way as to fulfil the double function of both overcoming certain manifest disjunctions in the continuity of its current form and use, while at the same time stimulating further future activity and development." This project aims to achieve this outcome through the process of land forming and manipulation while maintaining connections to the urban fabric of the Lambrate district. Moreover, it also follows the idea of urban regeneration by creating more localized intervention and the fostering of local communities. Project 3 (GaSpark), similar to Project 1, also deals with topographic manipulation but is fundamentally different in terms of how it operates. In this system, individual buildings that are autonomous from one another, are connected through the manipulation of the ground surface. It follows the idea of ‘landscape corridors as a pathway for information to exchange’ (Stan Allen). These pathways are elements that help integrate the architecture into the landscape spaces. This can be seen in the underpass that allows users to enter the auditorium through the lower level of the amphitheater, and the second underpass that allows people to go from the changing rooms into the sports fields. Furthermore, the large fields and open areas are used as a primary support for the program, while maintaining a level of flexibility that lets the place fulfil more functions than the ones embedded into the design. Stan Allen describes this as a type of space exciting since it provides the ‘notion of anything can happen on the green landscape’. For example, the main amphitheater space can be used to host concerts, social events, exhibitions, or open markets, all the while integrating these temporary programs into the holistic system. Furthermore, connections are created through the visual relationships between the buildings, the amphitheater, and the iconic landmark (gasometers). The open space in the system allows these dialogues and connections to happen, allowing for a project to integrate into an already existing and functioning urban fabric.
Although there are many benefits to these types of landform designs, there are also certain caveats that need precaution. Allen explains that "one of the lessons we learned from ecology, is that system does not organize itself unless the initial conditions are specified with a very high degree of precision." To relate this back to the topic of artificial landscapes, it is important to note how vital it is for an architect to outline the programs and spaces explicitly; not allowing the space to be lackluster or undeveloped due to the idea of flexible spaces.
To conclude, I hope to continue exploring the ideas of these typologies as I believe that they yield important solutions to urban regeneration. Through the process of creating this thematic portfolio, I have uncovered certain subconscious decisions my and group and I have made during the design processes of each project. I believe that the research and exploration into this theme has helped me to theoretically understand the reasons and ‘instincts’ that were made throughout the projects. Thus, making me more conscious of the choices I will make in the future.
If we close read and analyze the three different projects, the 2 larger-scale projects tie into the project in Salemi through the uses of horizontal planes and platforms. Although these projects vary in scale from one site to another, the simplification of the project into platforms and their subsequent vertical connections can be made. Firstly, as previously mentioned, the Project in Salemi is made up from 4 platform levels; one for the kindergarten and the other three for the public roads that are used to access the houses and common spaces. While in the project situated in Lambrate, we have a lower level of the park and market. Secondly, there is a ground-level that is connected to the lower level through a series of ramps, stairs, and elevated walkways. Additionally, there are also internal levels that are used as a residential space. Lastly, the project in Bovisa is created with two levels: one is the lower level for the amphitheater and sports fields, and the ground level that is the main circulation paths to the campus of Bovisa. These two levels are also connected through a series of public stairs, grass slopes, and underpasses. Through this breakdown, we can see the simple relationship between the two architectural elements (horizontal planes and vertical connections).
Bibliography
Through this exploration of natural and artificial topography, various discussions can be raised about bio-mimicry in architecture. Stan Allen believes that since the 1990s up to the present day, there has been an effort to create more biological (natural) architecture. This does not relate only to form and structures, but also to the idea of architecture becoming more adaptive and lifelike. Furthermore, it can also relate to the procedural design process that can mimic that of nature i.e. rock or crystalline formations, erosion patterns and so on. He also notes that “At a time where the line between the artificial and natural is increasingly blurred, it is possible to rethink the strict division of natural and artificial in landscape.”
1. Alberti, Leon Battista. On the Art of Building in Ten Books. MIT Press, 1991. 2. Allen, Stan, and Marc McQuade. Landform Building: Architecture's New Terrain. Schirmer/Mosel, 2011. 3. Allen, Stan. “Landform Building.” AA School of Architecture. 31 Oct. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hVIDhBYtk&ab_channel=AASchoolofArchitecture. 4. Corbusier, Le. Le Poeme De L'angle Droit = Poem of the Right Angle. Hatje Cantz, 2012. 5. Frampton, Kenneth. Megaform as Urban Landscape. University of Illinois, School of Architecture, 2010. 6. Song, Hayub, and Eungee Cinn. “The Complementary Relationship between Architecture and Topography: Focus on the Performative Relationship between the Houses of Kim Incheurl and Topography.” Journal of Asian Architecture and Building Engineering, vol. 14, no. 2, 2015, pp. 271–278., doi:10.3130/jaabe.14.271.
From a conceptual and stratagem standpoint, using landscape as a bridge between built forms seems to be advantageous, but it also important to note the feasibility in real life. There are plentiful and successful case studies that show large scale projects involving the creation of an artificial landscape, but with these projects, there are also concerns regarding the cost, the process of construction, and the high usage of resources. Moreover, problems regarding the success and organization of the space are based on the precise parameters the architect has set into motion.
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